"Start the song." I say to the dark skinned beauty pouting at me from her big cream colored bed sheets.
"You gotta get back in the bed first." She says in a small voice.
"No, cause you gon hug me up and go right back to sleep. You not slick." I say as I brush my hair.
"But babe, I-"
We are interrupted by our doorbell. For a slight second, both of us freeze as if we were possibly imagining the sound. Chanel's forehead holds a crease and she gets to her feet, a worried look on her face.
"More paparazzi?" She questions.
"I don't know, but I'm bout to go check." I say pulling my shirt over my head and dragging on the grey sweats Chanel had tossed in a corner last night.
She walks over to her balcony, places her hands on the railing and glances over, her tippy toes giving her some height.
"Ay! Move from there, you tryna fall off?" I question as I open the room door.
"Just trying to see who it is." She complains.
"I got it." I respond, headed downstairs.
Suddenly, I hear the latch on the door turning, I stop in my tracks. Whoever it is, has a key.
The door opens with intent, not much aggression as it was haste. The alarm goes off momentarily but as I come down the stairs slow and cautious, big black hands are typing the security code into the monitor. The alarm stops and Flex stares me up and down, a nonchalant look on his face.
"Ayyy! What's good homie. You got a key for here?" I ask, confused.
"Of course I got a key for here." He says in his deep voice.
I hear Chanel's footsteps run down the stairs and into his big arms. She looks like a small child against him.
"Flex!" She yells.
Flex hugs back, and though his face appears to be frustrated with us, Chanel easily crumbles that. He kisses her on the forehead.
"Well thank God, y'all got your clothes on. I was about to kick the damn door down. Why have you disappeared off the face of the earth like y'all don't got shit to do?" He sounds annoyed and Chanel and I stand side by side like children getting scolded.
"We just needed some time to work things out and get ourselves together." I answer so she won't have to.
"It's not like you guys didn't know where we were." Chanel responds.
"Well we only guessed where y'all were. Why you not responding to your Mother's calls?" Flex turns to Chanel.
"Our phones are off." She says.
Flex scoffs. "Y'all phones been off this whole time?" He shakes his head and rubs his eyes with his thumb and index finger.
"I wanna strangle you both." He says calmly.
"Nah Flex, on some real, we really needed time to figure everything out. It's been a tough few days." I say firmly.
"I understand that but at the end of the day, y'all running a business. Chanel you missed the meeting with SONY, we got it rescheduled but you not in good standing with them right now. Trev, you got two songs on the Billboards, this is prime time for interviews and radio appearances. Ain't this what you wanted? Y'all gotta heal on the move. Both your managers calling you, can't get you, Mothers callin me, Mac callin me. What are y'all doin?" I never understood how Flex was able to sound mad and caring at the same time but he did it often and we always listened.
I stare at him with his dreads that have grown a few more inches, you can tell Ms. Sasha has been keeping them fresh and nicely twisted. I forgot how good Chanel's Mom was at doing hair. Though we are getting scolded, I feel happy to see him, happy to have him here. He brought a sense of security with him and I could finally relax and not deal with the pressure of being the man in charge.
Chanel and I remain quiet. We look from Flex to each other. But when my eyes meet hers, I can't turn away. She has a way of looking so perfect in the worst moments. I don't let my eyes leave hers and when she turns back to me, she catches my glance. Her head bows and a smile spreads across her lips.
"Ay!" Flex calls, snapping both of us out of it. "Am I even in the room? Ga-damn."
Chanel laughs.
"I'm glad to see that y'all are better. I really am but Ima have to end this vacation if y'all want to have a career at the end of it all. Chanel, go upstairs and start getting ready for the album signing at the Benefit Concert. Trev, get your clothes and come with me. You have a radio interview at six tomorrow morning and you need to be prepped on how to answer questions about where the hell you been and what Chanel means to you." He walks into the living room and motions for Chanel to go up the stairs and get ready.
She looks so sad, like she won't see me again. Like things won't be like this. I know what she's feeling and thinking because that's exactly how I feel. But things are finally happening for me and it would be crazy to jeopardize it. She looks at me as she walks up the stairs, her eyes twinkling as if tears were close.
"As soon as the interview is over tomorrow, I'll come straight back to you baby. Don't worry." I tell her.
She nods, seeming to feel a little better about the situation
"Oh! While you're both here, we might as well clear that up. What are you telling the media? Are you or are you not together? My opinion is to keep the two of you as private as possible- I don't think there's any need to give them a direct answer or any insight into the relationship when they have a whole mixtape in their hands. So, I would say - "
"Nah. That's my girl." I cut Flex off.
I watch a light smile spread across Chanel's face as she turns and disappears up the stairs.
_____________
I sit to across from DJ Ray Ray, one of the biggest radio DJs in LA and a veteran of LA 98.5, the top radio station in LA. If someone told me I would be getting called to interview here a week ago, I would have called them crazy. It's early in the morning and I should be extremely tired but I am so excited and nervous that the tiredness is pushed to the side. My manager sits to my right and Emil is to my left with an empty seat between us. I told him that if he came he was giving me permission to kick his ass whenever I felt necessary and he agreed and still put his clothes on.
I have already mentally scheduled his ass-kicking for later on after my nap. It's another thing I am very excited about.
Some of last night was prep for the interview and the other few hours were spent on damage control with the media. A lot of the blogs began spreading fake information, so Janet, my publicist made sure they got the correct story or threats of legal action in some way. I was zoned out for most of it because I still haven't gotten to embrace the fact that two songs made it to the Billboard's 100. I did find out what two songs made it and I was in no way surprised. Coming in at number 13 on the Billboard charts was song number 1, Slow Kill and song number three , A hit came in at number 11.
It makes sense that people liked the really fucked up song and the slow intimate song the most. People are usually on either side. The interview begins and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest as I struggle to remember everything to avoid saying and everything to say.
DJ Ray Ray greets me like he's known me forever, like I was always at this level in life. The only reason I even know how to reply or conduct myself is because I am pretending as if I really have always been at this level, like this isn't anything new to me.
We start off with small talk, something I'm good at more because I'm a people person and can start a conversation out of anything. One of the important tips Janet gave me was to try to keep control of the interview and point it in the direction I want it to go in. That seems easy for a couple minutes and then one of Ray Ray's questions catches me off guard and slaps me in the face. I hadn't prepared for this, no one told me this would be one of the questions, no one taught me how to answer.
"What did you go to jail for?"
The question echos through my ear and all other noises cancel out.
I do not move in my seat.