"Yo, Sosa," Rah said as we made it to where the cars were parked.
"What you wanna do?"
I looked back at the club one more time, at the chaos still spilling out onto the street, at the cops starting to arrive. My jaw was tight, my knuckles were bleeding, and I could still feel the adrenaline pumping through my system.
"We gon’ see them niggas real soon.” I said, “But not tonight we lay low.”
I got in my car and peeled out before the cops could block off the street, Trigg and Rah following close behind.
As I drove, I gripped the steering wheel tight enough that the shit started to hurt, all I could think about was Zach's face. The way he'd smirked at me. The way he walked into my spot like he was really that nigga.
That nigga just made the biggest mistake of his life. And he was gon’ pay for it.
* * *
Two weeks later, I was still dealing with the fallout.
The club was shut down pending investigation. The cops had taken all the security footage, interviewed half the staff, and were making it real clear they thought I had something to do with the shooting. Which I did, obviously, but they couldn't prove shit. My lawyer had already handled most of it, he got me out of having to go down to the station for questioning, but I knew it was only a matter of time before they came knocking.
I was sitting in my living room, feet up on the coffee table, scrolling through my phone and looking at all the bullshit being said about the brawl on social media. Everybody had an opinion, everybody had footage from different angles, and everybody was trying to figure out who shot first and why.
"You know we losing about fifty bands a week with the club shut down, right?"
I looked up at Zurie, who was standing in my kitchen with her arms crossed, looking at me like I was the dumbest nigga alive. My older sister had been on my ass all week about the club situation, and I was getting real tired of hearing about it.
"I'm aware, Zu," I said.
"Are you?" She walked into the living room, her heels clicking against the hardwood. Zurie always looked put together—today she had on all black, her locs pulled back in a bun, gold hoops swinging.
She looked like the boss she was.
"Because from where I'm standing, you cost us a lot of money over some beef that could've been handled differently."
"How else was I supposed to handle it? Nigga walked into my spot with his niggas trying to flex. What, I'm supposed to just let that slide?"
"You're supposed to think before you move!" She sat down across from me, her expression hard. "I run that club for you, Sosa. That's my baby. I book the artists, I handle the staff, I make sure everything runs smooth. And in one night, you and Zach turned it into a war zone. Now I got employees asking when they getting their next paycheck, I got people scared to come back, and I got cops breathing down my neck asking me questions about shit I wasn't even there for." That last part made me pause.
"Yeah, where were you anyway? You never miss a Saturday night."
"I told you already. I had some shit to handle."
"What shit?"
"Personal shit, Sontae. Damn." She used my government name, which meant she was getting irritated. "I got into it with some young girls at the mall over a parking space. It escalated; Iended up at the hospital getting checked out. Just some bumps and bruises, nothing serious. But I wasn't about to come to work looking crazy."
I studied her for a second. Zurie was my sister, my partner in all this, but she was also good at keeping secrets when she wanted to. Something about her story felt off, but I couldn't put my finger on what.
"A parking space," I said slowly.
"Yes, a parking space. You know how bitches get." She waved her hand dismissively. "Can we get back to the actual problem? Which is the club being shut down and us hemorrhaging money?"
"I'm working on it."
"How? What's the plan?"
"I'm handling it, Zu. Trust me."
"That's what you always say." She leaned back, rubbing her temples. "Look, I know you and Zach got beef. I know he's been fucking with you for the longest, But this shit is bad for business. We can't afford to have the club shut down long-term. And we definitely can't afford for you to catch a case over this."