Round 2
June 21st, 2019
Anthony sits behind the steering wheel of his car as they sit in some traffic on the Greenwich Peninsula trying to get to the O2 Arena. It's backed up due to thousands of people coming out for Béla's first of three concert dates in London.
Anthony looks over at his older sister, Janet, in the passenger seat who listens to a song produced by Juls that utilizes Abella's vocals. "Heyy!" She yells clapping her hands together before trying to whine her hips in the car seat. Anthony shakes his head looking in the rear view mirror to see his 12-year-old niece dancing in the backseat. "This is a tune! I hope she performs it."
"Maybe," he responds.
"Do you think she'll perform her old songs?" Janet asks. Janet has definitely been a Béla fan from the beginning. She was the one who put him on to her music back when Béla wasn't even Béla. That was when she was rapping, only had one mixtape, and was using her real name.
"I doubt it. When I talked to her she said she's not doing the earlier stuff because it's more R&B, Pop, and hip-hop."
"You talked to her?" Janet asks looking at her brother.
"Yeah.. we're friends," he says wondering why she asked him with such surprise. Anthony and Abella have one thing in common; they're both private people especially when it comes to dating.
Anthony left her hotel last night because his mother was watching his son for him and he needed to get home. He only talked to her once on the phone earlier today. Abella found out her performance outfits for tonight weren't done, so out of frustration she said she'll call him back then hung up. She never called back, but he didn't expect her to. He knows it's a stressful night for her.
"Oh, right," Janet says remembering New York. "She's so nice...and pretty," she throws in. "You should introduce her to Lateef."
"Lateef who?" Anthony asks looking at his sister with furrowed eyebrows.
"Your friend, Lateef. Who else? He's single and she's single. I think he's her type too. She likes those light skin guys who are only half Nigerian. Look at her last two exes." Anthony shakes his head thinking his sister needs to stay off the blogs.
He chuckles realizing his sister is trying to get a reaction out of him to see if they're dating. "Lateef likes his women a little homely. We all know that," he jokes not falling into the trap.
Janet laughs. "That last one was a bit clapped, I'm not gonna lie. He's too good looking to be dating women so unattractive. That's why you need to help him out and hook him up with her," she says nudging her brother.
Anthony looks at her saying, "I'm sure Lateef don't need my help with women."
He leaves it at that pulling into a blocked entrance rolling his window down to talk to a man who works for the arena. Seeing it's Anthony the man moves the cones to let him in. Because he's fought here and made this arena a lottt of money he does get special treatment including closer parking.
This place holds a lot of memories. His first professional fight was here. It's also where he's had the most fights throughout his career with seven of them being here.
Once they're inside the arena they find their seats towards the front ready for the concert. Her opening acts include Jamaican artist Koffee then Nigerian artists, Odunsi and Teni. From then you know it's going to be a whole night of vibes.
After Koffee performs Raggamuffin, Blazin, Throne, Rapture, and Toast she leaves the stage. The venue gets dark then over the speakers a familiar voice with a Nigerian accent can be heard. It's the voice of Fela Kuti as a video begins playing on the large monitor screen...
"Everything was European background...I never thought about it. Being African didn't mean anything to me until much later in my life... I started to be aware of how to be an African, but we had nothing to offer as Africans because we were just taught English... Why that in Africa as time goes forward things is getting worse?" Fela's voice can be heard.
It's a very bold statement considering she's in Europe who ranks number one for colonialism when most people think about the subject. It's even bolder with half the audience being White.
The dark stadium is quiet as a band comes in playing the instrumental for Colonial Mentality by Fela Kuti. "Are you ready?" Anthony asks his niece shaking her shoulders as she smiles with excitement.
The 20 piece band plays the music consisting of a guitar, different types of drums, different types of saxophones, and shekere's. It's low then it builds getting louder when an entire group of horns join in making the sound bigger and grander. You can hear every instrument vividly.
Anyone knows it's not easy to play Fela Kuti's music because he never wrote it down and his songs are extremely long before there's ever any singing. It can be only instruments for a good five minutes.
The band plays about two minutes of the instrumental before the background singers come in.
He be say you be colonial man
You don be slave man before
Them don release you now
But you never release yourself
say you fit never release yourself
Colo-mentality
They take the drum pattern, guitar, and horns transitioning from that instrumental to the beat of Say It Loud by James Brown.
Now, now we're people, we're like the birds and the bees
We rather die on our feet than keep livin' on our knees
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud
The band stops playing and the drum is hit one single time before it falls silent and dark again. That's the signal it's the end, but also the beginning. The audience knows what's about to happen when smoke creeps across the stage and the large screen goes red. The 20,000 people crowd of the sold out show shake the stadium from their screaming. This is Abella's second time performing for a crowd this big after Madison Square Garden. It also won't be her last throughout this tour..
Sons of Kemet which is a British jazz band begins playing the instrumental to the Chief's Daughter Intro on the Lotanna album. The four person group uses saxophone, clarinet, tuba, and two drummers to make their music which can be a mixture of jazz, Caribbean folk, and African music.
The fast African beat makes you feel like you're traveling through time with the soft yet powerful notes of two saxophones. The instrumental could be described as something played when being chased or even the entrance of someone royal. Adrenaline and anticipation.
It's the latter when Bèla is slowly being lifted into the middle of the stage. When her body's fully on the stage she raises one arm in the air with a fist and puts the other on her hip...
If you thought the audience was loud before it's twice the volume as people scream. Some people are screaming so loud their throats hurt from the strain and some even cry. Anthony looks at his niece who stares at the stage with a twinkle in her eye.
There's a lot of young, Black girls just like Angel in the audience. Béla's demographic consisted of mostly women like her. Women who look at her as an inspiration and with admiration. Even though she doesn't want to be a role model because she makes mistakes, it's inevitable. She represents many women like her.
Abella stares at the sea of people taking it all in. It's still hitting her that she can even sell out legendary venues like this as headliner. This is her music, her art, her tour... The Naija to the World Tour.
Sons of Kemet starts playing again then the 20 piece band she recruited joins in creating an authentic live sound. She takes a deep breath raising the mic towards her mouth before singing.
The first line comes from the Igbo Landing, which was a mass suicide in 1803 by captive Igbo people. They refused to submit to slavery instead drowning themselves in a Georgia creek. The Igbo people were known for revolting and resisting slavery. This is what they sang as they walked into the creek.
She sings in Igbo then repeats it again in English..
Orimili Omambala bu anyi bia,
Orimili Omambala ka anyi ga eji na
The water spirit brought us,
the water spirit will take us home
The water spirit brought us,
the water spirit will take us home
We've been living in our ancestor's blood,
how long will it take to atone?
Awaken the spirits of the mother land
We as people were built to withstand
Be proud, raise a hand
She sings as her dancers line up behind her raising their hands in a fist before going into choreography. She continues to stand towards the front of the stage singing...
You were born balancing languages on your tongue
Africanism flowing in the blood
Wash all strife away like the Genesis flood
You have multiple tribes in your flesh
For centuries we have been forced to acquiesce
This is not checkers, it's chess
Venerate the elders and ancestor's
Continue to search for answers
Your family is several cultures and borders
We will no longer sail under false colors
We are who we are, we are not vultures
We are not scavengers, we are hunters
We are not savages, we are cultured
The water spirit brought us,
the water spirit will take us home
We've been living in our ancestor's blood,
how long will it take to atone?
Water parts us; whether a ship or plane trip
The water that my Igbo people drowned
They rather let their lungs fill before being owned
Our blood still lingers in the water as it wades
Not even slaver's dogs can sniff it out
It bares no scent, but it surely stains
She sings joining the backup dancers in the routine...
The next part she says like it's spoken word or a chant...
Long live Africa
Long live Nigeria
The world is my tribe
To the motherland we will ascribe
Long live the chief,
Ozo omemgboji
Chiefdom of Onitsha
Igwe. Eze. King.
Ada eza, I am a King's daughter
I am my father's daughter
Remember the sky being, Eri
Remember the supreme being, Chukwu
Remember the father,
Lotanna...
The last word she says echoes throughout the arena as the music stops. She pushes the hood on her head back before beginning to speak...
"They have tried their hardest to conceal the history of Africa. When they do that they're wiping away the influences and inventions that Africans have brought to the world. They condense us to one chapter or one lesson plan when we have kingdoms, villages, and empires that span centuries. Africa is the home of human civilization. Africa is the heartbeat of culture. Africa must wake."
He's trying to figure out how someone who's fully clothed can still come off sexy. Maybe it's the confidence and conviction in her voice with every lyric and word. You can tell she knows what she's talking about. Educated and talented.
"Years after graduating college I am learning what true education is. It's liberation and freedom from the systematic abuse of the mind by any force, good or evil. It is learning the ability to master the control of your mind and to fulfill your mission to humanity. We're all beautiful flowers in the middle of the desert. All we need is water to grow. Water in a place so dry and barren. If we keep the fervent desire to come up through the cracks it will be a lesson of resilience. The same resilience those who came before us had."
"There's no longer an excuse to not know the true history of Africa. Otu onye tuo izu," she smoothly says in Igbo. "Meaning knowledge is never complete. Knowledge and education is for those that pursue it past what's being taught. Knowledge is what you seek. Knowledge is infinite and it's power. Be open minded to receive my information tonight. Give me your energy and I will give you mine."
"We're going to have fun tonight," she says giving the band the signal to play the next song which is Nigerian Nightmare that would normally feature Femi Kuti.
With each song and dance break she transitioned into different music genres of the diaspora. This included Afrobeats, Reggae, Highlife, Jùjú music, Palm wine music, Rumba, Samba, Dancehall, Calypso, Soca, and more for her more than an hour set. You can tell she just wanted people to dance and have fun at her concert once she got out her important message at the beginning.
The last song she performs is Africa Unite by Bob Marley. Reggae is Anthony's favorite genre so of course he had to sing word for word.
Africa unite
'Cause we're moving right out of Babylon
And we're going to our Father's land
How good and how pleasant it would be
Before God and man, yeah
To see the unification of all Africans, yeah
She stops singing as the band keeps playing to introduce her dancers, background singers, and band person by person. When she's done she stands at a mic stand giving her last speech.
"Stolen from Africa. Three words that can create a laundry list of crimes and offenses. Resources, land, rights, freedom, money, music, clothing, people, culture. All stolen. So many cultures are like spin-offs, while Africa is the original. Seeds planted all over the world..."
"America, Europe, Haiti, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad. I can go on and on. As much as we like to think we're different, we're not. The problem is divide. Gidi gidi bụ ugwu eze," she says in Igbo. "That means Unity is strength. It's time to go home." That last sentence has double meaning.
She backs away from the mic dancing to the music while moving closer and closer to the back of the stage...
Abella laughs before putting her hand on her chest wearing a big smile. She takes a bow then raises back up pushing her hair out of her face. She lifts her hands as everyone cheers. She blows a kiss and waves then leaves the stage leaving the band and dancers to close out the show.
Her performance alone made Anthony's infatuation for her grow two times more...
As soon as Abella gets off stage she goes to her dressing room with her makeup artist, stylist, and hairstylist. She would definitely say she's the closest to them on her team aside from Tamara. They've been with her the longest. If someone would walk into the room they would think they're crazy the way they're jumping up and down down while shouting in excitement.
"We did that shit!" She yells doing a dance as her makeup artist Indira pops a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Champagne letting it spill on the floor.
"The Mob, bitch!" Her hairstylist Bianca yells before jumping on the leather couch in the dressing room. "Yo, that was twenty fuckin' thousand people in that crowd!" She says still standing on it. You could still hear the crowd yelling as the shows being wrapped up by the dancers and band.
"Twenty!" Naima, her hairstylist echoes. "Twenty!" She yells again stomping her foot in the puddle of champagne on the floor.
"Okay," Abella says waving her hand over her face before bringing it all the way down. She's still on an adrenaline high. And that quick they go back to normal after acting a fool as she sits at the vanity seat taking a deep breath.
Indira uses a towel to dab any sweat off Abella's face before re-powdering her makeup and switching her gloss that disappeared for a matte red lip. Naima fixes her hair as much as she can because it's a bit sweated out from performing. She's only fixing up herself because she knows people are going to want to take pictures with her.
The show went on without a hitch. Now, Abella did have a small meltdown earlier today because her performance outfits for tonight weren't ready. She got all custom outfits for this tour. She decided to give a local, Black designer here in London a chance tonight, but things didn't quite go as planned.
She simply had to figure it out. Honestly as long as she had power and a band she didn't care about her outfits. Regardless she's going to put on a show that's worth the money the people spent. She could perform in a trash bag and still give the audience life. It's her first headlining international tour so of course everything's not going to be perfect.
That's why she thinks people should have more compassion for artists. Sometimes things go wrong. They could have a wardrobe malfunction, their makeup artist or hairstylist could be a no show at the last minute, the sound could mess up, anything.
Abella puts on a jacket then grabs a water bottle before they all walk out of the dressing room. As soon as she opens the door a camera is in her face. A cameraman follows her every step and he will be the entire tour documenting everything.
Most artists simply put their tour diaries on their Youtube channels because it's fast. All of the good footage from the almost two month tour along with Madison Square Garden and her benefit concert in Nigeria will be compiled together for a documentary. Plus, she likes to film and take pictures of everything to have as memories when she gets older. One day she can show it to her kids.
Abella takes a swallow of her water seeing her publicist coming down the hallway. "I was looking for you," Tamara says turning back around to walk next to Abella. "All the people with backstage passes are down the hall. A lot of your artist friends showed up. I already talked to Skepta and Dave about maybe doing songs with them."
"Cool," Abella says nonchalantly.
"You definitely need one day while in London to go to the studio and knock out some features."
"I agree."
When Abella walks into the room all eyes are on her as people yell and clap. She waves them off walking further into the room wearing a smile not wanting all the attention on herself. She had all her meet and greets with fans before the show, so these are people she actually knows. She greets and has short conversations with people when she sees Anthony's head sticking out over everyone because he's so tall.
When he sees her they both smile at each other before she waves at him. She holds her finger up to say one minute before going back to talking to someone. She couldn't even help the smile on her face. Who wouldn't after the night she had with him? She normally would've been worn out and ready to go back to her hotel for sleep after a show, but she's riding on a high. Everybody in the room could see her glow.
Abella walks over to Anthony hugging him as he says, "If it's not the superstar."
"Thank you," she responds looking from him to his sister, Janet, taking in her outfit. "Heyyy! Look at the Queen. My sister you look fine fine," Abella says clapping her hands like a Nigerian Auntie. "Pose for us, sha," she says stepping back to look at Janet as she poses...
Janet spins giving a full 360 view of her custom outfit. She even sticks her foot out to make sure her heels are seen. Only a different type of woman can stand wearing heels to a concert. "Hey! The beauty," Abella adds throwing her head to the side. "I bring out all the beautiful, Black women. Just so much melanin in that audience."
"Queen? If it's not the professional wig snatcher. Lace? Gone!" Janet says motioning her hands to her edges. All Anthony can think is why are women so extra when they see each other?
Both Abella and Janet laugh when she notices a young girl to Janet's right. "Is this your daughter?" She asks Janet looking at the pre-teen who stares at her.
The first thing she notices is that she's tall for her age, but her mother is tall so it makes sense. You wouldn't even think Janet would have a daughter this age. Partly because she looks younger than she is and also because she did have her young.
Janet nods her head. "Go on. Greet her, Angel."
After they speak to one another they take pictures together. Abella's mother always used to say kids were drawn to her. She could come in a room and say nothing, but the kids would be staring at her and would want to be around her. She's always been good with kids and that's partly why she went to school to become a teacher, which didn't happen.
At this point Anthony had walked away leaving Abella with his sister and niece to talk to someone he knows.
"She plays the piano, you know," Janet says to Abella.
"Really? How long have you been playing?" She asks Angel.
"Only like two years," she responds with a shrug.
"I hope you're practicing a lot."
"Hmph," Janet says pouting her lips before Angel can even say anything.
"I do practice," Angel says in her defense.
"When I make you."
Abella laughs. "I was the same way. My Mom had to force me and my brother. That's why I'm so good now. You have to practice, practice, practice. If you practice you can be like Hazel Scott or something."
"Who's that?" Angel asks looking confused.
Abella playfully acts shocked. "You don't know who Hazel Scott is? Girl, let me tell you the short version. The best Black woman to be on the keys if you ask me. She was a classical and jazz pianist, singer, actor, and the first Black woman in America to host her own tv show. She eventually got blacklisted for her involvement in civil rights. I could go on all day."
"I told you. You haveee to learn your Black history," Janet stresses while getting on to her daughter.
"Okay then what was the song that was played before you came out? After the Fela Kuti?" Angel asks.
Abella thinks on it. She comes up with her own arrangements for her shows, but this one's also played when she's not on stage. "It was I'm Black and I'm proud by James Brown. You know why I mixed it with Fela Kuti?"
"No."
"Because after Fela had a trip to America he was exposed to the Black Power movement and the Black Panther Party. He also became influenced by James Brown. He took what he learned back to London and Nigeria and it influenced his own lyrics. Fela's Afrobeat was a mix of highlife, jazz, and funk."
"So it's like different parts of the diaspora coming together to create something?" Angel asks for clarification.
Abella looks at her impressed. "Exactly. Those highways intersecting. That's why it's important for Black people all over the world to come together. Africans, Black Americans, Caribbeans, Afro-Latins, Afro-Europeans."
Janet smiles thinking Yup, this is the woman for my brother. He always says he wants a woman that will not only be good for him, but good for Angel and his son. She's right here.
Not even knowing what's going on between her brother and Abella, she decides to take things into her own hands. "You're in London for awhile, right? I know you have another show here."
"Yes, I'm here until next week."
"I'm sure you've been doing nothing but eating out. You need a home cooked meal. We're having a little get together for family and friends at Anthony's house on Sunday. You should come."
Abella wasn't expecting that so she was a little stuck. "Maybe if I'm not busy," is all she can think to say.
"I mean, your Anthony's friend so you should come. We'll have Jollof Rice, pounded yam– Do you eat Amala or Eba? I know your Igbo, but have you tried any Yoruba food? We will have a good time. You've probably been stressing from working hard."
"Ooh, that sounds good," Abella says already thinking about it. She's been craving Jollof Rice for days now. "You're making my tastebuds tingle. The offer is enticing."
"Then you should come. I'm inviting you now," she says trying to get a yes of certainty out of Abella.
Abella felt a little weird in this moment. Anthony and her literally decided the night before to date and she's getting invited to a get together at his house. A get together where his friends and family will be when they both want everyone else to continue thinking they're only friends.
She feels relieved when she sees Anthony coming their way. Anthony walks back over to them and Janet immediately speaks first. "Tell Abella to come to the get together on Sunday." Anthony immediately does the fakest, cheekiest smiles he could ever do not believing Janet is doing this.
He immediately thinks of all the women his sister, mother, and aunt have tried to push on him throughout the years. Now he finally finds one and they can't even let him pretend they're just friends until he's ready to tell them.
"She needs a home cooked meal. There's no telling what she's eating while on tour."
"Janet, it's her choice if she wants to come," Anthony let's his sister know.
"If I'm not busy I'll come," Abella says more so for Janet. Janet accepts it by nodding her head. "Did you get merch?" She asks changing the subject.
Anthony holds up the bag filled with shirts and hoodies with an unhappy face making them laugh. "Your merch ain't cheap y'know. I spent almost 500 pounds."
"It's good quality," she says in her defense with a laugh. "It'll last for years."
"Did you get my hoodie?" Angel asks while Anthony holds the bag open and she digs through it.
"Yes. And the t-shirt and the long sleeve and the matching sweats and the–" He drags on until she pulls the hoodie out holding it up. When Anthony sees that smile on his nieces face he smiles too.
She holds the hoodie up against her body saying, "Uncle look at this quality fabric. Look at the colors. It's worth more than money can buy. Don't vex me. Let me enjoy this." Abella laughs as she pulls the hoodie over her head and sticks her arms in before fixing her braids.
They talk some more because Abella can't go anywhere until the transportation gets here. That's until Tamara comes into the room gathering all of Abella's team. "The van is here," Tamara informs her.
Everybody files out of the room into the hallway. Everybody goes in the same direction including Anthony, his sister, and niece. Because of his 'privileges' his car is parked where it's reserved for special guests.
"The last time I was at the O2 was actually for your fight against Breazeale," Abella says as they walk through the back area of the large arena. She has no idea where she's going so she's following the people in front of her since her and Anthony are the last ones out of everybody.
"I still don't understand how you've been to so many of my fights and not once did I meet you."
She shrugs. "I would come with my Dad to watch the fight and leave. I'm sure we could've gotten backstage, but I've never really been into meeting famous people because I can. I like to meet people organically. It's always awkward anyway."
"I guess things happen when they're supposed to," he says looking down at her.
"Yup," she says with a small smile as they walk beside one another. "I can already feel I'm losing my voice. Last night didn't help either. Thanks," she says touching her throat desperately needing tea or a cough drop. The more she talks the more hoarse it gets.
Anthony looks at her thrown aback. "Why you thanking me? That was your own fault. I told you to be quiet."
"And I told you to go easy on me because I have a performance. I'm losing my voice, I'm sore, when I move my neck to the left too far it hurts," she says dramatically acting like her neck is stiff. "See. I'm damn near crippled.
He laughs. "You're so dramatic. I told you I was going to fold you up," he says in her ear even though they're about five steps behind everyone else.
She smirks before pushing him away slightly. "Your niece looks like you."
"Don't let her hear that. She'll start saying how I'm ugly and old with wrinkles. She's quite mean, ya know," he says making a face like she's abused him that causes Abella to laugh.
"I hope she had a good time. Her and your sister."
"Yeah, they did. The way my ear was vibrating from their screaming," he says touching his ear. "I should be deaf."
Abella chuckles. "Did you have a good time?"
"Of course. I told you you're a superstar. You have a gift," he says making her turn a little to look at him because he's a step behind her..
She looks at him for a second. It's not that she thinks he's filling her up with lies nor does she doubt herself, but she does ask, "Was it too much?" For some reason she knows he'll tell the truth.
"Was what too much?"
"The show. I felt like it was all over the place because my mind," she says motioning towards her head. "I have so much I want to say and I struggle between saying it, but nobody understanding me. I want people to have a good time, but I need them to think, to know I have a message," she talks as fast as her thoughts are coming. "I don't want them to turn off my mic or arrest me at one of these shows," she says with a chuckle finally stopping.
"I think your message was loud and clear. You gave history, background, and a message. Your educating people on Africa in a non-suffocating way within African music. People need that knowledge instead of being willfully ignorant and clueless about the continent. I see a lot of your Dad in you, in your message." The last sentence is what makes Abella smile.
"Thank you," is all she can say while wearing a big smile.
"It reminded me of the Lauryn Hill Unplugged, but not as stripped down of course," he adds.
"Wait, people started calling her crazy after that... I know she's not, but that's what people said about her because they couldn't understand the deep subject matter."
Anthony shrugs. "You did say if they call you crazy you'll say you are."
"Well, I see you were paying attention tonight."
"To every word."
She always felt like nobody was really listening to her, especially men. They usually tried to water her down and tell her she's thinking too deep or too abstract. Just sing about men, love, and heartbreak. They tried to tell her the things she cared and worried about weren't her problem.
Abella appreciates her first album because it helped get her foot in the door and on a couple peoples necks. She thinks Black women should be allowed to make pop, mainstream records without being considered a sellout... But her second album made her feel free and like a real artist.
She contemplated changing the show a million times. Just make it fun and full of afrobeats dance records, but that didn't feel right. No one could ever say Abella was fake woke or riding this wave of pro-blackness for a profit like some of these other artists. Nor is she utilizing the African sound because it's hot right now.
"You did amazing. Don't think otherwise," Anthony says seeing she's still thinking on it. She looks over at him when he raises his hand for a high five..
She slaps his hand as they lock fingers for a second. As they let go of each other's hand they add a side fist bump. As they continue walking Anthony puts his arm around her shoulder and she puts her arm around his lower back. When he gives her a little squeeze and kisses her temple her shoulders bounce up as she smiles wide.
He chuckles right as his sister turns around looking at them before asking, "How long is this walk?"
"I said the same thing. I am tired," Abella says with a sigh. She's wishing an arena employee with a golf cart would've given them a ride to the exit.
"My feet are killing me," Janet says doing the ugly walk girls do when their feet start hurting making them laugh.
"I told you not to wear heels. You're too busy trying to catch man," Anthony jokes.
"You bet I am. Angel needs a stepdad," she says patting her daughters shoulder.
"I really don't," Angel says with a disgusted face.
"You don't want to your Mummy happy? When I find my future husband I hope you all will be smiling at my wedding. In God's name I will be a wife," Janet declares snapping her fingers.
"Amen!" Abella says in a Nigerian accent.
"In God's name you will be a wife too. God will bless all of us with happy and healthy matrimonies," she says holding her hands up to the sky.
"Amen!" Abella says once again agreeing with Janet. Anthony's so used to his sister he simply looks at her.
When they finally get to the exit they sigh in happiness from that long walk. As soon as they step outside a sprinter van, a Land Rover, and other cars are waiting. Abella's team is already piling into the van. She knows that's Anthony's car so she knows this is where they separate.
Anthony hits the button on the key fob to unlock the doors making the lights flash. "It was nice meeting you Angel. Practice that piano."
"I will," she says hugging Abella as Anthony opens the backseat door and she gets in.
She hugs Janet next and as she pulls away of course she says, "I hope to see you Sunday." She rubs Abella's arms before letting her go. "Great show," she says before getting in the car.
"I'll see you in an hour," Anthony says as Abella nods her head. The pair had already agreed to go out to eat after the show, so they would be seeing each other later.
"Be safe," she says waving before getting into the awaiting sprinter van for her.
As soon as she gets in she's submerged into her loud team who's already acting up. They all dance and rap along to Sick by Bbymutha.
"I been way too nice, but now it's time for me to run it up. I'm bout to piss these bitches off. Sick!" Indira raps the loudest clearly feeling it in her soul. "I know I make these bitches sick! What?!"
Abella shakes her head with a laugh as the car starts moving. She looks around at everyone's smile wearing a smile as well. When Bianca shakes her shoulder from the row behind her she finally joins into the fun. Everything is... good.
After taking a bath to wash away all the sweat from her performance, Abella wears a robe going through a rack of clothes trying to figure out what she's going to wear. She settles on a Black dress not caring that she always wears Black. She lays it on the bed before sitting down to put lotion on.
Instead of being in the hotel suite she was in last night she's in the penthouse suite courtesy of Anthony. He was serious about making her move rooms.
"Abella," she hears her name being called from the other room. She knows the male voice is her body guard, Sergio. "Anthony's here," he announces louder.
"Welp, I'm not ready," she says to herself before standing up from the bed. Maybe she was taking her sweet time enjoying a bubble bath in the big ass deep soaking tub this suite has.
Abella walks out of the bedroom of the suite into the living room that's twice the size of the last room she had. She looks around to see the patio door open as the air blows the curtains. When she walks further into the living room she looks to see Sergio in his position by the elevator of the suite.
"Patio," He says simply pointing towards it.
Wearing her silk robe she pads across the cold granite floors with her bare feet to the patio door that leads to the balcony with a full sitting area. She sees Anthony looking over the rail at the night sky view.
"This is nice," he comments hearing her coming without even turning around.
"Yeah," Abella says leaning against the rail too but not trying to look down because she's scared of heights.
Anthony finally turns looking at Abella laughing that his assumption was right. "I already knew you weren't ready," Anthony says looking at her wearing a robe.
She scrunches up her face in offense. "How you just gonna assume? Have I ever not been punctual around you."
"No, but I had feeling. You took too long to come out of the room. Go finish getting ready so we can go."
"I'm going," she says walking towards the patio door as he follows behind her.
As soon as he steps into the suites living room he nods his head satisfied with the room seeing it's worth the money. He doesn't even like hotels. He rather rent a house because hotels are how you get caught up with blogs and such. Too many people coming in and out that can notice you. He prefers more privacy that's why he was willing to pay for her to get the penthouse.
"We're gonna have fun in here," Anthony notes looking at the furniture. "Where's the bedroom?" He asks as Abella motions for him to follow.
She grabs onto his hand leading the way immediately letting go once they step into the room...
Anthony already has a couple ideas for when they get back from dinner. Abella grabs the dress laying on the bed as he pushes his hands into the bed bouncing it. She realizes he's testing the bounce making her laugh.
"This headboard isn't even a headboard. It's part of the wall," he says touching the stone impressed by it. "I need this in my house," he adds before sitting on the California King sized bed.
Abella shakes her head dropping the robe to pulling the dress up over her underwear and strapless bra. She zips it up halfway before walking over to him asking him zip her up. He zips up the dress before she turns around.
She bends down kiss him saying, "Thank you for the room."
"You earned it," he says making her laugh as she walks away to get her heels. "Why'd you only want me to get the room until Sunday though?"
"I was going to have to checkout on Sunday anyway," she responds sitting down to put on the open toed gold heels.
"Why? Don't you have another week here?"
"Yeah, but I'm going to Jamaica for two days. On Monday and Tuesday. My best friend, Errol, he's doing some charity out there and I said I'll come to help. I'll be back Tuesday night then I'm going to stay at my cousin's house for the rest of the week. She lives in North London. No point in wasting money on a hotel."
"Errol as in the boxer, right?"
"Yeah." Abella thinks for a second. "Actually, you should come. Give back a little and have fun. I'm sure they wouldn't mind another big name and extra hands. It's only two days, but you need some type of vacation."
"Monday and Tuesday?" He asks thinking on it. "I'll go," he says shrugging.
Abella looks at him with furrowed eyebrows. She honestly just threw it out there to throw it out. She wasn't expecting him to say yes nor would she be mad if he didn't. It's very last minute. "Really?"
"Yeah, do I need to buy a plane ticket?"
"Uh, uh, no. We're taking a small private jet. Are you serious?" She asks to be sure.
"Yeah. You ready?" He asks standing up from the bed nonchalantly. Abella smiles while nodding her head. Maybe Anthony will help her be less anxious on the trip considering what's going to happen between Rejoice and Errol.
They ride the elevator down to the first floor walking through the lobby. As they're walking out Abella's cousin Rejoice is coming through the automatic sliding doors. Rejoice's hair is in a slick high ponytail and she wears a short dress and heels looking like she coming back from the club or something.
Even though they're not on the best terms Abella still invited her to the show, but she didn't come. Abella and Rejoice connect eyes before they stop in front of each other. Anthony can immediately feel the awkwardness between the two cousins.
"Hey, Bell," Rejoice says shifting her eyes to Anthony but not saying anything to him. She knew it would be fake to speak to him after what she did a couple days before. Clearly her admissions didn't stop Abella from seeing him.
She never asked Anthony about what Rejoice told her when it came to the escorts and paying for sex. Honestly, she doesn't care about anything that comes out of her cousins mouth at this point.
"Hey, Joy. You didn't come to the show tonight.."
"Yeahh, I ended up booking a club hosting gig. You know, trying to make money while I'm here." She pauses, "I'm sure it was a great show though."
"That's good. Well we have to go," Abella says not wanting to waste anymore time.
"Have fun where ever you're going. Goodnight," Rejoice says continuing to walk as they do the same.
Once they get into the car heading towards the restaurant Anthony picks Abella decides to check her phone because she hasn't done it in hours.
She looks at her phone because the group chat is blowing up. It consists of her, Errol, Valore, Megan, Jermell, Jermall, Odera, and a few more of their friends. She figures they're just joking around or sending memes.
When she opens it she scrolls up trying to figure out why they're saying congratulations. Finally she sees a picture of a hand with a ring sent from Valore with a message sent right after saying I said yes💍.
She clicks on the picture to make it bigger..
"Oh my God!" Abella says out loud not being able to help herself. Anthony looks over at her from the driver's seat.
"What?"
"Errol proposed to his girlfriend. My babies are getting married!" She squeals in excitement as if she's the one who got engaged. "I better be a bridesmaid," she says typing up a reply.
Errol told Abella he went ring shopping and asked for advice, but she didn't know when he would do it. That's Errol for you. Knowing them they probably got engaged a week ago and are just not telling anybody. That grass in the background of the picture is telling her they waited until they got back home from vacation to tell them.
After hitting send Abella immediately thinks about Rejoice. In three days they're supposed to be going to Jamaica and Rejoice will tell Errol about their son. Now Abella is rethinking the whole thing. It's too soon after his engagement. He's happy, they're happy, and this will only ruin it.
She shakes the thought off wanting to enjoy her night. She tends to let others peoples problems weigh on her. She'll talk to Rejoice in the morning about it.
Once they get to the restaurant they sit across from each other at a table telling a waitress what they want after looking over the menus. "I'm realizing you never celebrated getting those five plaques the other night. I know you didn't because you were arguing with me in your hotel room," Anthony says making her laugh.
Abella shrugs. "We didn't argue. We had a passionate discussion. And it was no big deal," she says brushing it off.
"No big deal? You broke a record for the highest charting African album EVER in two countries. You went double platinum. Five songs in top ten of Billboard? You have half the spots. That's a big deal to me."
She sips on her drink before saying, "Of course I'm happy. I think I'm so calm about everything happening because I knew I have more work to do. I'm still new at this. This is only my second album. I put two albums back to back so I haven't had time to process everything. I don't know how you do this shit."
"Do what?"
"Everybody being in ya business and watching your every move. Their are literally people waiting for us to mess up and that's crazy to me. People who hate us for no reason."
"Does your mother love you?" He asks making her nod her head. "Does your family love you?" She nods again. "Then there you go. People do a lot of this on the internet," he says making the talking motion with his hand. "That's all it is."
"Maybe that's why I stay off the internet now. Before I tried to be really in tune with my core followers, but I can't even do that."
"Even when you distance yourself from social media people still make up stuff. Like right now there's a girl two tables over taking a picture or video us," Anthony says taking a swallow of his drink.
"W-what?" She asks because she hasn't seen him look over once. "How do you know that?"
"I can sense it now. You always feel like you're being watched, but I can spot a camera on me from anywhere. Look." Abella looks over and sure enough a girl with Blonde hair is trying to hide her phone. When Abella waves at her she quickly looks away from their table.
"Can we get some damn privacy?" She asks scoffing a bit.
"Nope, they figure we sign up for this life. That's one of the reasons I don't date."
"They see you in public with someone one time and before you know it they have ship names, you're in love with the person, and you're planning to get married. You're sitting their thinking, I just wanted free food."
They both laugh. "I hope that's not why you're here. When the food comes if you take a picture of it or record it make sure some of me is in it. Women always showing everything but the man paying. At least put my hand in it."
"I got you. I'll put the corner of your pinky in their," she says as they laugh. "Oh, yeah. My schedule you asked for," she says grabbing her bag and pulling out a planner.
"You really do everything on paper still?" He asks looking at the notebook with a white marble cover that says 2019/2020. She passes it across the table and he opens it quickly filing through pages seeing its full of writing and sticky notes.
"Sure do, it's better for me. I'm pretty much booked until next year," she says as he flips through the filled pages. "Why do want to see it again?"
"Last night you were talking about how it's going to be hard to date with my training and your tour. We're going to figure this out," he says flipping to July of 2019. He unlocks his phone going to his own schedule.
"Okay," Abella says simply with a short smile.
"I'm not in training camp until September so that's the good thing, but I'm never not training to keep in shape. I train five days a week and usually only have weekends off. Also, since it's summer I'm on a rotating schedule for when I have my son. Some weeks I have three days, sometimes four. Really it's whoever can keep him during summer."
When Anthony told her he's a very regimented person he wasn't lying. When it comes to boxing you don't really have someone telling you when you have to do something and if you don't you'll be fined. It's self-motivated. You have a coach and trainers, but they can't make you go to the gym like if you're on a team.
A boxer could only train weeks leading up to a fight if they wanted to, but that's not practicing good discipline. You have to be dedicated to succeed in boxing because it's easy to think it's as simple as throwing punches. In reality boxing is a science.
Abella leans up looking across the table at Anthony who's reading her schedule. "You have ten tour dates and I can probably go to five," he says finally looking at her. "I'm only counting the ones that are out of England, so the shows in July."
"So are you coming to the Brixton and Manchester show?" She asks.
"Yeah, that's the plan."
"Okay, the Wembley show got postponed until the end of the tour. I have to go back to America for a few days then I come back to Europe continuing the tour from Portugal."
"Yeah, I see," he says looking at her schedule then his. "I'm supposed to be going Spain with my family and friends for a holiday. We're going to be there ten days and that lines up with the week you're going to be there." He looks at the schedule one more time before saying, "I'll come to Spain, Paris, Amsterdam, and Italy. Those ones I can say for sure."
"Sounds good to me," she says as he hands her the planner back finishing up marking the dates in his calendar. "I doubt my publicist will book many interviews on that half of the tour. I'll only have sound check the day of the shows, so we can do whatever. Have you been to any of these places before?"
"Spain and Paris."
"I've only been to Paris, so I'm excited. Ooh, we can tour the cities. I want to see Eiffel Tower at night this time," she says with excitement making Anthony smile. "I have a good idea. We can take turns planning the day for each place. Men don't always have to plan the romantic, cute stuff," she says rolling her eyes.
"Deal, but I want Paris."
"I call Italy. We can figure the other ones out later." She pauses, "This is only our second date and we've planned to go to about ten countries together," she says laughing.
"You want to get know a person travel the world together. You're forced to hang out and you get to see what a person is open to. It's literally a journey," he says as they hold each other's hand across the table.
"This is so exciting," she says letting go for a second to clasp her hands together. Anthony chuckles because she's always has these adorable moments. "You know in this very planner I listed all the things I want in a man."
"And what was that?"
"You don't need to know all that yet," she says shaking her head with a laugh. "Just know I think I might've found it. We'll see though."
"We'll see indeed..." He leans forward so she does too kissing one another. When they pull she touches his face making him smile wide causing her to laugh.
__________
I know at some point you'll want to skip the concert parts. I wish this was a movie or show so I could play all the songs I mention in the chapters lol. I think I'm The Dream when I'm writing lyrics😂
Fun fact I was in band, choir, advanced art, & photography (that's why visual is so important to my stories). Pls comment on other stuff besides the funny & cute parts of this story😊
Anyway lol. What do you think will transpire while Abella's in Europe for her tour? Comment / Vote❤️🥊