God Don't Like Haters 2 by Jordan Belcher Read Free Book Online Page B

off.
    But it was impossible to nix something
overnight that you'd been passionate about your whole life. Right
now I was scrolling through a trending feed on The Site where users
were discussing the Sprint Center. I shouldn't have been on this
newsfeed— why are you torturing yourself, Kirbie? —but I
was. I was curious, yet still glad me and Archie left town when we
did. If I had been in Kansas City when I told Coras I wasn't doing
the Sprint Center, he would have probably showed up at me and
Archie's house, and who knows what would've transpired between my
fiancé and my labelmate—er,  ex -labelmate. And Coras
wouldn't have showed up because he loved me, but because I was
simply his "investment." How lame was that?
    Fuck Coras,  I
thought.  I'm nobody's property.
    As Mark and Archie talked up front, I
continued reading the feed about the Sprint Center rap event:
     
    Debra Mcree: I just saw Yayo Love backstage!
#SprintCenter
    Stylist Samara Mayes: Did the show start
already? #SprintCenter
    Cherri TooGrownForGames: No, they're still
seating people. It's so unorganized right now. I've never seen this
many people. #SprintCenter
    Makea WorkingWoman Price: Yayo Love is my
future baby daddy! #YayoLove #LoveChild #SprintCenter
    Leonard Mathis: I have two tickets for sale!
Front row seats! Inbox me. Serious inquiries only!
#SprintCenter
    Mitch tiredofballin Walker: All these bitches
on here are screaming about Yayo Love. He ain't had a hot 16 in
years! WTF??? Yall need to be supporting the Kansas City artist
Coras Bane that's opening up for Yayo. That's the only reason I'm
going #CorasBane #KC #SupportLocalArtists #FuckYayo
    Mendi AplayasPlaya Robinson : Yayo Love look
like a mufuckin uuuuuuhhhh
    Natasha YoloLife Anderson: Lol! ^^^
    Trillyoung Sav: I'm coming to see Coras
too!
    Danielle Bryant: Me too I know Coras from
high school
    SimplyTru Anjanette: I'm going to hear Kirbie
Amor sing! I love that bitch. #MyFavoriteSinger
#NextToCayleneHope
    Peter Lewis: Kirbie and Coras are the
shit!
    Tabitha Alston: Yayo Love is cool. Can't hate
on him. He's killing the Billboards right now.
    Mitch tiredofballin Walker: Billboard ranking
doesn't equal talent! All that ranking does is tell you who's
popular. Coras Bane has talent. And I forgot about Kirbie. She's
dope too. #SprintCenter
    Shan Lovingmeandhim Joseph: Kirbie can sing
in real life. I've been to one of her performances. I'm anxious to
hear Convenient For Me performed live. #SprintCenter
     
    "Kirbie!" Archie said to me, pulling my gaze
away from my phone.
    "Huh?" I said.
    "Are you paying attention?"
    I hadn't been. My heart was beating fast
because Site users were commenting about me and Coras in a better
light than Yayo Love, who was supposed to be the main attraction.
It was an incredible feeling, but also a terrible downer because I
wouldn't be able to experience the event. I was over sixteen
hundred miles away in "The Golden State" on a cocaine run.
    Regret was started to gnaw at my conscience
now. I felt like I wasn't supposed to be here.
    "You need to be listening," Archie grumbled
at me. "Stay off that damn phone. Mark just said we can't have our
guns when we get to the meet."
    "Okay," I said.
    Mark, who was looking at me through the
rearview, said to me, "Congratulations on the engagement. I knew
you and Archie were soulmates."
    "Thank you, Mark."
    "When are yall gonna have babies?"
    I laughed. "We don't even know if we want
kids."
    "We do," Archie added. "We just know that
right now isn't the time."
    Mark nodded. "I understand a hundred percent.
A baby would get in the way of Kirbie's music career."
    There was an awkward silence.
    Archie broke it. "Kirbie's not doing music no
more."
    Mark jerked his head at Archie, then up at
the rearview mirror where he could see me in the back seat. His
eyes were full of ... disappointment. "Kirbie, say it ain't
so."
    "The music wasn't going anywhere," I said. "I
was getting tired of it."
    "But you have real talent. Way more