𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 ²

twenty three.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
basic and dumb

Hakeem

next day

Hakeem was headed to Jamal's condo because they needed to talk about their song. Did he regret dissing Andre? No, but Tiana was mad because of it and Hakeem couldn't lose her. He'd be damned if Gram dated her.

He had no choice but to tell Jamal they needed to wipe the song off all streaming services, and replace it with the original version. He just hoped Jamal cared enough to listen because he knew he had betrayed his trust, and that was something he was sorry about.

Hakeem arrived at the condo, and the bodyguards let him in. Jamal was laying in bed, looking at his phone. "Mal."

Jamal didn't look at him. "What do you want, Hakeem? To cause more chaos?"

"No. We need to talk."

"Could've called."

"I didn't know if you'd answer or not," Hakeem replied.

"I don't know either. I shouldn't be talking to you after what you did," Jamal said back.

Hakeem sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about that."

"No the hell you're not."

He was kinda right. "Well, no, I don't regret exposing Andre. But I'm sorry for betraying your trust. You and I just became cool, and the last thing I want is us beefing because of Andre again."

"If we beef, it's not Andre's fault this time. It's entirely yours."

"So we beefing now?"

Jamal sat up. "I don't have the energy to beef with you. I already have to worry about Mateo."

Hakeem looked around. "Where is Mateo anyway?"

"Gone. He got angry because Warren gave me his number, so he left."

"Damn, I'm sorry about that. Y'all are over?"

Jamal was annoyed. "I don't know, Hakeem. We haven't spoken. I don't even want to think about him right now, so next topic please."

Hakeem told him what he needed to tell him. "Okay, check this out. I want to delete our song off all streaming platforms."

Jamal gave him a baffled look. "What?"

"Yeah! I mean, that version wasn't even supposed to be released. Let's erase it and post the original version."

"And you're doing this why?" Jamal wondered.

"Because I realized what I did was unprofessional, and I keep telling the world our family's business. It's getting toxic. And because...Tiana's mad at me."

Jamal scoffed. "That last part makes sense."

Hakeem rolled his eyes. "Are you down?"

"I don't know, Hakeem. You know people already downloaded the song, right? That version is always going to be around," Jamal pointed out.

"But not everyone will have access to it anymore. That's all I need."

"Well, of course I'm down. I didn't want that version released anyway. So I'll handle it," Jamal told him.

Hakeem let out a relieved breath. "You're a lifesaver."

"Mhm. And I'm proud of you for doing the right thing for once."

"Do you think Andre's gonna be proud of me?" Hakeem asked.

"You care?" Jamal asked back.

"Not really. I still hate him, but I really want the world to stop wishing death on him. He's still our brother, like you said."