“But Mama, I’m going to have a song on the radio, and I’m going to get paid for it,” I said.
“And I’m supposed to be impressed by that?” she asked.
I turned to Daddy. “Daddy, I promise it won’t happen again,” I said.
Daddy turned to Mama. “Baby, can’t we cut her some slack this time?” he said. “She made a mistake. It won’t happen again.”
“You’re right. It won’t happen again,” she agreed. She turned and looked at me. “Give me your car keys.”
“What?” I exclaimed.
“Did I stutter?” she asked. “Give me your car keys.”
“No,” I said, taking a step back.
“No?” she repeated as though she hadn’t heard me.
“No,” I said again with attitude. “I paid for that car with my own money, and you can’t take it from me.”
“I don’t care if you paid for it with blood, little girl. You don’t run my house. Hand over the keys—now.”
“No,” I repeated.
“If you are living in my house, you will play by my rules,” she said, getting up in my face.
“Then I just won’t live in your house,” I said, thinking about the money I had saved. “I’ll get my own place.”
I didn’t even wait for her to respond. I went to my room and started packing my stuff up while Daddy and Derrick pleaded with me to stop. As I went back and forth to my car, stuffing it with everything I could, Mama calmly sat on the sofa flipping through the television channels. I kept waiting for her to try and stop me, but she never said a word.
When I realized I couldn’t fit anything else in my car, I turned to Daddy and said, “I’ll be back to get the rest of my things.”
He pulled me outside. “Baby, what are you doing?” he asked. “Your mama’s just mad right now. Give her a couple of hours to cool off.”
“It’s okay, Daddy. This has been coming for a long time,” I said. “She’s never supported my music.”
I gave him a big hug and smiled to reassure him that I was going to be fine; then I looked at my brother, who seemed as though he was in shock trying to take everything in. “I’ll call you,” I said.
He just nodded.
I got in my car and drove away, watching my rearview mirror the entire time as I waited for Mama to come running after me.
The truth was I had no idea where I was going.
All kids think about running away at one time or another, but the reality was quite different than anything I’d ever dreamed. Since I was only sixteen, no one wanted to rent to me, so I ended up crashing at Loretta’s. Her mother didn’t have a problem charging me five hundred dollars a month to sleep on the living room sofa, but it was cool since I knew she was never home, so Loretta and I were able to come and go as we pleased.
I had been there a few days when Loretta woke me up early one morning.
“You ready?” she asked.
“Ready for what?” I said, picking up my watch to see what time it was.
“To take me to the hospital,” she said, sounding excited.
“Hospital?” I said, not having a clue what she was talking about.
“Remember I asked you last week about picking me up after my breast surgery?” she said.
“Oh, yeah,” I said, recalling the conversation.
“I figured since you’re here, you might as well drive me there, too,” she said.
“You’re really going through with that?” I said.
“Yeah,” she said, looking annoyed that I had even asked the question. “Hurry up and get dressed so we can go.”
I had never seen Loretta look so determined. I sighed and pushed the covers off so I could get ready.
It didn’t take me long to shower and throw on some clothes. As we drove into Manhattan—something Mama didn’t like me to do—Loretta talked the entire way about all the gigs she was going to get thanks to her new breasts. It was still early, so there wasn’t much traffic, which was a good thing. Loretta was about to drive me crazy.
Once we got to the hospital, Loretta signed in, and her name was called a few minutes later. She turned to me and smiled. “Say goodbye to my two little friends,” she joked.
I just shook my head, still surprised that she was going through with this. “Good luck,” I said.
She smiled and waved, and then she was gone.
I tried watching TV for a while, but it wasn’t holding my attention, so I finally got up to go get something to eat.
When my phone rang, I thought it was Triple T or Derrick, who both called me every morning, but I didn’t recognize the number on my caller ID.
“Hello,” I said.
“This Jazzy J?” a voice asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Who’s this?”
“My name’s Jeremy. I got your number from Loretta. She said you deejay parties.”
“Yeah,” I said.
“I’m doing this little set for my twenty-first birthday, and I wanna hire you. How much you charge?”
Since I had started working with DC, I figured I could get away with charging more.
“How long do you want me to play?” I asked.
“My party’s gon’ last the whole weekend,” he said, “and I want you here the entire time.”
I laughed under my breath because I knew if he agreed to my rate I was about to get paid. “It’ll be five grand,” I said.
“Cool,” he said.
“I need half of that up front,” I said.
“Not a problem.”
“When is the party?”
He gave me the dates, and I realized it was a couple of weeks after the All-City competition.
“So where you want me to send the money?” he asked.
I gave him Loretta’s address, and he said he’d drop a check in the mail that day.
Pain was etched on Loretta’s face when she was wheeled out of the recovery room. I glanced at her chest, and her breasts looked huge—three times as big as the 38D she wore before.
“You okay?” I asked.
She nodded weakly.
“Come on. Let’s get you home,” I said. I went to get the car and loaded Loretta inside.
“I didn’t think it would hurt,” she said quietly when we were halfway to Queens.
“It’ll get better,” I said, trying to comfort her.
She just stared out the window.
By the time I got Loretta settled, I was exhausted. I fell asleep still dressed, and when I woke up, there was so much sleep crusting my eyes that I couldn’t open them. After washing my face, I went to check on Loretta.
She was sitting up in bed, flipping through a magazine.
“Hey, girl,” I said. “How are you feeling?”
“A little better,” she said with a small smile.
“Good,” I said. “Do you need anything?”
She shook her head and winced. “No, thank you,” she said.
“Have you eaten?” I asked.
“I’m not really hungry,” she said.
“You’ve gotta eat something,” I said.
I went to the kitchen and made some bacon and eggs along with some toast, then fixed two plates and two glasses of orange juice and carried them on a tray back to Loretta’s room.
We were in the middle of eating when I heard my cell phone ringing. I hurried to the living room and rooted around in the sofa trying to find it before it went to voice mail. I didn’t get it in time, so I checked my voice mail and was surprised to find I had several messages—two from Triple T, one from my brother and another from Kyle.
I didn’t bother listening to my brother’s or Kyle’s messages, but I played Triple T’s a few times.
“Hey, Jasmine. It’s T,” the first one began. “I just wanted you to know I was thinking about you. I hope you’re having a great day.”
I smiled as I saved the message, then hit the button to play the next one.
“Jas, it’s T again. If you don’t have plans tomorrow, I thou
ght you might want to hang out. Give me a call.”
A grin exploded across my face. I thought about calling him back, but I wanted to play it cool so he wouldn’t know how much I was really feeling him.
I called my brother instead.
“Hey,” he said when he realized it was me. “I just wanted to check on you.”
“I’m okay,” I said. “What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing. Just working,” he said. “What are you doing today?”
“Probably just hanging out with a friend,” I said, another smile coming to my face.
“What friend?” Derrick asked suspiciously.
“His name’s Nonya,” I said.
“Nonya?” he repeated. “What kind of name is that?”
“Nonya business,” I said, and burst out laughing.
It took him a second to catch my joke, but then I heard him chuckling. “That is so corny and old,” he said.
“But you fell for it,” I replied.
“Do you want to hang out after I get off work?” he asked.
“Yeah, that’ll be cool,” I said. “We need to practice for All-City. The competition’s only a month away.” I had finally convinced him a few days earlier to perform with me one final time.
“Are you coming over to the house?” he asked hopefully.
I shook my head and frowned; then I remembered he couldn’t see me. “I’ll pass,” I said.
I hadn’t been back to the house nor had I spoken to Mama since I left, and I really had no intention of doing either one.
“You know, Mama really misses you,” Derrick said quietly. “I do, too.”
I ignored his last statement. “Mama knows where to find me if she wants to get in touch with me,” I said with an attitude.
“Jas, why don’t you try being the bigger person?” he said.
“Whatever, Derrick,” I said. “So are you coming over here or what?”
“Yeah, I’ll be over around six,” he said, sighing.
After we hung up, I called Kyle.
“You called me?” I asked.
“Yeah. I just hadn’t talked to you in a while, and I wanted to see what’s up. How are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m cool,” I said.
“You still staying with Loretta?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I snapped. What was it with everyone’s interest in where I was staying?
“I was just asking,” he said. “How’s Loretta doing?”
“She’s still in pain,” I said.
“Maybe I’ll come check on you guys later,” he said.
“Okay. Derrick’s coming over, too. We can hang out like old times,” I said, suddenly missing that.
“I’ll see you later,” Kyle said.
I waited another twenty minutes before I called Triple T. I was a little disappointed when his voice mail picked up, but I left a message, then went to check on Loretta, who was asleep. I cleaned up the kitchen, then watched TV for a little while. I had just started to doze off when my cell phone rang. I knew by the tone it was Triple T, and I smiled.
“Hello,” I said, trying to sound sexy and pretending I didn’t know it was him.
“Hey, Jas,” he said. His voice sent chills down my spine.
“Hey, T,” I sang.
“What are you getting into today?” he asked.
“Nothing much,” I said. “What about you?”
“I just finished a meeting, and I’m free the rest of the day.”
I glanced at the clock. It was a little after ten. “You’ve already had a meeting this early in the morning?”
“Yeah,” he said. “You never heard that saying ‘the early bird catches the worm’?”
I just giggled.
“Have you eaten?” he asked.
I almost said yes, but then I changed my mind. “I was just about to get something,” I said.
“Why don’t we go together?” he said.
“Sounds good,” I agreed.
He gave me an address and told me to meet him in an hour.
I was glad I had taken a bath the night before, so all I had to do was wash up and get dressed. I found a jean miniskirt, some leggings and a sexy black T-shirt and threw on my Air Force Ones; then I combed my hair and added a little lip gloss. I went to check on Loretta, who was still asleep, so I left her a note telling her that Derrick and Kyle were coming over and that I would be back later that afternoon.
I drove to the address Triple T had given me and curiously took in the brick building I pulled up to. It looked like a regular apartment building, and I wondered if there was a deli or something inside it where Triple T and I were going to eat.
I pushed through the main door and made my way to the security door, where I spotted a note.
Jasmine,
Ring the buzzer for 3B.
T
I did as requested, and was immediately buzzed into the building. I took the elevator upstairs, and when I got off, there was another note on 3B.
Let yourself in…
Again, I did as I was told. Soft music greeted me at the door. Although the sun was shining bright outside, I wasn’t able to tell that inside, because the shades were drawn and the room was dark except for the candles glowing.
My mouth dropped open in surprise. I peered around the room, and I noticed Triple T standing next to a table laid out with enough food to feed the Times Square crowd on New Year’s Eve.
We just stared at each other in silence for what felt like an eternity until T walked to me and kissed my cheek.
“Hi, beautiful,” he said, and I blushed.
“Hey,” I said. “What’s all this?” I motioned toward the table.
“I told you we were going to have breakfast,” he said.
He thought for a second. “Maybe I should have said brunch.”
He smiled, and I felt my heart melt.
“This is so sweet,” I said. “No one has ever done anything this nice for me.”
“Good,” he said, leading me to the table. He seated me, then seated himself.
“Did you cook all this?” I asked.
He hesitated for a moment, then laughed. “I started to lie, but no. I had it catered. I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I ordered a little of everything.”
“There’s no way I’ll be able to eat all this,” I said, taking in the food. It really looked like he had ordered the entire menu. There was shrimp cocktail on a bed of ice, a whole lobster, steak, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, pancakes and waffles, bagels with smoked salmon, hash browns and a lot of food I had never seen before.
“This all looks really good,” I said.
“Help yourself,” he said.
I was too nervous to eat in front of him, but I didn’t want to offend him, especially after he had gone to the trouble of ordering all the food.
I took a few shrimp and some scrambled eggs, and T helped himself to a little of everything. I nibbled on my food, while he dug in like he hadn’t eaten in days.
The food was incredible, and I quickly went back for seconds. I decided to be a little more adventurous and tried some crêpes suzette and eggs Benedict, as well as some bacon.
“So how’s your friend Loretta?” he finally asked.
“She’s okay. I still can’t believe she got implants,” I said, shaking my head.
“A lot of women do,” he said.
“Yeah, but she’s so young. I feel bad that she felt the pressure to do that. Besides, they turned out horrible—one is way bigger than the other.” I gave a sad smile.
“What’s going on at home?” he asked.
“The same thing. My mother and I still aren’t speaking,” I said.
He shook his head and frowned. “You need to apologize,” he said.
“Are you serious?” I asked. I looked at him and realized that he was.
“Family is important,” he said. “Nobody is going to have your back like your mama. Even if she was wrong, you need to apologize.”
&nb
sp; I rolled my eyes.
“I’m serious,” he said. “Promise me you’ll at least think about it.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
I looked around the room, finally taking everything in. Even in the dark, I could tell the space was amazing. It was huge, which wasn’t normally the case with places in New York—except the ones you saw on TV—and there was lots of expensive furniture, and a plasma-screen TV hanging over the fireplace.
I got up from the table and walked over to the windows, which were covered with heavy drapes. I pulled one aside and sunlight came spilling in. I looked out on the most amazing view of Manhattan.
“Whose place is this?” I asked, turning around. I jumped a little when I realized T was right behind me.
“It’s mine,” he said.
“For real?” I asked, impressed. I was trying not to let on how my heart was slamming into my chest at his nearness. “How long have you lived here?”
“A couple of years,” he said.
“You’ve been here since you were seventeen?” I asked.
He shrugged like it was no big deal. “Yeah,” he said.
“Do you live here by yourself?”
“Of course.”
“I tried getting my own place,” I said thoughtfully, “but no one would rent to me.”
“That’s because you didn’t show them enough money,” he said. “The same thing happened to me. I ended up just buying the building.”
“You own this building?” I asked in amazement.
He shrugged again. “Yeah. This one and a few others.”
“How much money do you have?” I let the question slip before I realized how rude it was to ask. “Sorry. I know that’s none of my business.”
He just laughed. “I’ve done pretty well for myself,” he said. “I have a few million in the bank.”
“Wow,” I said. I’d thought I was doing well because I had managed to save a few thousand.
“Can you help me get my own place?” I asked.
He nodded. “But you have to promise me that you’ll make up with your mama,” he said, taking a step closer to me. “Do you promise?”
Spin it Like That Page 8
