I smiled causing them to do the same as if they read my mind the very moment we connected eyes.
" Oh shit. That's it y'all that's it!" Alyssa shook my shoulders causing me to smile from ear to ear.
"She's right this is that fire...plus ain't nobody singing this joint right here." Valentina squealed as I watched both of them feeling content with this sudden accomplishment.
I stood from the waiting chair, seeing a few workers grooving to themselves and I laughed, especially once Alyssa took my hand and started dancing sillily in front of me.
I watched both her and Valentina bump hips with a nodding head in thought of how we'd sing this song to Bobby Coleman. Would he like it? Of course he would, it's different than the rest and it's one of the hottest songs out right now. I thought to myself.
Let's show the world we can dance
Bad enough to strut our stuff
The music gives us a chance
We do more out on the floor.
" Groovin' loose or heart to heart." I sang.
" We put in motion every single part." Alyssa sang.
" Funky sounds wall to wall." Valentina joined.
" We're bumpin' booties, havin' us a ball, y'all
Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah
Show 'em how we do it now
Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah
Show 'em how we do it now." We finished just when the commercial cut off.
I chuckled a bit before pulling them into a proud hug.
" Let's win this thing." Alyssa smirked causing me to glance down to her with a nod.
" Right but first we gotta get through to momma, and hopefully she say yes."
...
" No." Mrs. Smith simply answered and immediately their expressions of hope faltered into looks of disbelief as they sat at the dining room table.
Delilah's mouth fell agape as she searched for the words to say." But ma."
" But ma nothing." she paused, secretly daring Delilah to say something else with her eyes as she stood in her motherly stance, hands gripping her hips and expression full of seriousness. " I said no, no buts about it, evidently you must've forgot that you three under-aged girls snuck out to that club where anything could've happened to you. Mario died that night but easily that could've been any of you and on top of that Delilah, you put my sleeping pills in Ms. Betty's Corona... The answer is no and that's the end of this discussion."
Delilah, Alyssa, and Valentina looked nearly paralyzed in their seats. Delilah appreciated that Alyssa confessed that it was her and Valentina's idea of sneaking off to the Limelight, but even still Delilah had it worse than Alyssa and especially Valentina. She wasn't even sure if Valentina's grandma gave a damn about her sneaking off. The only lip she was receiving for her actions was from Mrs. Smith.
Neither of them actually realized what they did that night, especially Delilah. She'd never live drugging Ms. Betty down no matter how many times she apologized. And being the caring person Delilah was her actions made her sick every time her mother brought it to the light.
The room was now silent as Mrs. Smith glared at them, dropping her purse on the table then heading down towards her room.
All that was heard was the clicking of Mrs. Smith's heels before the shutting of her room door, causing Delilah to pinch the bridge of her nose-for the door to her dreams closed as well that very moment. She should've known that her mother wouldn't allow her, after all, she was still on punishment for going to the Limelight in the first place.
You were better off sneaking out again. The audacious side of her conscience chastised her... almost to the point that she thought of going behind her mother's back again.
Yet the idea of it didn't settle well with a part of her, simply because it would be worse this time for her mother told her not to. Delilah respected her mother too much to disobey her orders.
Delilah shook her head to clear that idea from her mind. Even if it seemed like the only way, she was already knee-deep in trouble so drowning was not her desire at all.
She stared at the silhouette of the singing lady on the flyer she held with a shaking leg. The more she looked at it she could've sworn that—that lady was her but that arising fantasy faded when Valentina opened her mouth.
" Well that didn't go as expected." she chuckled a bit to clear the awkward tension, yet her chuckles faded quickly when she saw the serious bland expressions their faces held. She cleared her throat immediately and pointed towards the living room couch. " Yeah, you know what...Ima just... sit over there," she muttered earning an eye roll from Delilah in return.
As the night went on Delilah seemed to be the only one that still cared about not being in the talent search anymore and it just made her wonder. Is this really it? Is this the end?
Michael
The studio remained quite dark to my liking, the only light source being the single dim light above me as I sat on this same stool writing the words to a song I had been working on.
"In this world there's much confusion, and I've taste the city life and it's not for me. Now I do dream of distant places. Where? I don't know now, but it's destiny... If it's the rich life I don't want it, Happiness ain't always material things..." I trailed off with a sigh.
I lost count of how many times I flipped and changed the lyrics, and I would know if I counted all the balled up pieces of paper that surrounded me.
Here I've been driving myself crazy while my brothers left possibly hours ago when we finished recording a song that I had saved up for me... Shake Your Body ( Down To The Ground).
I guess I finally made amends with being in this group for I was at least grateful for getting the opportunity to share my music. My passion.
My goal was to finish this album " Destiny" by the end of June...next month. Bobby, of course, thought it was an insane goal, but not when all of my songs were already written — it was only the matter of recording and perfecting these eight songs.
I knew I could do it I just had to use all of my time wisely. This month we had a total of five interviews, two in Brooklyn, two in Los Angeles, and one here in the Bronx. Then we had two upcoming shows this week and one for Soul Train on the 29th. We had time to record I just had to juggle around rehearsals.
Three knocks then interrupted me as I was in the middle of scratching out the lyrics I attempted to add.
With furrowed eyebrows, I tried to get a glimpse through the glass, but only saw my reflection in the darkroom. I knew it couldn't be any of my brothers nor Joseph for they'd never knock, and if it was Bobby he would've simply called out to me from outside.
" May I come in Michael? It's me, Roxie." I heard causing a smile to form on my face as I told her to come inside.
Soon I saw her walk in with her hair in her famous up down do and casual clothing, she smiled when she saw me. " Hey I was coming to talk about..." she paused abruptly. " Um I came to talk about a few things, but if now is not the right time I could come later."
" Oh no, it's fine." I frowned before I noticed her glancing at the mess I made around the place. My cheeks heated up as I realized before we unexpectedly shared a small laugh.
" Don't worry I've been where you are too... but actually you're a good one because I had to come out of pocket for destroying this room."
" Really? This room?"
" Yeah..." she chuckled as I watched her flop down on the nearby love seat. " Well back then it wasn't LLR of course... it was Spiral Records back when I was in Millennium. It was a crazy time in society and in the music industry." she sighed, looking off into the distance as if she was reminiscing about her past.
My knowledge of Millennium was little for it ended before my time... they were a pretty large group from what I saw in Time magazine last year for reuniting after twenty years. From what I remember there were eight of them, her of course and seven other men. I tilted my head as my thoughts sparked curiosity in me. " How long did Millennium last?"
" Two years." she chuckled with a shaking head. " The worst two years of my entire life I tell you that. Just imagine my fifteen-year-old self surrounded by my boyfriend at the time, his cousins, and brothers twenty-four-seven. I wasn't just the lead singer, but also the damn maid."
I cringed at the thought of it for I knew how messy my brothers could be, especially on the road away from mother.
" I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"It's fine that was the past, it's just nice to think about how far I came every once in a while, but anyways like I said before I came to tell the news. For starters, since the whole dinner thing didn't work out I stopped by your place and talked to Joseph this morning ... he's fine with you performing the song."
My eyebrows lifted in suspicion before I repeated. " He's fine? What did he say exactly?"
" Well after a long and I mean long talk and a little money bribe he finally said ' I guess'."
I chuckled. " He guess," I mumbled to myself and finally stood from the stool, feeling numb and weak as I walked towards the broom and dustpan.
" And also your brother, Jermaine, will be joining you boys for the performance in Brooklyn-"
" Hm, I guess the surprises keep on coming, huh?" I sucked my teeth as I continued the process of sweeping a few paper balls and dropping them in the trash can.
I haven't seen him since early last year, and honestly, that was fine with me. I loved my brother, but it seemed like every time he was around drama was bound to happen. I felt it in my gut now and I hated it.
Roxie sighed then with a small smile. " Michael don't worry everything is gonna be just fine. But the fans wanted to see you boys together like old times. The world hasn't forgot about you boys no matter how long you feel as if you've been gone. One night... one show that's all Bobby, Cisco, and I ask."
I stared at her from where I stood with my arms folded and tongue poking my cheek. What was I to say? Of course I was gonna perform — my feelings towards Jermaine weren't as important as our supporters. " Okay whatever, is it anything else I need to brace myself for?"
" No that was all," she said with a smile, hugging me briefly before she told me that she'd let me get back to work.
...
Alyssa and Valentina were currently sleeping on the couch and after a while of watching TV, Delilah decided to call it a night.
Worn and exhausted she opened the door to her dark room, but the light from the scented candles allowed her to see someone sitting on her bed.
She frowned until he turned to her. " Raheem? What you doing here?" she asked as she approached him, her heart sinking a bit at the sight of his red eyes and soaked face.
" What's wrong? Talk to me." she sat near him.
She knew that it was a matter of time before he broke. She knew that this facade he had on lately would crumble away the longer he held it up. She knew that his arm would get tired of holding the mask he held over his face.
" Raheem please look at me," she begged, and surely after a while, he obeyed, allowing her to wipe his tears in the process.
" I feel so empty inside you know... dead... it's like I just lost myself completely. I tried so hard to just put my faith in God, but it just ain't no use. Shit just keep getting worse than before...first, my moms left and took my sister now my pop is drinking and shit... I haven't seen his ass since Easter morning man, how could he just leave me. It's like—I swear nobody loves me the way I love them."
" Raheem you know that's not true you still got me and you know damn well I love you," Delilah stated and immediately he glared at her for she just didn't understand.
He sighed. " I know...It's just scary to know that the only person that's left to take care of you is gone. We don't even got food at home and now the lights are off and it's just me. He just left me now what am I gonna do? I can't hold all these bills up with a simple summer job." he shook his head as a few hot tears escaped his eyes.
Delilah watched him silently for she couldn't find the words to say to him. She would be in over her head to tell him that he could live there with her, she was already trying to tread lightly with her mother, and she was already in the dog house for asking about the talent search.
She let out a breath then glanced up to the ceiling in thought. " Just stay here tonight okay. I'll make you some food, and we can get your clothes tomorrow until we figure something out, but you'll be straight I promise I got you."
Raheem's heart fluttered as she continued to comfort him. " I love you so much you just don't understand," he muttered, earning a broad smile from Delilah, but Raheem knew that in her mind she didn't think nothing of it. She didn't take those words the way he meant it, and he was tired of knowing that — he needed her to know.
" Delilah... I have something else to get off my chest that's been killing me since seventy-four." he began and immediately his nerves held his body stiff, he froze for a moment pondering on telling her how he felt. It didn't help at all that her doe eyes stared into his in anticipation.
" Yo, where's that toothbrush I left here?" Valentina barged in abruptly, disturbing the atmosphere completely with her yawning and dramatic stretching.
" Really Tina?"
Valentina smiled." What—Oh shit what's up Square?" her excitement then faded once realizing their hard stares due to her presence. She frowned then as she walked further into the room.
" Damn what's going on with y'all?"
Delilah glanced over to Raheem who tried to discreetly wipe his tears before looking over to Valentina. " Can you just give us a minute? The toothbrush is somewhere in that cabinet if you would just look for it." she retorted earning a frown from Valentina who silently surrendered before closing the door.
As always the moment was ruined for him, and he all of a sudden felt that grip on his stomach at the sight of her eyes boring into his for an answer.
He knew that he had to tell her, but he realized that now was not the time. He wanted to be happy when he confessed his love for her... it was only right. He wanted her to know how nervous she made him when she glared at him for too long... how his heart dropped at simply the mention of her name, or how his worst day could be made by one call from her. She was going to know the way she made him feel...it was just a matter of time.
...
The night remained dark and a bit breezy as Junior walked alongside Tasha with his hands stuffed in his pants pockets and his eyes ahead of him, watching Damon and Devin laugh at the movie they had just watched, Carrie.
" They're all gonna laugh at you, They're all gonna laugh at you," Damon repeated loudly into the atmosphere as they began to make their way down the subway steps, earning multiple strange looks from the passers-by.
Junior shook his head as they approached the train in a hurry and once Devin ran for the door behind Damon, Junior stopped himself, holding the door to allow Tasha to go before him.
She smiled at his kindness before they found their seats. The train was fairly empty that night which was always a good thing considering how packed it would usually be — sometimes to the point where they'd have to stand.
Junior smiled a bit and glanced over to her." I'm glad you accepted my apology. I shouldn't have dissed you like that."
" You know this is your third time mentioning it tonight," she smirked bringing about one from him as well.
He finally had the courage to face her...she was the positivity that he needed right now. Tonight he was a child again and worry-free, but he knew that it was only for that moment.
Damon eyed his cousin from across as things grew silent between him and Devin. It gave him a sense of relief to see Junior smiling and having a good time. Lately, Damon had been following him, and he knew that he shouldn't have been, but he couldn't help it. Ever since he saw the gun stashed away on Junior's nightstand he thought relentlessly about it — he had to know and now he did.
He now knew that his cousin...his very best friend...was affiliated with the Three Sixty.
It didn't take long for them to reach the Pines and eventually Tasha's house. Once they had—Junior walked her to her door.
" I had fun tonight, I really enjoyed myself." she smiled at him.
" Me too... I was thinking we could go out again sometime you know...just me and you."
Her eyebrows rose at his suggestion. " Noah Kaden Smith Jr. are you tryna ask me out on a date?" she quizzed causing his eyes to grow wide as he looked around him.
" Girl don't be saying my full government like that, you don't know who could be watching me." Tasha playfully rolled her eyes at him. " Boy ain't nobody after you," she stated, though he could only wish what she said was true.
He didn't need this awkward silence, but when around her it always happened. Moments like this when the conversation fell short from laughter, and they were left to just glance around anywhere but each other — he hated them.
He didn't know if she felt as nervous as him in that very moment but he knew that this was the perfect time to finally just lean in and kiss her.
" Pst...Pst." Junior heard from nearby causing him to squint his eyes in confusion until he saw Damon eyeing him with pursed lips.
" Just kiss her already man." Damon's voice whispered harshly from a bush behind her.
Tasha smiled at Junior's bulging eyes. " Hm maybe you should listen to him," she smirked as she placed her hand on his cheek.
After all the things Junior had encountered and done this past month, the scary experiences and near-deaths ... never did he think that a kiss would have him ready to run for cover.
He swallowed then as he discreetly watched her lean in with caution, but once his lips finally touched hers he relaxed. The kiss was simple, not too quick and not too long just slow, sweet, and lingering.
Tasha pulled away first, giggling at the sight of Junior with his lips still puckered and his eyes clamped shut.
He opened his eyes to her smile preparing to do the same, but just then a swift police alert caught their attention.
Junior's heart quickened as the blue and red lights flashed upon them and Devin and Damon immediately appeared from behind the bushes with their hands in the air. They felt like deers caught in headlights.
" Daddy I was just - "
" Get in the house Tasha." his base like voice demanded calmly while his eyes remained staring holes into Junior.
" Um, how you doing Mr.Simmons... My name is - "
" Noah Smith... Devin Lovett...and Damon Lovett. I'm familiar." he continued to eye him down.
Junior swallowed before scratching the back of his neck nervously. He tried his best to appear to be calm and collected, but the more Mr. Simmons gave him the side-eye the more he continued to shake like a stripper with a tremor.
" You boys have a nice night." he glared at the three of them before slamming the door behind him.
Damon let out an obnoxious breath as he glanced between the two of them. "Damn...Now that was a big ass man." he shook his head earning nothing but hard glares followed by smacks on the back of his head.
" Tasha get down here right now." Mr. Simmons hollered from the bottom of the stairs.
" Yes father?" she smiled with feigning innocence.
" When you said you and a few friends I didn't think they would be...would be."
" Boys?"
" Valley boys at that, I thought I told you not to associate with anyone from there?"
" But Daddy they're not like that they go to my school and they're church boys."
" Church boys sure, that can change in a heartbeat. I dealt with plenty of young men like them and all it takes is one simple mistake for them to change and I don't want you caught up in any of that like the last time."
" Daddy I won't I promise."
" Oh I know you won't because you won't be seeing them any longer, especially that so-called preacher's son Noah." he spat, pushing passed her on the stairs.
...
Junior said his byes to his cousins from across the hall then he entered his sleeping home, waiting there a few minutes before he crept back out.
On the way home he remembered his duty, he was as so caught up in enjoying himself he forgot that he had to give Sincere the money he made for him that week. He had to be there by midnight and it was already ten minutes till.
Junior had never ran this fast in his life and by the time he made it to Napoleon his legs were about to give out and his breath was shorter than ever. Weakly he knocked on the door the way Man Killa taught him to and unexpectedly the door opened immediately.
Her eyes were large and her eyebrows furrowed as if she wanted to tell him to run.
" I came to turn in my stuff for the week—"
" Just give it to me and I'll handle it." Man Killa looked back nervously, but before she could shoo him away, Spiffy appeared, telling Junior to come in and that someone was expecting him with a sly smirk.
The place was awfully silent unlike the other times Junior came and once he turned the corner all he could see was Sincere talking to three men, but at the sight of him, Sincere stopped mid-sentence.
" And speaking of the devil." Sincere eyed him causing the man to turn around at an instant and immediately they froze once spotting each other.
" Bullseye meet the Boss, Ghost."
A/N
I said I'd post before Today, but that ish did not work outtt. Thoughts on this chapter?