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“Okay.”

“Why you say it like that? You acting like you don’t want to come or like it bothered you that I asked.”

“Did I say that? I said okay. What more did I need to say?”

“Aight, you ain’t gotta get mad.” I wasn’t upset. My ass was guilty. I didn’t know if he would see that I fucked another nigga written on my face. I was never one who could hide my emotions. Plus, I didn’t know if Anton would catch on that all of a sudden, I wanted to leave. This was why I didn’t cheat. It was a struggle to juggle, and I didn’t know how people did it.

“I’m not upset. I just don’t like when you assume.”

“My bad. I can’t wait to see you.”

“I know, right.”

“Aight. I’m gone let you go. I love you.”

“Love you, too.” Hanging up, I took a deep breath. I couldn’t keep doing this. At some point, I was gone have to figure out what I wanted to do. No matter what I chose, somebody was going to end up hurt. I took a few more deep breaths and turned around. Anton was standing there with his arms crossed.

“Hey, everything good with you and Key?” I said nervously.

“I know that’s your lil nigga, and I been real cool about you still fucking with him, but don’t ever disrespect me in my house. Don’t confuse how I treat you with what I’ll tolerate from you. I’m only nice about shit the first time. You do that shit again, you gone meet a side of me I don’t ever wanna show you.” Normally, I talk shit, but for some reason, I don’t think this was the time for it. That nigga didn’t yell but sent chills down my spine. I almost pissed my panties, but I was too scared to.

“Okay.”

Anton “Tax” Hodges

“Five hundred thousand dollars a month?” The governor repeated himself as if he was hoping I changed the number. When I didn’t respond, he tried another way. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

“Yeah. Another nigga that owes me money.” You could tell he wasn’t used to being talked to that way.

“I’m the governor of this state.”

“And I’m the nigga that’s telling you what it’s going to cost to stay that way. See, you think your title means something to me. You been stealing money that was meant for schools, taking money from criminals, and still got your hand out for more. You’re lucky I’m even giving you an option,” I said in a matter of fact tone. I’d come across an article on social media where schools were complaining about funding. It wasn’t much, but I sent it to Key anyway to look into it. A lot of times, shit like that didn’t lead to anything worth my attention. Sometimes, it did. Key ended up finding more than either of us expected. He was doing all this illegal shit while campaigning to keep his seat, and election season was close enough for him to worry about what people might find out. Unfortunately for him, I already found it.

“How do I know you can even prove any of this?” I was used to that question. Nodding at Key, I gave him the go ahead.

“Check your email.” The governor looked off screen, and I watched the color drain from his face. “You can pay me and live to see another day, or I can take everything you got, including your life. Either way, I’m getting paid.” He sat there for a few minutes before nodding. “I’ll be in touch.” Key ended the video call, and the screen went black. We walked out and got in my Cybertruck. As soon as we were inside, Key started screaming.

“I can’t believe you got that nigga to agree to that shit.” I looked at Key smugly.

“Why not? Everybody pays tax.”

“Nigga, five hundred a month from one person. That’s the biggest payment we ever got from one person. That’s six mil a year.”

“It’s cool.” He looked at me like I was crazy.

“I just hope he pays because you gone kill the fuck out his ass if he don’t.”

“With a big dick and a smile.” I didn’t care how much money a person had, what position they held, or who they thought they were. Once we reached an agreement, I expected them to honor it. The governor wasn’t any different. I would just have to get more creative when I took him out.

“Man, you sick.” I laughed, but I was distracted by the text message I got. It was from Bubbles. She’d sent me a pic of her feet in a pair of slides.

Easier for me to take off, so I can put them on your dashboard.

I laughed before I could stop myself. Key was talking about something, and that caused him to stop.

“You not even listening to me. Fuck you giggling at like a lil bitch?”

“You worried about the wrong shit. Weren’t you just glazing over talking to the governor?” He shot me a look but didn’t let up.