“She cares about you, right?” Mom says confidently, already knowing the answer to her question.
“Yes.”
“Then she will want you to chase your dreams.”
My family looks so happy, so ready for our new beginning. So, I bite back the feeling of how I suspect our impending doom is near. And we are driving headfirst into it.
“We don’t have much time. If all three of you can sign here and here, that would be great. We need to get moving. We have a lot to get done,” Justin, our new agent, says, gesturing to three blank lines in the contract with a pen.
“Has this been looked over?” Amelia asks our mom over her shoulder.
“Yes. It has been thoroughly looked over by Cole.”
I look at where Justin points. A man in a suit sits at the head of the table, nose deep in whatever he’s looking at on his computer.
“Shouldn’t we?—”
“Cole is not our lawyer. I hired him for you guys,” Justin explains, pushing the contract closer to our hesitating hands. “I told you from this point on in your lives, you’ll be taken care of. You will never have to worry about anything other than doing what you love.”
I watch Leonidas’s hand jump to the blank line. After scribbling his name, he gives our sister the pen, and she does the same, signing.
“It’s not Times Three without Elijah,” Justin coos right in my ear.
I hover the ball of the pen above the contract, and the heat of everyone’s gazes on my body makes me scribble away on the paper.
Sealing my fate for ten years.
After a long day of interviews, a photo shoot, and even songwriting, we gather our stuff to go home for the night so we can do the same thing over again tomorrow.
Yawning, I follow my brother and sister down the hallway toward the fancy elevators.
“Have a terrific first night in the new house, Times Three!” Justin calls out to our backs.
Halting, Leonidas sends him a confused look. “We haven’t moved in yet, so we’re going back to our childhood home until we get movers to help us.”
Justin frowns. “But you signed the contract.”
“And …” Leonidas trails off, confused and tired, just wanting to go home for the night.
“You signed and agreed to immediately move into the home we’d found for you.” Reaching over the front desk, he hands us the contract. “You’ll also see in there that you are not permitted to step foot on your old property or talk to any of your friends or family during the time you spend working with us. We need you to focus on one thing only, and that is music. If you breach the contract, you will be dropped from the label and sued for ten million dollars.”
Amelia gasps, dropping her metal water bottle on the ground. “What do you mean? We can’t talk to any friends or family? What the fuck, Justin?”
He shrugs, showing no signs of remorse. “Flip to page six.”
We huddle, and Leonidas frantically finds the page.
When we all see he’s right, Leonidas lets out an angry growl. “There is no way! I won’t allow you to do that to us.”
“But it’s already done. What you all don’t understand is that being an artist takes dedication and hard work. We can’t have family, friends, and significant others distracting you from the job you need to get done.”
“How could you?” Amelia bursts out in tears. I pull her into my side, and we hold each other up. “We trusted you.”
“Never trust businessmen. We’re all out for the same thing.” He rubs his thumb and pointer finger together. “Money, money, money.”
Leonidas rushes to call our mom, who dropped us off hours ago, but Justin just laughs at us.
“Don’t bother your mom. She’s probably tired from moving all your stuff all day. I have a driver here to pick you up and take you to your new home. Remember, don’t talk to anyone but your mother and father, and if you step foot in your old neighborhood, you’ll be sued so hard that you will be homeless. I suggest you listen because I have eyes everywhere.” He walks backward, and his smile looks so evil now. “Oh, and your new phones are waiting in their boxes in the car.”
