12:07pm | 12/30
I paced by the door as I waited. I've been standing here for a good seven minutes, which is a long time when you're bored.
I took out a tissue that was in my pocket in case I needed to blow my nose and laid it down on the floor. I put my hand against the wall and slowly started to lower myself to the floor, but right before my butt could touch the tissue a buzzing sound went off.
I looked up and seen that the flashing red 'Recording' sign was no longer flashing.
Oh thank God! I almost sat on the floor.
The door swung open and there he was. I smiled awkwardly as I stood up and picked up the tissue I placed on the floor.
"sorry bout the wait" He said opening the door wide enough for me to walk in
"no problem"
Tyreik invited me out to lunch today and since I don't really have anything to do I figured why not. Originally we were gonna meet at the restaurant but I wanted us to go together so he asked me to meet him at his studio—which I wasn't aware of until today.
"I fuck with the hair, looks dope" He said
"oh thanks...I just did it today"
"it fits you"
"I didn't-I didn't know you made music" I said
"yeah it's nothing serious, just a lil hobby you know. you spit?" He asked
"oh no, that's not really me"
"what? no way. the great Malachi Richardson's son? nah you gotta spit something for me. come on"
He grabbed onto my hand and led me into the studio. There were two guys sitting on a couch smoking weed, then a man sitting by the mixer or whatever it's called.
"Micaiah these are my bro's Dwane and Cedric, they in town till tomorrow. guys this is Micaiah" He said introducing us
They both waved at me and I did the same.
"—and this is my engineer Bucky, he also produces too. Buck this is Malachi's son Micaiah"
"damn, you look just like him man. it's a pleasure to meet you" He said holding out his hand for me to shake
"same to you" I said then took his hand to shake
"yo buck put on a beat, let him spit a lil some' for us" Ty said
"no no, really. I'm not a rapper"
"you don't have to be. come on, just for fun"
I was nervous but he looked really excited to get me to so I nodded yes.
"aye dope, come in here"
I followed behind him as he walked into the recording booth. I sat on the stool while he adjusted the microphone and headphones for me.
Once I put the headphones on the beat started to play. I looked up at Tyreik who stood there and smiled at me while raising his thumbs. ehh, might as well.
I started to say anything that came to mind. I tried making it rhyme and keep with the same flow but I definitely could use sone practice.
"calm calm, you did okay with the—"
"it was trash you don't have to suck up"
"yeahhh...but you're a good dancer so that counts"
I removed the headphones then placed them back onto the microphone.
"I'm gonna get my jacket then we out to lunch aight?"
We walked out of the booth and passed through the studio. Ty grabbed his jacket off the couch then said bye to his boys and the engineer.
"aight we out"
So we left the studio and went downstairs to the garage where his car was parked. He must've gotten a new car because this one was black and I remember the other one being white.
"new car huh?" I asked rhetorically
"yup. got this baby for christmas"
He unlocked it allowing us to get in. The interior was just as nice as the exterior. Peanut butter colored leather seats, a fancy center console—I'm not really a car person but I'm starting to get car fever.
"where are we going?" I asked as he pulled off
"a Haitian restaurant. I want you to try something new"
"interesting"
As he drove to the restaurant he put on some of his music for me to listen to. I'm not gonna lie and say it's the most authentic stuff I've heard, but it is good. He too references the three main things 'money, bitches, and cars' but his music is still good nevertheless.
"and this is just a hobby?" I asked
"yeah. I've seen what rappers go through in the industry—musicians as a whole actually. yeah the money and fame is good but all that beefing and extraness is not worth it. I can't see myself actually pursuing it"
"you should at least song write, they make money too. Imagine being Drake or Cardi's ghostwriter, you'd make bank"
"that's something to think about. anyways we're here" He said as he came to a stop
"are we in Queens?" I asked looking around at the setting
"yeah. they got the best Haitian food I've found in all of New York"
We stepped out of his car and walked towards the restaurant. It wasn't really a restaurant, it was set up like a fast food place but they actually cook the food so that's why it's considered a restaurant I'm guessing.
There was a menu at the table we sat at. Ty picked it up and began to look through it.
"aight so it's in Creole so I don't think you gonna understand it. you want me to just order for you?" He asked
"yeah that works"
I'm not gonna pretend to know what I'm doing, he knows more than me so why not.
"aight I'll be back"
He got up and walked over to the serving line where I'm guessing he had to order at. While he did that I checked my phone to see if I had gotten any texts from Masai. He was at work though so I wasn't really expecting a reply and I was right.
"here you go" He said bringing over two bottles of water and setting one in front of me
"thanks"
"so...how's life. how'd you do in school?"
"not bad, I got three A's and two B+'s. I was hoping for a 4.0 but I'll settle for the 3.72"
"damn...congratulations. I was at a 3.3 my first semester, I'm up to a 3.6 now but—good for you!"
"thanks"
"and how was the cruise?"
"it was fun for the most part. we ended up missing the ship when departing from Jamaica so we were stuck there—and all of our stuff was still on the ship. so we had to stay in Jamaica for the remaining of the cruise and then when we got back we had to go to Miami, since that's where the cruise was ending, to get our stuff"
"wow that's crazy"
"uh huh"
"my parents were actually thinking about having us go on a cruise in the summer. this bout to be my first time" He said
"it's really fun you should go. we went to the Bahamas, Cuba, Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic and lastly Jamaica. we missed out on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands"
"ahh that's dope"
We talked a little bit longer but soon our food came. The woman set down two plates with different things, mine had what looked like chicken and I won't even attempt to figure out what he got.
"aight so this is poulet aux noix—I probably shoulda asked you before but you not allergic to nuts right?"
"nope. that's my sister"
"aight great. so it's basically chicken cooked in tomato sauce and topped in cashews. every place cook it differently so it may have other ingredients in it" He explained
"and what are you eating?" I asked curious
"uhh this is Griot...I didn't know whether to start you off with this but chicken is always a safe bet. this is fried pork and it's usually served with Pikliz which is like cole slaw kinda"
"well let's dig in then shall we" I said while lifting up my fork
"jwi"
~•~
"thanks for lunch, the food was really good I'm glad I tried it"
"no problem, next time we can try something from your culture"
"so fried chicken—got it" I cheesed
We both chuckled a bit. I looked out the car window and saw my apartment building. I wasn't yet ready to go home but he has things to do so I can't keep him out.
"you uh...didn't need to drop me off home I coulda took an Uber. I don't want you to be late"
"oh nah no worries, gotta make sure you get home safe 'fore your dad comes after me" He joked
"well I'll catch you then. I had a great time though" I said while reaching for the door handle
"wait umm I been meaning to ask you something but didn't want it to come off wrong. see my cousin and I usually go see the ball drop in Times Square but this time she's eight months pregnant and can't do all that standing. I was wondering if you wanted to join me tomorrow?"
I've never actually been to the ball drop. I tried going once in sophomore year but my dad didn't let me because "it's not safe". I understood though because it's crowded and that's a perfect time for a terrorist to strike. Not only that but numerous things can happen.
"uhh I'll have to check to see if my dad has anything planned for tomorrow. I'll let you know within an hour tops"
"yeah no problem. and if you can't don't worry about it it's not biggie. say hi to your cousin for me, if you talk to her anytime soon"
"I will" I said then opened the door
I got out of his car then walked to my building. I turned back when I got to the entrance and once again he was waiting till I got inside to leave. He's such a great guy, I know that's who my family would rather see me with. Truthfully if I wasn't with Masai I would give him a chance, but I don't even want to think about that because I am with Masai and I love him.
When I got upstairs to our penthouse there were boxes scattered all around.
"uhhh, what's going on?" I said out loud even though there was no one there
All of a sudden my dad appeared from the kitchen.
"we're moving" He said casually "I left some boxes in your room for you to pack with"
"I'm sorry what?"
"don't worry you have about a week to pack, I'm just getting started down here"
"w-why're we moving...again?"
"Bernice and I are moving in together, did we not tell you. oh you didn't think we meant here did you?"
"what's wrong with here?" I asked
"well nothing, but you know. we want a place that we can both call our own. plus Storm is moving out so we don't need four rooms anymore"
"okay...well Tyreik just invited me to go see the ball drop tomorrow night, you don't mind if I go right?" I asked
"I mean I'd prefer you not to but...you're at that age where I really can't tell you what to do. I mean I can but I want you to learn to make decisions based on what you think is right. plus I like him so I don't see any wrong in going with him"
"okay" I said then walked through the boxes to go to the stairs
"so you gonna go?" He asked
"probably" I answered truthfully
"you gonna tell Masai?"
"if it comes up sure. I mean I don't need to tell him every time I'm going out with a friend. I don't expect him to"
"a friend, right" He said "Tyreik kinda reminds me of Deivys"
"dad I'm not you"
"nah of course you not, hopefully you're better"