Jada
A few months had passed by real quick. "Boyz in the Hood" had taken off quick, just by word of mouth. Many records had been sold in just a short amount of time and many people had become aware of who Eric was. I was beyond happy for him and the boys. They'd been working so hard to get this record out. As a result, Eric was even busier these days with his new and upcoming label.
On the other hand, Eric and I weren't doing so well at the moment. Since all of this, there had been women calling the house all hours of the night and even during the day. Since the incident two months ago, I didn't know wether to believe anything his ass had to say these days. It seemed like we'd been arguing more and more. We got into spats over the dumbest and simplest things. It wasn't his fault entirely, I didn't know how they managed to get this number.
Kim and I were currently sitting in the backyard chatting, while Henrii sat in her kiddy pool full of toys. I knew she wanted to address the recent news I'd gotten not too long ago, but I wasn't in the mood to talk about it.
"Jay you know someday we're gonna have to talk about it?" Kim said looking over at me. "You can't keep things in. It's not healthy."
I shook my head. "I already told you what happened." I started. "I don't wanna keep talking about it, so just drop it."
It's bad enough that I had to find out the way that I did. I didn't want to talk about this over and over again.
-4 Months Prior-
I pushed the buggy around the supermarket, checking off my list as I went along. Eric was currently looking for something I'd missed while I continued to get the things that we needed. I made my way onto another aisle in search of the next few items on my list.
I walked over to the shelf and began putting the groceries into my basket. I felt someone staring, so I glanced over and sure enough some random woman was staring at me. She began putting her groceries into her basket and looked away. I didn't recognize her whatsoever.
Maybe she knew me? Who knows?
After grabbing what I needed, I began pushing my buggy down the aisle.I could still feel her staring, but I tried my best to ignore it. A little girl came running around the corner and the woman grabbed her hand, pulling her to the side. I looked at the child and had to do a double take.
My heart immediately dropped when I finally got a good look at her. Coincidentally, Eric walked around the corner and down the aisle towards me. He stopped dead in his tracks once he seen the other woman standing near me. His eyes darted between the both of us and then to the child. She resembled him so much and appeared to be the same age as Erica.
I looked at him and he didn't say anything.
All of us were pretty much speechless and it was definitely the most awkward situation I had ever been in.
------
I sighed and readjusted my sunglasses on my face, looking at my baby enjoy the water. I was so deep in thought, I didn't notice that my cheeks were wet from the tears that had fallen. I quickly wiped them, but it was too late. Kim had already noticed.
"Aww Jay." She said rubbing my back.
I heard that Eric had a bunch of kids, but I never knew what I would do if I ever came face to face with reality. I knew Eric got around with multiple women, so I was aware of what I had gotten into. I was angry at him because he was dishonest. He had known for months and didn't bother to be honest with me.
He explained that he was waiting for the right time to tell me. At this point, I was trusting his word less and less. Nevertheless, I still loved him and I knew that he loved me.
"I'll be fine Kim." I nodded my head reassuring her. "I just need some time."
She nodded. We sat outside for a while before Kim left. It was nice to have some company today while Eric was out handling business.
--
I had just put Henrii down for the night, when Eric walked into the room. I pulled her blanket over her and turned on the monitor before grabbing the other. I walked out of the room and he followed behind me, closing the door.
"You still giving me the silent treatment Jay?" He asks.
I sat on the couch and criss-crossed my legs. He sat next to me and wrapped his arm around me. I readjusted myself and looked at him in his eyes.
"I'm not angry that you have another child Eric." I started. "I just wished that you would've been honest with me. Baby just be honest from now on, no matter how much it may hurt. I want the truth always." I said.
He sighed. "Look, I fucked up." He grabbed my hand. "I love ya and ion want this shit to come between us. I'm sorry." He says looking me into my eyes.
I bit my lip and looked down.
"Come on Jayyyy." He said trying to get me to look into his eyes.
I smiled and rolled my eyes, placing my attention onto him. He smiled at me and placed a kiss on my lips. I kissed him and he pulled me into his lap.
Eazy
Since everybody else was so occupied today, I decided to pick up the next few batches of records for this record. They were selling quicker than I expected. I honestly didn't expect for things to get this big, this fast but I wasn't complaining. The guys and I were making a little money now, but I knew we could make even more money if we continued with this music thing.
We were already working on releasing another album on the label.
I pulled up to the record printing plant and exited my car. I walked into the spot and up to the front desk.
"I'm coming to pick up some records for Eric Wright." I said.
"They just finished. I'll go get them for you." She said before walking to the back.
She was back in less than five minutes with about three boxes of records on the cart.
"Alright, here's your order." She said.
She gave me my total and I pulled out my checkbook. I wrote a check and handed it to her. Just as I was about to leave, I was approached by some random white guy. He appeared to be in his forties.
"Hello. I'm Jerry heller." He said putting his hand out.
I looked at it first but eventually put my hand out to shake it. "What's up."I said.
He held up one of my records in his hand. "Would it be possible for me to talk to you? Just for a minute."
"About what?" I asked.
"About music."
"Lead the way." I shrugged.
He lead me to a small office down the hall. I walked in and took a seat. He sat across from me.
"I listened to your record." He said. "I thought it was good."
"Just good?" I said looking at him with a straight face.
"I thought it was exception of course." He said correcting himself. "Look I thought it was great. You have talent and I can do something for you."
"Something for me huh?" I raised a brow. "What can you do for me exactly, Mr. Heller?"
"Listen I've worked with people like Black Sabbath, Elton John, Marvin Gaye, and more."
"Have you worked with anyone in this decade?" I chuckled leaning up in my chair.
He sighed. "Look Eric I can make you famous. You have lots of potential and I think with the right people, you can go far. But look if you think it's gonna get better than this, you're crazy. If you don't want this then." He shrugged and sat the record down on the desk.
"I'm listening." I said.
I was open to what he had to say. If this man has as many connections as he said, why should I pass on the opportunity to make more money and become even more successful?
--
After talking with Jerry, I had been thinking about what he said. He seemed like he could do a lot for me and the guys, and also for Ruthless. Of course I still had to talk over all of this with the guys and get their input on everything. If we were going to do all of this, I figured we should do this together. And we were gonna do it right.
I had invited everybody over to the crib today, just to smoke and chill for a while. While they were here, I was gonna let them know about Jerry and what we could possibly do going forward.
"So you think you can trust this guy E?" Jada asks, looking over at the guys sitting in the living room.
"I don't know. What I do know is that he may make us a lot of money and he knows the business." I said shrugging. "I feel like he could be of some help."
She nodded and bit her lip. "If you think this is the right move, I'm beyond you. One hundred percent."
Jay and Kim busied themselves in the kitchen while I walked into the living room. I sat down and looked at everybody.
"So what we doing here E? I know you ain't call us over here to just chill and sit around." Dre asks.
"Yeah you sounded like you had something on your mind." Ren said.
"So look." I started. "I met this guy who could really put N.W.A and Compton on the map. He's worked in the music business a long time and wants to become our manager."
"I mean that sound good and all." Cube said. "But what makes you sure that we can even trust this cat? We don't even know him."
The guys pretty much agreed with Cube. I mean I felt the same way, but then again, what would it hurt to give the guy a chance?
"I agree, but what if this guy can actually help us? What if we do take a chance? A chance to make more money than any of us has ever seen? Have a life that we only see on the tv and shit?" I asked. "I don't know about y'all, but I'm trying to put Compton on the map."
Ren looked at me. "Shit. Let's do it then." He said.
"I'm down man" Kim said.
Yella nodded. "We aint got nothing to lose man."
"Shit you had me at more money." Dre said laughing.
I looked over at Cube finally and he looked at me with that serious look. Everybody else turned to look at him. He laughed. "Hell yeah man. Let's get this money!" He said.
Jada
The phone rang once again, waking me up out of my sleep. I looked at the clock on the nightstand and rolled my eyes.
Who could be calling THIS late? It was two in the morning.
I wiped my tired eyes and quickly got out the bed. I walked out of the bedroom and down the hall to answer the house phone.
"Hello?" I said answering the phone with a yawn.
"Jada we've been trying to reach you for the past twenty minutes." I heard Kim say through the phone.
"Kim do you know what time it is? It's two in the morning!" I said.
"Jada Eric's in jail."
"What?!"
I was wide awake now. All I could think is "What happened now?" I heard Henrii's whining from her room and pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration.
"Give me thirty minutes Kim." I said before hanging up the phone.
I quickly went to get my baby and called up Eric's mother. I hated to wake her up in the middle of the night, but hopefully she would be able to keep her for me, while I went to get Eazy out of whatever mess he'd gotten himself into.