by Will Brown
He then look over at Andre.
“What’s up Andre? Big ups to you for helping T. If anyone can do the right thing I know it’s you. If you guys don’t mind, I just want to talk to her. I really messed up the best thing I’ve ever had and now my marriage is gone. I just want to see her one last time if she will allow me. I don’t know if I’ll get this opportunity again to speak with her, so I hope you don’t mind. I don’t want to make you guys feel uncomfortable.”
“Listen, why don’t you come in and join us? You’re always going to be my man—Shaun, let me convince her to talk to you. Okay? If she doesn’t, then hey, you tried. Just let her deal with it. That's all I’ve got to say... So how are you doing? Shaun you’ve got too much to lose. Don’t throw it all away like this man. It’s not too late. A lot of people are depending on you...”
It was Andre's turn to speak up.
“We’re here to help but you have to want it for yourself. And, to be honest, really coming from the heart, we want to see you succeed again. I mean, if that’s what you want. The choice is yours.”
They then walked back toward the table where everyone was already eating. Andre turned and asked Shaun, “So what’s it gonna be? You taught me this business and now you’re gonna let me leave you behind? I can’t let you do that man, no way.”
Shaun just dropped his head in disappointment. “I’m doing the best I can. It’s just been an uphill battle, you know? At least I don’t owe anyone and have to look over my shoulder anymore. When I think of all that I’d accomplished and what it took to earn respect in this business, I just want to fall apart. Andre, I’m proud of how well you’re doing now, but to be honest, I wish I could just jump off a cliff. I still love T-Bird.”
JJ and Andre embraced Shaun as he broke down in tears as they tried to encourage him.
“Shaun, you can do it. It’s all a test and you have to pass. Listen, it could be worse. Take a minute and think about it. You’re really fortunate. You could be on drugs or have problems with alcohol, so be thankful. What you need is to learn the value of money and how to invest it, instead of throwing it all away on instant gratification,” JJ said.
“I have someone in mind to help when you’re ready. So take control of your situation and find some peace within yourself again. Once you’ve accomplished that, you may even get back what you’ve lost. I’ll say it again. It’s all a test. Trust me, I had to find that out for myself as well. Vivian and I have had to conquer a lot in order to put some love back in our marriage. So the only advice I can give you is to stop being a high roller. It’s not worth it.”
Before Shaun could respond, JJ patted him on the back. “Come, let’s go find a seat and get something to eat, I’m starving. I’ll talk to T-Bird about giving you a few minutes. But be careful, she’s still fragile and really angry with you. Okay?”
“Sure JJ, and thanks a lot for the advice man. And thanks to you too Andre. You’re still my boy you know that.”
Andre just threw his hands up in the air, “Hey, no hard feelings here. You’re still my boy, too.”
As soon as they all arrived at the table, Andre shouted out, “Hey everybody guess who’s here? I’ve got the best of both worlds right now. Can you believe that? I’ve got my boy Shaun, who taught me almost everything I know and I’m managing T-Bird and this group.”
JJ could tell T-Bird wasn’t happy about Shaun’s presence and leaned over to whisper in her ear.
“Give him a chance. He just wants to talk to you, so allow him to get it off of his chest. Afterwards, he’ll feel better. Okay? Remember, he may have screwed up your money and your marriage, but he’s still a good man and we’re still friends. After the two of you talk, maybe you can find some peace. So what do you say?”
T-Bird looked at JJ and smiled.
“For you, bebe I can do that. I do have a few things to say to him, now that you mention it.”
She then went over to the DJ booth to search for some music to ease her emotions before dancing alone in the middle of the floor. Sensually she moved her body to the music before finally maneuvering her way over to Shaun and asking him to join her. Shaun was totally taken by surprise, but didn’t hesitate to accept her invitation. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and began to talk to him.
“I know you want to talk to me, but to be honest, I’m not sure that I’m ready to do that, but I promised JJ, that I would. So, I’m giving you this opportunity out here to say whatever is on your mind without anyone being a part of this conversation accept you and me. Deal?”
Shaun spun her around and answered.
“Deal. Look —I know you’re still upset with me and you deserve to be. But for this one minute can you except that I still love you? It doesn’t matter what else happens. I just had to let you know that.”
She looked at him and shook her head as they danced.
“I’m just sorry for the pain I’ve caused you,” he continued. “Especially that our closest friends had to step in and offer you the money to help you complete the album. I’ll never forgive myself for that.”
“Neither will I,” T-Bird replied.
“I know, I know,” Shaun said, as he tried to regain control of the conversation. “Listen I hope one day you can forgive me and I can repay you for everything that I’ve done. I mean it. I also hope that Andre makes your tour a success.” T-Bird just shook her head in discuss.
“Shaun, I gave you everything I had. My whole life was yours. I surrendered it all to you. Body, soul, and spirit and you messed it all up! I never thought we would be having a conversation like this,” T-Bird said.
"Bae look at us! Here we are, two people who fell in love with each other and the one thing that bought us so much passion was the music. How could you do this to us? I’m hurting yet I’m happy all at the same time. But I’ve got to let you go to be able to move on. It would have been nice to share this accomplishment with you, especially since we worked so hard as a team to achieve it. Now we’re divorced, embarrassed, humiliated and now I just don’t understand.”
T-Bird was so angry that all she could do was walk off the dance floor. Trey leaned over to JJ.
“What’s going on with those two? Is everything okay?” JJ looked back Trey before responding. “I hope so. They just need a little time to talk.”
“You know something? After all those two have been through together, they’ve never had the opportunity to find some closure,” Trey said.
“They’ll be okay. Let’s just leave them alone to work things out," JJ continued.
Shaun grabbed T-Bird by the hand and pulled her over to an empty table.
“Sit down for a few more minutes and let me talk to you then I’ll leave. I don’t want to ruin your celebration. I’m really proud of you and wish you the best. Even through all of our misfortune, you know I still brought you a lot of good. When I think about us, I’ll hold on to those memories to get me through the hard times. On that note, I’d better leave. It’s not going to be good to see a grown man break down.”
After that statement, Shaun got up from the table but not before stopping to turn to look back at her one last time.
“All I have is one last request and that is, you don’t let anyone else take advantage of you. You’re too good for someone else to not appreciate and I’d hate to be the one coming after them. Deal?”
T-Bird nodded her head, acknowledging him, as he walked away. Before he reached for the door JJ yelled out, “Hey Shaun, don’t forget to stay in touch!”
Q and Trey walked over to the table where T-Bird was sitting. “So what was that all about?”
Immediately after, Andre walked over to add, “So how did it go?”
Q couldn’t help but look confused while looking at Andre.
“How did what go?”
Andre put his hands in the pockets of his pants before responding.
“Hey it’s all good. Shaun just wanted to talk to T-Bird and iron a few things out that’s all. Personally, I’m glad
to see he is willing to put all of this to rest.” Q looked at T-Bird while placing his hand on her shoulder.
“Hey are you okay?” She attempted to remove the palms of her hands from her face.
“Yes, I’ll be all right eventually,” she replied, while trying to hide the tears that were already. Seconds later, JJ walked over only to take notice before letting out a sigh.
“Why don’t you come upstairs to my office so you can have some privacy? You’ll be more comfortable there.”
He then grabbed her by the hand, leading her to the elevator. The moment the doors closed, he wrapped his arms around her.
“Hey, it’s going to be all right.You and Shaun needed to have that conversation to let go of all the baggage that’s been bottled up and plaguing both of you. Just think about what Vivian and I have gone through. You know we’re still recovering every day. And can I tell you the truth? You, Q and Vivian’s dad were very instrumental in our healing because of your insight. None of us can predict what life has in stored. I’ve come to realize, true love never dies and sometimes it comes back even greater the second time around.”
T-Bird didn’t know how to respond to JJ’s encouragement. Was he referring to the new relationship she was beginning with Darnell or her and Shaun working towards another chance?
“Once again here you are to the rescue. Is this going to be the story of my life?”
JJ just looked at her while shaking his head.
“No, you just need to relax and appreciate how good life has been to you. That’s all.”
As the elevator reached the second floor they walked off toward his office.
“Can a sister please have some tissue? I look a mess. I’m still a diva and there’s no way I can go back looking like this...” she said as she sniffled, wiping her face and trying to inject some humor. JJ handed her the box of tissue.
“Thank you, just give me a few minutes to get myself together.”
As T-Bird attempted to pull herself together, Desiree walked in.
“What’s going on. Are you all right, cuz? You see, look at you. I knew you still had feelings for Shaun, mad and all. Remember what we just talked about regarding hidden emotions. I hope you have some peace now.”
“I’m okay. You’re always right. Damn, cuz can’t you be wrong just once?”
“Oh stop! We’re family and I’m supposed to tell you the truth. You still love Shaun. Just admit it. Um hm.”
T-Bird attempted to smile. “I’m ready to go back down now. I need to get something to eat and talk to my guys before they leave.”
Desiree grabbed her by the hand while walking toward the elevator. “What am I going to do with you? Come on then, girl. You’ll be alright.”
Before they could reach the elevator, the doors slid open and Q was standing there, coming to check on T-Bird. Desiree immediately stopped him in his tracks.
“Excuse me Mr. Q, but are you looking for me, bebe? Come on, you can turn around; we’re on our way back downstairs. Cuz is going to be just fine. And if you don’t mind, I’m going to need a ride to my hotel. Will you be able to handle that? I’m staying right near the airport if, for any reason, time slips away, I can still make my flight. You never know what may happen if a girl gets preoccupied,” she said, giving him a provocative smile and sticking her index finger in her mouth.
“What can I say? The ladies rule this morning so here’s your pass. I’ll see you at the table.”
When they all returned downstairs, Andre was sitting next to Trey and couldn’t help expressing to him how sexy Desiree looked watching her squeeze around the table.
“Damn. Would you look at that? I have to tell you, Desiree is something else. No disrespect to Q, but she is 100% and to see her and T-Bird standing side by side is unbelievable. It ought to be a sin to look that good and here be two of em! I almost couldn’t tell who was who when she walked into the studio and if it wasn’t for her being darker, I wouldn’t have known the difference. Right now I’m tripping. I understand why Shaun is having such a hard time letting go...” He simply shook his head.
Trey couldn't help looking at Q.
“What are we going to do my brother?”
Q just grinned and picked up his orange juice. “What can I say?” He replied, realizing that Desiree commanded everyone’s attention just as her cousin T-Bird. She leaned over the table, attempting to feed him a piece of toast. Carlotta was sitting next to Trey and nudged him in the side.
“She really has the hots for him, doesn’t she?”
Q couldn’t help hearing her and responded.
“Come on you guys. Can a brother just appreciate feeling like a king if only for a minute? I admit she’s one of a kind, but let me do me.”
Everyone gave him the strangest look and judging from the expression on their faces, his words weren’t that convincing, as he then changed his statement.
“Maybe two of a kind if we add T-Bird into the equation.”
They all laughed. “We can agree you got that one! Go ahead and do your thing tonight because, if it were me, there would be nothing but fire,” JJ said.
“You know something JJ, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you ain’t bringing nothing but smoke. Or should I ask Vivian?” Desiree interrupted him to express.
Everyone laughed out again. Trey turned and looked at him. “That will teach you to keep your mouth closed. Do you really think she was going to let you get away with a statement like that without saying something?”
T-Bird filled her plate with fruit salad and a second with steak, grits, and cheese eggs.
Trey laughed at her. “You weren’t kidding when you said you were hungry. Huh?”
T-Bird didn’t even answer Trey’s remark while continuing to arrange her plates. The bandleader Melvin then leaned over to Andre, “So Andre, are you looking for any reserve musicians for your new group?”
He knew Melvin was trying to position himself if the opportunity ever presented itself.
“Listen I don’t like to talk too much when I’m eating, unless I’m making money.”
He replied while leaving him speechless.
By the time everyone began to leave it was 6:30 a.m. Trey, Carlotta, Amelia, and Jessica all left together as Trey offered to take them back to their car.
On the way, the girls couldn’t stop talking about the good time they'd had and by the time they arrived at the car, they had talked themselves to sleep.
Back at the club, JJ, Vivian, Maurice and Q were still sitting at the table with Desiree.
“Are you ready to leave now too? Just say the word and we can get out of here.” Q said while waiting on her response. With one leg crossed on top of the other she answered.
“Come on, I was beginning to think you didn’t want to accept my invitation to go back to my hotel.”
After making that remark, Q knew it was going to be a matter of getting to the hotel to give Desiree what she desired. There was no doubt she was ready to have hot sex as they got up to leave. The only people still left were the chef, Maurice, Vivian and JJ. As the chef began to clean up, JJ went over to his brother.
“Maurice man. I’m so glad to see you. I can’t believe you’re here and working with Vivian on this movie. You just don’t know how proud I am of you. I would never have guessed that the two of you would be working together. So how long will you be here before going back to L.A.?”
“I’m really not sure. I’ve arranged for mother to go on a cruise before I leave. It’s time to do something for her in return for all the sacrifices she made for us. I’ve already paid for her to travel on the French Riviera for fourteen days.”
"Why didn’t you tell me before now? I’ll tell you what I’m splitting the bill with you. There’s no way I can let you do this without me...”
Maurice just kind of shrugged.
“Whatever you want to do is fine with me. It’s just $5,000, so if you want to split the bill, then hit me up later. I haven’t said anything to our brothers
. Maybe I should get some of their money too.” Maurice smiled at the thought.
“Okay that sounds like a great idea, but you’ll have mine in the morning.” JJ replied.
“Solid man... in the meantime, I’m going back to the house to stay with mother and get some rest.."
Before leaving, he turned around, placing his hand under his chin. “Um....JJ, you know something, that Desiree is fouine as hell.”
“I have to agree, she is,” JJ answered.
“How did she and Q meet? I’m just curious.”
“From what I understand, she once flew in on one of his planes from Atlanta, on company business and that’s how they met. From that moment, she was determined she was going to get to know our boy.”
“I just have to ask bro, isn’t Q still holding down the ladies’ man role?” Maurice asked.
“Maurice, you sure are asking me a lot of questions about Desiree. Are you digging her too man? It’s hard enough dealing with T-Bird and now I have to put up with her cousin’s ass too. To be honest, I’ll be glad when she gets her ass back on that plane, because putting up with those two together, I just can’t do for too long.” JJ continued.
“I’m not really sure if I want to call it digging her or not. Maybe it’s just how she seems to captivate everyone’s attention when she’s around. And how can I forget, yeah — just like her cuz. Birds of a feather flock together. I mean now, if Q isn’t really serious about her. then that’s another subject.”
“I don’t know what to think. However, it does seem to be some chemistry between them so I’m not going to say anything. If he likes it. Then I love it. He needs someone special for once in his life,” JJ continued.
“I must admit, I’m impressed with my brother.” Maurice said. “With that being said, I guess I’ll hook up with you later.”
When Maurice left the garage, JJ was alone with Vivian. For a moment he stood there thinking, curious about the questions his brother had about Desiree and Q. Even Vivian was curious after overhearing their conversation and grabbed his hand as they prepared to walk toward her car. “Do you think Maurice is attracted to Desiree?” she asked.
