Page 61 of The Need to Know

I ran a hand through my hair. “Okay, the next time we link up, we’ll have Pad Thai, beer, and whatever happens from there, happens.”

“I don’t want you drunk. I want you sober,” Ezekiel uttered. The want in his eyes, on his face, was agonizing.

“A beer isn’t going to get me drunk.” I licked my lips and made an effort to abandon the hallway before I lost all sense of reason and dragged him into a stall. “The next time we’re alone, we’ll see where it flows. Deal?”

Ezekiel hadn’t moved. His eyes were locked on my body. “Deal.”

DJ Aux was on stage playing a song by Cardi B. As Cardi rapped about broke men not deserving any, the ladies in the building were feeling the vibe.

After a week of planning and promoting on all fronts, Paisley’s Ladies’ Night was here, and it was a smooth success. The ratio of women to men was easily sixty to forty, and I wasn’t complaining.

Every woman in Atlanta had come out tonight, from reality TV faces, up-and-coming singers and rappers, models, influencers, and more, and they all were wearing their best.

Two of BLVCKJVCK’s own, Jonelle and Erin, were wearing clothing from Shéc. Paisley herself was wearing a skintight taupe dress with a corset top. I had to hand it to her and Nas, they sold some pretty impressive gear. I knew their clientele was about to increase after this.

Not to mention, Paisley’s popularity.

Cardi’s song finished and Paisley was at the mic on the stage. It may have been her first time hosting, but she was killing it. She and DJ Aux had gotten together and curated a stellar female-studded playlist from what I’d heard so far. To my surprise, there were a few records about loving a man mixed in, taking some heat off fellas’ necks.

“Y’all havin’ a good night, ladies?” Paisley asked the crowd.

Women all around me screamed and shouted to show their love for tonight’s theme.

We should’ve done this sooner.

“I really like that record,” Paisley said. “Women need to be reminded who the prize really is. I’m here to tell you, it ain’t these men.”

“I know that’s right!” some women agreed, causing me to shake my head.

I was in the Diamond Suite, watching from the balcony and soaking it all in. Pops had come out to gift Paisley with the best champagne we carried and take pictures with her, and then he was quickly out the door to chill with my mother. Pops created a chain of nightclubs and married a homebody who didn’t like that atmosphere. It was odd, but it worked for them. Her not being out at the club made him want to be home instead.

“We, as women, deserve the moon and back, and sometimes we forget that, getting trapped by an ain’t shit man.” Paisley paused, allowing the crowd of women applauding her to get their claps in before continuing. “We gotta vet better, ladies. The first red flag is a man ‘fighting with his demons,’ or the type that aren’t ‘emotionally available.’ One—and hear me good because a lot of you need to hear this shit, you are not a certified therapist. No man should be dating his therapist no way, so don’t get caught up trying to heal him.

“Two, it is not a woman’s job to nurture and take care of a man who can’t express himself verbally. Or finish raising one because his parents fucked up. If he can’t cry in front of you, sympathize, or relate, uh-uh, he gotta go. There’s nothing worse than a child in a grown man’s body.”

“Amen!” some women down below shouted.

“I feel like men only take you seriously when you place value on who you are. Call me Ashanti, because I’m not always going to be there when you call and need me. Until I can trust you, I’m expensive. But don’t just make it about the money, because some men use that to control you and be abusive. ‘Oh I bought you a Dior bag, so I can go out and do me.’ Uh-uh.”

I clapped along with the crowd, admiring Paisley more and more.

“Ladies, don’t do more for a man than he can do for himself. They want us to cook, clean, fold their laundry, and fuck like porn stars, but when you catch a goddamn common cold, they won’t even get you a cup of chicken noodle soup!” Paisley exclaimed, eliciting a round of women booing in response. “None of that! I need a mutual exchange from my man, or really more, because I give a lot when you’re worth it. You treat me immaculately and I can be your peace and I can make you skip.”

This revived the men in the room to hoot and holler as Paisley did a sexy little dance move to emphasize her point.

Paisley pointed at the crowd, smirking. “Y’all men better agree. If you got a lady on your arm tonight you better be treatin’ her like the queen she is. Period.”

Men in the Club Suite held their women close and swore they were doing just that.

Up in the Diamond Suite, Cesar was kicking back with Leslie. I’d given him the night off, so that they could come and experience Ladies’ Night. He’d done his job in promoting up a storm alongside Paisley.

“We gotta speak up more, ladies. We gotta stand up for ourselves, emotionally and physically, that’s all I’m sayin’,” Paisley said as she began pacing the stage. “If he ain’t doin’ right, let that negro know! If you doin’ a hundred and he only doin’ seventy-two, let him know! If he ain’t puttin’ it down…?”

“Let him know!”

“Is coddling his ego worth your inner peace?” Paisley pondered.

Every female voice in the building screamed in unison, “Hell no!”