𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 ²

65 | have a nice life

CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE
have a nice life

Tiana

Tiana was at Empire, minding her business, but saw a bunch of cops walking past her, on their way out of Empire. They were coming from the direction of the studios.

Now she was worried. Why were cops lurking around Empire all of a sudden? Did this have something to do with Blake's death? Because he used to be an artist there?

"You're curious too, huh?" Gram said from beside her. She didn't even notice him.

She focused straight ahead. "Yeah. Since when do cops have any interest in Empire?"

"Since Blake died."

"Why? Because he was an artist here?"

"Actually, I heard they were here for Hakeem."

Her heart dropped. "What? Why?!"

Gram filled her in. "People have reason to believe he's the one who killed Blake."

That wasn't true. "Those people need to stop gossiping because my man is not a killer."

Gram looked at her doubtfully. "You really believe that?"

"Why don't you?"

"Come on, you don't see how jumpy he's been? And the boy looks like he hasn't slept in days," Gram pointed out.

"Maybe because his sister just got shot? He's worried about her."

"But Blake's dead and Royalty woke up, so what does he need to be worried about? And that still doesn't explain why he's so jumpy."

Tiana huffed because Gram was trying so hard to convince her that her man was a killer, but that wasn't happening. "Listen, the Lyons have been through a lot lately, okay? The last thing they need is people accusing their son of being a killer."

Gram put his hands up in surrender. "Alright, don't listen to me. But I'm telling you, Hakeem killed Blake. And if you wanna be associated with a dangerous man like that, then that's on you, shorty."

She didn't want to be associated with a man like that, actually. She never would because she didn't like negativity. So now Gram had her wondering if her boyfriend really murdered Blake. She hoped the answer was no because if he did, she didn't think she could stay with him.

It wasn't a totally crazy theory, right? Blake had broken into her house and smashed a lamp on her head. Then he shot Ro and she nearly died on them. Of course Hakeem was angry about that. He probably wanted revenge. The Freda diss song probably added fuel to the fire and Hakeem just...snapped. So yeah, she believed Gram was right. Hakeem did kill Blake.

Unfortunately for her, Hakeem was walking towards her, and she couldn't look at him the same anymore.

"Wassup, baby."

She caught an attitude with him. "Don't wassup baby me. Why were the cops here?"

"I don't know. Someone probably did something bad."

"Maybe you?"

Hakeem got defensive. "What are you talking about? I ain't got nothing to do with nothing, and I told Giuliana that!"

"Who the fuck is Giuliana?"

"That damn female cop that just waltzed up outta here."

"So the cops were here for you? Gram was right!"

Hakeem was angry. "Gram? Why the fuck are you talking to him for?"

"I'm the one asking the questions, not you!" Tiana shouted. "Now, Gram told me some things, and I need to make sure it's not true."

"It ain't true. All Gram's tryna do is start shit, and take you from me," Hakeem said.

"Mhm. So why were the cops here? Clearly they have their eyes on you."

Hakeem sucked his teeth. "Man, Giuliana just wanted to question me."

"Why?"

"About Blake."

That confirmed everything. He really did murder Blake.

Tiana spoke gravely now. "What did you do, Hakeem?"

"I ain't do shit!"

"What did you do?!"

"Nothing!"

Tiana stared at him angrily. "Wow. You're really lying to my face."

"Why do you want me to be a murderer so bad, Tiana?"

"I don't want you to be a murderer, Hakeem! But you are one, and it's obvious! Even the cops know! So just tell me the truth!"

Hakeem shook his head and averted his gaze. "Trust me, you don't wanna know the truth."

"Tell me!"

He sure did tell her. "Yeah I did it, okay?! You happy now?!"

No, she wasn't happy. She was appalled. "Why the hell would you ever kill someone? Are you out of your mind?!"

"Are you out of yours?" Hakeem fired back. "Did you forget what he did to you? What he did to Ro? He deserved that shit!"

"And he deserved to rot in jail for the rest of his life! You should've let the cops handle it!"

Hakeem laughed at that. "Oh, you mean the same cops who don't give a shit about my family? They had so much time to arrest Blake and they never did. They kept letting him terrorize us. Not to mention the fact that they didn't try to help Ro after she got shot. The ambulance didn't show up because they don't care about us Lyons. They want us dead, Tiana! So no, we can't rely on them!"

"So that's it? From now on, you're gonna kill anyone who opposes your family?" Tiana asked angrily.

"It was us or him, Tiana. I did the right thing."

No he didn't! "You are not god, Hakeem! You don't get to decide who lives or dies!"

"Well I decided, okay? And you're right, the cops are on to me. I'mma get arrested any day now."

She didn't like those words. "Don't say that."

"It's true. Ro saw it in her vision, and there's no avoiding it." Hakeem shrugged briskly. "I'm fucked."

Tiana rubbed her face in frustration because she couldn't believe this shit at all. Things were never supposed to get this fucked up.

Hakeem spoke again. "So now that you know all this info, what are you gonna do with it?"

She said, "I'm not gonna snitch on you, but I really don't think I can do this anymore, Hakeem."

"Do what?"

"Be with you," she said. "You killed someone in cold blood, and that's gonna follow you around for the rest of your life. I don't want to be associated with negativity."

Hakeem looked hurts now. "So that's it? You're bailing on me when I need you the most?"

"You're gonna get arrested, Hakeem! You said it yourself! And who knows how many years they're gonna give you? So what's the point?"

"Man, whatever. You ain't no true ride or die."

She was offended. "Sorry if I don't have the patience to wait seventeen years to see you like Cookie did!"

Hakeem didn't want to hear her voice anymore. "Girl, why is you still talking to me for? You said what you said, so you can go. Go to Gram since you're all buddy buddy with him."

Then he bumped shoulders with her and walked away. "Hakeem!" But of course he wasn't trying to hear her out anymore. It was whatever because she wasn't about to chase him. There was no point if he was gonna go to jail, so oh well.

Have a nice life, Hakeem.