BAE BOY

2-28

"So, is it going to get complicated?" I asked Halley.

We were sitting on one of her big trunk things full of electrical cords and whatnot. Watching Yoshi and the DJ reps talking things through onstage, with a little circle of theater students around them.

And she said, "You know, these days they're so self-contained, those guys. We don't have to have much more than a lotta outlets, really. Everything's sort of 'plug and play.'"

I smiled and said, "Man, the kids have to be freaking out, though. To get to see this go down up close and personal. It's a great opportunity to work with cutting edge stuff."

"Oh, my God, they're so stoked," Halley said. "And they know more than we do. Cause they have to fix them all the time during shows and stuff."

"And how are you doin'? With all this HBO stuff goin' on?"

Man, her face just lit up. And she shook her head, chuckled and said, "I honestly can't even begin to tell you. I mean...it's surreal. I see these names on my cell phone..."

"I know! It's crazy, right?" I said. "Fixah goes, 'Dude! How you gon' be talkin' to Marky Mark?'"

"Did you talk to him yet?"

"Briefly. I mean, it was, like, 'Welcome to the jungle,' right? Just lobbed one at me outta the blue, to say he'd be setting something up soon. But I loved it. Cause he sounded like he knew where I was coming from and how I felt and all. Guy from the 'hood, you know?"

"That's just amazing. It's like people know, you know? That you're comin' up."

"Yeah, we're gonna have to meet on some set somewhere, it looks like. Busy dude."

"Didn't Fiddy call you, too?"

"Yeah, him and...I forget who all. Nia's real good about that. Pruning and prioritizing."

"Swarming you, huh?"

"Yeah, everyone's got some kinda new booze or something they wanna go in on. Like how Fiddy did that fancy water thing that he sold to Coca Cola for a half billion dollars later on. They're lookin' for all kinds of deals. Brands."

"Are you even into stuff like that?"

"Oh, hell no. Not even a little bit. I mean, I get why they're asking. Cause I'm already where they want to be, money wise. I'm their Everest, sort of. They're tryin'a conquer me. Except I don't care, you know? I don't need the drama. Except, like, say if Joie wants a clothing line or something, fine. Friends who want to do things, we're down with that. Cause even if we lose, we win, on account of taxes. But I'm not an entrepreneur, you know? Not in that way. If one of the tribes wanted to sell fancy water from some spring they had, I'd help. But for me to just do that for the money...nah."

Halley laughed and said, "This just blows my mind. I mean, you were just...one o' the kids a few weeks ago. And now you're giving Jeff Friggin' Bezos a run for it."

"You read that, huh?"

"Everybody read that. But it's almost abstract, numbers that high."

"Exactly," I said.

"Uh, oh--is Yoshi waving at me over there?" she asked.

"Looks like it."

He'd just turned our way, and one of my tokidokis, little Dixie, came running over I guess to give her a verbal message.