Promises

-4-

After an hour drive, he pulled up to this big ass house.

"Nah son. You gonna definitely tell me what you do for a living" I said.

He laughed and helped me out of the car. 

"You'll see. But when you do, you gotta promise me you ain't gonna change up on me okay?" He asked.

I looked him in his eyes and nodded.

"I don't see how your career is gonna change how I feel about you" I replied.

"Good. But I want you to promise me you won’t act different" he said while leading me to his front door. 

“I promise” I replied.

We walked inside and it was beautiful. I saw a painting of him and his daughter on the wall, along with a painting of Nipsey.

"This is beautiful" I said. 

"Thank you ma. So make yourself at home. Ima go get a bottle and roll up." He said. 

"Can I use your bathroom" I asked.

"Of course baby girl. It's this way" he said, leading me upstairs. As we got upstairs, I had noticed a room with a gold album on the wall. It had said Perfect on it and something about Chris Brown.

Minding my own business, I used the bathroom and that's when it hit me. Dave East was a rapper…

My heart stopped and I quickly looked him up to make sure I wasn't bugging out. He most certainly was a rapper. 

I washed my hands and face before going back to the living room.

Dave was sitting down with a smile on his face.

"Come here beautiful" he said. 

"Nope. I'm mad at you” I said. 

"Whats wrong Lani?” He asked.

"Youre fuckin Dave East. You're that rapper who signed to Nas. Why the fuck would you keep that from me?" I asked.

"Lani, I can explain… when I came up to you at the club the other night, and you didn't know who I was, I got hyped. For the first time, someone didn't already know who I was. I didn't have to worry about you pretending to like me, so you can get clout. You didnt judge me or think you knew me based off of some song, some dumb ass blog or instagram post. You got to know me for me. That's why I didn't want to tell you. Cause if I told you at first, you wouldn't give me a fair chance." Dave said.

I looked at him and could tell that he was being sincere. He also had a good point. I wasn't famous, but I did know what it was like to have people think they know you just because of what you do for a living.

"I'm sorry for spazzing on you. I know I promised that I wouldn't change up on you, so I wont. I'm just gonna act like you're just a regular person" I replied.

"That's the thing baby girl, I am a regular person. Just cause I rap and shit like that, don't mean that I'm any better than anyone else. Im still David from Harlem, the same nigga you got to know these past two days. I'm still me. I just make money by rapping and performing." He said. 

He was right. Dave was famous when I met him, and I wouldn't have even considered it. I knew him as a dad and son, who hustled his way out of the projects. He was a goofy ass, sweetheart of a man who was full of life and was handsome as fuck. I didnt know him as the famous nigga who knows Nas and all of these other rappers I grew up listening to. 

"You're right." I admitted. 

He pulled me to him and kissed my forehead. 

"So now that you know my secret, you think you can handle this life style?" He asked.