Emani leaned into him and swayed her head. “Nope. Ran into Jay Lucci last night and considering the man let me run off without paying for some product, I’m going to see if maybe this could be something.”
“There is no maybe, my love. You haven’t realized that by now everything in your life happens in a divine order? First you got to jump off the ledge, then you fall and stumble to strengthen yourself, then you walk through the darkness into the fire to refine yourself and to see who you are at the core of it, and then the light. You stand in that so you can guide someone else through. You, my favorite, are right where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there. I want to hear something too. Proud of you, baby.”
Derrick kissed the top of her head. “Let them figure out the game day stuff, you come with me so I can get you back to bad bitch and not a post-fuck mop.”
“Don’t overthink it,” Jahlil’s voice flowed through the speakers of the car.
“I’m not,” she whined.
Emani sat in her car and chewed on her lip. She was late by an hour and she used the kids as an excuse. Andrew’s homework, Sanaa’s hair, gossiping with Aunt Violet about her little date. Anything and everything to avoid not showing up on time. Until Jahlil called after arriving to Drayton City and told her in the sweetest, most demanding way to get her ass to the studio.
Jahlil’s smooth laugh filled her ears. “You are. You’re still in the car. What you afraid of, being great or failing?”
“Failing,” Emani softly replied.
“Failing is a part of the story. It’s a part of you being great. You’ve failed already, that part’s over. Now go be great.”
“You sure?”
“Baby, I am as sure of that like I’m you’re mine. My baby ain’t no mediocre bitch. Isn’t that what you said?” Jahlil asked, before he rapped the lyrics. “Never been a mediocre bitch I see it and I go get my shit.”
Emani softly laughed. “I did say that.”
“So get out of the car and go get that shit with your fine ass. If you need another reminder, call me back. If I don’t hear from you until the morning, I’m going to assume you’ve locked in.”
She sighed in thanks. “I love you.”
“I love you more. Twist your ass inside and do what you were created to do. I’ll call you in the morning before practice.”
Emani blew a kiss toward the camera, hung up, and pulled in a deep breath. “Let’s go get it.”
She roamed into the building after the security guard nodded her inside.
“Lucci is expecting you in studio A.”
El Jefe Records embodied the spirit of Los Oceania. White, black, and blue photos on the wall chronicled Lucci’s rise to fame. Images of Husten and the surrounding blocks. Sapphire blue painted walls. Polished white floors holding the El Jefe emblem invoked a sense of pride in her. Before her emotions could run amuck, she inhaled. The faint scent of Azul Kush hit her nose and she followed it down the hall and a set of blue-covered stairs. At the end of the hall, she spotted the blue light. RECORDING. The beat knocked against the walls and as she crept in, it hit her ears and made her chest swell.
The ribbons of Azul Kush welcomed her to the magic Haddon and Lucci were cooking up. She eased her way in, not wanting to interrupt a session already underway. As she slipped into the blue lit room finding Haddon bopping his head to the music and Lucci standing directly behind him, she spotted a woman scribbling away in a notebook. Charlie was the first to spot her, lighting up when he saw her face.
“Emani Rose,” he greeted, standing up to hug her. “About time you brought your ass down here. Security said you pulled up thirty minutes ago. You good?”
She hugged him and then gave him a half smile. “Yeah I was trying to get myself together.”
“Oh the big bad blue rose got a little bit of cold feet. Who knew? Lucci! Look who came out of hiding,” Charlie called attention to her.
Jay Lucci turned around finding her familiar face. “If it isn’t the queen of LO. How you doin’?”
Emani chuckled and shrugged. “I’m here.”
“Fuck you nervous for? I swear you rap better than you sell drugs,” Lucci said with a silly grin. “I gotta know, did you ever unload that pack?”
“I would tell you but I must protect the innocent,” She laughed. “Who knew I wasn’t cut out to be a drug dealer?”
“We did,” the trio of men said.
“Got that full ride and before I knew it, your ass was blowing up. Global superstar.”
She smiled. “I mean I can JoyCash you for your losses but it don’t look like you need it.”
