Gutter - Part 2: The Shine
Page 23
“Oh, I didn’t mean to make you upset. I was just—”
“No, sweetheart, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not upset. You’re just asking the questions that you were told to ask, but I’m telling you, I am not going to speak on something so personal—a story that is for my wife to tell, not me. That would be me stepping over boundaries as her husband. She can’t tell my story as far as my relationship with my father,” he pointed to himself, “even though the two of them are quite close, and I can’t tell her story as far as her relationship with her father. I don’t need to be her voice in that regard, and since she’s not the one being interviewed, nor does she wish to be, I think we should steer clear of that.”
“Okay, yes, I understand. I did though discover, in an interesting twist of events, that your brother-in-law, a police officer in great standing, has recently been promoted to sergeant, and yet his father was intoxicated and apparently high on some narcotic at the time of the incident in question, which put an unfair focus on him and your family. It was a manslaughter charge this time; however, due to your father-in-law’s prior record, he will be incarcerated probably for the remainder of his days. What do you think about—”
“See?” He rolled his eyes, completely exasperated. “This is exactly why we snuck around and got married five years ago. Why my wife insisted on canceling her fairytale wedding to get hitched in a dive at two in the fuckin’ morning.” The woman’s eyes bulged, as if she’d never heard such language in her life. “We ended up having a big one in France a few months later. Had to fly the family out there, just to keep you people at bay. This is why my wife went to some one-horse town in Montana to give birth to our son, too. She wanted peace and quiet. Y’all don’t respect boundaries. She didn’t want our child’s picture plastered all over the internet.
“This is why a lot of shit goes down that shouldn’t. I told myself I wasn’t going to cuss and act a fuckin’ fool in this interview if things went left. You know, keep the shit classy. Promise has been on me about that, saying I am too short-tempered with the press lately, but y’all keep trying it.”
“Gutter, I—”
“No, don’t cut me off. Let me finish. We’re tired of this shit, okay? Not just me, but a lot of entertainers just like me are sick of this and will start refusing to do interviews if this is how they’re going to go. Yes, I’m a celebrity, but every aspect of my life is not up for review and discussion. I and my family are entitled to some privacy. Now, you seem like a nice lady, okay, and I respect people who respect me, but I told you to stop it. My mother-in-law is divorced, all right? That’s public record for all the nosey people who want to know. She’s moved on with her life. I am not talking about that man. Not now. Not ever. We don’t communicate with him, and he doesn’t communicate with us. He’s a non-factor. Do like my mother-in-law and move the hell on.”
“Okay, my sincere apologies… I will definitely drop the topic.” The woman’s complexion deepened, and she looked away at her notes.
Gutter sat back and crossed his arms. All he could do was shake his head.
“Okay, can we play the game of true and false?”
“Sure.” He knew what this was. The publication was known to give questions of a personal nature, and the celebrity would answer true or false to a question that may be silly and whimsical, or sad and heart-breaking.
“If you have a say in the matter, you will be performing until the day you die.”
“True.”
“Some say you’re a workaholic. What do you say?”
“True.”
“You went swimming one time in a chicken costume.”
“True.”
The woman chuckled at that.
“And finally, your music comes before all else in your life.”
“False…”
“What comes, Gutter, before your music?”
“That woman upstairs.” He pointed towards his staircase. “That little boy who’s with her, our young son. My baby that’s growing inside of my wife right now. They come before anything and everything. I would die for them.”
The woman offered a sincere smile.
“I believe that to be true…”
They went on with the interview, and when it was all over, Gutter walked her to the door. She seemed startled when he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The woman was blushing.
“Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today. You’re an amazing man and performer. This will be posted next month, and as I told you, a photographer will be over in about an hour to take a few pictures of you for the article.”
“No problem. I’ll wait until he arrives.” They said their goodbyes, and he closed and locked the door.
“Promise! She’s gone… You can come down now if you want.” The woman always avoided being around when he was having interviews. He found it hilarious how she’d hide away, avoiding the limelight while he basked in it.
“Okay,” she hollered back.
As he went into his new home office to unpack some more of his materials, his phone rang.
“Hey, Dad. What’s up, old man?”
“Nothing much. Shirley and I are going to that Japanese place I told ya about. You, Promise, and my favorite grandson wanna come along? I gotta show Niko how to hold the chopsticks. Last time, at that Chinese spot, he tried to stick them up his nose.” They both chuckled at that.
“Yeah, sounds good to me. I’ll ask her. That might be nice. How’s Shirley doing?”
“She’s doing great.”
Shirley was Dad’s girlfriend of two years, a widow, and a lady nine years his junior he’d met while playing pool at some bar in Red Hook. Oddly enough, she physically favored Mom a bit, though she was fairly traditional and conservative. She worked in real estate and kept an American flag on her porch. More Dad’s speed.
“I’ll let you know what Promise says.”
“Okay, do that.”
And the old man ended the call.
Moments later, he was checking out his emails and slowly unpacking a box of office supplies.
“Zake!”
“Yeah, baby?” He kept his eyes on the screen.
“Zina wants to know if we want to meet with her, your father and Shirley for dinner tonight. She’s craving Japanese food.” Zina was a couple of months pregnant. She, Promise and Dad was ecstatic. Niko was going to have a cousin. “She’s bringing Rick!”
Rick was Zina’s fiancé, a bit of an oddball but harmless, unlike Owen. Most importantly, the man seemed to have his stuff together, and genuinely love his sister.
“What is this, musical phone calls? Dad just asked me about this. You wanna go, babe?”
“Yeah! I haven’t had sushi in a long time, and it would be nice to take a break from all of this unpacking and cleaning.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
His thoughts drifted to his sister as he kept reading various contracts and proposals his manager, Will, had forwarded to him to review. Owen was mysteriously beaten up his first night in jail, by a group of hoodlums. It was the same night Westley stopped Gutter from slaughtering him. He’d been arrested for the crap he’d pulled at the funeral home but stayed in prison for less than a year. A miscarriage of justice if there ever was one. However, a year after that, he ended up getting another DUI, violated his probation, and was now sitting behind county bars for at least the next four years.
Zach was in the beginning stages of trying to adopt a child with his wife out in California. Zina was getting married again in a couple of months, and the biggest shocker of all—so was Westley. Some lady he’d seen on and off for the past few years from New Jersey. He tried, but he couldn’t escape falling in love.
Promise entered the office wearing mom’s engagement ring like a pendant around her neck, it hung from a silver chain. She sported a short light blue dress that showed off her long, gorgeous legs. Her stomach poked out beneath the material. She looked gorgeous, glowing from the inside
out.
“Come here, sexy.”
Smiling, she came to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss the top of his head. Running his hand along her belly, he imagined the beautiful life growing inside of her. A little girl. They’d told no one the sex and planned to keep it that way until the baby was born. Her name would be Nika Jennifer Rayden. He couldn’t wait to meet his little princess, his precious baby girl.
He kept holding Promise while the faded sounds of a cartoon played in the background. Niko was undoubtedly glued to the screen. The scent of coffee brewing gave him comfort, the sound of Promise’s heartbeat kept him in love, and the taste of her kiss was like the sun rising to greet them every morning. He couldn’t believe he could love someone as hard as he loved Promise, but it was definitely possible. It was real.
He closed his eyes and began to hum one of his songs to the baby inside of her, while Promise stroked his hair.
“Baaaaby girl,” he sang, “I promise you, the world…” He sang with all that was in him, pausing only to kiss Promise’s stomach. When he was finished, she kissed the top of his head once more, then turned to head out of the room.
“I better check on Niko. He’s too quiet. That means he’s up to something.”
“Yup.” He chuckled as he spun around to his computer.
“Knowing him, he’s stacking chairs up trying to get into the cereal. After the photographer takes your photos, I’ll be ready to go.”
“Okay, baby.” She blew him a kiss and left him to his devices.
He sat there for a bit, daydreaming—his mind a wonderland, thinking about some of the things the reporter had brought up. Emotions he tried to wade through, make sense of.
So much had happened, and yet, he’d survived. He had a brilliant, magnificent woman by his side. They were strong apart. Stronger together.
Thank you, God, for taking me out of the gutter and letting me bask in the sun. My mother is gone, but never forgotten. I got to spend time with her, know her, before she passed, and that is invaluable to me. I love you, Mom. I hope you’re painting Heaven pink. I’m in love with my best friend. I have a beautiful son, and now a daughter on the way. My father is in good health and happy. My sister escaped a man who tried to destroy her. She survived and is now thriving. My brother’s career has skyrocketed, and he is taking the necessary steps to be a father. My brother- and mother-in-law are doing what makes them happy, and then, we come back full circle to Promise. She’s amazing, and she’s probably too good for me, but I’m never going to let her go.
He closed his eyes and rocked in his seat as the tears brimmed to the sounds of, Deniece Williams, ‘Free,’ one of his mother’s favorite songs to paint to.
Through the death of my mother, I met the love of my life. My rise. My shine. Me being happy… that’s what my mom kept saying she wanted for me. To see me smile, to see me fall in love… With all of my heart. No walls. She wanted me to rise to the occasion. She wanted me to shine for the victory.
Yeah, happiness. That was her final gift to me.
A promise is what my mother made to me.
A promise, she was determined to keep…
~The End~
GUTTER PART 1 AND PART 2 – MUSIC DIRECTORY
1. Pringle – Gutter (This is not a real song.)
2. Diamonds – Yakoto
3. Umi Says – Mos Def
4. Concerto Grosso No 1 – Corelli
5. Charlie Puth – (No specific song mentioned, only the artist.)
6. Sitting on the Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding
7. Pumped up Kicks – Foster the People
8. Walking on a Dream – Empire of the Sun
9. Float On – Modest Mouse
10. There She Goes – Josh Fudge
11. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
12. Right Down the Line – Gerry Rafferty
13. Summer Madness – Kool & The Gang
14. Inside Your Love – (The Swales’ In Detroit Version)
15. Fu-Gee-La – The Fugees
16. Loretta – Ginger Root
17. Can You Feel It – The Fat Boys
18. Post Malone – Wow
19. Poor Georgie – MC Lyte
20. Smack a Bitch – Rico Nasty
21. Vibrant Thing – Q-Tip
22. 3.15.20 – Donald Glover
23. Eyes Without a Face – Billy Idol
24. Bittersweet Symphony – Verve
25. One Headlight – The Wallflowers
26. Dreams – Fleetwood Mac
27. Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton
28. Good 4 U – Olivia Rodrigo
29. One More Chance – The Notorious B.I.G.
30. It’s a Beautiful Morning – The Rascals
31. Tiny Dancer – Elton John
32. Happy – Surface
33. Take My Breath – The Weeknd
34. You Are the Reason – Calum Scott
35. ‘F With U – Kid Ink ft. Ty Dolla $ign
36. Loyalty – Kendrick Lamar, featuring Rihanna
37. When You Believe – Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey
38. Only Human – The Jonas Brothers
39. Streets – Doja Cat
40. Résumé – Jenevieve
41. Music Sounds Better with You – Stardust
42. Higher Ground – Stevie Wonder
43. Skate – Bruno Mars, Anderson Paak, and Silk Sonic
44. Play that Funky Music White Boy – Wild Cherry
45. Them Changes – Thundercat
46. Sunrise – Simply Red
47. At My Worst – by Pink Sweat$
48. Chamber of Reflection – Mac DeMarco
49. Space Song – Beach House
50. Bridge over Troubled Waters – Simon and Garfunkel
51. Rhiannon – Fleetwood Mac
52. Cool with You – Her’s
53. Burnin’ for You – Blue Oyster Cult
54. Navajo – Masego
55. Red Red Wine – UB40
56. I’m Not in Love – 10 CC’s
57. Bad Things – Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello
58. Jump Around – House of Pain
59. Taste of Chocolate Intro. – Big Daddy Kane
60. The Lover in You – Big Daddy Kane
61. Prince of Darkness – Big Daddy Kane
62. Earned It – The Weeknd
63. Love Song – 311
64. No Guarantee – Chico DeBarge
65. Idol Eyes – Common Saints
66. Survivor – Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
67. Living Proof – The War on Drugs
68. Comingback – The Parcels
69. Dress You Up – Madonna
70. Take Me to The King – Tamela Mann
71. Infinity – One Direction
72. The Rose – Bette Midler
73. Memories – Maroon 5
74. Crowded Room – Conor Maynard
75. Free – Deniece Williams
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling author Tiana Laveen writes resilient yet loving heroines and the alpha heroes that fall for them in unlikely happy-ever-afters. An author of over 60 novels to date, Tiana creates characters from all walks of life that leap straight from the pages into your heart.
Married with two children, she enjoys a fulfilling life that includes writing books, drawing, and spending quality time with loved ones.
If you wish to communicate with Tiana Laveen and stay up-to-date with her releases, please follow her on social media platforms as well as visit her website.
Tiana Laveen website
www.tianalaveen.com
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