❛ You pay the price of fame,
So don't be feeling no pain. ❜
⸺ ( Michael x black!oc )
Imani Sade, renowned songwriter and musician, has been working for the biggest Pop stars of the industry while staying behind the scenes for years. Due to her mu...
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COMPTON . LOS ANGELES DECEMBER 19th . 1987
𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐁𝐈𝐍𝐆 how briskly things could take a turn for the worse, and how fickle moments of happiness were, particularly if one lived in Compton, California, in nineteen eighty seven. In Imani's case, it only took less than three hours for the high she felt from witnessing her little brother be the MVP of his high school basketball game, to come crashing down after a sixty second phone call. A victorious night turned into a tragic loss.
All that Khalil did was celebrate his team's win with his best friend, what could possibly lead to the latter getting shot? Well, nothing. And that was the most infuriating part, you didn't have to do anything to be on the other side of the gun. You could be a kind, smart kid, beloved by his community and inspiring to his entourage, and still find yourself at the receiving hand of violence. The worst part—you'd be far from an isolated case, very far from it.
"Shit."
Imani muttered under her breath, lightly smacking her car wheel after swiftly getting her foot off the pedal the second she realized she was about to run a red light.
Resting her back against the leather sit, that abnormally did not feel as comfortable as it usually did, Imani closed her eyes for a moment, trying to regain some sense to prevent herself from doing anything irresponsible on the road.
She had been moving on autopilot from the second Khalil hung up the phone, and all she could recollect was hastily grabbing her car keys and a pair of shoes before sliding on a big blazer jacket, and fleeing out of Michael's apartment, not giving him details on where she was heading to, despite him desperately trying to slow her down, visibly worried about the way she was going through the motions.
With a tight lump in her throat, Imani opened her eyes again when hearing cars honking behind her, only to see the light had turned green.
Get yourself together, she ordered herself, then began touching and patting random parts of her car to force her conscious back in the present, remember where she was, and how she got there. That's how the ride to her destination went; Imani losing her sense of self, before getting brought back to it by cars honking at her lack of awareness. She even turned the radio on, so she could find something to focus on instead of drifting away, both literally and figuratively.
Finally nearing the community hospital, Imani speedily parked her car, careless about the fact that it was crooked, and hopped out. She began jogging across the street, keys hanging and jingling at the tip of her fingers, then noticed Khalil sitting on a bench by the entrance, where nurses were walking in and out of the building.
