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Two maids stood on the opposite side of the table with chairs pulled out for us. As we got closer, I could hear that dry ass classical music he always listened to. This mufucka swore he was Phantom of the Opera or some shit. He didn’t even turn his head when we got close. I glanced at Ni, and she was already lookin’ like a totally different person. Her posture was straight; even the way she walked was different.

Ni walked over to him, and I went to a seat on the other side of the table and sat down. I wasn’t waitin’ for that nigga to tell me to sit down. The way Ni stood next to him, waitin’ to be acknowledged, was fucked up. He was one of them niggas who valued sons and treated his daughters like spare children. When the music stopped, he glanced at me, then took his time analyzing Ni. She stood there and took it.

Yusef grabbed Ni’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Hello, babygirl. How was your flight?”

“It was fine, Daddy. No turbulence. How are you? Is Mommy here?”

“Have a seat beside me today,” he said, pullin’ out a chair. “Your mother is in Phoenix at the new camp.”

Ni sat down, placed her purse behind her, then laid her hands in her lap. She didn’t even look like herself.

“Will she be back anytime soon? Is this the new one for girls?” she asked.

“Maybe three days or so. You should fly to her. And yes, that one is for girls.”

The fact that they were openin’ more camps made my blood boil. I knew what happened in those camps. I knew the type of kids who got sent there. Some of the parents really thought their kids were goin’ to get trainin’, or a better chance at bein’ seen by scouts. But for the kids like me, we were the money makers. They bid on us like cattle. The bigger and stronger you were, the better. If you played multiple sports, they chose your path. Training from 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. School from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Classrooms with no windows. The facility had high-voltage electrical fences if you decided to run. The dorms were set up just like jail cells, and it felt like jail. I would never forget that shit.

They sat across from me, casually talkin’ about this fuckin’ facility. My whole body felt like it would catch fire as I listened to him run down the details of how they now had a new ballet school on payroll. How a gymnastics program was next. He wasn’t lookin’ at me, but I knew he was waitin’ for me to react. I’d save that shit for when he decided to address me directly, though.

“How was the shoot, JuMarion?” he finally asked.

“It was straight.”

He choked out a laugh. “Still the same hard-ass. How’s Baltimore? Heard you’ve been having fun.”

I leaned back in my seat and just stared at this nigga. “What’s the point of tellin’ you shit that you already know? Wassup, Yusef? Get to the point. I ain’t sittin’ here all day to watch you play wit’ dogs and shit.”

He picked up the glass of wine and sipped it slowly, like he ain’t had the shit before. Draggin’ shit out, hopin’ I’d snap on his bitch ass. Not today, though.

“You fired Luke.”

“And?”

He set the glass down, then rubbed his dog’s head again. “You weren’t supposed to.”

He leaned forward. “That nigga worked for me.”

“No,” he said, shakin’ his head. “He worked for Ambrose… And so do you. Now, you’ve replaced him with someone we didn’t authorize. That’s not how this works, JuMarion.”

I rubbed my beard, eyes narrowed. “Well, he should have done his fuckin’ job. I’m not firin’ my agent.”

“Hm. You fired him because he warned you about your indiscretion with that stripper. In your contract, you are to maintain a level of professionalism that meets our standards. On top of that, you don’t utilize your security. You are an asset. You need to start acting like it.”

“Indiscretion? The same shit your daughter did last week. I know she fuckin’ some nigga out here named Loco. That ain’t her first, either. That’s what PR is for. Her shit gets cleaned up, and so does mine. As for security, I was home. I move comfortably in my city.”

Yusef snapped his fingers, and the maids standin’ by the table walked off. He turned to Ni, nostrils flared. She already had her head down, starin’ at the ground like she wasn’t a grown-ass woman.

“Niema,” he said, liftin’ her chin. “This is unacceptable. I expect more from you.”

Her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”

He glared back at me. “I want you to understand something, JuMarion. Juicy, your agent, needs boundaries. Niema’s inability to maintain our standard does not give you free rein to do as you please.”

I dragged my tongue across my cheek. “Don’t fuckin’ call her that.”

He shrugged. “Savannah, then. You’ve been given room to breathe, JuMarion. Never mistake that for amnesty.”

“And I gotta ask for permission for every fuckin’ breath. You ain’t doin’ me no favors.”