Free Antebellum by R. Kayeen Thomas

foolishness you’ve gotten him into.”
    Rose took a deep breath, got his wits about himself, and then turned to face SaTia.
    â€œMs. Brooks, Moe is an adult. I am not his father, and more importantly, you are not his mother. I am sorry that things have gotten so complicated, but the bottom line is that Moe was madean offer by the company and he accepted it. Because of that acceptance, he’s made more money in the last couple of months than any of us thought possible. Maybe he regrets the decision now, at this very moment, but he’s been fine over the last eight months, and when all this blows over, he’ll remember that he’s one of the highest paid rappers in the business, and he’ll know that all this was worth it.”
    She-Hulk wanted to come out of SaTia, but this was no low-level receptionist that my manager was impaling in her imagination. This was one of the CEOs of Cosmos Records.
    SaTia stood unmoved with her fists balled, breathing sulfur out of her nostrils.
    Once Rose realized the short, brown-skinned woman recognized his power the same way everyone else did, he relaxed his shoulders and began breathing easier.
    â€œYou know, I’ve always been intrigued by cultural differences when it comes to the concept of responsibility. It seems only logical to me that if you are upset about a decision that was made, you would direct that concern to the person who made the decision.”
    â€œYou son-of-a—”
    The elevator doors started to open and cut off SaTia’s would-be profanity, and the ensuing chaos wiped away any traces of the previous conversation. Brian, Orlando, and Ray had made such a scene when they came into the building that the same three security guards that SaTia and I had run into followed them up to the twentieth floor. They’d exchanged words on the elevator, and consequently, Orlando had tried to swing on the tallest one while the head guard called two more up for backup. When our elevator doors opened, we saw eight grown men trying to give each other concussions.
    When they saw the three of us, they all froze like ice sculptures.
    SaTia and Rose spoke simultaneously.
    â€œGet in the conference room.”
    â€œGet back to your posts.”
    They scattered like moviegoers after a bomb threat.
    I had regained most of my strength by this point, and wanting to look strong in front of my entourage, I led the way into the conference room. Though the security guards were gone, Ray, Brian, and Orlando looked as if they were still in the middle of a fight.
    Brian yelled out loud first.
    â€œYo, we gotta get dem niggas, Moe! We gotta get dem niggas, for real!”
    â€œWho—the guards?”
    â€œNo! Man, forget dem guards, they was pussies anyway,” Ray cut in, jumping up and down. “I’m talkin ’bout P. Silenzas, man! Dem niggas gotta get dealt wid!”
    For the first time, I realized that only three of my crew members were in the room with me.
    â€œWhere’s Henry?”
    â€œDat’s what I’m sayin’, man!” Ray continued to hop around like a pissed off bunny. “Henry in da hospital, dogg! Orlando got through to da back while dey was workin’ on him. Dey was tryin’ to keep us out, but ’Lando got in and heard ’em fo’ hisself. They said he got hit in one’a his arteries and he lost too much blood on the way to da ’mergency room. He in a coma!”
    â€œWhat?” I would’ve preferred another panic attack to the way I felt when I heard those words. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to throw up or pass out. Instead, I jumped out of my seat for the second time in ten minutes.
    â€œHe in a coma, dogg.” Orlando scared me. He wasn’t jumpingaround or pacing or anything. He stood up from the wall with this cold look in his eyes and evil in his voice. “Laid up like a vegetable, dude. And I’ont know ’bout none’a y’all