by Pat Tucker
Within seconds, I felt myself relax, and that’s when the idea came to me. I knew Cooper would make it as a professional singer. He had the voice, the look, and the determination.
My eyes snapped open.
“Let’s do it, baby.”
Cooper stopped singing and turned to face me.
“Woman, what you talking about? We can’t do nothing until you drop this load.”
He gently rubbed my stomach, and we watched as a small foot stretched outward.
“This boy is real active,” Cooper said. He beamed with pride as we watched the baby move around.
“I know I can’t do much now, but the baby is due in a couple of weeks. After that, I think you should let me manage your career.”
Cooper’s eyebrow went up. It seemed as if the idea were somewhat enticing.
“What career? I don’t need a manager to tell me how to sit behind that wheel every day, baby.”
We laughed.
“Yeah, I know that, but if you ever hope to live your true dream of hitting it big as a singer and entertainer, you need to let me manage your career.”
His eyes locked with mine, and I saw the true depth of his curiosity. He was still battling self-doubt, but he was warming up to the idea, and he was truly curious about what might be possible.
“What you know about managing careers?”
“I’ll admit, I don’t know much, but it’s like when I used to manage Eve in those gawd-awful pageants she loved so much. Baby, I could do the same for you. I’ll use the time to do some research, figure out whether we should go into the studio ourselves, drop some of your work on social media, let it go viral; then things could really take off.”
Cooper fell back onto his butt. He leaned back on extended arms, then gazed up at the ceiling for a long time.
“How would that work?”
“Honey, couples do it all the time. Who better to manage you than the one person who loves and believes in you? You know for sure that I’ll do anything to help you make it, and I’ll do everything to make sure you get out there and get the recognition you deserve.”
Cooper sighed. He shook his head slightly.
“But what do you know about managing anything?”
The first time he’d asked, it didn’t bother me as much. It sounded like a common-sense question, but now that it was a serious conversation, and he still felt like that, made me wonder about whether he believed I could do it.
“Baby, you and the entire entertainment industry probably can’t compare to a bunch of backstabbing, catty, beauty-queen wannabes. Trust when I tell you, they can get downright vicious, and if I survived them, I can handle a bunch of music executives.” Cooper stared at me for a long while.
“I dunno, Licia.”
He may have been unsure, but his demeanor made me feel like the possibility might have excited him a little.
“Think about it. Just hear me out. If I can’t get you a few gigs, and we’re not making any progress after about six months, we can find someone else.”
He didn’t look completely convinced.
“I can get you some local gigs to start with. Then, once we make you a star here at home, in your own backyard, we can take it on the road.”
“So you’d be able to get me gigs?”
I could tell by his tone that the idea was one he wanted to explore.
“Baby, I’ll get you gigs, we’ll cut a demo, and we will make this happen. But first,” my headed tilted ever so slightly in his direction, “you’ve gotta get on board.”
“Can I think about it?”
My heart sank a little at that response, but I wasn’t about to give up. “What’s there to think about? You say you want to be a star, and I’m saying let’s do it, but now you seem to be backtracking. So, what is it; do you or don’t you wanna be a star, baby?”
Cooper stared at me for a moment, and silence hung between us.
“You real serious about this, huh?” Cooper still looked at me like he was struggling to believe.
“I don’t see why you’re not.”
He stared harder at me.
But after a while, a sudden and deliberate grin slowly spread across his face. His dimples deepened and he nodded.
“What the hell; let’s do this!”
“So, we’re doing this? Oh, shit!”
Fear settled into his features.
“What?”
I looked down, tried to steady my breathing, and said, “I think it’s time; my water just broke!”
Chapter Seven
Three years after I’d agreed to manage Coop’s singing career, we were deep in the struggle, and the true battle was mine alone.
Cooper had become such a diva, I had to remind myself to keep my eyes on the bigger picture. A lot of the work involved the type of things I wasn’t good at doing: begging someone to give him a shot, or begging for the honorarium or check we were promised after he had already preformed. It was infuriating.
The biggest challenge was chasing down our money if we didn’t get it the night of the performance. I thought about this as a voice rang through the cell phone. It was my third time calling, and I was frustrated.
“I need to talk to the person who pays the bills, that’s who I need to talk to,” I screamed into the phone. My patience was ultra-thin.
Cooper had done a gig out at Sam Houston Race Park and we hadn’t gotten paid. I usually required payment the night of, and in cash, but I also didn’t like to turn down opportunities when people couldn’t or wouldn’t agree to those terms. We had done work out at the park before, but this time, getting paid was nearly impossible. And we needed every dime of our money.
“Hold on; let me get my manager,” the woman said.
As I waited, my mind raced with the list of other things that needed my attention.
“Felicia, this is Andrew. Listen, I’m sorry about all of this, but you really need to talk with the vendor we used. That was a third-party event. Our facility was rented for it. So, what you’re gonna have to do is track down the vendor and call them up. We’ve paid all of our bills. The rest, including Coop’s, has nothing to do with us.”
Andrew Kiner was a slick businessman who did several events around the city. He looked like an old school gangster, but he was a man of his word. I knew that for sure; we had done business with him for nearly a year. And he always looked out for us; he was fair.
“Listen, I know this won’t help, but we don’t plan to use that vendor anymore. You’re the fourth person having problems getting paid.”
“Damn, Andrew, why would y’all use somebody like that in the first place?”
“Aey, over here, the boss is only interested in business. Who am I to say no? You know how it can be sometimes.”
I understood his position, but I hated to have to beg for money we had already earned, needed and should have had.
“So what do you think I should do? We need that money.” I was pissed to learn that once again, I’d have to chase down some money that we’d worked to earn. The craziest part was, I couldn’t let Cooper know what was going on because he’d trip out on me. He’d blame me for not predicting that someone wouldn’t pay; then he’d threaten to have me replaced, yet again.
“A few people have gone down to their office. They’re over on the Southwest side. I can find the address, if you’ve got a minute.”
“I’ve looked them up and thought they were on the Northside, near you guys.” I was confused. I didn’t want to admit to Andrew that I had already been by their offices, without any luck, so I waited for him to find the correct address.
“Nah, don’t waste your time going out there. That’s another office; let me grab the one you need. Oh, before I forget, I wanted to tell you about something. My wife’s kinfolk got this club, and they try to bring in live music every
Friday. I think Coop would be a good fit.”
My heart started to race.
“It’s a club?” I tried not to sound as desperate as I really was. I’d been working for a while to try and land a regular gig for Cooper. A weekly gig would be perfect; he’d get the regular practice and incredible exposure.
“Yeah, nothing too fancy, but he gets lots of traffic through there, and you never know whom you could meet.”
When he said those words, it confirmed that we clearly thought alike, and that was a good thing.
“Oh for sure, for sure. Who do I need to talk to?”
“Okay, slow down a bit. Let me give you the bad news. This dude ain’t like me or the people you work with out here. He’s not the type you want to meet in a dark alley.”
Andrew’s message was clear enough, but my need for a regular gig outweighed the warning and even any potential danger. Besides, I knew how to avoid dark alleys.
“You know I can hold my own,” I joked.
“Yeah, since I’ve watched you work over the last year, I felt like you could handle Big Al. He’s something else. And whatever you do, negotiate with him.”
Before I got off the phone, I had the information I needed for Andrew’s brother-in-law and the address I needed to go get our money.
Four days later, I dropped Cooper off at work before daybreak; then I drove to the address Andrew had given me. It was still dark outside, and that’s just the way I wanted it. I had tried everything. I had called, stopped by in the morning, during lunch, and near the end of the business day. Each time I came to the office, it looked boarded up, like no one had been there. But I knew better.
One day, I even called Andrew back to double-check the address. Once he confirmed it was correct, I decided I needed a different approach, and I knew what had to be done.
The nondescript office was located in a strip mall off Westheimer and the Beltway. There was no sign on the door. Next to the small office was a cell phone repair store; next to that, a Chinese fast-food restaurant and a couple of empty spaces with “For Lease” signs taped on doors.
Several people, mostly women, rushed from their cars and into the various businesses as the sun made an appearance. I was getting antsy as I waited. Traffic between workers and customers grew and slowed, but no one showed up at the address I’d been watching.
When my cell phone rang, I was irritated that the stakeout was taking longer than I wanted. It was my mother, so I needed to answer.
“Hey,” I greeted.
“Where you at?”
“I’m handling some business; is everything okay?”
My mother watched Trey for us during the day. She worked a part-time job in the evening, so between my schedule and Cooper’s, we were good. But there were times when my mother felt like I should take the baby, if I wasn’t at my job.
“Umph, what kind of business you handling this time of morning?”
If she could have seen my face, she would’ve been able to detect the irritation her question had caused.
“Ma, I’m really busy right now; is everything okay with Trey?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. I’m just wondering where you are and what you’re doing. You left the house so early, I was just checking on you.”
“I told you, I’m handling some business. Look, I need to run. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“You never said where you are,” she said. I ignored her question again.
“Okay, I’ll call you when I’m on my way back.”
Before I ended the call, I heard her suck her teeth. But I couldn’t focus on that. I finally saw someone walk up to the office door and unlock it.
The man looked like he had seen a few unexpected visitors before. As he put the key into the lock, he looked around almost nervously.
My mind raced with thoughts of how I’d handle this situation. I didn’t want any crap, but I needed our money.
Early January in Houston could be anything from near summerlike temperatures to full-blown winter days. On this day, it felt more like spring, so the trench coat I wore over my jeans, boots, and T-shirt was the perfect cover I needed, and could have been appropriate in case a sudden thunderstorm struck. Before I approached the building, I went to the trunk and grabbed the tire iron.
By the time I reached the door, I barged in like someone owed me money, and I was there to collect by any means necessary. His mistake of not locking the door would be his downfall.
The petite man who whipped around at the sound of the door opening looked like I had caught him off guard. And that was exactly the way I wanted it. I swung the tire iron across the desk and watched his eyes grow as items flew across the room and crashed to the floor.
“My next swing will be straight at your motherfucking head!”
Horror was all over his face.
He flinched.
“Lady, I’m calling the police!”
“You’re gonna need more than just the police, so I suggest you beg for an ambulance, too, while you’re on the phone.”
His eyes danced around me, and I didn’t know if he were looking for a weapon or what he was thinking.
I took the tire iron and swung it at the desk. The wood crushed on contact.
“While you’re on the phone with the cops, tell them how I’ve been calling, leaving notes and literally chasing down your thieving behind for weeks.”
I lifted the tire iron again, and slowly his hands went up in surrender. “Okay, okay, let’s talk about this. How much?”
“Five hundred and I need cash!”
“Crazy woman!” he muttered. But he dug into his back pocket and pulled out a large billfold.
With shaky hands, he opened it and pulled out a thick wad of cash. He counted out the bills and then looked up at me when he ran out at $487.
“This is all I got right now,” he said.
I snatched the stack of bills from the desk, and then examined it with one hand. “Consider us even. Use the rest to pay for the damages.”
He started going off in a language I didn’t understand, but he stayed away from me. I glanced around, pivoted, pulled the tire iron close, and strolled out of the small office, cash in hand.
Chapter Eight
"Hi, Big Al, this is Felicia Malone calling again. I’d like to come by and talk to you about my client. Please give me a call when you get this message.”
The message I’d left for Big Al was vague enough for him to wonder whether we’d done business before and maybe get him to call back. That was my hope because I didn’t have another plan.
By the time I made it to the bank later that afternoon, I was disgusted. Cooper didn’t know what I’d had to do to get the money, but he knew how to spend it.
We needed all kinds of things, but he was quick to put his needs before the family’s. Something had told me to check our balance before I deposited the money, and I was glad I had.
I snatched the phone and dialed Cooper’s cell phone. I knew he wouldn’t answer because drivers had to keep their cell phones stashed away while they were on their routes. He usually got a break around two, and he’d get my message then.
“What the hell did you buy this time? We are overdrawn by three-hundred damn dollars! Cooper, I told you, check before you spend! We’ve got several charges on here because of overdraft fees! Damn!”
My eyes focused on the cash I held in my hands. There was no way I wanted to turn all of that cash over to the bank after all I’d gone through to get it.
I walked away from the bank feeling defeated. It seemed the harder I worked, the less progress we made. Cooper’s spending was reckless, and there was little I could do to control it. He spent more money than he brought in, and he did it regularly.
My mother allowed us to stay in her garage apartment as long as we paid for the utilities and a small amount for
rent. She called it a garage apartment, but it was not detached from the house, so it felt more like a spare bedroom.
She could get a whole lot more if she sealed off the connecting door and rented at market, but she was trying to help us out.
Cooper’s check covered the rent and most bills, but his vice of tailored clothes, fine shoes, and other accessories was what had killed us.
“Licia, I gotta look the part. I can’t buy suits off the rack at Macy’s; my shit’s got to say I’m a star!”
Instead of focusing on how pissed I was at Cooper, I went to the grocery store and bought some food. The last thing I wanted was for my mother to bitch and complain about us not pulling our weight.
By the time I’d finished with the errands, I had $50 left. I put $30 of that into my mother’s gas tank and drove her car back to the house. I knew she’d be waiting with lots of questions. I’d deal with Cooper and his spending later.
My mother was in the kitchen hovering over a pot, and my son was planted in front of the TV.
“Hey, where you been all morning?” she asked.
“I had to pay some bills and run to the store. I noticed we were running low on a few things.”
The slight eye-twitch would have been easy to miss, but I caught it. My mother liked having Trey around most times, but I knew there were other times when she probably wished we had our own place. She walked over and peered into one of the bags I had placed on the counter.
“Oh, you didn’t have to do that. I know things are tight for you guys right now. Bless your heart; you bought me some pecan ice cream?”
“Yeah, I heard you fussing at Trey about it the other day,” I said.
“I wouldn’t say I was fussing; you know how that boy is. I tried to give him a taste; next thing you know, he don’ ate the whole doggone pint!”
We chuckled about my son. But the truth was, between Trey and Cooper, we always ran out of milk, juice, bread, and any kind of snack that came into the house.
“What are you fixing? It smells good.”
“My famous chili.”
My mother looked out of the kitchen window. “I know it’s winter, despite what the sunshine says, so I thought a good pot of chili would be perfect.”
