by A'zayler
“What you gon’ do?” Goody asked through her laughs.
“Beat both of y’all ass.” He continued tickling her before leaning over and kissing all over her laughing face.
Goody was still laughing when he finally released her. “I’m just playing with you. You’re the only one I love.”
“Better be.” He winked, making her blush.
“Now, finish my toes.” She stuck her foot up near his mouth, and he kissed it before resuming his duties as the polish remover.
They sat together on the floor just enjoying each other’s company and chilling. Hours went by, and they’d showered, slept, and ate. When it was finally time for her show, Goody stood in the mirror, adding more waves to her hair. She’d been crimping her hair for the past hour and was finally on her last strand.
She looked at her man when he entered the bathroom behind her dressed in all black. The dress shirt and pants looked mouth-wateringly good on him as he stood behind her, brushing his hair. His eyes scanned appreciatively over her body without any words to follow. Goody didn’t need them, though. If she knew nothing else, she knew Jerrico was attracted to her. He made that perfectly clear at all times.
“You think we put a baby up in there yet?” Jerrico nodded toward her flat stomach.
Goody looked down at her abdomen and shrugged. “I hadn’t really thought about it. I feel fine.”
“I might need to try a little harder next time then.”
“Nah, you try hard enough every time. We just need to wait and see what happens.”
Jerrico chuckled. “You want a baby?”
“Hell no, but you do, so I guess I’ll take one for the team.” She smiled to lighten her truth.
“I think you’d be a good mom.”
“I think so too. I remember I wanted to be a mom so bad at one point in my life, but right now, I just want you and a lot of money on the side.” Goody turned and leaned on the counter so that she was facing him.
Her hands rubbed up and down his chest. “Is that okay with you?”
Jerrico nodded. “More than okay.” He pecked her lips. “Let’s go before you be late.”
Goody wanted to stay in the bathroom in their moment with him, but he was right. She had a show and hopefully a proposal to get to. She still hadn’t given him any inkling that she’d seen Marcellus’ text to him and didn’t plan to. He was either going to do it, or he wasn’t. She’d see for herself once they got there.
The ride to the arena she was performing in that night with Killa K was a good distance from Jerrico’s house, so when they finally got there, it was foot to gas the entire time. She walked straight in and darn near straight on stage, only having time to stop and check in with Killa K.
“You ready? This ain’t these li’l clubs you’re used to.” Killa K smiled at her.
Goody’s stomach was in knots as she nodded at him. “A show is a show. I’ma perform, regardless. Ten people or ten million, my energy is the same.”
He nodded and grabbed her hand. “You got it, ma. It’s gon’ be straight. I’ll be right there with you.”
Goody was happy for his comfort and gave his hand a light squeeze in response. With the stage in her view and the announcer in the middle of his rant about her and Killa K’s hit single, she looked behind her in search of her baby. Killa K’s reassurance was good, but Jerrico’s would be better.
When she caught sight of him and Marcellus behind her in a corner talking, she called out to him. “Babe.”
Jerrico’s head came up, and he immediately headed toward her. He didn’t stop until he got to her. His hand on the small of her back and his eyes trained on her.
“What’s wrong, you okay?”
“I’m scared.”
Jerrico exhaled and put his arms around her. “You’re the queen, baby. You got this. Don’t be afraid now. This is what you’ve been working for.” He pulled back and looked at her face again. “I’ll be right here watching you. Anytime you get scared, just look for me.”
Goody’s heart rate slowed at the sound of his voice. “Okay,” she whispered just as Killa K gave her arm a light tug.
“I love you, go shine!”
“Love you too.”
“They gon’ know who you is,” Jerrico yelled behind her.
Goody’s smile broadened as she stepped sexily next to Killa K. Still holding his hand, they walked onto the stage, and lights from phones took over the arena. Goody was blown away by the amount of screams, signs, and lights she saw. It was unreal how many people had shown up for her. Her smile grew as she waved the hand that Killa K wasn’t holding.
“Let’s get it, beautiful,” Killa K whispered before walking Goody to the front of the stage and holding her hand up as if showing her off.
Loud screaming echoed from wall to wall. Goody smiled as hard as she’d ever smiled in her entire life.
“Y’all give it up for the queen, Slim Goody!”
Goody looked at him and mouthed thank you. He winked and took a step away. Once their hands dropped, Goody raised her mic to her mouth.
“Y’all happy to see Killa K or what?”
Feminine screaming was evident, making Goody and Killa K laugh.
“I knew my ladies would feel me. Killa, I think they feeling you.”
Killa K’s sexy smile surfaced as he lowered his mic and began blowing kisses toward the crowd. The room went wild, and Goody loved it. The two of them stood hyping their crowd up for a while before the beat to their song dropped. The room really went wild then.
Goody got right into it, as did Killa K. They were performing one song after the next for a little over an hour before their time started to wind down. Goody had just finished rapping some of her lyrics when she waved for the deejay to cut the music.
“Aye, so I been seeing all y’all commenting and liking me and my man’s pictures on social media and shit. I appreciate that.”
The crowd screamed, and Goody looked back to where Jerrico had been standing. His smile was just as big as hers.
“I know y’all probably think I’m going soft, but I’m not. It’s still fuck these niggas.” Goody held her middle finger up. “I don’t put shit past none of them.” Goody looked at a smiling Jerrico again and winked. “Well, not none of them niggas. I put shit past mine!”
The room went wild, making Goody laugh with them. She could hear different chants all surrounding her and Jerrico’s love affair. They’d been a pretty big deal on social media since the pool party, so of course, her fans had become his fans as well.
“My baby ain’t made like the rest of these niggas. Bae, come here real quick.” Goody reached her arm out in his direction.
Jerrico’s head dropped some before he shook it and began moving slowly toward her. Goody loved how bashful he was when it came to her publicly showing her affection for him. To have a man that big and strong become so attached to her gave her an indescribable high.
“Y’all excuse bae, he’s shy.” Goody grabbed Jerrico’s hand and pulled him behind her toward the front of the stage. “Everybody say, Heyyy, Mr. Blake.”
“Heyyyy, Mr. Blake,” sounded throughout the room, making Jerrico’s bashfulness much worse. He was laughing so hard that it made Goody laugh.
“Okay, so since I got my backbone out here with me, I wanted to let y’all in on a little secret.” Goody looked over her shoulder, and Jerrico’s eyebrows were frowning slightly, obviously waiting for the secret as well. “So, y’all know we all in love and shit, right?”
Everyone screamed their responses.
“So, y’all know what in love people do, right?” Goody looked at Jerrico and giggled. “We be fucking and shit!” she screamed, and her crowd followed. “So, naturally, when you fuck like we do, you get knocked the fuck up.” Goody’s hand dropped from Jerrico’s and touched her small stomach. “Everybody say, heyyyy baby Blake.”
The arena went wild for the thousandth time that night. This time, Jerrico’s excitement was included. The moment Goo
dy turned around to face him, he grabbed her up in a hug and kissed her mouth hard. So hard that Goody ended up dropping her mic on the floor so she could wrap her arms around his neck. The way Jerrico gripped and kissed her said everything that he hadn’t.
Upon finding out about their growing baby, Goody had been upset, but after thinking about how much she’d given to make Kayson happy, she realized she’d be a fool not to give Jerrico even more. After coming along and picking up all her broken pieces, getting cut while trying to put her back together, and staying to make sure she was good, he deserved the world, but she’d start with his baby.
When he finally let her go, Jerrico got down on one knee and pulled out the ring she’d read about earlier. Now it was Goody’s turn to act a fool. Even though she’d kind of ruined her own surprise, there was still nothing like seeing him in front of her on one knee, ready to be hers for life.
Since her mic had dropped, it was near his leg. Jerrico picked it up while Goody stood in front of him, jumping up and down and excitedly covering her face.
“Calm down.” He grabbed her hand and steadied her. “You can’t be doing all that with my baby.”
Goody and all her fans swooned at the sound of Jerrico’s deep voice.
“Paradise, calm down, baby,” he said again since she was still jumping around.
Goody quickly nodded and gave him the hand he’d been reaching for.
“I love you, okay?”
Goody nodded.
“You and I both know this has been a journey for the both of us, mine probably a little harder than yours because you’re mean as hell.”
Laughs took over, drowning out Goody’s.
“Not even that could run me off, though. You’re too good of a person and woman to let go to waste. Everything about you makes me want to be better. Your drive, your passion, your smile, your love…” Jerrico paused and held his head down. When he pulled his head back up, his eyes were wet. He cleared his throat. “Your love is the motivation behind every good thing that I strive to do. Even if you say no today, I’m staying here with you because there’s no other place I’d rather be. Will you marry me?”
Goody’s hair shook wildly as she jumped up and down again while nodding her head. Jerrico slid the large, shiny ring on her finger and stood to his feet. She was in his arms and being spun around in a circle. When she was back on her feet, they kissed passionately while looking into each other’s eyes. The entire room disappeared, and all Goody saw was the answer to every prayer she’d prayed for months.
God had finally heard her, and not only had he given her exactly what she’d wanted, but he’d exceeded her expectations and given her things she hadn’t even known to ask for. That was life. She owed God everything for completely restoring her faith, joy, and happiness. She couldn’t wait to pledge her life to Jerrico in front of their family, friends, and the ultimate provider, God!
Chapter 11
I’m Looking For a Lady
Beauty at its finest was all Marcellus could think while he sat on FaceTime with Forever. Kicked back on his hotel bed with his feet propped up on two pillows, he watched her dab at her face with a piece of Kleenex. She’d been watching her sister’s proposal on her computer for the past few minutes and had been crying the entire time.
With her laptop on the bed in front of her, and her phone obviously leaning on something, Marcellus had the perfect view of her side profile. She had been looking at him but stopped to re-watch Goody and Jerrico on stage at Goody’s show the night before.
“How many times you plan on watching that?” he asked while watching her wipe her eyes yet again.
“I don’t know.” She sighed. “Probably a million. I’m so happy for her.”
“You might need to make that the last time. You haven’t stopped crying yet.”
Forever’s eyes watered all over again. “You wouldn’t understand, Marcellus. You wasn’t there.” Forever’s head shook as more tears fell down her face.
Marcellus licked his lips and cleared his throat. “Wasn’t where, crybaby?”
Forever snickered and wiped her face again before pausing her computer and looking at him. “There when her heart was broken. When she’d lost her identity and partially her mind, you weren’t there.”
When more water pooled in her eyes, Marcellus felt so bad that he almost wished he was there with her so that he could hold her while she wept. He’d known she and Goody were tight just from watching them together and listening to them talk on the phone whenever they weren’t next to each other, but that moment took it to another level for him.
“You would have had to see it with your own eyes to understand my tears right now. I’m so happy for her. She deserves everything that she has right now. Goody is one of the sweetest people I know. She has such a big heart. She deserves your brother and everything he’s bringing into her life right now.”
“I may not have been there, but I’ve represented a lot of the songs that came from that time in her life, and only real pain can produce that type of greatness. I’m happy for her too.” Marcellus sat up some so that his back was to the cheap headboard. “You gon’ cry all night?”
Forever rolled her eyes at him before releasing light laughter. “You get on my nerves.” She cleared her throat and pulled some of her hair from her face. “No, I’m not going to cry all night.”
“Good, because I’m tired of watching you.”
Forever was laughing again, and this time, he laughed with her. She had that effect on him. The happy side of her awakened the happy side of him. It had been a while since he’d actually felt like himself, the real Marcellus. The one who enjoyed life and made memories with the people who made him happy. Between work and Bridges, he’d been so tied down that he hadn’t had time to really let loose. With Forever, that was inevitable. All she did was live her best life, which forced him to live his.
“Oh, whatever, I’m done. What you doing tonight?” She crossed her legs and propped her elbow up on her knee.
“Got a show to go to with one of my clients.”
Forever turned her nose up. “That’s all you do but love to tell me I work too much.”
“You do.”
“So do you.”
Marcellus stretched. “Nah, my work isn’t like yours, though. Your work is boring. Mine is fun, so it’s not really work.”
“Whatever makes you feel better, but we’re two in the same.” She shrugged and made a funny face at him.
Marcellus laughed and scratched his head. “You might be right. Let me take you somewhere.”
“What you mean take me somewhere?”
“We both need a break from work. Let me take you out of town somewhere.”
Forever’s bright, white smile took over the screen. Marcellus smiled back at her, momentarily thinking about her nickname. Her teeth were, in fact, relatively large, but not in a way that took away from her smile or beauty. Enhancing it only. He loved her smile; it was actually one of his favorite things about her. The other being her size. He couldn’t get enough of that little body.
“Yes! I would love that.”
“Where you wanna go?”
“I get to pick?”
Marcellus nodded once.
Forever tapped her chin and looked toward the ceiling. “Somewhere hot. How about Jamaica or Turks and Caicos? I feel like being naked.”
“Naked?” Marcellus raised his eyebrows at her.
She smiled and nodded slowly. “Naked. Especially if I’m going with you.”
“What I got to do with what you choose to wear?”
“If you’re my man, I can be as naked as I want without being disrespectful.” She smiled. “Not saying that you’re my man or anything, but it would be different if I was going with my girls. I would try to be conservative since you aren’t with me, but if you’re there, it’s open season.”
Marcellus shook his head with a smile on his face. Women and their weird way of thinking. He didn’t see the difference in he
r being with him or them, but if she did, then who was he to argue with her?
“Both of those are fine. When can you go?”
Forever jumped from her bed and disappeared from the camera before coming back with a small calendar. She scanned through it for a minute before looking back at her phone.
“I’m free at the end of the month all the way up until the second week of the next one. What about you?”
“I can make time whenever. Just pick a week and let me know.”
He could see the happiness all over her face as she gushed with excitement. Marcellus wanted to nod his head in happiness, just happy that he’d been right about her, but he didn’t. He didn’t need her asking him a million and one questions.
“First week of July?”
“I’m there. Make the arrangements. When you need to pay, I’ll send you my card info.”
“Look at you, trying to be all romantic and stuff.”
Marcellus looked off, trying to suppress his smile. “I just want to spend some time with you.”
“I know that feeling.” She lay back on her bed. “I’m excited. I can’t wait.”
“Me either, but I’ma have to call you back a little later. I need to get up and get ready for this show.”
Forever faked a pout. “Okay.”
“I’ll call you as soon as I get back in. You better be up.”
“I’ll wait for you.”
Marcellus winked at her and hung up his phone. Once he’d placed it on the charger, he proceeded to shower and get changed for the night. He wasn’t really in the mood to be sitting through another show, but he had to do what he had to do. He’d much rather be sitting on the phone with Forever, or better yet, lying in bed with her, but all that was on hold for a moment.
With a fresh haircut and tailored suit laid out, he walked into the small shower and began his nights routine. Even with him having two hours before the show actually started, Marcellus didn’t like to get anywhere late, so once he was done getting dressed, he’d leave.
The faster he got there, the better. He was buttoning his shirt when his phone rang. It was Calvary. Marcellus answered and put him on speaker so he could continue getting ready.
