March 29, 2018
New York City, New York. A cold breeze smacked into Shantey's face as she walked off the plane behind Sino and Anissa. Her hands were tucked into her Badgley Mischka Tie-Dye trench coat and a beanie covering the top of her curly hair. She sped-walked towards the entrance of the airport, Sino held the door open for them and when they were inside, he walked in. They went through being checked and the medal detector before footing through the airport.
Shantey rolled her eyes when she spotted paparazzi outside through the glass doors. She walked out the front doors and the men immediately rushed her with questions and flashes of their cameras. Sino made sure to keep a distance between them and Shantey.
"Are you here working on music, Shantey?"
"Probably," she answered as the man followed with his camera.
"Or could it be you're here to regain custody of your son since you're out of rehab?"
"You never know with me. I'm unpredictable." Shantey winked at the camera as Sino opened the door of the Cadillac Escalade and she climbed in.
The man mouthed off another question when the door shut. Sino placed the luggage in the back and shooed the paparazzi away from the SUV before getting into the passenger seat. The male driver pulls off soon after.
"Why you say that?" Anissa questioned. "Now they're about to make it sumthin it's not."
"When do they not?" Shantey shrugged, shooting a text to her son that she made it. "They can assume what they want to assume."
"Let's just focus right now on what you're about to write in the studio to get this label off your ass."
"Someone has on their Publicist hat this morning."
"Gotta stay on my toes fucking around with you," Anissa voiced as she fixed her eyelash. "You just say anything out your mouth."
"It's called real."
"No, it's called impulsive. You say and do without forethought."
"Yeah, whatever."
"And one more thing," Anissa looked at Shantey. "Do not reach out to David while we're in New York. Only people that should be communicating from his team and yours is the attorneys."
Shantey only nodded, staring at the skyscrapers they passed.
"No, look at me and say you're not going to reach out to him, Shantey."
Groaning, Shantey looks over to Anissa and says, "I'm not gonna reach out to David while I'm in New York."
Anissa looks her hazel-green eyes a few seconds longer before nodding.
After driving a while due the traffic, the driver parallel parks in front of the tall building. Shantey, Sino, and Anissa climbs out of the SUV and footed towards the building. They walked in and rode the elevator to floor the A&R Natalie informed she was on. Shantey walked into the specific studio first, spotting her Natalie at the soundboard with the producer and engineer.
"You guys made it," Natalie grinned, eyeing them as they walked in. Skin the color of mocha brown, bob styled sew-in, she dressed in a turtleneck sweater and hip hugging jeans.
"Not like I had a choice." Shantey voiced, removing her coat and locking eyes with the gentleman in the chair. He was good-looking to her and could dressed. Look a bit young, but cute. "Who's this?"
"Oh, this is the producer and engineer, Shawnee. Shawnee, this is Shantey."
Shawnee grinned as he stands from the chair. "Of course I know who Shantey Ledé is," his deep voiced as he extended his arm out to her, "nice meeting you."
Shantey shakes his head. "Likewise. This is my family Anissa and Sino."
Shawnee shook hands with both Sino and Anissa.
"How old are you?" Shantey asks, he had young features, but tall; how she likes em.
"Twenty-one."
"Just turning or finna be twenty-two?"
"Just turnin'."
"Oh hell, you a baby," Shantey waves her hand, causing them to crack laughter.
"Girl, you look younger than him, short-ass." Sino comments, resulting in Shantey to throw a jab at him that he blocks.
"He may be young but his beats are fire." Natalie spoke on Shawnee behalf. "Check em out. I feel you two will make a hit together. Both putting your minds together. I'll leave you guys to it. I'll check up tomorrow." She grabs her coat before leaving the studio.
"I'ma go check into the rooms. You want me to bring food back?"
"Please and thank you." Shantey says, walking around towards the soundboard. "Sino you can tag along with her. I'm good here."
Sino looks at Shawnee for a while before nodding. He was never one to trust new faces. "Aight, I'll be right back."
Shantey chuckled at the way he says it, as he and Anissa leaves the studio.
"Aight, youngin', let's hear sumthin." Shantey plops down on the chair beside him, allowing his nostrils take a whiff of her Chanel perfume. "You good with criticism? Cause if I don't like it, I'ma tell you. I won't sing on just any beat."
"You good. Let me know." Shawnee assures her. He pressed a button on the keyboard and start playing beats.
Two hours later. Shantey disapproved of every beat she's heard. Not because they weren't good, but because they weren't her. Sino had returned without Anissa since she ended up laying down at the hotel. He did return with food, getting Shantey chicken wings since it's her favorite food. However, her mind was so focused on grind mode and finding a beat, she doesn't eat just yet. She currently sits in the chair, lighting a incense with her and staring blankly.
"Another one," she says, not liking the beat that was playing. Shawnee plays the next one; her ears are quickly greeted with the electric guitar. Her eyes closes as she allowed the beat to takeover her soul.
Shawnee inwardly sighs in relief when notices she's having a different reaction to the specific beat unlike the others.
Shantey turns around in the chair and stares at Sino with a smile. "We gotta winner mufuckas!"
Sino cracked laughter as Shawnee clapped his hands.
"Tryna freestyle it?"
Sino raises a brow at Shantey with a smirk. "Show the youngin'."
Shantey nodded. Standing from the swivel chair, she walks into the booth placing the headphones over her head and covering her ears. Shawnee plays the beat in her ears while she nods her head thinking on which way she wants to take this specific song. Her mind swifts to when she was eighteen and lyrics starts to flow from her.
"Play it from the beginning, again."
Shawnee does as he asks and Shantey let's those lyrics flow. .
We went from 2 a.m. calls to zero communication
We spent too long in heaven that we felt the elevation
Just cause it's different and we're not the same
Doesn't mean things have to change
I got no trouble with my pride, got trouble cutting ties
"How was that?" Shantey asked, while the beat continues going in her ears before Shawnee cuts it off whilst fiddling with the soundboard.
"Perfect," he gives her a thumbs up. "You wanna go straight into the chorus after that or add a li'l more?"
"I'll go into the chorus after. I don't wanna drag the verse."
"Bet. We can start at the end of the verse then go into the chorus."
Shantey nods as her vocals played back in her ears. On her cue, she starts vocalizing the chorus she planned to say. .
I don't wanna be your ex
We're way too good at being friends
Can we still hang out, on the low, get wild?
I don't wanna be your, I don't wanna be your
Hit ya girl up with a text
When you're alone and feeling stressed
I don't gotta be in love with you, to love you
I don't wanna be your, so don't treat me like your
E-e-e-e, e-e-ex
I don't wanna be your
E-e-e-e, e-e-ex
The cuts off when she hear Sino says, "killin' shit, Ledé."
"Come out." Shawnee spoke afterwards.
Shantey removes the headphones and leaves the booth. She sits in the swivel chair in front of scented incense that's in its holder and says, "Let's hear it."
Shawnee presses a few buttons on the keyboard before her voice fills the studio. Her own voice gives her goosebumps as she listens. She feels good being back in the studio, escaping her life on the outside. Music was dear to her heart just as much as her son's are. She smiles, fiddling with the lighter while bobbing her head to the beat...
"Yeahh," she drags out, "I love this. Seriously, I do."
Shawnee turns off the record. "I'm glad you do," he nods, "Natalie told me bout only havin' a week to get it mixed and mastered to send to the label. We can get this done before then. Pull all-nighters or sleep here if we got to."
"Dedication," she points at Shawnee. "I'm really gonna like you. What you think Sino?" She turns in the chair to face him. "You feeling it?"
Sino locks his phone and nodded his head. "I fuck wit it. I get a sense of who this song bout. Round 2008?"
"I'm not telling," she snickered. "I'm really feeling this though. This can give my fans a little sneak peek of what this album is going to be about."
"Oh you finna be diggin' into the past foreal?"
"Real deep," Shantey does a fake evil laugh which makes Sino and Shawnee snicker.
The studio door opens and Anissa walks in with different clothes on. She dressed down in a coat over her sweatsuit and wheat Timberlands.
"Channeling yo inner New York wit the Timbs? I see you!"
Anissa chuckles at Shantey when she removes her coat. "You crazy. What y'all get finished?"
"Well, if you would've been here skank. We finished some."
"Let me hear then." Anissa sits on the couch as Shawnee plays what has finished on the record. She bobs her head and snickers when she realizes who Shantey is talking about. "I see you going back to 2008."
"Your past make the biggest hits." Shantey winks and biting into the wing. She frowns when it's cold.
Sino chuckles at her expression. "Thought they was gone stay hot after hours?"
"Shut up. They have a kitchen in here?" She asks Shawnee.
"Directly down the hallway."
Shantey nods, standing from the chair with her phone and plate of chicken wings. She overhears Anissa asking to replay the song as she leaves the studio and head down the hall to the kitchen. She puts the plate into the microwave for a few minutes. While she waits, she finally checks her Instagram since her notifications was jumping. She sees it's the video of her talking to the paparazzi at the airport when she arrived. Shaderoom was of course being messy with the caption. She rolls her eyes presses the comments.
She need to leave that boy where he at. He perfectly with @daveeast 😴
"Bitch how you know? You ain't living with him." Shantey says as she reads the following comments.
Deadbeat baby mother's exist. @shanteylede being one.
She's beautiful, but her being a deadbeat is one hell of a turnoff.
"So is your face," she says. She wants to comment so bad, but it would only make things worse for her right now. It's not until the next comment she reads that causes her heart sink. .
😴😴 boy don't even know you fam.
What if he doesn't, Shantey thought.
The microwave beeps before she could even ponder on the trolls comment. She locks her phone, grabbing her heated chicken wings and went back into the studio. It was still on her mind, but she puts on a face to not allow anyone know anything was wrong. She eats on her chicken wings, while Shawnee start working on her vocals that were already on the beat. Her iPhone chimes, a incoming text.
Shantey goes straight to her message chats, noticing the unread blue dot beside contact saved under Cruz Grandma. She breathed deeply before pressing the message that quickly switches into their thread. They haven't chatted with one another since June 2017.
Since you're in New York, we should talk. That's if you're up for it.
"Francesca wants to talk to me." Shantey mentions to Anissa and Sino, who both looked confused.
"Why now?" Sino questions, "she ain't reach out since the Summer of last year."
"She didn't say. ."
"I don't know, Ledé," Anissa says skeptically. "They know you fighting this custody thing now. I feel she tryna talk you out of it."
"I'm grown as hell. She can't talk me outta anything. I never had a problem with Francesca. She was the one I spoke to anyway when it came to coparenting with his dumb-ass son."
"True... but what he's there?" Anissa questioned. "You know how y'all are. Y'all cannot get along for shit."
"Then I'll go wit her." Sino suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'll sit the car making sure shit coo."
"There you go."
"Still think it's a bad idea," Anissa says, stuffing fries in her mouth.
Shantey proceeded to shoot her text to her son's grandmother.
Send your address. Be there tomorrow.
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What'chall think is going to happen with Shantey meeting her sons grandmother? 🤔🕊