Yellow Brick Road (an Eazy-E Story)

NINETEEN

June 1st, 1992 | 2:30pm

"Can I get an eye open up?

Eazy loccin' up, smokin' up

Much dust like a nut, what?

Give it up for the real stuff-"

I watched Eric ignite in front of the video camera with his son, Derrek, in front of him. The two were matching in blue and green plaid flannels and dark Locs. Derrek nodded his head to the beat and pointed at the camera just like his father was doing.

I stood behind the filming crew, watching the scene take place. A row of old school, wide body vehicles were parked side by side and bouncing on the coils of gold Daytonas. Eric and Derrek stood directly in the middle, putting on a performance.

Eric had been recording music for his long awaited LP 'Temporary Insanity', but decided to give the fans an EP to hold them over later this year. He wanted to knock out the video shoot for one of the songs he planned to make a single titled 'Only If You Want It'. He invited me to the studio to hear him record it.

I watched him in amazement, seeing him in his element. Eric and I were slowly building our relationship again. I wasn't oblivious to the women he kept around him, I just came to grips with the fact that I love him no matter what he chose to do. As long as I didn't find out about it and he was careful about what he was doing. I still couldn't tell him I loved him to his face yet and didn't plan on doing it anytime soon.

He kept Tracy at bay by taking her to court for split custody and reduced child support and won. So, she couldn't extort money or sex out of him anymore. I finally found out that it was Kim who gave Eric head after watching the NWA Home Videos. Eric couldn't stop apologizing to me after its release.

But, since those incidents had been squared away, he hasn't brought anymore drama to my doorstep. It's been a peaceful couple of weeks for us. I continued to watch Eric rap along to his own lyrics. I displayed a smile to Derrek, cheering him on for how cool he looks with his dad.

They filmed a few more scenes with Derrek before getting solo shots of Eric in front of the hopping cars, dancing with the models and hanging out in a circle with his friends and the new artists signed to Ruthless. Before we knew it, the sun had went down and the moon was glowing in the night sky.

Derrek filmed some night scenes with his dad. Then, Joyce came to pick him up. We talked for a bit. I praised Derrek's performance to her and told her how good of a job he did. She didn't like the fact that girls were dancing around Derrek and made a joke about the dancer in the green bra and short set.

After waving Joyce and Derrek off as they pulled out of the parking lot, Eric grabbed my shoulder without warning. "There you are." He said as he kissed my cheek. "I got something for you to do." He said into my ear.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Put this shirt on and let me blast you." He placed an oversized white tee over my shoulder.

"Eric, are you serious?"

"Nah, I'm just bullshittin'." Eric cracked a laugh as he took the shirt off of my shoulder. "But, seriously. Come with me." Eric motioned his index to me as a 'follow me' command. I talked behind him and into the trailer.

It was just us there. Eric rummaged through the rack of women's clothing, pulling out some questionable pieces. "How about this? This looks good, right?" He asked me, putting a black leather bustier up to my torso. I looked at it in the reflection of the mirror.

"Actually, it doesn't look too bad." I said, taking the bustier off of the hanger and putting it up towards my body.

"I want you to do a solo scene with me. No dancers, no homeboys. None of that other bullshit." He said in his signature southern drawl. "Get dressed and come see me." He kissed my forehead before leaving me to get dressed inside of the compact trailer.