She looked gorgeous today. Long hair, soft butter skin dressed in a blouse, pencil skirt and high heels. She had aged beautifully. Seven years would put her at 27 years old.
"Hey, stranger," I said, as I kept stuffing my bag.
"La'Renz, what are you doing here?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm scouting talent."
"You could get arrested for this?"
"Not if I move fast enough."
"When did you get out?" she asked me.
"Like you care."
She never wrote me one time. She never came to see me either. And I had given her a chance in the music industry when no one else would. She had been my secretary at Taylor Music Group. She had no credentials—no college degree, no previous experience, no recommendations. Just a 20-year-old pretty face who knew how to dress.
"So you're working for the enemy too, huh?" I said. "You and Thomas sure know the meaning of loyalty."
"La'Renz, I had bills."
"Mount Eliyah ENT is the only place in town that can pay your bills?"
"They have the best opportunities here. Eliyah hired me as an A&R, not a secretary."
My bag was getting full. I gave it a tug, testing its weight. It was way too heavy, but I still picked it up over my shoulder. Black Santa in an Armani suit.
"Do you think I killed Jazzmine too?" I asked her.
"It's none of my business."
"We had an affair together. It should be your business."
Her lips went tight. That gesture brought back so many memories. She always got tight-lipped when she was offended. It was her way of stopping herself from saying the first thing that came out of her mouth, which was usually negative.
Damn, she's beautiful!
I adjusted the bag on my shoulder, trying to distribute the weight evenly. "Are you gonna try and stop me from taking these packages?"
"No," she said.
"Well, can you get the fuck outta my way? This shit ain't getting lighter."
She stepped to the side and I walked past her, heading back to the stairwell.
"La'Renz."
I stopped and turned. I said What? with my eyes.
"My Site name is still SundiTaylor718," she said. “I didn’t change the Taylor.”
I turned back around and kept walking. "You should have," I said over my shoulder.
GabbyTV: I got a muthafucking ANNOUNCEMENT! La'Renz "Buddy Rough" Taylor is a free man! Sources say that on La'Renz's second day out of the slammer he acted a fool. Lol! Allegedly he stormed into Mount Eliyah ENT with a gun and threatened to shoot several security guards. He then went to the top floor looking for Eliyah Golomb himself but was attacked with a knife by his former friend Thomas Dyer. Unfortunately Thomas Dyer refused to respond to our requests for comment but I will keep you posted, folks. Look out! La'Renz is on a rampage. The hiphop world is no longer safe! AND I LOVE IT!
CHAPTER 11
Kirbie Amor Capelton
"This is our first night back together and you're on your phone," Archie said to me, as he set a plate of food in front of me at the dinner table.
I heard him, but I was still trying to finish reading the article.
"Kirbie, I'm talking to you."
"One more minute," I said, irritated. "It's a breaking news story."
The internet had gone viral with reports that La'Renz "Buddy Rough" Taylor had been released from prison and had already jumped back into his "rough" ways. Reportedly, he barged into Mount Eliyah ENT with a gun and tried to take over the whole record label single-handedly. I was only 11 years old when La'Renz went to jail for killing his young wife, but I knew his whole story. Anybody with internet access and a love for hiphop knew that La'Renz had been a phenomenal music industry mogul until he developed a coke habit.
"So that gossip shit is more important than us rekindling our relationship?" Archie asked me.
"This isn't gossip," I said. "This is facts."
"No, it's not, Kirbie. It's entertainment. It's a bunch of lies to convince you to buy their product."
"This is a GabbyTV article I'm reading. She's not selling nothing. She's a celebrity blogger, just letting you know what's going on behind the scenes in the music industry. I need to know this stuff if I plan to be successful when my music career takes off."
Archie gave me a doubtful look. It was a non-believer look—the same look I got from everybody when I told them I was an aspiring singer. Hardly anyone believed in being rich and famous anymore.
"Can you set the phone aside for one minute, Kirbie? That article will be there after we finish eating."
I set my phone down on the table and scooted my chair closer, conceding. "Thank you for preparing this meal, Archie."
"You're very welcome," he smiled.
Archie knew how to cook. On my plate was one of those mid-morning gourmet cooking show meals. I had lemon butter grilled tilapia on my plate, barbecued popcorn shrimp with macaroni and mashed potatoes. It was his best yet. And he had moved around the kitchen fairly well on his bad leg without crutches. But like normal at the dinner table, we talked about what he wanted to talk about—selling Purple Gorilla ecstasy pills. He wanted to know my opinion on scaling down the ecstasy operation and delving into cocaine.
What the hell?
"Why would we do that?" I said, as if he asked a silly question.
"That incident on the highway where we got pulled over was a good scare," he said. "I feel like if we’re gonna be taking the risks, we need to be seeing more rewards. Cocaine is more profitable."
"No, Archie. We’re doing fine with the pills. It’s safer. We can just step up our load. My mixtape is up next for sure this time and I'm gonna need extra money anyway to get some real good rappers on some songs."
"That's part of the problem, Kirbie. You're putting pill profits into that music shit and that's dumb to me. I feel like I'm hustling just to give my money to rappers."
"Don't look at it like that." I cut another piece of tilapia, stuffing it in my mouth. "Look at it as an investment."
"No, I look at real investments as investments. We can cut out throwing our money away on that hiphop and put it into something tangible like cocaine. We can scale back the pills and be bosses in Kansas City with the coke.”
“Why are you talking about cocaine all of a sudden?”
“Because the market is wide open. Feds rounded everybody up last week in a 3-year sting. We can come right in, me and you, Bonnie and Clyde, and clean up.”
“Then we’ll be locked up in the next federal sting.”
“Not if we keep the operation between me and you.”
“No, Archie. You know what kind of problems cocaine brings. Let’s stick to pills. Let’s get more. We don’t need cocaine. As soon as my mixtape gets finished and gets in the right hands—”
“Can you hear how crazy you sound, Kirbie? Do you know how much money you’ve put into that music shit already? You spent over one hundred thousand dollars last year on videos and studio time and features. When is it gonna stop?"
"When I reach the top," I said harshly.
He shook his head in disappointment, then forked some shrimp into his mouth. He was still shaking his head as he chewed. "That's the only problem I have with you still being so young. Eighteen years old, you're still a dreamer. You don't have a grasp of the real world yet."
"I do too. In the real world you have to chase your dreams hard. I haven't gotten where I want to be yet so that means I need to go harder. And that's what I plan to do. We just need to buy more pills, Archie. Not switch it up to cocaine. I really need the extra money for the top artists in the industry this go-round.”
"I'm tired of hustling backwards."
"It's not. What, you don't think I can sing?"
"You can sing but—"
"You don't think I'm better than Jazzmine Short was? Or just as good as Caylene Hope?"
"You are, but the music industry is about connections and—"
"Archie, I'm
not giving up on my dream."
"I just want you to be realistic," he said.
I set my fork down. "I'm performing at the Sprint Center soon. How is that for realistic? That's an achievement, right?"
"How much are you getting paid for it?"
I rolled my eyes and picked my fork back up, ate some more macaroni. "It's not about getting paid. It's about exposure."
He fake-laughed. "Who fed you that bullshit? Coras? I feel like he's pimping you. And that would mean he's pimping me."
"Is that what this is about? Me being around Coras? I'm not fucking him, Archie."
"No, you're just fingering yourself to his raps."
"I was not!"
"I understand, Kirbie. You don't have to lie to me. You haven't been with another man ever in your life and you're curious. You're around Coras a lot and you find that lil' nigga attractive. Women like rappers with tattoos for some reason. But I'm not worried about you voluntarily sleeping with Coras. You've been loyal to me since you were fourteen. I don't mind you pleasuring yourself to thoughts of another man as long as it stops there. But I am worried about what Coras might try to do to you. Rappers are known for deceiving women to get what they want."
"I'm a big girl, Archie."
"I know it. And you keep your gun on you. But I still don't think you need to be around him. What do you think about starting your own label?"
I shook my head no. "I'm signed to Swope Records."
"You actually signed a contract?!"
"Swope Records is one of the biggest underground labels in the country."
"Underground, Kirbie. That means nothing!"
"I wanna stick with Swope Records. I'm loyal to them."
"You're loyal to me!"
"I am. But music is a different thing."
He sat back in his chair, smacking his hands on his thighs. "Coras is pimping you."
I sucked my teeth. Archie had no faith in me. If it didn't have anything to do with drug money, he thought it was stupid or impossible to achieve. His mind was boxed in.
I wasn't going to let his shallow way of thinking hold me back.
"After the Sprint Center show," I said, "we're heading out of town to promote Coras’s mixtape."
"And why do you need to go?"
"Because I'm featured on the hottest song on the CD. It has Slim Eight on it. I was hoping we could head out of town to get another batch of pills so I can have a good amount of money to travel with and so I can sell some on the road."
Archie started eating again, ignoring me. A full minute passed when he finally picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. He took his phone out of his pocket.
"No more music talk," he said. "Let's just enjoy the meal and each other's company. And I wanna get a selfie of us and the food."
"You still haven't apologized for hitting me," I reminded him.
"I didn't hit you that hard."
"But you still hit me."
"And why did I hit you?"
"I guess I'll just leave." I started to get up.
"I'm sorry," he said rudely, like he shouldn't have had to say it. "Now do I get an apology for this bullet in my leg?”
“No.”
“Okay, whatever, Kirbie. Can we just take the picture?"
I wiped my mouth with a napkin. Sighing, I sat back down and said, "Sure."
He raised the phone up and I could see us on his screen. A strand of hair was out of place so I tucked it behind my ear.
"Can you smile, please?" Archie said. "Make it look halfway real that we're having a good time."
I gave the best fake smile I could muster, and then he snapped the picture.
ArchieGotSkittles36 uploaded a photo
ArchieGotSkittles36: This is what true love looks like. Me and my girl go through our ups and downs but we always end up back together. I don't know how I get her back sometimes. It's either this dick or this cooking. Lol!—with KirbieAmor #OrBoth #grilledTilapia #ChefArchie #MeAndMyGirlfriend #PowerCouple #YouMadOrNah
CHAPTER 12
Andre "Coras Bane" McDougald
I was in a hotel room sitting on the edge of my bed, cellphone in my hand. I had just gotten through fucking my manager, Ashleigh Hedgman, who was behind me laying under the covers sound asleep. Now I was looking at The Site on my phone, passing time until Ashleigh woke up for round two.
I should have been feeling guilty for leaving my girl Monifa Chavis at home thinking I was at the studio. But the guilt I was feeling was for Kirbie.
I loved Kirbie. And by being here with Ashleigh it made me feel like I was cheating on her and not my actual girlfriend Monifa. And that's because deep down I knew I was supposed to be with Kirbie. She had my heart.
I'm so fucked up, I thought. My love life is a holy mess.
Mostly, I only used The Site for one reason—and that was to keep tabs on my swanky crush Kirbie Amor Capelton. She updated her status regularly so it was easy for me to follow her day-to-day activities. Not only was she the secret love of my life, but she was also my investment. I had invested a lot of time and money into her sound and image. The majority of the money she put up herself, but to me my time was worth millions.
Almost on its own, my thumb clicked Kirbie's Site pic, which was a link that led me to her profile. Immediately I got pissed off because there was a picture stamped at the top of her page that captured her and Archie eating dinner. The picture was posted 9 minutes ago.
"Dammit, Kirbie, you went back to that nigga already?" I whispered to myself. "This is quicker than the last time."
And that was alarming to me. Shorter separation times meant they could be growing closer. And she and Archie looked happy together in this picture. One of my worst fears was that one day Kirbie would update her status with one of those "I'm pregnant" life events.
I tapped the comments button on their photo and a list unfolded:
Precious Milk&Honey Payne-Nixon: You guys look so happy together!
Kaylee Baker: When’s the wedding? Am I invited?
Scarlett Cooper: Women love a man that can cook. She has a winner in you, Archie. Nice going.
Thorton Jones: grilled tilapia ain’t that hard to cook.
Natasha YoloLife Anderson: Save some leftovers for me!
Charlene Ward: I used to tell my husband before we got divorced that real men know how to cook
Trillyoung Sav: @CharleneWard, Does cooking crack count?
Aubrianna PlaysNoGames: I love you guys’ relationship! It’s what people should aspire to!
Coras Bane: I really wish yall the best and I'm praying that you guys stay together forever.
I started to get upset about how many people were in support of their phony relationship when I noticed that I was one of them. I had commented on this picture 3 minutes ago somehow! Coras Bane: I really wish yall the best and I'm praying that you guys stay together forever—I would never post that! And I didn't know how to delete it either because The Site changed/updated its functionalities too often for me to keep up with. My biggest pet peeve about The Site was and always had been that it posted statuses for you or clicked Like on products that you could care less about. That was why I tried to stay off of The Site as much as possible. These random bugs could give somebody the wrong impression.
"What’chu doing?" Ashleigh said, as her arms smoothly found their way around my neck. I was startled. She kissed me on the cheek, working her hands down to my nipples.
I tried to close out The Site but I wasn't fast enough.
"Why are you looking at Kirbie's profile again?" She instantly pulled away.
"Her boyfriend posted a picture of them eating dinner and I was checking it out," I said innocently.
I had to turn to see her. She had backed all the way up against the headboard. Her arms were crossed under her naked chest, giving her breasts a nice lift. Her hair was thrown every whichway. And she was pouting.
"The only times I see you on The Site is when you're checking out Kirbie's page," Ashleigh ac
cused. "I'm starting to get really worried about you and that little girl."
"Worried in what way?"
"You know what way, Coras. Are you fuckin' her?"
"No. You know I'm not."
"But you want to, don't you?"
I sighed as I stood up and went to the dresser, where there was a blunt roach sitting in the hotel ashtray. Next to it was a 10-pack baggie of Purple Gorilla pills that was now an 8-pack. Me and Ashleigh had popped two pills just before coming here.
We both were addicted to Kirbie's drug.
I picked up the roach and fired it up.
"We can't be worried about females all the time," I said, blowing out smoke. "Just imagine how many bitches will be around when I finally make it. Are you gonna be tripping over every single groupie that tries to get at me?"
"If you're checking their profile page every day, then yes."
"Kirbie is our artist, Ashleigh. You need to be checking her profile page every day too. You're her manager."
"Only because you force me to be."
I flicked the roach at her and she scrambled out of the bed. She swatted the roach off the mattress. "Coras, that could have caught on fire!"
"You need to start taking Kirbie more serious."
"Why? She doesn't take herself serious."
"She can sing."
"So can a million other muthafuckers in the world. Just knowing how to sing will get you nowhere. You know that, Coras. The same problems you see in her, I see in her too. You just think she's gonna change. I don't."
"She's stepping up again. She hasn't been late since that last time."
"That's because she wasn't with Archie. They're back together again."
"How do you know that?"
Ashleigh smiled guiltily. "I checked her Site page."
I smiled back. "So I get fussed at for checking her Site page and you're doing the same shit?"
God Don't Like Haters Page 5
