Gangstress

February 1999 (1)

***Marshall's POV***

It had been a couple of weeks since My Name Is dropped and it was like my entire world had shifted. I could no longer go out like normal, tonnes of radio stations and magazines were talking about me, and I was getting the biggest royalty cheques I had ever seen in my entire fucking life. It really felt like overnight I had become a whole different person, and honestly it was pretty fucking cool. 

It kinda sucked not being able to go outside like normal, but I figured that would likely die down after the Slim Shady LP had been dropped for awhile. But until then, I definitely wasn't complaining. This had been my dream since I was a kid, and it felt like it was finally real. I still knew that the carpet could get yanked out from under me at any moment, so I was really just trying to take it all in, because who knew how long this would last?

Tomorrow I was flying out to LA to go have my record release party with the whole label, and all my friends. Angel was flying out as well which I was so excited about. I missed her so much when we weren't together and I wondered if things kept going well, how long we were going to be able to do long distance for? I was never gonna leave Detroit, and she knew that. But I also knew that she never wanted to leave Brooklyn. Especially not now that Aidan's out. I shook my head at the thoughts. I was getting far too ahead of myself to even begin to think about moving in with her. 

Before I left for the weekend to go to LA, I wanted to stop by Kim's and say bye to Hailie. Things between me and Kim had still been going pretty well. Like I had told Angel, we weren't fighting all the time, and she was still being really nice to me. I had felt a few times that maybe she had been trying to flirt with me, but it was nothing ever really explicit so I just let it go. 

I walked up the stairs to Kim's place and knocked on the door. The door swung open and I saw Kim greeting me with a big smile while Hailie was perched on her hip. 

"Daddy!!" Hailie squealed and reached out for me. 

"Hey baby!" Kim handed her over to me and I squeezed her so hard she started giggling uncontrollably. 

"How are ya, Marshall?" Kim asked while she moved aside to let me in. 

"Good, thanks. How ya been?" I put Hailie down and she ran to go get her toys. 

She nodded. "I've been real good. Thanks for giving me that money the other day. It was really helpful." She started walking to the living room and I followed her. 

"Yeah, no worries." 

"Ya want a drink or anything? I just put some lasagna in the oven." 

"That'd be dope actually, I'm starvin'." 

She laughed. "Okay, what do ya want to drink? I got some Bud light in the fridge?" 

I nodded. "Thanks." 

She went to go get the beer and Hailie came back out with her Barbies. We spent the whole afternoon playing and watching cartoons and Kim surprisingly never bitched at me once. In fact it was like we were the perfect family I had always wanted us to be. In that moment, my heart felt full, and whole. Being with the both of them and all of us being so happy was all I had wanted for so many years. 

It made me kinda sad that me and Kim couldn't have worked shit out when we were together, and maybe actually had a normal and happy relationship for once in our lives. But at the same time, I was thankful that we didn't because then I wouldn't have met Angel. And Angel made me the happiest that I had ever felt being with any woman. 

A few hours later, Hailie went down for a nap and I decided I should probably go home and pack considering that I was leaving tomorrow, and I still hadn't gotten any of my shit together. Kim walked me to the door and I put my jacket on.