Full Figured 2

by Alexis Nicole

  “Come on,” Chyanne said, grabbing Devin’s elbow. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Are you sure you’re going to be all right?” Skye asked.

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “This is not the first time I’ve had to deal with a jackass.”

  My sister smiled, convinced that I was back to my old self. I was–she just didn’t know that I was going all the way back, to the old Simone who never dared to dream.

  “Okay, we’ll get out of here,” Skye said as she hugged me.

  Chyanne did the same, but when Devin wrapped his arms around me, I could tell that he wasn’t as happy as the girls.

  “I don’t know why we gotta leave now. This was a Code Red, and by definition that means that we should stay the whole night.”

  “Who told you that?” Chyanne asked, pushing Devin out the door.

  I couldn’t do anything but smile as I got up off my bed and locked my door. My sister and best friends had my back. They would’ve done anything to make sure that this thing worked out with me and Tru Harmony. And if I thought it would do any good, I would’ve turned them loose on Quintin.

  But the truth was, my friends were wrong. Quintin was the one who was right. He’d only said aloud what I’d been thinking all along. You had to be really special to be a big girl and make it in this business. This was never going to happen for me, and the sooner I accepted that, the better it would be for everyone.

  My cell vibrated again, and this time, I didn’t even look at the screen. I just lay back on my bed, and thought about how life was going to be wonderful when I finally started working at Ernst & Young in just a few months. I thought about the money. Almost $50,000 was a lot for a new graduate, and, in this economy, there were millions of people who would do anything to trade places with me.

  That was the bright side, and that’s what I needed to stay focused on. The bright side, the bright side, I said over and over in my head. Then, I closed my eyes, and the bright side faded to black.

  Chapter 18

  Simone must’ve had me mixed up with some other dude if she thought she could hide from me. I flipped shut my cell once again. It didn’t matter how many calls I had to make. I wasn’t about to give up.

  “Man, you knew how Q was before we signed up to do this.”

  Miles’s words broke through my thoughts, and I glanced over my shoulder. He was sitting in the chair in the corner where Skye had sat just an hour ago, before hell had broken loose in this basement.

  Why did Quintin have to come back home today of all days? Usually, he spent Saturdays out–if he even came home from Friday night. This morning, Quintin had gotten up early, and when he walked out the door, I was sure that Miles and I wouldn’t see him until sometime tomorrow after we came home from church. And, even then, my strategy was to not say a word to Quintin until I was ready to present him with a whole package: publicity photos, a marketing plan, and Simone’s demo.

  But when he’d surprised us and come downstairs, I didn’t think it was going to be any kind of problem. He had two ears just like the rest of us. A minute listening to Simone, and I knew he’d be a fan for life.

  But he wasn’t! And it didn’t have a thing to do with her voice. Un-freakin’-believable!

  “You know you guys are gonna have to talk about this,” Miles said. “We’re gonna have to work this out.”

  “Nothing to talk about,” I said. And I meant that. Obviously, Quintin felt the same way, because after I let Simone and Skye out the house, I came right back down to confront him. But Quintin was already halfway backup the stairs.

  “I’m not talking to you about this, Man,” he said as he pushed past me.

  I pushed him back, making him stumble on the steps. That’s when Miles jumped in between us, the way he always had to do.

  “Come on, guys,” Miles had pleaded as he backed me against the wall. I fought to get out of his grasp, but in the small space of the stairwell, Miles had me kinda trapped.

  “Yeah, you better hold him,” Quintin said, pointing his finger toward me.

  “Yeah, he’d better hold me ’cause you know what’s up,” I screamed back.

  The fact was, the three of us did know what was up. Quintin didn’t want any part of me. Not after the way I’d taken him the last time we’d resorted to fisticuffs. Interestingly enough, it was over a woman then too. That time it was about Quintin disrespecting me, trying to talk to a female, Shaniya Green, who I was interested in.

  Thinking about that now, I shook my head. It really was a trip that Quintin and I were even friends. The thing was, when we clicked, we clicked. We liked the same things, like video games and the Lakers. We were Trekkies, and the only guys I knew our age who were fans of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. But the biggest kicker was that he was not only frat, he was my line brother. I was number seven and he was number eight. Pledging together, we’d been through hell . . . literally. I had his back and he had mine.

  At least, that’s how it’d been until today. It looked like the proverbial last straw had broken our relationship. Quintin needed to go his way and I would go mine.

  “So I’m gonna call Q,” Miles said, even though he had to know that I wasn’t trying to hear that. “I’ma tell him to come back here so that we can work this out as boys.” When I didn’t say anything, Miles added, “As brothers.”

  I glanced down at my phone, flipped it open, and pressed “2” for the speed dial I had set to Simone. Ignoring Miles, I held the phone to my ear, and heard the four rings again before Simone’s cheerful voice mail greeting came on.

  Just like all the other times, I clicked off the phone. There was no need to leave a message; Simone knew it was me and she knew why I was calling. Still, I wanted to talk to her, straighten this thing out, let her know that I had her back no matter what. She was in, even if that meant that Quintin had to be out.

  “So you’re gonna hang while I call Q?”

  Why was Miles even talking to me? He’d heard the things Quintin had said. He saw the way Simone had crawled out of this house, thoroughly hurt and totally embarrassed. He had to know how upset I was about that. So, what was there to talk about?

  I pushed myself up from the console.

  “J, you listening to me?” Miles asked as I walked toward the stairs. “I’m gonna call Q so that we can get together and talk this out,” he repeated.

  Not even looking at him, I answered, “Do what you have to do.”

  I meant that. ’Cause I was gonna do what I had to do. The plan was already working out in my head. It was twofold: First, I was gonna do everything in my power to make sure that Tru Harmony still ran smoothly without Quintin. And, after that, I was going to get Simone’s first single released.

  There was only a single light on in the entire house. I took a deep breath as I trotted down the stairs to the foyer, then turned left toward the kitchen, where the overhead light glowed.

  I stood at the door stiffly, just staring, then headed straight to the refrigerator. I reached for a bottle of beer, but then grabbed a water instead, since I had to be up for church in just a few hours. Walking back across the room, I banged my bottle down on the glass-top table, resting it next to Quintin’s beer. Then, I sat down across from him.

  Just like he’d been doing from the moment I’d entered the kitchen, Quintin kept his gaze centered on the window, staring into the middle-of-the-night blackness. There was no way he could see anything, but I could tell that he was deep in thought. Exactly the way I’d been up in my room. Which was why I couldn’t sleep, and why I’d heard Quintin come in about a half hour before.

  When I didn’t hear Quintin come up the stairs, I knew he was down here, probably having a beer. That was when I decided that now was as good a time as any for us to have it out. Maybe in the midnight hour, cooler heads would prevail. Maybe in the dark of the night, we’d be able to talk as brothers who had some sense.

  “That was really messed up, man,” I began my opening statement. “What you did to S
imone . . . that was really messed up.”

  He took another swig of his beer as if he needed time to think of an answer. Putting his bottle down, he said, “I didn’t do anything to her,” as if he didn’t have any sense at all.

  I had to grasp my hands together in what looked like a single fist to stop myself from decking him right there. How could he say that? How could he be so nonchalant about hurting someone’s feelings?

  I thought about how I had wanted this to be a peaceful discussion, and held back my anger. “You know you wrong,” I said as calmly as I could. “You know you hurt that girl and that wasn’t necessary.”

  Finally, he nodded. Finally, he looked at me. “A’ight. Next time you see her, tell her sorry for me.”

  Lord, grant me the serenity . . . That was the prayer that kept my fist away from his jaw. “What’s your problem?” I asked with an edge in my tone.

  “Success,” he said simply. “I figure if we do this, we might as well do it right.”

  “I’m with you. That’s why I picked Simone. Man, tell me that girl can’t sing.”

  He held up his hands. “She can sing, I’ll give you that. But you and I both know that this industry doesn’t have a thing to do with singing.”

  I nodded. “But we agreed we were going to be different. We agreed we were going to be all about the art.”

  “True dat, but you can’t tell me that there isn’t a female out there with a voice and the look. There has to be someone. You just haven’t searched hard enough.”

  “I haven’t because I found Simone.” I paused. “Man, have you heard her sing?” I repeated, wanting him to know just how dumb I thought his argument was.

  “So what are we gonna do? Ask everyone who buys her single to wear blindfolds?”

  Ouch! That hurt. He wasn’t even talking about me and my feelings were all the way hurt. “She’s not ugly,” I defended.

  “Not ugly, just big.”

  “Why you keep trippin’ on that?”

  “Because in this industry, big is ugly.”

  “But what about all the big girls who’ve made it?”

  “First of all, there are not many of them, and, secondly, just ask the ones who did make it how hard it was for them.”

  “But–”

  Before I could finish, he held up his hand. “I’ll give it to you, Simone can sing, but she needs to stick to gospel ’cause there ain’t nothin’ but big girls there.”

  I could not believe he said that. Just like everyone else in her life, Quintin wanted to push her to the other side of soul. What was that about?

  Quintin continued, “Look, I’ve said this before. Coming out of the gate, we’ve got to be straight. Simone’s not the one for us.”

  I shrugged. “So where does this leave us? ’Cause, man, I’m not gonna budge on this.”

  He blew out a long, frustrated breath. “What’s up? Why it gotta be Simone?”

  I shook my head. That was a good question, but not one that I could answer with words. I didn’t know exactly why it had to be Simone, I just knew that it had to be her. I was sure of that. Tru Harmony was going to put Simone on the map, and Simone was going to put Tru Harmony on the map. It was a win-win; I could feel that deep in my bones.

  I said, “I wanna win. That’s why it’ s gotta be Simone.”

  Quintin took a final swig of his beer. “Miles is gonna vote with you,” he said as if he knew where this fight was going.

  “That’s how we set this up.” I nodded. “Anytime we didn’t agree, we’d take a vote.”

  “You and Miles don’t know what it takes to make this label work.”

  “Are you kidding me? I’m the one who knows talent. You don’t have a musical bone in your body.” That was a half joke, meant to lighten the moment. But Quintin didn’t crack a smile.

  “You’re right,” he said. “You’re the music man, but I’m like Jay-Z, a businessman all the way. I know how to win.”

  “Well, I guess we have different definitions of what it’s gonna take to win. Guess we’re not in true harmony after all.” I paused. From the moment Quintin had stomped out of the house earlier, I’d been thinking about this. “If you don’t think Miles and I are winners, you can always step away. I’ll buy you out.”

  “With what money?” He smirked.

  He had no idea what steps I’d already taken. “I called my parents. They’re willing to lend it to me.”

  Quintin’s eyes were huge when he turned to me. My frat knew that I never went to my parents for anything, especially not money. But if I had called them for this, then this was a different kind of game.

  I said, “They’re willing to lend me whatever I need. I’ll buy you out, man, ’cause I’m not gonna back down.”

  Our eyes were stuck in some kind of stare-lock before Quintin turned away. His glance returned to the window, to the darkness of the night. Finally he said, “Here’s the deal, if Simone doesn’t work, I pick the next ten artists.”

  I smiled just a little. “The next five.”

  “Eight.”

  “Seven,” I said, just because I had to have the last word. I wasn’t worried about having to pay up. Simone was going to more than work for Tru Harmony.

  After a few seconds, he turned back, looked at me, and held up his fist. I bumped my fist against his, sealing the deal. Shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe that he’d given in, he pushed back his chair. “So what date are you shooting for, for the release?”

  “Can I get back to you on that? Still trying to work out the plan.”

  He nodded before he turned and walked away, leaving me alone. When I heard Quintin close his bedroom door, I let out a deep breath. Tru Harmony was still intact.

  Now, all I had to do was make sure that the singer I’d fought so hard to keep still wanted to work with us. I had to make sure that Simone was still on board. But I had a feeling that as hard as it was to work this out with Quintin, talking to Simone was going to be no easy feat. It was a good thing that tomorrow I’d see her in church, because my prayer was that in the Lord’s house, she’d hear God’s voice and have to answer His call. And I had no doubt that meant she would sing with Tru Harmony.

  Chapter 19

  I had never lied to my parents before.

  Well, I guess that wasn’t completely true. I mean, just like everyone else, I’d told little lies all the time. Like in elementary school, I told my parents that I didn’t know how that bubblegum got into my backpack. And in junior high, I always lied about not having homework over the weekend. Then, the big one–in high school, I told my parents that I was going to see a movie called God’s Army, when the truth was, Devin and I snuck in to see Romeo Must Die.

  But those were little lies compared to this whopper that I’d just told. Nothing could compare to telling my parents this morning that I was missing church because my stomach was so upset that I was up all night.

  At least part of that lie was true. I had been up all night, but it wasn’t an upset stomach that kept me awake. It was Quintin’s words, and the way they taunted me inside my mind. Plus, it was the way Jaylen kept calling. I could have turned my phone off, but it made me feel just a little bit better to know that Jaylen cared enough to blow up my cell, although his caring wasn’t enough. This dream of mine was so over. I just had to get Jaylen to understand that, and he would, once I ducked and dodged him enough to make him give up. My plan was that it would only take a week for Jaylen to get the message. At least, that was my hope. Because I could hide from him easy enough during the week, but next Sunday I’d have to have my butt in church. No way was Reverend Davenport going to allow me to be absent two weeks without a note from a doctor.

  The Sunday morning light was peeking through a corner of the blinds at my window, but I wasn’t having it. There was no room for any kind of sunshine in my life right now, so I pulled the covers over my head. It wasn’t going to be hard to stay in bed and sleep away my depression, since my head throbbed from misery and pain.


  The loud knock almost made me sit up, but I just turned my back to the door and rolled closer to the wall. I had no idea who was trying to get at me, but it didn’t matter, ’cause all the folks I cared about were in church. But my ignoring the continuous knocking didn’t make the person go away, and when I heard the lock on the door jiggle, I sat straight up.

  “Hey,” my sister said as she peeked around the door.

  I sighed a little with relief, but then I bounced back on the bed, sorry that I’d ever given Skye a key. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, because of emergencies and everything. But now that I wanted some peace, I wished that big sis didn’t have this kind of access to me.

  “How did you know that I was here?” My voice was muffled since I was still tucked under the covers.

  “Chyanne told me that you’d told her not to pick you up this morning.”

  Still hiding beneath the blanket, I said, “I told her that I was going to drive myself,” repeating the lie I’d told our best friend.

  “You never drive to church, and, after yesterday, I knew that meant you were locked up in here.”

  Dang! My sister knew me way too well. Chyanne drove me to church just about every Sunday so that I always had an excuse not to go to my parents’ house afterward. I guess that strategy was working against me today.

  “So why didn’t you go to church?” Skye asked.

  Even though I couldn’t see her, I could feel her standing over me. I didn’t respond, hoping that by not saying anything, she would go away. But after a couple of silent seconds, my sister snatched the covers back, exposing me completely.

  “Dang! You didn’t even take off your clothes!” Skye exclaimed, looking down at the jeans and shirt that I still had on from yesterday. “What’s up with that? What’s wrong with you?”

  How could she ask me that? As if she didn’t know.

  “I thought you said you weren’t going to let that idiot get to you.”

  “I lied,’ I said, sitting up in the bed since it was apparent that my sister wasn’t going to go away.