ch27:on me
song01: thinking of u x abra

[lonz]

"𝖄𝖔𝖚 said your best friend set you up?" Cole asked Lonnie on their short lunch break between meetings. They were in the drive thru for a chicken place. Lonnie nodded, "I didn't know you had a best friend. You never mentioned any friends actually." Cole noted.

"Well, I don't anymore. So..."

Cole hummed, looking over at Lonnie who was looking back at the dark skinned man whose skin was a burnt umber underneath the suns glow.

"You look the same as before." Cole told him, "You cool?"

Lonnie nodded again, not even asking for an explanation of what Cole meant by 'before'.

"Something happened?"

"No, why?"

Cole observed him for a few seconds more before looking away.

"Why y'all not friends no more?"

"I told you. He set me up. I don't really wanna get into it."

"But what did he do?"

"He set me up. I told him some personal shit and he told somebody else who got a l'il pull and almost got me locked up. But he dumb as hell, nothing I told him was even relevant." Lonnie shrugged, "It's cool though."

"What you mean, it's cool?"

"I mean it's cool. Like I said, it's all good now."

Cole almost reacted but felt Lonnie still looking at him. So he just cleared his throat. "You had any other friends? Or you got any other friends?"

"Not really. I mostly deal with family. Had a few people I would talk to here and there but never really considered them to be friends forreal." He said, hoping Cole already knew Cobe was excluded from that without having to say his name because of how Cole reacted to it this morning. "I'm cool with some of Sam friends though if that counts." He shook his head at himself.

They finally approached the first window and Cole picked up his card but was told to put it away, "It's on me." Lonnie gave him his debit card instead.  Cole took it.

"$52.63." The worker said, taking the card Cole held out the window. She gave Cole back the card with a receipt, "Pull up to the next window."

Cole gave Lonnie back the card, "Thank you."

Lonnie only nodded.

"You alright? For real." Cole asked again, this time as they sat in the parking lot opening up their meal. "You know I know when you not cool. And, I know you not."

Lonnie didn't respond. He opened his plate and stared at it.

"I don't know what happened the last couple of years. And I don't think i'm really mad about you and me not talking then. I was mad at whoever lied— whoever came up with it. But, right now I don't even give a fuck about that weirdo shit. Throw it all out the window. We never said goodbye, time hasn't passed and we just the same as before all that. Back when you and I would tell each other any and every thing."

"But it's not the same."

"Pretend it is, for a second. I just want to know what's going on with you."

Cole's phone went off, alerting him that he had thirty minutes before his next meeting.

"Don't worry about me. I'm cool."

Cole took a bite, inspecting his piece of chicken afterwards for an explanation of why it tasted so good then another a thought popped into his head. "When you start using debit cards?"

Lonnie laughed and Cole smiled, "I'm an adult now nigga. I gotta have some shit to prove I exist or whatever." He smiled, "Plus I got a job."

Cole almost choked on his food. He looked over at Lonnie while he took a sip of his drink. He wiped his mouth with a napkin. "You got a what?"

"Don't even do allat." Lonnie chuckled, "It's a cool l'il one too. I use all my skills and experience. I enjoy it."

"That's good. What's the job?"

"You're never going to believe me." He smirked. "You prolly gone laugh at me."

"I swear, I won't."

"Naw, I don't want to say."

"Come on."

He huffed, nerves filling his body. "I work at a college."

"Doing what? You a professor?" He joked.

Lonnie nodded then shook his head, "Nah i'm playing." He laughed at himself, Cole smacked his teeth. "I work for my uncle. It's a family business."

"So, same shit?" He asked, getting a side eye from Lonnie. "Not that there was anything wrong with it. I just thought you wanted to be done with that."

"I am done with that. My uncle got a truck company. I drive. I got my own Personal Truck and everything."

"That's the perfect job for your antisocial ass."

Lonnie chuckled solidly, his upper body more evident of laughter than any sound. His smile was wide as he tried to deny how well Cole knew him.

Cole's phone started to ring as he was bagging up his plate. He answered the phone, "G, what's up?"

Geoffrey, his manager, spoke rushed, "I hope you're headed over already. I needed to sidebar with you before we go in."

"We can do it now." He reversed from his parking spot, hitting the street, "I'm on my way though."

"I needed to see your face though. I don't know how you gonna feel about this upcoming meeting."

"G, you dragging it out. Whats going on? Cecil gonna be there or something?"

Geoffrey sighed, "Of course he's going to be there. But that's not all."

"What else then?"

"They don't want to invite your friend to the table."

Cole smacked his teeth and yelled, "He got more experience that all them niggas in there how the fuck they think they can decide who in and who not? I built this shit Geoffrey! I got the final decision right?"

He was quiet on his end.

"And how the hell you know before me?"

"You keep turning your phone off, that's how."

"I'm bringing him on. He needs it and we need him. That's the end of that."

"It has to be unanimous."

"I'll make sure it is. You need to have my back on this G."

"I do. I always have your back. I just wanted you to get that energy out before the meeting so you can go in level headed and with a plan. Do you have one."

"I will."

"See you in a few."

Cole ended the call.

"Who's life you tryna save?" Lonnie asked, intrigued by the speaker conversation he just heard.

"You don't know him."

Lonnie laughed.

Cole furrowed his brows, confused and maybe irritated. "What you laughing at?"

"You." He kept laughing, "Everybody know you don't mix business with pleasure."

Cole turned up half his lip.

"You don't know him." Lonnie mocked Cole for using the same words twice to avoid informing him of whoever new he was fucking. "You can't be serious dawg." He looked at Cole. "Who is this nigga? He fucking you to get on?"

"Mind'ya business."

"You are my business. You hooking up with weak niggas with no money. The fuck you doing?"

Cole breathed in deeply and exhaled sharply.

"I agree with whoever saying no to you."

"You don't know shit about the situation. How you gone have an opinion?"

"Because I got common sense. Who is this dude?"

"He a producer and writer and he got music and business degrees, he works in the community, the nigga has grammys and shit. They think they know more about the music business than he do?Hell no."

"If he got all that, how he need this opportunity from you?"

"It's not your business."

"I don't care about the nigga. I just wanna know the situation."

"He had a lil moment and I want to bring him back to the industry."

"He fell off. Drugs?"

"See, this why I don't  wanna talk about his situation."

"Why? Because he a crackhead?"

"Who said he a crackhead?"

"What? Coke then? I forgot 'crack is cheap. crack is whack." He smiled at his own joke, referencing an iconic line.

Cole tried ignoring him, but he kept taking. "Couldn't have just been drugs though because you're still working and you've overdosed how many times? Must been worse than drugs. What's worse than drugs?"

"You act like your brother."

"Which one?"

"Dame. I don't even know them other ones. Except Reece."

"So you saying Dame is a real nigga?" He joked.

"A real childish nigga. Just like you."

Lonnie chuckled.

"Weren't you just worried about me? Now you joking and shit."

"Cause I know you good." He smirked, admiring Cole's face while he focused on merging onto the freeway. He paused, taking in the view still. Then spoke more, saying, "And I know you're smart. I also know you got your shit together right now. And I know nothing can stop you."

Cole glanced over at the man who was hyping him up out of nowhere.

"Don't let nobody fuck this up."

Cole shifted in his seat, looking straight ahead at the traffic. The sun still beaming on the two of them in this high noon hour. The air from the AC gave him a chill, or so he blamed knowing that Lonnie's voice was what actually had his skin jumping. Lonnie cleared his throat and Cole looked over at him directly into the two deep brown eyes that were already staring in his direction. He was nearly lost until a blaring horn rushed him back to reality and into his own lane. His skin flushed again, this time from embarrassment.

P:march132025

a/n: HAPPY 313 DAY MY BABY 🫶🏽