Thug Matrimony by Wahida Clark Page A

to open his mouth.
    Finally she was able to switch to business mode and told him, “I listened to Lupe Black’s demo and if he can dance and perform half as good as he sings, he’s gonna give Chris Brown a run for his money.”
    “Word?”
    “I am not lying.”
    “I thought he rapped!”
    “Me too. He not only sings, that little boy croons. He even has a song on there in Spanish.”
    Kaylin had to let that all sink in. Then he finally said, “No shit.”
    “E.” She turned to face him. “Lil’E is a she.”
    “Is a what?”
    “You heard me. A she. A girl.”
    “Get the fuck outta here.”
    “Not only that, she’s white!”
    He burst out laughing, until he realized she was serious. “Red, you killin’ me, Ma.”
    “That’s exactly what I’m gonna do. Kill ‘em. Shes a beautiful Caucasion. She resembles Alicia Keys. I’ma be her agent and get her endorsements out the ass. Watch. And guess who she signed a bullshit-ass contract with?”
    “Who?”
    “Phillip Johnson.”
    “Red. C’mon, Ma.” He didn’t know if she was playing with him or not.
    “No shit. Phillip muthafuckin’ Johnson. And I’ma tear that ass up.”
    “Red, you can’t be all up in the nigga’s face. I’ll have to kill that nigga if he disrespects you.”
    “I’ll keep it strictly business, Kaylin.”
    “I don’t know about that.”
    “Kaylin, this is business. I can handle him. I need you to trust me on this. This project means a lot to me.”
    “I’ll let you know. I gotta think about that some more.”
    She rolled her eyes at him. “Now that’s my news, so what happened in Canada?”
    “Haven’t made up my mind yet. I got some more paperwork for you to go over. They actually got a gold mine over there but don’t know what to do with it. They really just need some capital. I may become a silent partner. I told them that after me and you put our head together and go over the additional paperwork, we would get back at them.”
    For the next three weeks Kaylin was barely at the house. They dealt with each other at the office more than at home. Angel was spending more nights at home alone crying than she wanted too. She didn’t like being there without Kaylin. So she spent lots of time at the office focused on the Puma deal, Canada, Lupe Black, Papi Chulo, and Lil’E.
    Her hormones were going crazy and she was now showing.
    Business was on the verge of exploding at Game Over Records. Kaylin had called a staff meeting to make sure that everyone was on track and in sync. The conference room was full as Kaylin looked around the table. Perry G was replaced by the twins from Sony. Jet and Asia, a pair of black/Asian twins, his in-house producer, Shahid, his public relations maven, Courtney Moran, Angel, Tim Cohen, Dee, and Q, who was over their street team and Kym Ohn, the marketing director. He gave instructions to each one and was now listening to their feedback.
    “Ooops.” Angel giggled. Everyone turned toward her since she had interrupted Kym.
    “Sorry, Kym. Oh my!” She giggled again as she held her stomach. “Baby, she moved! The baby moved!” She stood up in her excitement and went over to Kaylin. He pulled her onto his lap and they both had their hands on her small, round belly.
    Kym Ohn resumed where she left off, discussing marketing strategies.
    “Oh, snap! There she goes!” Kaylin beamed. His hands now circling her entire stomach. They both had tuned out the meeting and were watching Angel’s stomach.
    “Amateurs,” Dee mumbled, but she was joking. She had been through pregnancy twice.
    “Oh my God. I have a living being growing inside me.” Tears had begun flowing down Angel’s cheeks.
    “Can y’all excuse us?” Kaylin looked around at the smiling faces in the room. Tim gave him the thumbs-up as he was the last one out of the conference room. Still rubbing her stomach, he buried his head into her chest. She began playing and rubbing in his hair. They were both deep in thought until Kaylin