Sam stands in front of his employees with the meanest mug on his face. "If I have to shut this gym down, I will." He shakes his head at the thought. Closing down permanently is something he doesn't want to do, but will do to protect his business. "I know for most of you this is your first real job, but y'all gotta use the same common sense y'all use to stay out of trouble on the streets, to not do dumb shit here."

"Other employers would've fired y'all already. Unless that's what y'all want. Is that what y'all want? Y'all want me to fire y'all?"

"No sir!" The employees say in unison.

"Then act like it. The next time I see anyone touching or flirting with any of my guests, I'm letting you go- on sight." Sam examines everyone's facial expression. "When I said to be professional, I meant that shit."

Sam walks over to a stack of papers at the front desk. "These contracts go more into detail of what I just said to y'all. It also gives you information about the cameras I'll be installing soon, and the consequence for breaking this contract. Which is termination- without pay." He hands the contracts to the employee closest to him. "Take one and pass 'em," he announces. "I need these read and signed before we open the gym, this morning." He looks down at his watch. "Y'all got 20 minutes."

Sam turns around and starts walking towards his office. "Terry, bring yours into my office," he says without looking back. All the other guys snap their necks to face Terry, as if they've already heard what happened with Yemi. Judging by Terry's body language, he definitely thought he had gotten away with what he did yesterday. He shakes his head before following Sam into his office.

*

Sam sits on top of his desk right next to the guest chairs, clasping his hands together on his lap. Terry closes the door behind him and then sits in one of the guest chairs. "Boss man, I really did not know she was your woman."

"You got a sister? Or daughter?"

"A daughter."

"How old is she?"

"10, why?"

"If she was an adult, and a man said the shit you said to my wife. What would you think about that?"

"The only thing I said to her was that she was pretty and that she was playing hard to get. I don't see anything wrong with that, if I didn't know who she was."

"So you didn't say anything about her ass and how you can use your magical hands on her, or some shit like that?"

Terry breathes out, recollecting yesterday's events. "...I did. My bad. But I didn't touch her or call her out of her name. There was no disrespect intended."

"Would it be disrespect if it was your daughter?"

Terry slumps his shoulders in defeat. "...Yeah. It would."

"I suggest you start thinking about your daughter, the next time you even begin to open up your mouth. That might save you from a lawsuit."

"Alright boss man, I get it. It won't happen again."

"To make sure it won't happen again. You have two weeks to get your mental together."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're suspended."

"Suspended?!" Terry asks, incredulously.

Sam stands up, and shakes his head at Terry.

"Am I at least getting paid for those two weeks?"

"Are you a charity case?" Sam asks, sarcastically.

"Come on, man. You're not gonna suspend Ray for using that broad as a dumbbell."

"Did that woman consent to Ray doing that? Or did she tell him to stop?"

Terry shakes his head, comprehending the point Sam is making.

"I can't hear you."

"- Nah, man. She was cool with it."

"Even though y'all both were wrong, the difference between you and Ray is that my wife wasn't cool with what you were doing but you still pushed up on her. No matter if you knew who she was or not, that shouldn't've happened."

"Man, my daughter's mom is gon' put me on child support if I miss a payment."

"That's not my problem. You're lucky I'm not firing you. You're a fuckin' liability. I trusted y'all to do the right thing in here, but now I gotta install some fuckin' cameras, because I don't know what the fuck y'all doing when I'm not around."

Terry puts his head down for a moment before picking up a chair and slamming it on the floor. Sam furrows his eyebrows, slightly surprised and annoyed at the same time. Terry scowls at Sam and then turns to leave. With the speed of light, Sam snatches Terry up by his shirt, lifting him up off the floor, and then turning him around to face him.

"You're fired," he says through gritted teeth before throwing Terry on the floor. "Get the fuck out of my gym."

Terry is in a state of shock.

"I said get the fuck out!"

Terry slowly stands up, fixing his shirt. He walks to the door and then looks back at Sam. "I hope your shit gets shut down," he says with so much hatred in his voice. He exits before Sam punches the air in frustration.

___

LATER THAT DAY

Detective Kennedy sits in his car listening to music. Moments later, he hops out at the sight of Briana walking down the sidewalk. Briana makes eye contact and smiles.

"You found my car?" She asks, hopeful for good news.

"I sure did."

"You took the keys from him?"

"- I found your car in the surveillance footage at the location where Angela was attacked."

"Wait, what?"

"Who are you covering for?"

"I'm not covering for anyone. Just because I let someone borrow my car, doesn't mean that I was in it with them."

"So, you're telling me someone borrowed your car that night, and you were nowhere near the scene?"

"Exactly. As a matter of fact, I was with my husband that night."

"For how long?"

"Until I left to go to the hospital."

"Were you two at home or out somewhere?"

"I don't remember."

"Who took you to the hospital?"

"My husband."

"Did he stay at the hospital with you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Why would he?"

"I would think your husband would be there for support."

"He wasn't my husband at the time."

"But he was your boyfriend."

"What are you, a therapist?"

"Did he at least go to the funeral with you?"

"There wasn't a funeral."

The detective furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

"Yemi didn't want anyone around her mother. We don't even know where she's buried."

"Oh."

"Are we done here?"

"No, we're not. So why didn't Yemi want her family around? Did she blame you all for her mother's death?"

"Yemi is crazy. She walked into the room, demanding us to tell her something we don't know. I think she lost her mind, and started hearing voices or some shit."

"Hmm."

"Now, are we done here? You're wasting my time." Briana brushes past him, walking towards her house.

"I'm sure I'll be back with more questions."

Briana waves him off as Detective Kennedy walks back to his car.

___

Yemi is in the kitchen cooking dinner when Sam comes home from work. He walks into the kitchen, and Yemi looks up at him. "Hi," she says, cautiously.

"What's up, ma?" He wraps his arms around her neck, and then kisses her forehead. "I'm not mad at you, if that's what you're thinking."

Yemi doesn't say anything. She puts her focus back on the food, and Sam looks at her as if he's trying to read her mind. He releases his embrace before leaning against the counter, staring at her intensely. "...Talk to me."

She quickly glances up at him. "About what?"

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm fine, Sam."

"So our relationship has come this far, just for you to lie to me?"

"You said you're not mad at me, so I'm fine."

"Do you need me to give you some time, before we can talk?"

She nods.

"Well, why do you need time? Were you mad at me before I came in?"

Yemi sighs. "Yes, Sam. I texted you earlier, and you never text me back. I thought you were really that mad at me."

"I apologize. I had a lot going on at work, and I didn't really pick up my phone."

"But you saw my text?"

"I saw that you texted me, but I never opened it."

"So, that's how we're dealing with each other, now?"

"I wanted to wait until things calmed down before I read it. But then I forgot you had texted me, so I didn't think to look at my phone."

"Whatever."

"Look, I'll show you." He pulls out his phone from the pocket of his sweat pants, and then holds it up to her face.

She looks at it and sees he has many missed calls and unopened messages. "So, you didn't feel it vibrate in your pocket?"

"No, I didn't. I don't have thighs and ass like you to feel what's in my pockets."

Yemi smirks, trying not to laugh.

"Mamas-"

"Don't mamas me. I was missing you all day today, and I never even crossed your mind."

"That's not true."

"If I crossed your mind, you would've picked up the phone."

"Yemi, listen to how we sound. We never talk like this."

"And you never go a day without talking to me."

Sam sighs, knowing she's right. "...I promise you it had nothing to do with this morning. I sincerely apologize. Can I make it up to you, tonight?"

"No, I'm fine."

He takes away the cooking utensils from her.

"Stop, Sam."

"Let me finish cooking dinner. You just relax, and I'll take care of everything." He playfully bumps her away from the stove.

She stares at him for a brief moment. "...Sam?"

"Yes, my beautiful queen?"

She blushes. "...I should've told you earlier about your employee. I hope me waiting until later didn't cause any problems at the job."

"They caused those problems, not you. Just promise me you'll tell me things right away. If you need to pull me away to tell me, do that. I know you don't want me to get into any trouble, but I promise you I won't do anything that I can't get myself out of, alright?"

She nods.

He cups her face and kisses her. "I love you, ma."

She smiles at his words. "I love you more."

"I don't think that's possible," he says in a seductive voice before kissing every inch of her face.

Yemi giggles, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Don't let the food burn, Sam."

He gives her one last kiss before smacking her butt, motioning her to leave the kitchen.

___

Detective Kennedy is waiting outside the door of a casino when Jonathon storms out.

"Jonathon Billmore..."

Jonathan whips his body around, facing the detective. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Your wife responded the same way," he says, jokingly.

"My wife? Are you fucking her or something?"

"No. I'm Detective Jeffrey Kennedy." He flashes Jonathon his badge.

"Whatever she told you about me, was a lie."

The detective chuckles. "You two are very much alike."

"What do you want, man?"

"Do you remember Angela Hardwick?"

"Yeah, Yemi's mama, right?"

"Right."

"That woman was finer than Ms. Parker from 'Friday'. If I could've fucked her, I definitely would have."

"How about your wife? Was she finer than your wife?"

"Angela? Without a doubt. Listen, I only married Briana, because I was forced to."

"Who forced you to get married?"

"Briana."

"She put a gun to your head?"

"Nah, this is how it went down." He claps his hands together, excited to tell the story. "We were broken up for a while because I was cheating on her. I actually started missing her and shit, so I went back to her and promised I'd be faithful. But she said she would only take me back if I married her."

"So that would explain why you didn't stay at the hospital with Briana when Angela died. You didn't really care for Briana at that time."

"I cared for her. I just didn't know Angela was at the hospital. When I got back with Briana, that's when I found out she was dead."

"Really?"

"Let me tell you something... If I would've known, I probably would've showed up, just to be next to Angela's fine ass again."

The detective shakes his head in disbelief.

"But what's up with these questions? Why're you asking me about her?"

"I wanted to know what you were told about the situation. You said you found out when you and Briana got back together. Was she the one who told you about Angela's death?"

"Yep."

"How did she break the news to you?"

"We got into an argument, and so I joked about going out to look for Angela, trying to get Briana madder. She told me: good luck looking for a dead woman. I thought she was just on some bullshit, joking and shit. But when Yemi moved in with us later, I asked her about her mom, and then she got pissed and stormed off. That's when I realized Briana wasn't lying."

"Sounds like that wasn't the first time you mentioned Angela to your wife."

"Nope. It sure wasn't. Before we got married, the last time we broke up, it was because I told Briana I fucked Angela."

The detective tries to hide his shocked expression. "But you said if you had had the chance to have sex with her, you would have. So are you saying now that you did have sex with her?"

"Nah. Briana's so fuckin' gullible. I know just what to say to get what I want from her."

"So that I'm clear... you did not have sex with Angela? That was a lie that you told Briana?"

Jonathon nods. "Shit, I told her almost the same damn thing about Yemi. I regret that shit though, 'cause now I'm living out of a fuckin' car. We were getting by when Yemi was living with us."

"You don't have a job?"

"Nope. I got fired a while back."

"How are you getting money for the casino?"

"I sold my car. Hol' up... now you're starting to ask too many personal questions."

The detective ignores the latter. "So, is that why you stole your wife's car?"

"What's hers is mine, man."

The detective pulls out his card and hands it to Jonathon. "If you ever need help with your gambling addiction, call me. I can refer you to some programs."

"I'm not addicted to shit."

The detective pats Jonathon's shoulder, sympathetically. "Take care, man."

___

Sam and Yemi are eating their dinner at the dining room table.

"I'm so excited to give you your surprise tomorrow."

"Oh that's right... tomorrow is my birthday, huh?" Sam tells her, nonchalantly.

"Stop playing, Sam. You know you're excited to celebrate your birthday with me."

"I wouldn't say excited. But it's cute how excited you are."

"Yeah, okay. We'll see about that."

Sam smiles at her, truly admiring the love she has for him.

Yemi smiles back at him. "You're so handsome."

"And you're so beautiful."

She blushes. Neither one can keep their eyes off each other, as they continue eating their food.

"Finish up, so we can bring in my birthday with some birthday sex."

She rolls her eyes. "You have 3 hours left."

"Well, you know how long we can go."

"You ain't never lied."

Sam laughs.

"Happy early birthday, baby." She blows him a kiss.

"Thank you, mamas."