𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 ¹

twenty four.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
first mistake

Andre

Andre woke up that morning thinking about a lot. Hakeem thought he was a snake, but Jamal and Cookie did sneaky stuff too? Lucious specifically told Jamal he couldn't perform tomorrow night, and what did Jamal do? He couldn't take no for an answer.

That was his first mistake.

His second mistake was running to their mother for help. Now Cookie was going to get him to perform behind Lucious' back, which wasn't good. For them. It was great for Andre though.

Lucious needed to know how untrustworthy Jamal and Cookie were. They surely wouldn't be considered for the CEO position anymore. Then Andre would only have to worry about Hakeem, which should be a walk in the park.

He walked into Lucious' mansion, ready to spill all. He was winning the competition if it was the last thing he did.

Lucious was sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper. "Hey, Dre."

Andre sat down too. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"I haven't been falling, so that's good."

"Your muscles haven't been acting up?"

"Not really, which is good because it's been crazy in this house lately."

Andre nodded seriously. "I know. Jamal and Hakeem can never get along, and it's getting out of control, Pop. I'm getting worried."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think they're mature enough to run a company. I really don't."

Lucious said, "Jamal moved out, so they won't be arguing that much anymore."

"Yes, but I have more concerns," Andre began. "If they become CEO, they won't know where to begin. They have no experience-"

Lucious was annoyed. "Is there anything else you wanna talk about, Dre? Because if not-"

Andre cut him off. "Actually, there is. It's about Jamal again." Lucious huffed. "It's not about CEO. Jamal wants to perform tomorrow, right?"

Lucious furrowed his eyebrows. "How do you know?"

"He told Ma about it. He said you refuse to let him perform, so he asked Ma to make it happen for him."

"What?"

Lucious was pissed, Andre could tell. "Yup. I was shocked and a little disgusted that they were going behind your back."

"Did your mother agree?" Lucious demanded to know.

"Yup. She wants him to perform."

Lucious wasn't happy at all. "Wow. That's good to know."

Andre knew it was. "Yeah. I didn't wanna snitch, but if you're considering them to be CEO, you have to make sure you can trust them. What they're doing is shady, Pop."

He nodded angrily. "Yeah, it sure is." He patted Andre's shoulder. "Thank you for telling me this, son."

Andre shrugged smugly. "Gotta have a trustworthy CEO, right?" Then he chuckled and stood up. "I'll let you handle it, Pop."

He left the house with a satisfied smirk on his face. Lucious was going to yell at Cookie and Jamal like there was no tomorrow, and Andre knew he'd lost respect for them. Which meant no CEO for them.

Well, that's their fault. It wasn't hard to be loyal, but hey, what did Andre know? He was the snake of the family apparently.

Oh, how wrong Hakeem was.

Lucious

Jamal had the nerve to run to Cookie behind Lucious' back, huh? Then he wondered why he didn't have Lucious' respect. He was too damn emotional and hardheaded.

He had specifically told Jamal he wasn't allowed to perform for Cookie. He was still trying to fight Lucious on it. He was acting like it'd be the end of the world if he didn't perform. Cookie didn't even need her own song. She hadn't done anything but sit in a jail cell for most of his life. So, how did she deserve a song over Lucious?

It wasn't about him being jealous. Royalty and Hakeem weren't writing songs for their mother, so why did Jamal have to be the oddball all the time? Lucious didn't know, but he was sick of it.

Just then, Cookie came downstairs. "Hey, Lucious."

He just glared at her without saying a word.

"I said hey, Lucious!"

"I heard you," he said bitterly.

"And you're gonna stay silent?"

"I'm staying silent because I'm not sure if you meant to say hey to Jamal instead," he retorted.

Cookie was puzzled. "What are you talking about? You know that boy moved out."

"Yes he did, but for some reason, you're still babying him!" Lucious yelled while standing up.

"How am I babying him, Lucious?"

"I told Jamal I don't want him performing tomorrow. So the fact that you're trying to make it happen anyway isn't cool."

"Yeah, Jamal told me all about that. Apparently, you don't like the song."

"Have you even heard it?" Lucious questioned.

"I haven't, but I don't need to hear it to know it's going to be great. You need to give Jamal a chance!" Cookie argued.

"I gave him a chance! I said he can perform as long as it's a different song!"

"He doesn't want to perform a different song, and he shouldn't have to. The boy shouldn't have to ask you for permission at all."

"I'm his boss, so yes he does. Even Hakeem has to ask for permission."

Cookie gave him a dirty look now. "How much do you wanna bet that you don't give Hakeem a hard time about it? Because that's your favorite son."

"It seems like Jamal's yours."

Cookie confirmed it. "He is. So if my baby wants to perform tomorrow, I'm gonna make it happen."

"Not as long as I'm there, you're not." Cookie just cackled. "Am I laughing?"

"I am, because you keep forgetting that you can't keep a Cookie down."

"Yes I can. I'll put your ass in a cookie jar. That'll shut you up."

Cookie didn't like that comeback at all. "You are so-" She did strangle motions. "-ugh!"

She started walking out, and he yelled after her. "Yeah, you ain't the only one with comebacks!"

"My baby is performing! End of story!" Cookie declared.

"No the hell he ain't!"

"Just wait and see, Lucious!"

He wasn't waiting to see a damn thing. He quickly pulled out his phone to call Thirsty because he'd handle this.

Thirsty quickly answered the phone. "Wassup, Lucious."

"Thirsty, I need you to do something for me."

"Anything."

"Make sure Jamal and Cookie aren't allowed into the club tomorrow night. Can you do that for me?"

Thirsty obeyed. "I'll make it happen."

Lucious knew he would.