36. Derek’s Destiny

HAKEEM

I was nervous as hell, pacing the living room like I ain’t have no Goddamn sense. I had my overnight bag packed, sitting by the door, and I kept peeking out the window like a damn dog waiting on its owner to pull up.

Eden was about to scoop me, and for the first time in a minute, my mind wasn’t on nothing wild. Nah, it wasn’t even like that—no sex, no craziness. She wasn’t ready for me like that, no matter how much she liked to talk slick sometimes. And honestly? Even if she was, I wasn’t in no rush. Not with her. We were moving different, and I was good with that.

The plan was low-key—stay up, talk, watch a TV, hit church in the morning, then kick it with her folks after. Some real wholesome shit. A straight-up sleepover out this bitch. The crew would clown me for this, no doubt. Hell, the old me would’ve been laughing at this whole setup, thinking it was soft, corny even.

But now? With Eden? None of that mattered. It didn’t feel soft—it felt right.

I dropped my ass back on the couch, waiting, trying to act like I wasn’t watching the window every five seconds like some lovesick fiend. But, man, she had me feeling open and shit. I couldn’t believe it. Me. The dude who never stayed in one place too long, the one always on the move, suddenly looking forward to just... being still. Being with her.

It was wild.

But that was Eden. She had me on a different type of time. A time where things didn’t always have to be fast, loud, or reckless. A time where just kicking back, talking about nothing and everything, was enough. Shit, more than enough.

My heart was racing like I was about to pull off a heist or something. Then the doorbell rang, and my thirsty ass sprinted to the door, yanked it open with the quickness—only to find it wasn’t Eden.

“Why the hell you outta breath for? You ran here?” Derek asked, strolling inside.

I sucked my teeth, annoyed as I shut the door behind him. I mean, it was his fiancee’s house that he paid off, so he didn’t need an invite from me.

“I can’t even reach you no more,” Truth said, side-eyeing me as he dropped onto the couch like he owned the place. “What’s up with you?”

I took a seat across from him, trying to play it cool, but my nerves were still buzzing from everything going down lately. I leaned back, settling into the chair, hoping to calm the storm swirling inside me.

"Just been layin’ low, man. Shit’s been hot—literally. You know how it go," I muttered, feeling the weight of all the chaos that had been stacking up like bricks on my chest.

Truth raised an eyebrow, smirking like he knew something I wasn’t saying. “You been kickin’ it with Eden, huh?”

I couldn’t help but grin. “Lil bit,” I said, smiling like a fool. Couldn’t help it.

“What’s really goin’ down with y’all? At the party, you two looked real familiar.”

“I really like her, man. She’s cool as hell,” I admitted, a little more serious now.

Truth gave me that look, like he was reading between the lines. “She’s good people. But I don’t think she’s your speed though.”

I shifted in my seat, a little offended but knowing what he meant. “Yo, remember how you started working on yourself, tryna be better for Destiny before you came and got her? That’s how I’m feelin’ with Eden. She makes me wanna step up.”

Truth’s eyebrows shot up like I’d just said something wild. He wasn’t expecting that.

“Good,” he said after a beat, his tone more serious. “You can’t hurt this girl, Hakeem. She ain’t built like the others.”

“This ain’t no stick and move, Truth. I’m real about her. I met her parents and everything. Her pops is built like Ant, bro. He’d break my ass if I even thought about hurtin’ her,” I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

We both laughed, and he dapped me up, the tension between us easing a bit.

“She’s my girl now,” I said, making it plain. No more guessing. "

Truth looked at me, surprised, like he wasn’t expecting me to come out with that. “Damn, a lot’s been goin’ on since you been duckin’ me, huh?” he said, throwing a little dig.

I rolled my eyes, but I was smirking. “You know we gotta keep shit low-key, man. Stop trippin’.”

Truth orchestrated an inferno that brought his hometown to its knees, leaving nothing but ashes and smoke in his wake. I thought back to that night, Eden blowin' up my phone like crazy, callin', textin'. She was scared as hell. When I ain’t answer, she started sendin' message after message, askin' if I was okay, if I knew what was goin' on.

My lil mama was terrified, but I was locked in on what I had to do, so deep I couldn’t even see straight. Every time she brought up that night, I felt like the devil himself, wearin’ a mask, pretendin’ like everything was good.

Would she still want me if she knew I was connected to all this? If she knew what I was capable of? If she knew I was in the thick of that destruction? I wasn’t sure. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if I deserved her. But I kept pushin’ it down, playin’ my part.

Derek nodded, his face serious. He knew the game, knew what it was like to move in the shadows, but something told me he wasn’t here for small talk.

“Well, I’m real happy for you and Eden, Lover Boy,” Truth said, leaning forward, his voice low but hitting hard, like a hammer driving in nails. “But I need you focused. We gotta make a move tomorrow. Time for that visit.”

I raised an eyebrow, couldn’t help the short laugh that escaped. “Truth, we just lit this whole bitch up, and now you talkin’ about more? Tomorrow? That fast?”

"That was Mr. Lyman," he shot back, his eyes cold, like ice on steel. "We ain’t even touched Johnathon and Arnold yet."

I leaned in, keeping my voice steady. "Bro, we burned Arnold’s club to the ground. Ain’t shit left to touch. You got what you needed."

“I don’t. I still need those pictures, Keem,” he said, his voice low, that edge creeping in. “Imma have Dorian snatch 'em up so we can have a little conversation. See where it goes from there.” He sounded like a damn psycho.

“Man, let’s just get the pictures and end it there,” I tried, hoping to reel him in, cool him down before he really went off the deep end.

“End it there?”

"What you gon’ do, kill they asses?”

He looked away, jaw clenched, and that’s when it hit me—this motherfucker had lost it.

"Look," I said, my voice firmer now. "I get it, you're pissed, but you gotta take a step back. You got everything, Truth. Everything a man could want, includin' Destiny, the love of your life. Why risk fuckin’ all that up over these nobodies?"

“They hurt Destiny!” He was almost growling, like the words burned his throat.

“Nigga, where is Destiny right now? In a penthouse suite, probably debating which million-dollar crib y’all should live in, picking out wedding colors or some shit. She’s good. Destiny ain’t lifting a finger for the rest of her life 'cause you got her covered.”

I chuckled, trying to ease the tension, but it wasn’t landing. He was locked in, eyes burning like fire behind that calm exterior.

“You think just 'cause she’s with me now, it erases what they did? What they’re tryin’ to do?” His voice was tight, like he was holdin’ back a storm.

“Nah, I’m sayin’ she’s good, Truth,” I leaned forward, voice low but firm, tryna cut through the fog in his head. “Destiny ain’t askin’ you to handle shit like this. You the one out here tryin’ to turn this place into Gotham City, actin’ like you Batman instead of the dude who writes hits. You need to be in the studio, keep doing you, that’s how you be Destiny’s hero.”

He stared at me, eyes hard, like I’d just said some wild shit. Like I was the one talkin’ crazy. “The fuck you sayin’, Keem?”

I sighed, pushing myself up from the chair and pacing the room, trying to keep calm. “I’m saying anything else is overkill, man. Dorian told us himself—Johnathon ain’t no real threat. He’s just a wounded dog, man. He can’t even show his face around now that everybody knows what his father was up to. Arnold? All that dirty shit he was doing in that club? It’s done. The club’s ashes now. Them girls? They ain’t under his thumb no more. The whole plan for Destiny, for Eden? It went up in flames with that place. All we gotta do now is get those pictures, and we’re out.”

Derek stood up slowly, eyes locked on me like he was sizing me up. That tension was back in the air, thick and heavy. It felt like the calm before a storm, like the next move was gonna decide everything.

“I thought you said you was ridin’?” Derek's eyes narrowed as he asked me that, his voice low but sharp, like he was daring me to back down.

I met his gaze, standing my ground. “You know I got your back but, you tryna do too much, Truth. You gon’ get jammed up if you keep pushing. Dorian on your side or not, you gon’ cross a line you can’t step back from, bro. Some shit that’s gonna haunt you, keep you up at night.”

He stepped closer, his jaw tight, eyes burning with that fire I hadn’t seen in a minute. “Ain’t shit keeping me up at night, Keem, except knowing what those niggas did to Destiny. Ain’t no peace for me till they pay, till I see them bleed.”

“Revenge is clouding your judgment, Truth. Deadass,” I said, my voice steady but carrying the weight of what I was trying to get him to see. “You got your girl back. Destiny is safe. She’s wrapped up tighter than the damn Pentagon with all the security you got on her, and Eden. Ain’t nobody touching them, not here, not anywhere, ever.”

He was staring me down, like he was ready to pop off at any second. Truth was used to people just falling in line when he spoke - me included. I was always the one ready to throw hands, jump into the fire without thinking twice. Whenever Derek was in some bullshit, I was right there, no hesitation.

But this? This was different. He wasn’t thinking straight, moving like a man with nothing to lose, but I knew better. This wasn’t just some music beef he got into from time to time, this was personal—too personal. He was taking it way too far, and even I could see he was wilding out.

“I’m here, bro. Been riding with you from day one, and I’ll ride till the wheels fall off,” I said, my voice lower, more controlled, but still firm. “But you gotta know when enough’s enough. We handled business in the present, Dorian and Ant cleaned up the past. It’s time. Pack you and Destiny’s shit, get the fuck outta Juniper. Ain’t nothing left here for you, man. Look around—everything you wanted gone, you took it. So what else you want?”

“Their fucking souls,” he growled, eyes wild like a man possessed.

That’s when I realized. This wasn’t the same dude I used to know. This was something different, darker. Truth had slipped, fallen deep into the abyss, and there was no pulling him back this time. And the truth? I wasn’t about to follow him down that hole. I had Eden now. I had my future, something I was starting to build, and that meant I couldn’t be out here chasing demons with him.

Derek’s eyes narrowed. "You really tryna pull out now? After everything?"

I squared my shoulders, meeting his glare head-on. "Nah, I ain’t pullin’ out, I’m just sayin’ it ain’t the move right now, Truth. You out here actin’ like this the only way, like blood the only currency that counts. But that’s a debt you can’t pay off, man. You wanna be swimmin’ in this shit forever?”

His lip curled up in a snarl, like I was talkin’ to the old Derek, the one who didn’t give a fuck about nothing. "I don’t need your advice on how to handle my business. You been ridin’ with me from the jump, Keem. Now you tryna act like you got some moral compass all of a sudden? You supposed to be my right hand. Where the fuck is that loyalty now?"

I felt my heart poundin’ in my chest, but I didn’t flinch. "Loyalty don’t mean walkin’ with you off a cliff, D. I’m still ridin’, but I’m tryna keep you from blowin’ your whole life up. And now you wanna throw it away for some beef that’s already dead?"

Derek took a step closer, his voice low, dangerous. "You think I’m weak? That I’m just gonna let them walk after what they did?"

"Nah, man. I don’t think you weak, I think you stuck," I fired back, my voice steady even though I could feel the tension thickening in the air. "You got somethin’ to lose now, Truth. This ain’t about what they did to Destiny no more, this about what you tryna prove. You gon’ risk losin’ her over this?"

His jaw clenched tight, every breath he took like it was holdin’ back somethin’ dark and ugly, ready to tear out. “I ain’t riskin’ shit, Keem. They already took from her, took from me. This don’t end until I say it’s done. You don’t get to decide that.”

I stepped closer, voice low but steady, tryin’ to keep my cool. “And when’s that, huh? When we all either locked up or laid out? When you finally got nothin’ left but regrets and a headstone with your name on it?”

Derek’s eyes went dark, but I stood my ground. "Switchin’ up ‘cause you got a church girl on your arm?” His voice was dripping with venom, like he thought I’d gone soft.

I scoffed, the frustration building inside me. “Nah, man, this ain’t about me switchin’ up. This is me tryin’ to be smart, tryin’ to make sure you don’t blow it all. You got Destiny, you got a future. You gonna throw all that away just to feel like you got even?”

But he wasn’t hearin’ me. Derek shook his head like my words were just static, his eyes clouded with that rage, that vengeance that’d been eatin’ him alive since day one.

“They took part of her soul, Keem,” he muttered, voice low and dangerous. “And now I’m takin’ theirs. Eye for an eye.”

He sounded like a fuckin’ lunatic, like he wasn’t even in the room with me no more—like he was lost in his own war, and I didn’t know if I could pull him back.

"D, man... this ain’t the way. You’re not just fightin’ them anymore. You fightin’ yourself. And you’re losin’, bro."

But all I saw in his eyes was that storm, building and buildin’, ready to tear everything apart in its path. I shook my head, the weight of everything hanging heavy, pulling at me in a way I hadn't felt before. I could feel the shift happening, like a tide rising, ready to pull me under if I wasn’t careful.

For the first time, I could see it—the split in the road. The choice I had to make.

“Well, speaking of souls,” I said, my voice calm but edged with something sharper. “I’m tryna save mine.”

Truth looked at me, eyes narrowing like he couldn’t believe what I was saying. “Fuck is you talking bout?”

“I ain’t available tomorrow.”

He took a step closer, like he was about to test me. “Not available? Keem, you work for me.”

I stood my ground. I’d made my decision. “I got church with Eden and her folks tomorrow. Brunch afterwards and shit. That’s where I’m at.”

Truth stared at me, eyes burning with fury and disbelief. Like he couldn’t process the fact that I wasn’t on his same page about his plans. But I wasn’t backing down.

This was my line in the sand.

No turning back.

Before either of us could say anything, the front door creaked open, and Eden stepped in with that bright smile she always wore—except it fell fast when she clocked the vibe between me and Derek, the tension thick enough to choke on. Her eyes darted between us, sensing the shift, like she’d walked into the middle of a standoff.

“Hi... guys,” she said, her voice small, laced with nerves.

I didn’t break eye contact with Derek. Not even a blink.

“Let’s go, Eden,” I said, my tone steady, calm, like the storm that was brewing in the room didn’t even phase me. I backed up slow, keeping my movements measured, grabbed my bag off from the floor, and then took Eden’s hand in mine. Her fingers curled into mine, like she was searching for some kind of anchor, some understanding of what was really going down.

Without looking back, I walked us out the door, feeling Truth’s eyes burning into the back of my head. But I was done. Done with the war he wanted to start. Done with the ghosts he was chasing. I had my own future to think about now, one that didn’t involve drowning in his revenge.

As the door closed behind us, I squeezed Eden’s hand a little tighter, letting her know I was here. But deep down, I could feel it—the shift. The break. Truth was a man who couldn’t let go, and I wasn’t going down with him.

We got to the hotel, a small, no-frills spot off the highway. Modest, but it was ours for the night. We didn’t need luxury, just each other. Eden flopped down onto the bed dressed in her bonnet and pajamas. I was in my basketball shorts and white tee, comfortable ready to chill for the night.

“Mmm... Hakeem,” she said, her voice slipping into that deep, raspy Yoda impression she started buggin’ me with, “watch Insecure, we must.”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “Eden, for real? Insecure? I look like I wanna watch that?”

She sat up, crossing her legs on the bed like she was getting ready to give me a full presentation. “Yes, yes, watch it you will, young padawan,” she said, her Yoda voice getting even more dramatic as she raised an eyebrow at me. “Issa Rae’s wisdom you need. Funny it is. Real, it is.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at this girl. “Yo, you need help.”

She grinned, eyes dancing, but she wasn’t dropping the Yoda act. “Mmm, much to learn, you still have, Hakeem. Relationships, friendships, the ups and downs of life you will see.”

“You really not gonna let up until I give this show a chance, huh?”

She tilted her head to the side, still in character. “Stubborn you are. But wise you will become if you watch.”

I sat down beside her, close enough to feel her warmth but far enough to keep my resolve. “Alright, alright. I’ll watch one episode.”

“One turns into three, it will,” she said, breaking character for a second to give me that teasing smile of hers.

“You’re really on this Yoda thing tonight, huh?”

She shrugged, her smile softening. “Just tryna lighten the mood a little. You’ve been... tense.”, she said in her regular voice.

I sighed, rubbing my hand over my face, the weight of the day still sitting heavy on my shoulders. “Yeah, it's been a lot lately.”

Eden, always in tune with me, scooted closer, leaning her head on my shoulder. The playful Yoda act she’d been doing dropped completely. She was serious now, her warmth grounding me in the moment.

“What was going on with you and Derek today?” she asked, her voice soft but steady. “You didn’t quit or nothing, did you?” She peered up at me, her eyes searching my face like she was trying to find cracks in whatever front I was putting up.

I slid my arm around her, pulling her in a little closer. “Nah, nothing like that,” I muttered, pressing a kiss to her forehead, trying to ease her worry. “Just some man shit, you know? Business stuff.”

She didn’t say nothing right away, but I could feel her still waiting for something more, something real. She had a way of seeing through all my armor, like no matter how much I tried to brush shit off, she knew when there was more going on.

“Nothing for you to worry about, promise,” I added, trying to keep my voice steady, like I could lock the chaos back inside if I said it enough times.

"Whatever it is, it’s gonna work itself out," Eden said, her voice soft but certain, like she was trying to ease the tension that I hadn’t even fully let go of yet. I rubbed her shoulders, feeling the warmth of her skin under my hands, but my mind was still running, trying to sort out the mess Derek was pulling me into.

“Hope so,” I muttered, blowing out a long breath like I could exhale all the pressure weighing on me.

She tilted her head up, her eyes catching mine, and gave me that smile that made everything feel a little lighter.

“Just wanna let you know,” she started, her tone teasing but real, “I know it’s only been, like, two days, but you’re doing pretty good at this boyfriend thing so far—especially letting me pick what we watch.”

I leaned back, a little smirk creeping up despite everything weighing on me. “Aight, good to know. But lemme tell you this right now,” I said, my voice low and playful, “if this show’s trash, we switchin’ to Power without hesitation.”

Eden giggled, that sweet laugh of hers, and snuggled up next to me. “Whatever,” she said, settling into the couch. “But can I at least get a booty rub while we watch?”

I sucked my teeth, trying to play it cool. “Eden, you ain’t slick.”

She looked up at me, those big innocent eyes working their magic. “I know we’re not having sex, and I’m not ready for all that yet… I just want a little comfort.”

I let out a soft chuckle, shaking my head. “Comfort, huh?”

She smiled, and I gave in, slipping my hand into her pajama shorts, rubbing her booty like she asked. She relaxed against me, melting into the moment, and I’ll admit—it felt good. Not just the touch, but the quiet, the easy vibe between us. And just like she said, one episode turned into three, and before I knew it, I was fully locked into the drama. Issa, Molly, Lawrence and em’—they had me hooked.

Crazy how a show I didn’t even wanna watch turned into something I couldn’t stop watching. Kinda like Eden—she came into my life unexpectedly, but now? I was in deep, and there was no turning back.