“I like it. My stepson’s name is Poet. Guess the name of our daughter?” He smiled.
“Dude, way too many possibilities.” I chuckled.
“Sun Aries,” Alonzo announced proudly, and grabbed a cigar from inside a box on the table and passed it to me.
“Sounds like you.” I smiled, happy for my friend who’d come through the storm of this harsh entertainment business intact.
“I suggest you focus on your child, and if you and Jamaica are meant to be, it will happen. Shit, men trap women with their babies the same way women try to trap men. Well, you got her trapped. Make it happen.”
“Facts.” I knocked on the wooden table before sniffing the cherry-flavored cigar. “Supposed to meet my son. Might meet him tomorrow. He’s fourteen and grown up believing anotherman is his father. Can’t lie and say that I don’t worry he may not like me.”
“I didn’t find out that my brother, who was killed as a teenager, had a child until she was in her twenties. Something about her being blood, and we just clicked. It’ll be the same for him because youwantto be his father.”
I sank back in my chair. “Zo, when did you become all deep and shit?”
“When I found love.” He placed the cigar in his mouth and held up a lighter. “To breaking records on this world tour and having the love you deserve.”
“To breaking records and love.” I lifted my cigar.
My cell pinged.
Jamie wants to fly out tomorrow and meet you. I’ve already reached out to Peace. Figured you might have been too busy to tell him.
A lump formed in my throat, and I held up my cell.
“My son wants to meet me tomorrow.”
Alonzo grinned from ear to ear, and he lit his cigar. “Congratulations to you. The summer coming up, bring him here to the studios, and he can watch us work.”
The possibilities of everything my son and I could do fluttered through my mind. I would be a damn good father, and the happiness I experienced only with Jamaica extended to Jamie. And I hadn’t even met him yet.
With an abundance of joy, I replied to her text:
I’ll make the arrangements. Just know that I thank you so much for deciding to have him, even though I wasn’t there for you. I will never take our son for granted, whether you and I ever become one again. Love you always.
Not expecting a response, I put my phone down and grabbed my guitar from the booth. Ready to use the overwhelmingemotions to stoke my creativity. “The juice is flowing again. We should crank something out before I leave in a couple of hours.”
He puffed on his cigar. “Answer your text first and then we about to do another smash. I feel it.”
Balancing my guitar, I reached to pick up my cell.
I trust you will take good care of our son, like you took care of Peace. Love you more.
Alonzo whistled. “You should see that goofy smile on your face. Must be your woman.”
“She will be one day. Bet my career on it.”
Jamaica would be my wife one day. For now, it was about my son, and whenever she realizes that she can’t live without me any longer, I’ll be waiting with open arms.
I pulled my strap over my head. “You ready?”
The next morning, I alerted my housekeeping staff to prepare two rooms and announced that my son was coming to see me. Invited my band members to stop by tomorrow so Jamie could see me rehearse in action. I still had a few more dates of my tour and was going back on the road on Tuesday. I had so many questions, and I wanted to call Jamaica and ask her what she and Kody actually said, and how Jamie received it. Was he excited or worried about how I would accept him, which is why he wanted to meet me immediately? Or was it about my celebrity status, and he only wanted to meet me because he was a fan?
They would arrive in the next hour, and a car would bring them here to me. If I thought it wouldn’t cause chaos with my fans, I would’ve met them at the airport. I wanted to make our meeting as normal as a superstar worth sixty million could possibly do.
As I paced my home with excess nervousness, my cell rang. Anger, envy, and betrayal raced for the first position when I answered, “What?”
“I already told my wife, and now I’m telling you, fuck her again, and I’ll kill you myself.”
