Round 3
August 12th, 2019
As Dangote by Burna Boy plays loudly throughout the boxing gym, Anthony sits on the edge of the boxing ring lacing up his boxing boots. He sings along to the song unknowingly wearing a wide smile that has his best friend, David, looking at him with curiosity.
"Man been happy as hell all day," KD comments while leaning up against the boxing ring.
Anthony looks up realizing he's taking about him so he responds, "What's there not to be happy about? Training's going as planned. I'm looking and feeling good. Abella's coming back in town today. I got Natalie off my back, I have my son more, and I don't have to pay child maintenance anymore."
"Finessed the system that's setup against us. I don't know how he did it," Gbenga says shaking his head.
"A good and convincing lawyer," he points at his cousin.
Anthony's so glad they were able to get everything wrapped up and it didn't drag along. Granted it only happened this way because Natalie couldn't afford the expensive lawyer fees, but he doesn't feel bad at all. He gave her plenty of opportunities to act right and warned her court was a threat.
On top of getting equal custody and not having to pay money monthly, Anthony's name got cleared of the asinine abuse allegations she made. They could finally release the court documents for blogs to 'find' them and post them. That meant text messages from Natalie. The one that cleared his name of being an 'abuser' was Natalie apologizing for going to that blog and lying, while begging him not take her to court over Joseph.
He won...
Anthony's snapped out of his thoughts by Ben asking, "Abella's coming today?"
He nods his head. "Actually, what time is it? Janet's supposed to be picking her up for me because I have to train." When Ben tells him the time he adds, "She should've landed by now." He unconsciously smile while loosening the laces on the next boot.
"Look at him just big grinning!" KD teases.
"Allow it." Now he sees how annoying it is when you make fun of your boy for having a basic human emotion such as having feelings for the opposite sex.
"I can understand why you like her though. She's not afraid to do some stuff that other women won't. A very confident woman that knows what she wants."
"I think it's more than like, bruv," Ben interjects grinning at Anthony knowing he's about to start something. "He loves her innit."
"Why can't you keep your mouth shut?" Anthony asks with a glare tying his last shoe.
As Anthony stands up KD asks, "You've told her you love her?"
"Yeah," Anthony shrugs like it's no big deal before rolling his neck getting ready to stretch.
KD's eyebrows furrow and his mouth opens slightly. "But like in what way do you love her? Like you love her for being there for you? You love her as a person? You love her for the friendship you've built before and during the dating? Or like you're romantically in love with her? There's a difference."
"When you love someone you just love them. Are you now going to be coming with disclaimers every time you say it? I love you, but only because you're there for me. I love you, but only because you're giving me good pum pum. Like what?" He says making Ben laugh. "At that point you're loving with conditions."
KD puts his hand on his cheek. "Woww, he broke it down into this and that. Like the love doctor or sumtin." He pauses as if taken aback. "You're in love," he says in a matter of fact tone. "He don't wanna say it out his mouth because then it makes it real."
"You know Mr. Commitment Issues. When it hits him that he's in too deep he's going to go running like always," Ben states.
"You lot have no faith in me. I've been doing good. I'm a changed man."
"Yeah, until you cross paths with Feven or any other girl you've banged before. Then you gonna wanna do what you want without having to explain yourself to anyone like you did Abella after she answered your phone."
"You didn't actually get neck from Feven in the club bathroom? She was lying, right?" KD asks remembering Anthony telling him what happened in Amsterdam with Abella.
"No, I didn't." Anthony screws up his face making a hand motion to say what kind of question is that. "In the bathroom of a public place? Listen I have way more class than that now. Let's be serious," he says sarcastically since they want make him out to be so trash.
"I think you're scared of Abella on the low," KD wags his finger.
"Oh, 100%," He says with no hesitation. "When I tell you every man in her family is bigggg or a fighter... I was lookin' like rah what did I get myself into when I went to her family function. And the way she was punching up her cousin and ex.. They were cracking off every time they landed sounding like thunder, mate."
Ben and KD both fall into each other laughing. "How's a big man like you scared of a woman?" KD asks.
"Women get super strength when they're mad, you know," Ben says understanding where his cousin's coming from. "When I tell you my ex dragged me by my scalp when she saw texts to other girls. My scalp," he reiterates. "I'm bald. How was she even gripping the ting like I had luscious hair? Like a basketball," he says putting his fingers into his head to demonstrate.
Anthony laughs and shakes his head before beginning to stretch. "He really does love her though," Ben tells KD after all the joking.
"No joke," Anthony says as confirmation while stretching his arm across his body. "I'm more motivated than I've ever been."
About thirty minutes later he hears a familiar voice. Even though there's loud music playing and chatter happening all throughout the gym, he can pinpoint the American accent anywhere.
When Anthony sees Abella walk into the gym he immediately starts smiling from ear to ear. He stops what he's doing walking towards Abella to meet her halfway. "She has arrived," he says in a Nigerian accent before jumping up and down a couple of times.
Abella laughs giving him the same energy back...
As they get closer he wonders what she's going to do. Will she hug him, go for their handshake, or dap him? She hasn't tried to make it seem like they're only friends in awhile, but she doesn't really show PDA when they're in front of their actual close friends and family.
"Femi!" She says with excitement before pausing to ask, "Are you sweaty?" He responds with a no, so she hugs him. "You look good," she compliments while putting her hand on his face. When she pulls his head down a bit to kiss him, he receives the peck before smiling.
KD wastes no time to start. "You're kissing now? It's seriousssss," he says putting his fist to his mouth. It's one of those 'I need to see them kiss in my face to know it's real' moments.
"What do you mean? This is my bredrin, my mandem," Anthony says playing clueless. "You don't kiss your female friends?"
He doesn't know why David's acting so surprised when he was the only one who knew about their first date in the beginning. Maybe David didn't think it would be go passed a couple dates.
At first he thought Anthony was only pursuing her because Abella said in an interview that amassed millions of views that she'd never date him. He knows Anthony will try to prove a point and go for a woman who seems unattainable then go about his business once he proved he could in fact get her. He likes a challenge...
The thing is, Abella keeps challenging him which has drawn him in more and more. She speaks her mind, asks questions, sets boundaries, and tests him. It takes her back to that Farrakhan quote she told him on their first date. She tests him to make sure he really is the man he claims to be.
Abella chuckles before waving at KD and Gbenga greeting them both. She walks away from Anthony for a second to dap up Ben before they pull into a hug. She can't lie hugging him is like hugging a big Panda bear. When she reaches to rub his head he smacks his lips and drops his arms no longer hugging her. "Get off me, dog," he says jokingly but seriously at the same time.
"It's good luck," she chuckles before dapping KD next.
Between Anthony's pretty large inner circle, Abella would have to say Gbenga and David were her favorites. Ben's a laidback and chill guy, while KD's just extremely sweet.
"How's training coming?" She asks walking back over to Anthony who puts his arm around her shoulder.
"Good. This is a simple session today. How was your flight?"
"It was fine. I was in Norway, so the flight wasn't too bad," she stretches a bit before adding, "I'm so glad the tour's almost over." Abella only has two shows left; one in Manchester and then Wembley Stadium. She's glad it's almost over too. She's ready for a break.
"What took so long? Your flight landed like two hours ago."
"Me and Janet went to eat then I had to check into my hotel first."
"I told you you can stay at my house."
Abella raises her eyebrows. "I am not trying to deal with what happened last time," she says referring to Natalie. "Not until I have a conversation with her myself face to face. Until then no more sleepovers while your son's there."
As much as he wants to argue about it, he can't. It's understandable. "Well, where's Janet?"
"She went to go pick up Angel from netball practice. What's netball?" She asks looking confused.
"It's like basketball," he explains. "I have to get something. I'll be back," Anthony says quickly before walking away. Abella shrugs talking to Ben and KD while Anthony goes to the changing room. He goes to his locker and grabs his backpack grabbing what he needs stuffing it into the pocket of his shorts. He shuts his locker then goes back out into the main gym.
"Abella," he motions her over.
"Yes sir," she says coming his way. When she sees a grin on his face she peers at him wondering what he's about to do or say. He pulls something out of his pocket and holds it up...
When she realizes what it is she says, "That was fast." She just mentioned wanting one the last time she saw him. Abella wears a smile leaning to get a closer look. "No, this is one of your old ones. Why does it have your initials?"
"It's not old. I just had this made last week. Ask Ben. He was with me..." she looks back at Gbenga who nods his head as conformation to Anthony's statement. "Look at the back."
"Clean hearts always win," she reads the engraving on the back of the pendant. "What date is that?" She asks with a squint. "6/8/19. Our first date." She looks at him with a smile as he puts it over her head. That's when Abella realizes he said he'll give her one when she's his girlfriend. She points her index finger at him. "Wait.. No, what are you saying with this?"
He puts his hand to his chin smirking at her. "You know what I'm sayin'."
"No, say it out of your mouth like a grown man." She puts a hand on her hip waiting.
"It's a friendship necklace. Will you be my best friend?" He jokes receiving a push to the chest. "I'm kidding. I want to be with you, so Abella Mobisson, will you be my girlfriend?"
Abella puts her hand under her nose fake sniffling. "This is so sudden and I just don't know. Can I think about it?" She pauses for a few seconds. "Yes."
When KD and Gbenga cheer both Anthony and Abella look at them before laughing. You tell your friends about a girl and they lose their mind, especially when they're used to you not catching feelings for anyone.
"Hold up." He pulls another necklace out putting it over her head. "And," He says pulling another one out. It's the same necklace, but in the colors of silver and rose gold. She has all three. "Hold on. And..." Lastly, he holds up a diamond tennis necklace.
Abella looks to the side pursing her lips trying to hide a smile. She's one of those people who gets weird and doesn't know how to react to gifts, especially when other people are around. He wanted for them to be alone, but between his training and her schedule to wrap up this tour he had to squeeze this in somehow.
Anthony pulls her hair so the necklaces aren't sitting on top of it. "Hold your hair up," he says while undoing the clasp on the diamond necklace. Once he gets it on she let's go of her hair. When she looks at him, he can tell she doesn't know what to say or do. She's already told him numerous times she doesn't like people buying stuff for her. She rather be the one giving.
"Come on!" He says with excitement seeing them around her neck. "Look at the First Lady of Team AJ just shinin'."
"You get on my nerves."
She looks at the necklaces seeing the back of each of them had something different engraved into it. The silver one has Phil 2:13 with 'We Rise' underneath it. The rose gold one has today's date. She immediately looks up covering her face as Anthony bounces his eyebrows up and down at her.
"Now what if I would've said no in front of all these people?"
"You've been mine though. Before you were my girl, you were my girl. Ya get me? Wasn't nobody moving to you because they knew," he says patting his chest with a prideful smile. "Now it's official."
"My boy's a grown man now. My G dat," KD says dapping Anthony. "You see that, double tasking. You can still go to the gym and make time for wifey. No excuses."
Right as he said that Anthony's trainer, Rob McCracken, entered the gym letting him know it's time to get started. Anthony greets him before Rob turns towards Abella.
"Mobisson," he says acknowledging her before shaking her hand. "I met your father at the 2012 Olympics when he was still training Spence. Amazing fighter even better trainer. Great man."
"Thank you. You're an amazing trainer as well." Anthony smiles a little. Ever since he lost everyone has been telling him to replace Rob. He isn't going to do that anyway. He's too loyal and Rob's like a father figure to him. He's gotten him this far, so why turn his back on him now? After one loss.
While Anthony gets in the ring with his trainer to do pad work, Abella sits on the sidelines talking to KD and Ben. "Do you Anthony should come to Texas to train?" KD asks her.
"Yeah. There's a lot of fighters in Texas that are built like Andy with fast hands too. There's a lot of Mexican fighters in Texas. It wouldn't be hard at all to find people with similar fighting styles to Andy for Anthony to spar with. There's a lot of championship level fighters hidden in our gyms, so they'll put that pressure on him which he needs."
KD looks at Abella who stares at Anthony in the ring with her arms crossed. He can tell she knows a lot about boxing. Outside of dating Anthony, he knows she'll be a good asset to the team for both her boxing knowledge and connections.
"How long do you think he would need to train out there?"
"Maybe two or three weeks. They get a lot in at our gym. Plus, he's already in training camp. He never stops training, so he shouldn't need much time."
"Good. I was thinking maybe October."
"That's fine. I'll give you my brother's number, so you can talk to him. He's the one who mostly runs the gym. He'll setup the sparring partners and sparring sessions for those couple of weeks."
As time progresses Abella watches the ring attentively at Anthony's every move noting any changes he needs to make. She doesn't care if it's the smallest mistake, it should be pointed out so it can be corrected. That's the only way he'll win.
"That back foot," she says loud enough for him to hear her. Anthony hears her and corrects himself continuing to follow his trainers movements.
Abella checks her phone and a minute later he's back to what she pointed out. It's a habit he can't seem to break. She shakes her causing Ben to mumble, "He's not comfortable on the back foot," understanding what she means.
If he won't say anything she will. She gets Anthony's attention by calling his name before saying, "I told you about fighting on the back foot." When Anthony stops to look at her, she's expecting him to tell her to shut up and sit down somewhere. Instead he gives her a look to go on really because he wants a break to catch his breath. "It's not going to work against Ruiz. You can't be reserved or apprehensive this fight. You have been the last four of them. You're fighting like you're scared to lose the belts. You lost them. No belts, so fight like you have nothing to lose because you don't. He keeps doing that he'll back foot his ass right into another loss," she says harshly but truthfully. She taps the rope to rest her case so they can continue.
Other men's ego might be bruised, but that's what he needs. As encouraging as she is, she's also brutally honest. She's never afraid to speak up.
After five hours at the gym Anthony's glad that he can almost go home. While stretching he looks across the gym at Abella who's hyping up his younger cousin who dances to Faaji by Joeboy making him smile..
When she tries to entice Gbenga to dance he laughs. "You know he can't dance."
"Who? No try me. Don't jealous me," he says before hitting a move.
"Eh, it needs work," Abella says making Ben's face fall thinking he killed it. "Small small you go learn am sha," she encourages in a Nigerian accent making Anthony laugh.
He can tell Abella grew up in the boxing gym because it seems like a natural environment for her. She's not uncomfortable or bored.
Once he's done stretching he goes to sit on the side of the ring so he can unlace his boots. When Public Announcement by Jay-Z plays on his shuffled playlist he raps every word.
"Got the hottest chick in the game wearin' my chain," he raps the line looking right at Abella..
She does a little pose with a smile before going back to responding to a text from her manager. "Let me see," he says reaching forward. Abella moves her hair out of the way.
She had taken the silver and rose gold one off and put them in his purse leaving her with the tennis necklace, gold pendant, and a diamond necklace with her father's portrait that she always wears. He takes his phone out recording a video only getting her chest area with the chains making sure not to get her face.
When he's done she says, "Send me that."
"If you post it too you know those blogs are going to play detective." He posts the video to his story with no caption
Abella laughs knowing it's true. "They'll be pointing at the most obscure things. 'The carpet in the background matches. They must be together,'" she mocks making him chuckle. "But that's fine. It's high time these folks stop playing. Why are you putting heart eyes in his comments? Why are you dm'ing him?" She says more so to herself. "Like, I will beat you the fuck up," she stretches her neck out tapping away at her screen rambling.
"I like when you're aggressive." When she looks up seeing him eying her down she realizes she was saying it out loud..
She laughs stroking his chin hair before kissing him. "We're going to leave in a minute."
After Anthony gets all his stuff they walk out of the gym. They walk towards his Land Rover and when he sees her walking towards the driver's side he chuckles. "Wrong side."
"The wrong side," she mumbles to herself pursing her lips in embarrassment going towards the other side of the car. Every time she's in London, she does it at least once.
As they drive Touch Me Tease Me by Case plays they both sing along. When he stops at a red lift, Anthony lifts their hands kissing the back of hers multiple times. "Are you happy?" He asks looking at her.
"Yeah, very," she respond truthfully.
"You know you're important to me, right?"
"Surprisingly, I do. You make me feel important."
"I told you we would get to our destination. All you had to do was let me take the lead and trust me. And look, you didn't have your big toe on the gas." She laughs shaking her head.
"With your driving I don't know how I trusted you," she says making them laugh. She glances at him, "But I did and I'm glad I did."
"We're here."
"We made it in one piece after a couple fender benders," she says with a sigh before they both chuckle. The light turns green and he hits the gas.
When they get to Anthony's house and walk in, the first thing Abella's eyes land on are gold letter balloons that spell out 'Welcome Back'. She laughs because you would've sworn the man didn't see her in months when it's only been a couple days.
"You're so cute," she says turning to him to kiss him. "Thank you."
When he hears noises he pauses then says, "I think my sister and niece are here."
"Yeah, they are. Janet said she would be over here after picking Angel up."
"I swear my sister talks to you more than me." Abella laughs with a shrug. Like clockwork Anthony's niece is coming towards them.
"Bell!" Angel says with excitement before hugging her.
"Angel!"
"So forget about me?" He mumbles watching them still hold onto each other.
"I saw a video of your performance in Italy playing the two pianos like Hazel Scott."
"What'd you think?"
"It was sick. You have to teach me." And that's exactly why she did it. She wants to make more Black kids think playing instruments is cool.
"Angel!" Rounding the corner Joseph comes running to find his cousin. When he notices Abella he stops to say, "Oh, hi, friend." Abella lets go of Angel then turns to him sticking out her hand for him to slap like always, but he shakes his head. "Can I have a hug too?"
Abella always tries to do whatever makes children comfortable. She's not about to be hugging and kissing on people's kids without permission or the child themselves initiating it. She looks at Anthony then squats down to JJ's height before hugging him. Anthony chuckles at his little hand patting her shoulder.
He hopes him and Abella work out for his son's sake. He's not looking for a replacement for his real mother, but he wants someone who will love his son just as much as they claim to love him. It's a package deal.
Anthony sits in the basement of his house that's been turned into another living room. It's usually where he plays video games or watches sports. Hearing footsteps he looks to see Abella coming down the stairs.
When she sits on the couch next to him he asks, "What were you doing?"
"Helping your sister wash the dishes. What were you doing?"
"About to watch this fight with Ruiz to study it and take notes."
"Have you watched it before?" She asks pulling her leg up on the couch to sit on it.
"Yeah, once. Until the third round," he laughs meaning it as a joke but it is hard to watch after the third round.
She blows out air. "I almost started crying. It was super hard to watch."
"Really?" He asks a bit surprised.
"Yeah, I already had a bad feeling going into the fight as it is. I was really anxious leading up to it and it made my anxiety worse." Anthony looks at her because he was anxious as well.
"Do you want to watch it with me? You don't have to."
"No, I can. I want to show you a couple things I noticed." With that Anthony starts it as it plays on the tv hanging on the wall.
They get through a couple of the rounds when Abella says, "Pause it." Anthony hits the pause button as she gets up going to the tv. "You see he purposely aims to punch the side of the head by the ear and the back of the head. They're dirty and deadly shots, but can be done if the ref doesn't say anything."
He rewinds it to play it again. "How didn't I realize that?"
"He does them a lot during his fights. Andy's nice, but don't be fooled. He moves forward and pushes his opponents back then it forces you to fight on the backfoot like I was saying earlier. You don't seem to be comfortable on the backfoot, so you need to push him back then fight from the distance."
"Use my reach. He's used to fighting tall guys like me, but I struggle with shorter guys."
"Exactly. You like to trade in a war, when you don't have to. Boxing's the art of hitting and not getting hit. Go the Floyd Mayweather route and use the ring to your advantage. If it's a puncher versus a boxer, the boxer always win."
"So run? If I don't win in a certain fashion it's not going to mean shit. They'll discredit the win and say I was running scared all night."
"Anthony, look, do you want to get caught like you did last time? Because that's all it took. You need to show a different type of skill set in this rematch. If you have to master running to not get hit, so be it. Be masterful. Give a mutha fuckin' masterclass," she says clapping her hands.
"It's a fight I was supposed to win 9 out of the ten times. I was extremely exhausted before the fight. I was a bit drained. I was putting my face in a bucket of water and ice in the dressing room. Nothing was working."
"It makes sense. That's why it took so long after Ruiz to do your ring walk?"
He nods his head. "Then I found out the problem and fixed it. You go back to the drawing board, you watch, you study, and then you become better. You become stronger. If you don't you become weaker from it then you stop. Do you stop or do you keep going innit?"
"It's the mind." She points to her head. "40% physical, 40% mental, 20% hunger," they say at the same time. "Are you ever scared?" She asks. Mainly because a boxer died last month after a fight.
"I'll always be scared of certain things, but fear comes in many forms. I have to be positive. I'm scared to fail, but if I do I'll try again. I have to stick to the game plan. Lose the muscle mass, better conditioning, and better defense... I win."
She nods her head in understanding. "I actually had my brother send one of my Dad's old fights," she says sliding her MacBook across the couch before grabbing it to put it on her lap. "He fought someone with a similar fighting style to Ruiz. It gave him problems too. In fact, he lost 3 of the 7 rounds. It was a neck and neck bout until he got the knockout."
"I think I know which fight you're talking about. I tried to search it to watch but it's nowhere to be found."
"Yeah, a lot of my Dad's later fights towards him being ousted from boxing can't be found. Somebody has the power to have them removed from the internet, but we have an archive with all his fights on VHS and DVD's. Here it is," she says pulling it up. She puts the video on full screen, hits play, and passes the laptop to Anthony to watch.
While watching he takes notes. Once it's over the first thing he says is, "That was a serious fight."
"Yeah, but you have to want it. You have to want the belts. The hunger has to be there. You have a target on your back right now. Everyone's shooting bows and arrows. But listen, they'll hit you and I'll pull them out. I'll dress the wounds and heal you. That simple."
"When I become 2x champion, I'm bringing the belts home to you," He says with a confidence so strong that she believes him all the way.
"And I know you will." She kisses his cheek before saying, "I do need you to take me back to my hotel soon though."
"You're really not staying here? You know I can't sleep without you," he pouts.
"Still? I thought you got over that."
"I mean–" She can tell he's about to lie if that means she'll stay. "Why can't you just stay?"
"Because I don't want to play house. Not so soon. Plus, you live mad far from the places I need to go during this week."
"Well, can I at least get some when I take you to your hotel?" When he scratches the back of her head she busts out laughing.
"Are you bartering sex in exchange for a ride? Am I an ashewo?" She asks which means prostitute.
No, but I'm trying to get as much as possible. Once it hits September I'm in training camp and I won't be able to have sex as often or at all. Plus, I don't know when I'll see you again after the tour's over," he says with no shame.
"Wait... You train 12 weeks before a fight. You fight twice a year. That's 24 weeks. There's 52 weeks in a year," she says beginning to do math. "Are you telling me I don't get dick for half the year? I think I might have to rethink this being in a relationship with a boxer thing. Do I get hall passes?"
"Hall passes?"
"Like you know, to do things with other people?" Anthony screws up his face. "I mean, it can be girls. I like girls. I did have a little girlfriend in college. It wasn't for me, but the sex was good." She mumbles trying find a solution.
"No! I don't go the whole twelve weeks. Maybe the last two or three weeks leading up to the fight. But you have to remember I'm tired and sore. I ain't about to be doing all that lifting and tricks all the time. I'm old, so keep that calm."
"You've been digging me out in every European country you can think of and you're telling me to be calm? Tell yourself that," she says with a laugh.
"Cool, cool, lets go." When he stands up looking around for his keys Abella asks, "Let's go where?"
"I'm taking you back to your hotel, yeah," he responds like it's obvious.
"Not too long ago I said I have to go soon and you were whining for me to spend the night. Now you're in rush to take me? You're a straight fiend," she says scoffing in disbelief before laughing.
"Maybe you shouldn't make it so addicting. There they go." He snatches his keys from a table looking at Abella still sitting. "Let's go. Put your shoes on."
Abella stands up as slow as possible, so he helps her up guiding her all the way to the stairs making her laugh continuously.
When they get upstairs and are heading for the door they're stopped by Joseph. "Are you going to the gym? I want to come!"
"I'm not going to the gym. I'm taking her home. Say goodnight."
"I'm coming. I want to come," JJ rushes past them to a pair of his shoes that are by the door.
"No, you can't come. It's time for you to get ready for bed. Go find Gran." Any other time he would say yes, but he's not messing up his alone time.
"I want to come," he says being persistent while hurriedly putting on his shoe.
"Your shoe. What did I tell you about your show?" Anthony asks with a chuckle because kids really squeeze their foot in as if it doesn't feel wrong and uncomfortable. "It's the wrong foot. You can walk us out, but you can't come," he compromises.
"Okay," JJ agrees still putting his other shoe on the wrong foot.
"You're putting it on the wrong foot. On the left. Which side is your left?" He asks only for Joseph to hold up the wrong hand like he's right..
"No, that's wrong. If I konk you. Which is your left?" He asks again.
"Well, each time can be different," he says confidently.
"Nooo, it can't be different," he tells his son with a laugh.
"Yes." He says it with so much conviction he might convince you that sometimes your left becomes your right.
"Where's JJ? It's his bath time." Anthony's mother comes into the hallway finally seeing who she's been looking for.
"I'm walking them out." Anthony watches as JJ stands up with his shoes still on the wrong feet. He just laughs it off because he's not going anywhere.
"Are you going to the gym tonight?" His mother asks.
"No, I'm dropping her off. I'll be back." Anthony grabs his wallet while Abella's telling everyone goodnight before walking out of the house. Joseph follows right along so Anthony says, "Open the car door for her." Anthony hits the unlock button and stands back as Joseph runs towards the passenger door. He pulls the handle and uses all his strength to pull it.
He chuckles at his son as Abella climbs into the car saying, "Thank you, kind sir."
"Alright, go back inside. I'll be back later." Anthony watches JJ run back inside then he gets in the car.
The Next Day...
Abella takes a deep breath looking at herself in the mirror as her makeup artist finishes up on her face. They're on the set of the video shoot for Try Me that's set to be released as a single in a week. She went from not wanting to record the song to not wanting to make it a single to now shooting a music video for it.
She stands up stripping her robe off to put on the first outfit for the first scene. Once she's ready in the white suit and Gianvito Rossi leather pumps she walks out to set seeing all the people that are apart of the crew from lights, extras in the video, or cameramen.
In the 4 inch heels that click causing people to look at her, she maneuvers over to the director of the music video. She waves at all the people on set giving a warm 'hi' to go along with her smile.
She gives the director a big hug seeing as she's very familiar with him and they're friends outside of business. For the past year, she's used him for all her videos. They both have the same creative vision, he makes everything come to life, and he's professional.
After catching up they get straight into it because they only have a certain amount of hours to shoot. "So this is the treatment your brother came up with," he says pointing at a mood board. "You're basically a guardian angel figure to woman who are being abused. We go through stages of one outcome for an abusive relationship. The abuse, she eventually snaps because she can't get out, she kills him, then a courtroom scene of her trial. There's also a scene where you're wearing military type outfit and you're in a classroom full of abused women teaching them ways to get out. Lastly, it closes out with you singing with a choir. A message about domestic violence and the hotline will end the video. Sound good?"
"Sounds good to me."
"Anything you want to add?"
"No, my brother's vision is perfect." Her brother really wrote this song, produced it, and wrote the treatment for the video. All to help her heal.
"We're starting with the court scene because it should be the easiest and shortest. You look amazing," he says giving Abella a smile who smiles too. "Let me start with the actors then you'll come in."
Abella's thoughts are broken by her phone buzzing with a text. She reads the name Femi and instead of ignoring it like the hundreds of texts she has stacked, she immediately opens it.
Everything going good?
Anthony had to train, so he couldn't be here. Knowing him he'll text her every hour to see what's going on like he's here and can do something if it's not going as planned.
While replying to his text Abella hears Tamara say, "I hope the abuse scenes aren't going to be a trigger for you."
Abella looks up not even thinking about that. "I don't think so. I should be fine."
"We're ready for you," the director says motioning for Abella to come. She gets up being followed by her stylist who has her hat. She sits among the actors who are playing the jury. She turns to the two men who she sits between shaking both of their hands as Bianca perfectly places a white hat on her head.
Minutes have passed and they've shot the scene a couple times trying to get it as perfect as they can. Bianca adjusts the necklaces on Abella's neck before they try it again. She hears voices that catch her attention making her look at the door. Tamara enters first then a tall figure comes after.
When Abella sees Anthony walk through the door her straight face turns into a smile...
He throws his hand up towards her and she responds with a wave as he stands with the crowd of other people on set. When the director requests for it to be quiet and starts rolling she wipes the smile off her face knowing this is a serious scene.
As soon as they're done with the scene Abella gets up and goes straight to Anthony. "You didn't say you're coming. I thought you were at the gym. How'd you get the address?"
"It's called a surprise. Isn't that what you tell me? Thought I'd come check-in in between sessions. My next one isn't for another few hours."
"Well, I'm glad you came," she says before kissing him.
When they hear a throat clear they both turn to see her makeup artist, Indira. "Don't suck all the lipstick off her face now. I need to touch up your face."
"Wait, let me get one more." When Anthony leans in for a couple more Abella chuckles. "Okay."
Indira grins watching them kiss. "I like that," she says like a creep. "Y'all are disgustingly cute. I can't." She playfully rolls her eyes and turns up her lips. "Disgusting, but I'm still trying to buy the tape."
"The tape?" They both ask in confusion.
Indira leans in. "You know... Of you two doing the devil's tango. I know the sex is fire. I just wanna see one time. I won't show anybody. Or I can watch in person if you don't trust that it won't end up on Pornhub."
"Dira, you're so embarrassing."
"No, I'm nasty." She holds up her index finger correcting her. "Y'all both fine as fuck with bangin' bodies, but don't expect me to wanna see," She grumbles while putting more powder on Abella's face. "I'm still waiting on the Teyana Taylor and Iman Shumpert tape, but nobody wants to bless me."
Abella laughs it off, so she can change into the next look for the next scene.
When she walks back towards the set she can see the two actors that are playing the couple doing a fighting scene. She sits down watching it, but all she can see is her past relationship with Emeka.
She zones out having a flashback...
After riding the train, Abella walks on the block towards home which is a NoHo (North of Houston Street) loft that she shares with her boyfriend. It's 6 in the morning because she worked the night shift at Sugar Lips, which is a strip club where she's a bartender.
She makes really good money there because in NYC the bar tenders can make just as much or more than the strippers without ever touching a pole or shaking ass. Half the bar tenders barely know how to make a drink nor do they have a bartending license. Now, Abella doesn't have her license but she's not only Instagram followers and fake body parts like the other girls.
She's really there to work because she needs money to pay the bills and fund her music career. She's also able to meet artists and people in the music industry who blow their money in the club every weekend.
After riding the elevator she's put into their loft where she can already hear loud music. It's Bad and Boujee by the Migos. It's the hit of the year, but when you work at strip club you're bound to get tired of hearing it all the damn time.
"Hey, babe," Abella says with barely any energy hanging her purse on a hook. She looks at Emeka because he doesn't respond. It will always annoy her that he makes it a point to be up when she gets off from work to make sure she comes right home. She couldn't stop to get breakfast even if she wanted to.
No greeting back, he goes right into his bullshit. "Why do I see a pictures of you all hugged up with mad niggas looking like a straight groupied out hoe? Nas, Dave East, Trey Songz, Fabolous," he lists swiping through each picture that he had to search to find.
Abella sighs out while opening the refrigerator. "Do you think I wanna work at this club? It was a strategic move that also pays the bills. These rappers come in every night to see ass and throw money. I'm there serving drinks while also trying to get any connections in the music industry I can get. Nas followed me on Instagram and said he would listen to my music. Our music," she corrects because he produces all her songs.
"And you actually believed him?" Emeka laughs. "A nigga's gonna tell you what you wanna hear when they want you out of their face or wanna fuck you! What don't you get? These mutha fuckas don't wanna listen to a bitch rap let alone sign them
Abella rolls her eyes sitting the carton of milk on the counter. "Nas? You're tripping." Not even wanting to eat something anymore or be around him, she puts the milk back and closes the fridge. "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep for a few hours so we can record some songs before I have work again."
She starts towards their bedroom, but Emeka's on her heels. "Who are you talkin' to like that?"
Abella whips around making her braids swing turning to look at him. "Let's do this. You're building a case because you want an excuse to fight.Go 'head and hi-" before she can finish he's hitting her in the face.
He grabs a hand full of her braids dragging her down to the floor before standing over her to hit her more. She's so used to it and defeated at this point, she just lays there as Humble by Kendrick Lamar fills their loft.
"You got me fucked up," he grumbles before exiting their loft. She continues to lay there looking at the ceiling.
When she hears buzzing because someone wants to come up she nearly jumps out of her skin. She picks herself up from the floor going to the pad. "W-who is it?" She asks touching her aching jaw.
"Naseem! You good?" Her tense shoulders drop knowing it's the teenage boy who lives in the loft below theirs. Because of this he can usually hear what's going on up here.
Abella closes her eyes before hitting the button to send the elevator down. Not too long later it's coming back up and he's opening the gate walking into her loft. "What's up, Nas?" She asks already beginning to walk away from him, but he follows.
"Let me see your face." He stretches his neck to the side waiting. She rolls her eyes, but turns aroumd. He immediately smacks his lips and looks away when he sees the damage. "This nigga needs his ass whooped, forreal yo."
Like always Naseem goes right to a cabinet in the kitchen because he's done this before. He grabs a basket full of first aid kit supplies as Abella sits at the dining room table.
"When my Pop's would beat on my Mom's, I would hide in the closet. I would close my eyes and think about Madison Square Garden until it's over." He details while opening an alcohol pad.
"Why MSG?"
"It's the home stadium of the New York Knicks who I wanna play for when I make it to the NBA," he says confidently. "Anyway, I was happy as hell when my older sister came to get me to live with her. Moving from Brownsville, from Brooklyn, to Manhattan was mad different... but I was glad I got outta hell."
"I'm still in hell," Abella mumbles before hissing when he wipes her lip.
"My bad. A person who hurts women and children is the worst kind of monster. It means you prey on the weak thinking you're strong when really you a pussy," he says coldly and harshly.
"Did your Dad ever hit you?"
"If I tried to jump in and save my Mom." Naseem looks off to the side blankly as if reliving it for a second. "Why you keep letting him do this to you? You gotta leave. I'ma miss you, Bell, but you gotta get the fuck outta here."
"I am, but not now. I have to get signed first. I've been having more meetings with good labels, so I feel it's coming soon."
"And what if you're dead before you even get there?" Abella sighs. "You're a good person and because of that you deserve good. It's gonna come sooner or later."
"Thank you. You're a good kid. When I'm signed I'ma come back to show I'll never forget you. I'm gonna pull up to one of your basketball games, prom, graduation, whatever you want. No, I'm gonna invite you to my sold out performance at MSG. I'm gonna make it. I'm going to be a star just so you can point at the tv, billboards, or magazines and say, 'I know her.'"
"I believe it. Make sure when you make it you don't take that bum ass nigga with you. Leave him in the dust. You don't need him, he needs you," he points at me. "All done."
"Thank you"
"I should probably get going before I'm late to school or he comes back. I'll see you tomorrow." She hugs him then watches him get back on the elevator.
Abella pushes herself up from the table about to go to bed, but she hears her phone ringing. She goes towards it seeing it's her manager that she definitely can't afford. "What's up, P?"
"Guess who got you a meeting with Roc Nation?"
"Who?"
"You mutha fucka! You need to have your demo and pitch ready. Remember, don't just put your music. Put the beats you produced and the reference tracks you recorded. They could sign you as a producer or songwriter." As excited as she wanted to act, she couldn't. She simply said okay then hung up. As talented as she knows she is, it'll probably be another meeting that amounts to nothing...
"You good?" Anthony asks making Abella snap out of it.
"Yeah," she breathes in seeing they're ready for her.
Once they're done with the scene a creative directors approaches her saying, "For the behind the scenes I want you to sit down and give a message to victims of abuse. Is that okay?"
"Yeah." He motions for her to follow him and takes her to a table they already setup with a camera. She sits down and he starts the camera.
"Say whatever you want."
Abella takes a few seconds to think before speaking. "Studies have shown that Black girls and women are hyper-vulnerable to abuse. 40% of Black women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Black women are killed at a higher rate than any other group of women. At one point I was apart of those statistics. I was a victim."
"I'm speaking to Black women and girls because that's what shaped my experience of abuse. When abuse occurs, we are less likely to be believed and supported. Why? Because people view us as less innocent and in less need of protection. This perception results in Black women and girls being rarely seen as victims. These biases can have consequences, including the incarceration of survivors themselves. When Black survivors of abuse defend themselves, they are now at risk of incarceration."
"There were multiple times where I was not seen as a victim. Rather than arresting the man for domestic violence, they arrested both of us for a domestic dispute. Anytime I have chosen to defend myself, I have been put in handcuffs. For some reason, individuals can't fathom a dark skin, Black woman who stands at 5'9" being abused and victimized. No I'm not the picture of vulnerability. I'm not 5 feet and barely weigh 100 pounds. I come off as a vision of toughness and strength, but I'm still a woman."
"It took me becoming famous and having an expensive lawyer for me to finally be granted a restraining order on my ex partner. A discussion needs to be had around the level of empathy and compassion shown toward victims who chose to remain with their abusers. People ask why someone stays in an abusive relationship..."
"There's multiple reasons... A lack of resources, no family, no money, no place to go, children. A lack of self-love and self-awareness. And simply the biggest threat of all, fear."
Abella drums her nails against the table trying to think of something else. "In this world, you teach people how to love and treat you by deciding what you will and won't accept. You have to set clear boundaries. Nobody asks to be abused, but if you tolerate disrespect once it will happen again. Whether it's physical, mental, or emotional, you can't let any of it slide."
"What I would like to say to women, and men too, know your worth. Abuse in any form is not love. If you can get out, do it. Don't think a person's going to change. Don't be scared to call the police or tell someone. The biggest mistake I made was trying to protect this person's reputation. By not telling my side of the story I allowed for this person to control the narrative. I allowed someone to humiliate me and play victim. I didn't defend myself for so long that when I did, I ended up looking crazy because my reaction is one that had been brewing for years."
"Now that I'm 25, I know that I deserve better. I also forgive myself for settling and allowing myself to be treated that way. Take time to heal and be gentle. It might take more than once to heal yourself. When I was younger, I didn't understand my power. I'm not only smart, but educated. I'm talented. I'm a bad ass, beautiful, strong woman. I'm the catch. I'm the prize," she says now wearing a slight smile..
"And in due time you will treat yourself better. You will love yourself and in turn you will find someone who loves you and treats you like the prize you are. You are not damaged nor broken. And even if you're not a victim of abuse, please, don't fall into the hole of calling every Black woman who comes forward a liar. Shocker, but there are people who specifically target Black women and girls because they know people will be skeptical. It's imperative that Black violence survivors receive love and support necessary to heal rather than suspicion and victim blaming."
"Do better, Queens and Kings," she says standing up and puckering her lips in a kiss towards the camera before walking away.
"Perfect," the camera man says cutting it off.
Abella holds her chest. "Should I add something? I feel like people will have fake, Twitter outrage that I'm focusing on Black women?"
"If people decide to All Lives Matter your message that's on them," Tamara says with a shrug.
"It was good," Anthony lets her know. He gives her a hand slap before a fist bump.
"I'm really about to become an advocate for domestic violence. We're doing this," she says in surprise.
"You need to change into the last outfit," someone says not letting her get a second to breathe. She changes into the last outfit which is another suit with the lyrics graffitied onto it and pink Louboutin's.
As soon as she walks out she's approached by Anthony. "I have to go. I need to take a nap before my next session, but you're coming over when you're done, right?"
"Yup, I'll be at your house when I'm finished. Thank you for coming. You didn't have to."
He smiles before kissing her. "I did. Go kill it."
"I'll try," she says twisting to flip her ponytail.
She laughs saying, "Love you." After he says it back she waves then walks away to get back to work, so she can wrap this up.
"You don't know anything about this," Janet announces to Angel as Olunfunmi by the Nigerian R&B group, Styl-Plus, starts. They're in the living room of Anthony's house being hit with nostalgia at the 2003 song. Janet begins singing first as Abella becomes her backup dancer. "When I said to you that I never wanna love another woman girl it was true, so true. I'm meant to marry you," she sings out of tune even clearing her throat a little. "Please give me one chance to showww!"
As if they were the group, they both sing the chorus doing the dance from the music video, "Olufunmi ooo. Ma pa mi lekun ooo. Olufunmilola. Mase fimi sile lai lai. Durotimi ooo. Olufunmi o." They both sing at the top of their lungs holding imaginary microphones.
When the next group members part comes up and Abella makes her voice shaky like his, it sends Janet into a fit of laughter. Abella can't help but stop singing to laugh too. "He was really singing like that too."
"Sounding like a goat that knows it's about to be killed for Pepper Soup," they both laugh. As soon as the rap part comes in they both stop laughing to rap it...
You could be the one to make me smile
You could be the one to make me wanna have a child
You could be the one I'd take on a date down the aisle
And be the first and the last girl to become my bride
"He killed that part." Abella happily sighs out, "Good times."
The moment reminded her of the summer she went to Nigeria with her brother and cousin, Rejoice. They went on countless adventures that summer of 2004 throughout the three months.
She remembers there older cousin, N'neka, putting the song on and they immediately fell in love with it. It only took two listens for them to learn all the words and they would sing it just like this in the living room. She wishes things could go back to that...
Now she has a cease and desist on her own cousin and they don't speak after they fought. It's crazy.
"We should make an Instagram video," Angel suggests. They're clearly bored trying to find anything to pass time.
They decide to make a video to Brown Skin Girl by Beyoncé because it's very fitting with them all being different shades. It just so happens Anthony decides to walk in when Angel's jumping from the couch while they're recording..
"Ehn! Why are you jumping off my furniture?" Abella, Angel, and Janet both whip around seeing Anthony walking in. They all smack their lips as Abella goes to Angel's phone that's propped up to stop the video from recording. "What're you doing?"
"Recording Instagram videos and you ruined it," Angel informs Anthony before poking her lip out.
"An Instagram video? What? I haven't even been on your Instagram?" He says in shock.
"This isn't about you right now. The girls are bonding. Now unless you want to hold the camera can you please excuse us," Abella says motioning her hand for him to go.
"It's my house, so no." He sits on the armchair getting comfortable receiving glares from all three. He sticks his lip out nodding his head. "Is this how it's going to be now? I already see nothing but attitude and head-wraps between you two," he says pointing at Janet and Angel. "Now you too?"
"Soo dramatic," Angel says before turning around, so they can start recording again.
Once they're done, the video goes on Janet and Angel's Instagram. They decide to do another video making up a dance routine for her song Try Me. It's a way to give extra anticipation and promotion for the song and video release, while having fun. It feels like when she hangs out with Megan or her female cousins.
"Nobody asked me to be in a video... I can dance, you know," Anthony says from the side still watching them learn the moves to the routine they came up with.
"Can you? You're kind of stiff, Uncle."
Abella huffs flailing her hand. "Come on. You can be in the video." Anthony happily jumps up ready to go. "Have you been watching what we came up with so far?"
"Yeah, it's easy," he says nonchalantly like it's nothing.
"Show me."
He starts and three seconds in he's messing up saying, "Wait," before restarting. Angel grabs onto Abella's arm trying to hold in a laugh.
Abella chuckles under her breath saying, "Let me teach you from the top."
It might be crazy to say, but Abella doesn't want to go back home to Texas when the tour's over. Lately it's always drama when she goes home and she's over it.
She misses her family and friends, but only if it comes with peace and she can actually get rest. She doesn't have time for anyone's bullshit including Rejoice and Jermell. She's happy and surrounded by good energy, so she wants it to stay that way.
Once they got a perfect video with no mistakes Abella posts the video of her Angel, Janet, and Anthony dancing and being silly to her Instagram. The caption was simple with the release date for the video and the hashtag 'Try Me.'
Abella had barely posted it and the blogs were already re-posting with their speculating captions.
One of them read: Looks like #Bela is spending some quality time with #AnthonyJoshua and his family. Things must be getting more serious even though the pair still won't confirm they're dating. Yesterday we posted we think he bought her a chain. (Swipe for previous post)
Nothing about the actual music though.. She shakes her head going to the comments to see what people are saying.
They might as well make it IG official. Nobody has time for these childish hints. How you going unclaimed for this long? A whole joke.
Everybody's so pressed because they decided to believe a rumor that they were together as early as February. That's not their fault. It's six months later and they're just now in a relationship.
She reads one of the replies to the comment nodding her head in agreement: Why do they have to make it IG official though? Stay out of people's business. Social media isn't everything.
She reads more just to see...
I'm starting to think they're actually just friends y'all
They scream publicity stunt
Anthony's baby mother is punching the air right now
Abella doesn't want to get caught up by scrolling for minutes on end, so she locks her phone. Like a bat out of hell Joseph runs into the living room full of energy after taking a nap. While Anthony's trying to find a movie for them to watch on Netflix, JJ jumps on the couch next to his aunt.
"You're pulling my hair, JJ," Janet says putting her hand on top of her head to hold onto her wig. It's so long, he's sitting on it.
"Sorry," he says before moving. "Is this your proper wig or your real hair?" He asks beginning to stroke it. While they're all laughing, he's tilting his head to the side like he's really trying to figure it out.
"Comot from over here, my friend," she snaps at him in a Nigerian accent before sucking her teeth long and hard.
"Answer his question," Anthony laughs. "No question is a stupid question. They're lessons learned."
"There are questions that aren't anybody's business. Don't ask about a Black woman's hair unless you're going to pay for it, JJ," she uses a sweetened tone to get her point across.
"I'm going to get something to drink. Anybody want anything?" Abella offers while getting up from the couch.
"Water, please." Abella nods at Anthony's request before exiting the room. She goes from the living room to the kitchen where Anthony's mother walks in at the same time from the other entrance.
She wears a red Nigerian traditional dress and matching Gele headwrap getting in from a party. "Good evening, you look pretty," Abella greets her with a smile.
"Thank you. How are you? I haven't seen you since Spain." She reaches for a hug and Abella accepts it.
"I'm fine. And you?"
"I'm good." Abella can't lie she's feeling awkward. They had decided not to tell their mother's they're in a relationship yet. They're probably the two people who would want to know the most, but that's a whole new can of worms they're not ready for. They know the first thing they'll be asked about is marriage and then grandchildren.
"Are you staying here?" Yeta asks. Even though she lives with Anthony, she's rarely here. Now that she's retired she has a lot of free time to do what she wants.
"Oh, no, ma'am. I'm staying at a hotel."
"You could've stayed here. You're a friend of the family now. Why waste money on a hotel? We have more than enough space here."
"It's fine. Thank you for offering though."
"Are you still on tour?"
"Yes, but I'm almost home free. I have two more shows then my first European tour's officially over."
"So you'll still be coming to Nigeria with us?"
"Of course. Super excited."
"Good," she nods her head.
While Abella's getting a glass of something to drink Yeta's putting two and two together in her head.
Abella was on a European tour and Anthony has been traveling a lot the past few weeks. Anthony is barely home as it is, but lately he'll be gone for days then she'll find out he's in a whole other country.
She tried to stay out of his business figuring he was going on holidays or taking trips for business. But now it makes sense...
Apart of his mother's spirit is smiling. She had mentioned him dating Abella once before only for her son to shut down the notion. She likes Abella. She thinks she's a sweet, young woman.
Anthony's mother glances over at Abella who's humming while opening the refrigerator. She had a glow to her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there's a pinch of something that seems different about the girl even though they've only been in each other's presence a handful of times.
They would all find out soon enough...
__________
It's not true Gen fashion if the main couple doesn't get into a relationship until 30 chapters in lol. Thx for being patient. It's only going to get more interesting from here...
Anthony & Abella finally in a relationship?
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