Empire State of mind

Chapter Five: Family Ties

Shelby's POV
A week later
I do pulls ups on the bar in the home gym and I can't help but think about the album, I wanna make it mean something, so many things I've had happen to me lately that are so crazy that I have so much writing material but it depends on how ima right do it, I sigh as I finish the last pull up and drop down, I grab my towel and wipe my face as I take my headphones off, the door suddenly opens and I look up to see someone I've hated for so long, Bunkie

Flashback (6 years ago)

" I'm not gon tell you again Crystal, The boss wants him money"  I hear a man yell at my mother in the living room, I get off my bed and creep to my door and open it, I peak my head out and look towards the living room, I see my mom and a man I've seen a few times talking , more like yelling.

" And I'll tell you again Bunkie I don't have the money, you gon have to clean up your mess" my mom says as she walks away from him, he angrily pulls her back and pins her to the wall, "I told you bitch, get me my money, or ima get my revenge" my mom spits in his face and that was the last straw, he punches her and she falls to the ground, I instantly run out and punch the guy but he's too quick and catches my fist and punches me, I fall as he leaves with a disgusted look. My mom instantly locked the door and comes and holds me, we comfort each other as we sit on the floor in silence, that was the last time I saw that man but it wasn't the last time I saw my mom beat up

Flashback over

I start to  get angry as he looks at me confused, he goes to leave but I instantly punch him in his face and start wailing on him, all the year of wanting to find him and beat him senseless just came over me, I'm soon pulled off by my father and the security pull him away from me, "what the hell is going on here" Luscious says as Bunckie then says " I don't know Luscious but  control your guests man" I don't answer my father and just glare at him Bunkie, Luscious takes one look at me and sees something is wrong and waves for the security and Bunkie  to leave the room, they leave and my father turns to me

" Now are you gonna  tell me what the hell is going on and tell me why you were beating up my old friend" he says as he looks at me, I look up shocked and angry still, I take a deep breath and sit down and motion for him to sit, he's sits and waits for me to explain myself, "Your friend and I have met before but he doesn't seem to recognize me" I pause, trying to calm down then I continue " Bunkie was beating on my mom because of some kind of money issue" Luscious's face  changes Instantly, " So he beat on your mom, did he touch you" he says getting angry, I nod and he gets up but I stop him, " he needed money, bad and I don't know why but I don't think he got it cause my mom always came home beat up, up until the day before she died, she didn't have one bruise" I say as I hold his wrist, Luscious looks at me with an unreadable face, I look confused but he soon straightens up and says "alright well he won't bother you, I won't let him" I nod and he leans down and kisses my head and leaves, I sit there for a second before leaving  out and see him, I walk past him as I hear my father say that I thought he was someone else and that I'm kinda mute, I continue walking but can't help but wonder why he lied

Time skip

I walk out my bathroom dressed in my clothes for today because I have to head to the studio, I grab my notebook and head downstairs to the car, I get in and head to empire. Once I get there I head into the building and go straight to the studio but once I'm there I see Hakeem, my dad and Jamal  in there, I walk in and just listen as he raps, he's alright not gonna lie, just ain't for me, the music stops and my father gets up and goes in the booth, he grabs Hakeems head  and starts talking to him and Hakeem says Jamal helped him, damn Jamal got game, he seems proud, Luscious looks at Jamal then back at Hakeem and gives him all the credit, I can't help but see Jamals whole vibe and demeanor change, I Lowkey feel bad for him considering he still isn't accepted by our father. I walk further into the room and everyone turns to me, I look at Jamal and say "great work on the song Jamal" he smiles and nods and sits on one of the couches, Hakeem gives me a look as our father comes over to me and says " I thought you didn't wanna record today" I look at him and say " just had an off morning, I'm always willing to record" he smiles and tells me to sit, I sit next to Jamal as Hakeem finishes his song.

" you know he's never like this right" Jamal says, I look at him and say " what do you mean" he gets up and motions for me to follow him, I get up and we walk out the room and into the hallway, "he seems different with you" I look at him confused as he continues, " He accepted you right out the gate, I couldn't help but notice" I look at him and say " I know he's different with me then he is with you and everyone, maybe it's pity maybe it's a genuine concern but either way, I've been craving the missing piece in my family, weather I want to admit it or not but I have" he nods and say "well be careful, he's not always nice" I look at him and laugh " how naive do you think I am, I know how he is, trust me I would know, I'm just like him" I say as I look into the room at my father, it never occurred to me that I would have this odd connection with Luscious, it's weird because I never thought it would happen but saying it out loud was different then thinking it subconsciously, Jamal looks at me and says " you seem cool, I don't got anything against you, we're allies, and we're competitors" I smile and nod to him. Jamal heads out as I walk into the room, Luscious walks over to me with Hakeem and says " Shelby ima be right back, you know how to work everything, just record and I'll be back to listen" as he walks out, Hakeem looks at me smugly and says " you know I'm his favorite right" I laugh and say " your his bitch, not his favorite" his smug smile drops and he walks out upset, I laugh and walk over to the engineer and lay down my beat and chorus, I go into the booth and got through the notebook to find the songs I haven't recorded yet , I signal for the engineer to start and I start singing some originals and some remixes of Luscious older songs.

I play in the studio for a few hours after doing my sessions and decided to call it a day, I walk out and see my father in a rush to head out, he stops and says " Shelby why don't you head over to the house and see what Anika has for you" I look at him confused but nod and head home, once I get there Anika comes out, " Hey Shelby come with me" I look at her, hesitating a bit but follow her anyway , she covers my eyes and I say " ok what's going on" she continues to lead me outside and says " well look" as she uncovers my eyes, I smile as I see a bunch of photographer and lights, "Time for your album cover shoot" I get excited and hug Anika as she laughs and hugs back, she pushes me toward them and we begin our photoshoot.

Luscious's POV

I come home after a doctors visit and see Shelby and Anika in the backyard having the album shoot still, perfect, I change into my all black trench coat and hat and I head out, I get in the car and my security and I head off to the bridge downtown, we arrive and I look at the time, midnight. I walk under the bridge and signal for my security to keep an eye out, I see Bunkie waiting, his back is turned as and I decided to scare him, I sneak up and say boo he jumps and says " damn man come on man " I laugh and say " did I get ya...... cause this got me" as I pull out a picture of him and my enemy and the man that may have killed Shelby's mother, Shine Johnson. He take the picture and looks at it, he hands it back and says "So" I frown my eyebrows, "So?" He replies with " so what you've been a sell out for years and I needed money and that a cheap bitch I was with wouldn't give me" I start getting angry because I know he's talking about Crystal, he continues and says " that bitch that you knocked up, the one you cheated on my cousin with, I was hittin it too, I was tryin to pay off a debt by making sure she was safe, along with yo kid, but she wouldn't pay" I raise and eyebrow and say " maybe she didn't wanna pay to broke ass" he laughs and says " says the man that abandoned his child for fame, listen Luscious, she needed some convincing but a few hits weren't enough so I had some..... extra help" I raise my head as I realized my thoughts were right, he was behind the drive by shooting, I look and say " so in order for your broke ass to pay off a man you had no business being around, my child lost her mother" he shrugs and moves closer to me, " The bitch should have payed" I push him away from me but in retaliation he pushes me back, he continue pushing each other till he punches me and I fall, he laughs and kicks me in my stomach, I cough up blood cause of my condition, he laughs and says " now that yo punk ass knows, you gotta go" before he could pull his gun out I pulls mine and shoot him in the head, he falls back and falls into the bay, my security come over and help me up, as we leave I say under my breath

"No one hurts my family"

Ouuuuuuuu. Who else called that. Honestly I thought I was obvious but Idk, hope I surprised you. Again I don't own any character from Empire , I only own Shelby and Crystal:)