Poetic Pain

Kiwon 9

Let's go back to three weeks before the huge blowup at my house; I was at this black influencer event in L.A., Dior couldn't travel with me because he had some other stuff he had to do back at home (not to mention the argument we had before I left). But one thing about Dior, he's always looking for a new bag specifically for me... each step of my journey Dior was the one pushing me to 'expand my brand' he was the one who taught me about marketing and made sure I got invited to this event. For the most part, it was business and fanfare, I couldn't step out of the hotel without people wanting to take pictures with me... I still wasn't used to that even though I'd been doing this for six years, after the first week of being in L.A. it was FINALLY time to relax and enjoy this city. I tried to avoid clubs, especially in cities where I wasn't from because niggas were always looking for a quick lick but tonight I wasn't alone. Monte was with me of course, constantly watching my back, and then there was Romeo... Romeo was an influencer from L.A. he was one of the few black creators who made more than me and we had even collaborated a few times... he was LOVED in this city so people seeing us together pretty much guaranteed my safety. As the music blared loudly, Romeo was vibing but I was on constant alert not for opposition but for cameras, people were always looking to catch you doing something you shouldn't be doing, and even when you weren't doing anything all it took was a three-second clip to light the internet ablaze.

"Ayy let's get outta here, its getting kinda dry in here....." Romeo whispered in my ear, I looked around the club and to me it seemed like it was far from dry... if anything it looked like things were just about to get interesting. "I got some content ideas I wanna run by you... let's go back to my hotel and I can show you my next business venture."

"Why are you staying in a hotel if you live in L.A.?" I asked.

"Tax write-off..." Romeo said smiling. I let Monte know I was leaving and he elected to stay here at the club, I guess he trusted Romeo enough to let me out of his sight for the night, usually he wouldn't let me go to the bathroom without hounding my steps.

When we stepped out of the club, we were greeted by our... well I call them supporters but Romeo refers to them as fans... trust me there's a difference. We got in the Lamborghini and started driving through the city, there was a time when I considered moving to L.A. if only to get away from my mom since she claimed she would never move to 'Hollyweird'... though I couldn't be certain I could get away from my 'other' problem... Don't worry we'll get to them. We got back to the hotel and I couldn't help but smile, I've come a long way from the motels I used to stay in when we were homeless... this hotel was.... it was nice.

"So what you got in the works?" I asked as we stepped onto the elevator.

"Content-wise I was thinking about dipping my toes into sports fans... I've told you there are four main areas where a young nigga can shine; sports, music, corporate America, and exclusive entertainment.... I'm thinking of a way to combine the four... Come on...." Romeo said grabbing my hand as we stepped off the elevator, I'll admit it was kinda weird... it wasn't forceful but something... else.

"Damn your suite is way better than mine...." I said looking around in awe, of course, this dude would take the presidential suite because that's the type of dude he is. "So what exactly do you mean by exclusive entertainment?" I asked.

"No offense but y'all gay niggas are easy as fuck to scam.... like all I have to do is tease y'all a little bit and the money will come flying in... I've done my research, a lot gays dudes will support straight men doing the bare minimum before they support an openly gay dude.... Which leads me into corporate America...." Romeo said walking over to the bar area. "I'm only telling you this because I fucks with you... you're one of the only influencers that I feel is geniune. Aight so there's this big time tech dude... like ultra rich, well he paid me 100k to watch me jack off...."