“OH MY GOD!!!” I screamed so loud that Trenton jumped out of his skin in the back seat.
I jumped up and down in the seat and smacked Moses over and over again on the thigh. “It’s your song! It’s your song, babe!”
He just stared at the radio, expressionless. I rapped along to the lyrics, dancing.
Because Moses had only been hood famous, his songs only spun heavy in the underground, on mixtapes, and racked up views on YouTube, but they had never touched national radio.
“It’s your daddy’s song, Trenton!” I jumped out of the car. “My niggas’ song is on the radio, bitches!” I stood at the curb, twerking with my tongue sticking out. “Aaaayyye!!”
Moses finally had a smile on his face. He got out of the car too and ran up to me. He stood behind me and started dancing with me, rapping along with his own voice.
?Niggas want me dead but I’m back to life
I might resurrect for a sec just to smash ya wife
All my niggas Gang Gang, bout that savage life
We might make any anything happen if the cash is right?
A couple walking through the neighborhood looked at us like we were crazy. Some shorties on a porch across the street at a trap house bobbed their heads. When they recognized the song, I heard one of them say, “Aye, Moses, that’s you, bro!” Then they all stood and started dancing on the steps.
Trenton stared at me and his daddy like we were crazy as we danced outside in the sunny, fifty-degree March air. Watching the grin on my face, he finally started to smile and dance in his car seat.
Happy tears flowed from my eyes as me and Moses danced to his song as it played on Power 92. Finally, my man had his recognition, his shine. He had worked so hard, fought so hard, and finally he had made it, and the world was learning his name.
“A’ight, y’all, that was the new-new from Chicago’s own, Moses, debuting on Power 92! You know we always the first to bring you the heat! That joint is a banger! Call us up and let us know what you think!”
“Oh my God, Moses!” I turned towards him, grinning like a little kid. But my smile faded when I noticed that his was half-hearted. “What’s wrong?”
I didn’t get it. This was the best moment of his life. This was the start of his career. Spins on the radio meant recognition and fame. This was what he had always wanted.
“I’m happy that you’re happy,” he told me as he lovingly grabbed my shoulders.
Looking up into his eyes, I asked, “But?”
“I can’t get happy.”
“Why not?”
“I’m going to jail. At any moment, they’re either going to connect my DNA to the scene, or Rah is going to snitch on me to cut himself a deal. I’m gonna be one of those rappers that waited all of his life for this and lose it as soon as I get it because I got locked up.”
I had forgot just that fast. And when my sadness matched his, he pulled me in and just held me close. And for a few minutes, we just stood there, amidst the fame that he had finally gotten knowing that it wouldn’t even last as long as the song had.
AALIYAH
“I don’t want to look,” I pouted.
Once we returned home from the courthouse, Fabe had received a text from Identigene that the DNA tests were in. All he had to do was click the link and log in to see the results. He had entered the password and username that Identigene had provided. All I had to do was click “Log in” to see who Junior’s father was.
“Just do it, babe. Get it over with,” Fabe encouraged me as he sat beside me on the bed.
“Urrrrgh!” I groaned as I pushed the log in button. Then I covered my eyes. “I can’t look.”
There was quiet. I could feel Fabe looking over my shoulder, reading the screen of his iPhone. Seconds went by and he didn’t say anything. Not one word. So, I looked myself and was crushed.
“Fuck,” I cursed as tears escaped my eyes. I threw the phone on the bed and threw my face into my hands.
“It’s going to be okay,” Fabe ensured me as he rubbed my back soothingly.
