All About Him

by Pat Tucker

  Chapter Thirty

  One month after the showcase, my life was hardly recognizable. By now, we had moved into a small, one-bedroom apartment, but still spent the majority of our time at my mom’s because she watched Trey. My marriage and our business relationship were strained.

  It was like Cooper had lost all confidence in my ability to handle his career. As the days went on, his behavior continued to baffle and piss me off at the same time.

  I was accustomed to working alone, but I had convinced myself that even through his constant complaints, we were somewhat of a team. However, now, we no longer discussed strategy; we didn’t review the gigs or even brainstorm about ways to get his name out there. He behaved as if we were no longer a team. He never asked about the city events, the more high-brow gigs he was once hungry to get, or anything else at all.

  Now, when I presented a gig, he wasn’t interested. He’d simply say, “No, not gonna happen.” There was no explanation, no complaints, and no more conversation. A few times, I had looked like a fool having to circle back to cancel something I had set up. The difference in Cooper was nothing less than stunning. But the ultimate betrayal blindsided me.

  One afternoon, he burst into my mom’s house at an hour that he should’ve been driving a Metro bus, and I was really exasperated. Nothing good could come from him being off in the middle of the afternoon. Cooper was unreachable on an ordinary business day, so for him to come home early meant something had gone wrong.

  With wide and wild eyes, I waited for an explanation even though I already suspected trouble. Although I couldn’t think of any explanation that would be worthy, I still waited. There was nothing patient about my demeanor as I listened to the gibberish that flowed from his mouth.

  “Eve said I should quit my job, and that’s exactly what I did. She said I need to dedicate all of my time toward my singing.”

  He made the announcement with such conviction that I almost thought he was performing for a hidden camera or something, or setting me up for the punchline to a bad joke. But he was serious. He was really excited that he had quit a job he’d worked so hard to maintain. It took close to forever for him to get the coveted day shift, and here he had gone and quit? And he’d quit, without even talking to me.

  There were no words to express the anger I felt. And what made the moment even worse, my mom was no help at all.

  “So, you just quit? I mean, just like that, did you give them notice or anything?” she asked.

  Cooper shook his head, saying no. “What Eve said makes so much sense. If I devoted as much time to my singing as I did driving those buses, helping to build somebody else’s dream, who knows where I’d be right now.” He cut his eyes at me.

  So now, being a city bus driver was helping someone else’s dream? How could he not see that his job was our family’s income? I didn’t work because for us, child care was too out of reach early on, and even as Trey got older, Cooper needed me to be available to help him.

  “But to not give any notice,” my mother said, her voice sounding uncertain.

  There was a small glimmer of hope in her statement, and I thought for a second, she’d be able to talk some sense into him, or at least allow him to see how reckless his behavior had been.

  Cooper moved closer to my mother. “Knowing I cannot go back to that job is going to be the fuel to keep me grinding. I quit on the spot and told them I was about to follow my dream.”

  It had to be one of the stupidest moves ever. I stood silent in stunned disbelief as he went on about having confidence and faith in his dream.

  I just couldn’t fathom how being unemployed would advance his career. But my simple, star-hungry whore of a husband was too dumb to think for himself.

  “Besides, people step out on faith every single day. And when I told my immediate supervisor, he actually said he understood, and he was proud of me.”

  That was all Tabitha needed to hear. Without missing a beat, Tabitha immediately switched positions and was once again his cheerleader.

  “Just give it to God—wait, pray, and repeat,” my mother had the nerve to say.

  “Just pray?” I threw up my hands. I didn’t care how upset he was. I could no longer sit by and listen to the foolishness.

  Their heads flew in my direction as if they finally realized I was still in the room.

  “Are you doubting God’s ability?” my mother asked as she craned her neck to look around my husband at me. She looked thunderstruck that I’d consider going against God.

  After a healthy huff, I said, “No, I’m not questioning God; I’m questioning Coop’s actions based on Eve’s dumb-ass advice. Think about it, would God want someone to quit a decent paying job that was supporting his family before he secured another one? God don’t say anything about having and using good common sense?”

  “Licia, ever since I’ve been listening to Eve, it’s like you trying to find things to complain about. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have to question whether you really want me to make it.”

  My eyes grew wider at his accusation.

  “Eve’s advice is always so sporadic, nothing is well thought out, she’s flying from the seat of her damn pants, and there’s no safety net. But the worst part is, she’s got you following each and every single word, and you don’t see the disaster that’s headed your way.”

  “The woman told me to quit, so I can focus more on my singing career. We’re not gonna get anywhere with me working a mind-numbing nine-to-five job.”

  He actually shook his head at me, as if it was I who was clueless. But he quit his damn job, with no real plan.

  “Coop, why can’t you see the mistake you’re making here? So, you quit your job; outside of the gig at Milan’s, what other income do we have? What about supporting our family? And what the hell are you going to do all day now that you’re unemployed?” I was beyond pissed; it took everything I could muster up to speak calmly. “I’m all for stepping out on faith, but God also don’t want you to make stupid decisions.”

  Regardless of how much sense my comments made, all Coop heard and understood was what he wanted.

  “Eve said I need to be taking voice lessons during the day. She also said you need to work to secure some additional gigs and help me get more exposure.”

  “‘Eve said,’ ‘Eve said.’ I’m so sick and tired of Eve and every damn thing she said. Where is she gonna be when our bills are due?”

  Just like a bad dream in which the villain appears at the mention of their name, there was a soft knock before the door flew open.

  “Hey, Mama,” Eve sang as she sauntered into the room.

  She glanced at my son, smiled and greeted my husband, but left the best for me. Her evil stare would have killed me, had me buried six feet under, before my family was even notified of my sudden and unexpected death.

  “Wait, don’t tell me; you probably over here second-guessing every single piece of advice I’ve given Coop.” The twisted expression on her face remained long after the insult.

  “You tell my husband to quit his job, knowing he doesn’t have another one, talking some bullshit about stepping out on faith, and you’re wondering whether I’m second-guessing you?”

  Eve threw her hands to her hips and stood firm as if she were prepared for battle.

  “Then, in addition to being unemployed, he’s supposed to take voice lessons daily? How the hell are we gonna pay for that, and why does he need voice lessons?” I rolled my eyes so hard, if they’d fallen from their sockets, they would’ve flown across the room.

  While I expected some type of bullshit response from Eve, nothing could’ve prepared me for the next words she delivered. It felt like they were designed to knock me out cold, and that’s exactly what they did.

  “It’s okay. I anticipated this, and that’s why I had a real good talk with Coop. And after our talk, Coop has asked me
to take over the management of his career,” she said with a straight face. “I told Coop, he made the right choice, and we are going to be a great team.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  As I held the phone and sat on hold, I wondered why it was near impossible to verify Evelyn’s so-called credentials. I tried to find out whether her job with Sony was legit, but it was more difficult than I expected.

  After being bounced around to various departments, either placed on hold or transferred to the wrong person, my patience was running thin. My gut told me that I was on to something when I decided to check her out, so I tried to be patient.

  And if she were legit, why was it so difficult to verify that she worked for the company? It wasn’t like I didn’t have the necessary information needed for the verification. I knew her full government name, her date of birth, and any other pertinent information they might need.

  “Ma’am, who did you say you’re with again?” the fifth person I’d spoken to from Sony Music came back on the line and asked.

  “Uh, my group is trying to make sure someone we met really is who she says she is,” I stammered.

  Completely unprepared to be questioned about my own intentions threw me off a bit, but I bounced back instantly.

  “Okay, well, we do employment verifications frequently. Give me a name, and I’ll tell you whether they’re employed by Sony Music.”

  I quickly gave up Evelyn’s name, date of birth, and was about to offer up her social security number when the woman stopped me. “Yes, Evelyn Malone is employed by Sony Music; she works in A&R. So, if you met her at any type of gig or an open mic event, you can rest assured, she’s just doing her job.”

  “Oh, okay, well, thank you.”

  The lump that was suddenly lodged in my throat felt like a boulder. So, she was legit, damn. I was disappointed in both the time I’d wasted and the confirmation that her job was legit.

  “No problem, can I help you with anything else?” the woman asked cheerfully.

  Can you kill the bitch, chop her body into small pieces, and spread them out in deep, shark-infested waters?

  “Uh, no, I think that’s it. That’s all I needed,” I lied.

  The woman was pleasant and friendly, despite her devastating information. I wanted desperately for Evelyn to be lying about who she was and what she was doing. It was pitiful that I knew nothing about my sister or her life, but there was nothing I could do to turn her into the lying fraud I needed her to be.

  She was now working closely with Coop, so I also had to be careful about trashing her.

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me much about Eve?” he asked one night.

  So, now we’re on nickname basis? I threw up a little in my mouth each time he referenced her in a positive manner. And lately, it had been often.

  “I told you what I knew about her. She left home and never looked back. Back in the day, I guess she saw Houston as some country city that she needed to get far away from, and we hadn’t heard from her in years.”

  Coop listened intently.

  “That’s just strange to me how you could be so distant from your own family.” He gave me a curious expression. “And to imagine she’s really big time.”

  He had no way of knowing, but that last comment shattered my heart. He sounded so enamored with her, with her status and knowing him, his mind was already working overtime thinking about all that she could do for him.

  I didn’t want to remind Cooper that he wasn’t close to any of his siblings, either, so I let him go on about how weird my family was, how Evelyn was so successful and how he finally felt like things were about to happen.

  The excitement in his voice when he talked about her was too much for me to handle, but I told myself he’d find out soon enough that Evelyn was never whom she appeared to be. I didn’t give a damn which company had been dumb enough to hire her.

  “She had me do some professional headshots, said they’re for a new press kit. I really like her; she really knows her shit.”

  He couldn’t see me rolling my eyes. What Cooper failed to see was every time he complimented Eve’s skills as it related to his career, it was like insulting me. Essentially, he was saying she was able to accomplish things I could not do.

  How was I supposed to know she had established this new life as a record label scout? She literally had cut off her entire family, gone someplace else and recreated herself as if we didn’t exist.

  “Think about this: in the last two weeks alone, she’s basically doubled the number of gigs I’ve had, and since I left Milan’s, it’s like everyone wants me.”

  Cooper knew bringing up Milan’s was an especially sore subject for me. I didn’t agree with the way Eve had him leave that establishment. He had basically left them hanging and didn’t even wait for his replacement.

  Evelyn had sweet-talked Lenny and told him and Big Al how she’d be sure they got full credit because she had discovered Cooper there, and they ate it all up.

  Everyone was happy and excited. She’d even sold them a bunch of bull about how she’d try to team up with them for a music festival once she got Coop’s career off.

  As usual, Evelyn had everyone eating all of her shit without asking any questions. It made me sick to my stomach.

  “Felicia Spears!”

  The guard’s loud voice pulled me back to the present and my current situation. For once in many years, I didn’t feel despondent.

  “C’mon! It’s time to go!”

  Excitement flooded my veins as I scrambled to gather the little stuff I had accumulated while in jail. I was so ready to be at home in my own damn space. I left what I didn’t want and didn’t even look back as two women prepared to fight over my discarded belongings.

  I knew Yesterday would be waiting for me, and that was a great thing. From the time they called my name to the time I walked out a free woman, it felt like an entire twenty-four hours had lapsed.

  While I was so glad to be free, I felt like they could try to make that process faster.

  Once outside, it didn’t matter that there was no breeze nor wind, and the humidity clung to my skin like a thick coating. I was happy to be out. The air was still as I walked out and took in a huge deep breath. I inhaled and held the smell in my lungs and tried to savor it for as long as possible. Freedom smelled better than it felt, and I was so happy to be free. I moved quickly toward the car, just in case someone realized there was an error and tried to pull me back in.

  Quickly, I approached the vehicle, pulled the passenger door of Yesterday’s car, climbed in and sank into her seat. I sighed hard.

  “Wheew! Thank you so much.”

  “Girl, please, no need to thank me.”

  “No, I’m serious. Thank you for everything. Thank you for the advice about the interviews, setting them up, organizing my money, just everything.”

  “I get it, you all up in your feelings ’cause you been on lock for a minute, but on a serious note, you ain’t gotta thank me because I didn’t do nothing you wouldn’t have done for me.”

  She was right about that for sure. After a long emotional stretch of silence, we both struggled to fight tears.

  Yesterday cranked the car, and pulled into the street. I was quiet for the rest of the ride home, and grateful that Yesterday was playing music from her iPhone and not a single one of Coop’s songs was on her playlist rotation.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Yesterday could only drop me off at home because she had something else to do, and couldn’t stay to socialize. I didn’t mind, I was glad to be out and wanted to be alone to readjust to being home.

  “I’ll roll through later this evening. Besides, you probably need some alone time to pull yourself back together,” she said, reading my mind as I slid out of her car and clutched the envelope and brown paper bag that held the few items I kept.

  “Oka
y, well, I’ll be here, so see you later.”

  It was as if my landlord were watching us because the minute Yesterday pulled off, and I stepped inside the building’s common area, he emerged and greeted me. He wasn’t overly emotional, but he did manage to show some expression of concern.

  “I heard what happened.”

  Unsure about how I should respond, I tried to act like I needed to concentrate on opening my front door.

  “You look good. And I don’t wanna be all up in your business, but I’m glad you home.”

  At the sound of that, I looked him in the eyes. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

  “Let me know if you need a little time with next month’s rent.”

  “Thank you, but I should be fine.”

  “You sure, Felicia? Ain’t no need in trying to be all proud. This ain’t charity; I just want you to know I understand. Besides, there’s something in it for me too. You a good tenant, and I don’t wanna lose you.”

  His concern warmed me, but the fact that I really was good and wouldn’t need an extension to pay the rent was even better.

  After I finished with him, I opened my door and walked into my small, empty apartment. It wasn’t much, but it was mine, it was clean, and I didn’t have to worry about fighting other women for space in a cage.

  I peeled off the clothes I’d been wearing when I was arrested and wished I owned a fireplace. I wanted to burn them. The scent of jail seemed embedded into the fibers, and I didn’t need anything that would remind me of where I had been. Especially since I had no plans to ever go back.

  Instead of a shower, I decided I’d do it up like the ladies in the movies and fixed myself a big, bodacious bubble bath. I wasn’t hungry, or thirsty; I just had an incredible urge to clean myself.

  If I could have put bleach in my bathwater, I would’ve used an entire gallon. I wanted to get rid of the jail scent that seemed to still seep from my pores.

  Since my place was small and clean, I didn’t have to do much prep work before the bath. When thoughts of my special cocktail crossed my mind, I thought about how Whitney Houston had died and decided I’d pass on the extras. The bath would have to do.