𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 ²

twenty six.

"Honestly."

They left, and Andre also went to the guest room. Hakeem didn't go upstairs just yet because heard Cookie and Lucious talking. He eavesdropped.

Cookie said, "He did it, didn't he?"

"What are you talking about, Cookie?"

"Andre killed Rhonda, didn't he?"

Hakeem's eyes damn near popped out of his head. She suspected Andre too? But she was just defending him.

"Now, why would you say that about our son?" Lucious hissed.

"Because Rhonda said this would happen."

What? Rhonda knew?

Lucious said, "Rhonda didn't know anything, Cookie. She was just talking in the moment."

"But it makes sense if Andre did it. Rhonda wanted to leave and Andre didn't want that."

"Our son is not a killer, Cookie!"

"Don't lie to me, Lucious! Did he kill her?!"

"No he didn't. I promise," he told her.

Cookie was relieved. "Okay, thank god. Because I don't think I'd ever forgive Andre for that."

Hakeem still wasn't believing that Andre was innocent. Rhonda had no reason to kill herself. She wanted to start a new life without Andre, and then she ended up dead? It was so obvious that he had pushed her over that railing.

But if no one wanted to believe Hakeem, then fine. He just had to expose Andre again.

Jamal

It was now night time and Jamal had been at the mansion all day. He would've spent the night, but Andre was staying in the guest room, and Jamal wasn't about to share a room with him.

He didn't want to believe Andre was a killer, but he did look suspicious right now. Rhonda was trying to leave him, and now she was dead. But then again, Lucious was smart. If Andre did kill Rhonda, Lucious would know, and he definitely wouldn't be okay with it. So Jamal guessed Andre was innocent.

He was sad over Rhonda's death. He tried to talk to Mateo about it, but he was still ignoring Jamal. Jamal had to call someone else, he guessed.

A part of Jamal wanted to call Tory, but he found himself looking for the slip of paper Warren had given him. He found it and dialed his number.

Warren answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Warren. This is Jamal."

He seemed happy. "Oh wow. I was starting to think you ripped the paper up."

Jamal chuckled. "I'm glad I didn't because my family is going through something right now, and I really need someone to vent to."

"Well, you know where I am."

"Club Nirvana?" Jamal guessed.

"Bingo."

"I'm on my way." Jamal hung up and was about to open the front door, but that was a bad idea. He didn't want those damn bodyguards following him tonight. They had made him leave early for no reason last time, and he didn't want them interrupting again because he needed this night out.

So he snuck out.

-

Jamal sat at a table. Warren came back with two drinks in his hands. "Here you go."

Jamal grabbed his drink. "I'm gonna need about ten more of these."

"Damn, it's that bad?"

"My sister in law died, so yeah."

Warren's jaw dropped. "Oh shit. I'm sorry."

"Me too. Everyone's ruling it as a suicide, but..."

"You don't believe that?"

Jamal wasn't sure. "I really don't know what to believe. She was Andre's wife, and she was filing for divorce. Then she ended up dead."

"Oh, that's suspicious," Warren commented.

"Yeah, it is. I already know Andre can't be trusted that much, but could he really be a killer?"

Warren drank his drink. "Lucious seems to have a good judgment of people. What does he think?"

"He's certain Andre's innocent."

"Then I think it's safe to say he's innocent."

"Yeah..." Jamal stared at his drink. "Anyway, now we have to attend a funeral, and I fucking hate those."

"I can go with you if you want," Warren offered.

"I'd like that because I certainly can't ask my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?"

Oh shit. Jamal tried to take back what he had said. "U-Uh. I didn't mean to say that! I meant!-"

Warren cut him off. "Jamal, you don't have to lie. I've seen the pictures of you and Mateo on the internet."

"They're just pictures," he lied. "I'm straight. Tory is my ex, you know that."

Warren laughed that off. "You're still not fooling me. You and Tory have no chemistry, so give it to me straight. Lucious had you pretending to date Tory, huh?"

"Is it that obvious?"

Warren shrugged. "It seems like a Lucious thing to do."

Jamal told him the truth. "Fine. I am gay. I'm only telling you this because dad really trusts you."

Warren told the truth too. "Well, since we're being honest, I guess I should tell you that I'm gay too."

That was news to Jamal. "Wait, really? Are you out to the world?"

"I am, and it's the best decision I've ever made. You should do it too."

Jamal wished he could. "It isn't that simple for me. Lucious will disown me, and Empire will get blacklisted."

Warren understood. "Well listen, if you ever do decide to come out, you have my support."

Jamal smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Warren. That means a lot."

Warren smiled too. "Yeah. So about those drinks..."

"I need about 20 more now," Jamal joked.

Warren laughed. "Okay." He went to get the drinks.

-

Jamal stayed at Club Nirvana until closing hour, so it was pretty late now. Once he stepped foot in his building, he knew he was going to get yelled at by those bodyguards, but he didn't care; he didn't regret what he had done. He had fun tonight.

Jamal took out his keys and was about to go into the building, but heard someone yell, "Yo, Jamal!"

It was so dark, he couldn't tell who that was. They were wearing all black, and now they were running his way. Jamal was really confused. Should he run inside?

He guessed he should've ran inside because the next thing he knew, the person took out a gun and fired a bullet at him. Jamal stared down at his bloody stomach in disbelief while putting a trembling hand on it. He dropped to the ground as the person stood over him.

He still couldn't tell who they were because he could barely see straight. He was losing consciousness. Plus, they were wearing a ski mask.

The person looked down at him and said, "This is for messing with Hakeem, motherfucker!"

And then they shot him some more.