God Don't Like Haters 2 (15 page)

"I may have let my feelings get the best of
me today, but I promise I won't let you down again. Okay?"

"La'Renz, I don't wanna hear it."

"It's the truth. I have more than my own life
at stake here and I promise to keep that in mind at all times from
here on out."

She finally looked me in the eyes. "And what
about Kirbie? That girl just signed a contract with us. She's
probably sitting in the guest bedroom scared to death right now.
She's probably trying to figure out how to escape us."

"She wasn't scared. She actually tried to
push one of the security guards off of me."

"That doesn't mean she isn't scared."

"I'll talk to her."

"This is so fucked up, La'Renz. Goddamn. This
is not the kind of attention we need."

"I know. But we've been through worse
scrutiny than this. Remember?"

I was speaking of our sex tape and the
ensuing public humiliation we all endured. Sundi pursed her lips at
me for bringing that up.

I said, "We made it through that unscathed,
didn't we?"

"Did we?" she countered.

"Yes, we did."

She broke away from me and left the room. I
followed her into the kitchen, where she poured herself a glass of
red wine. She drank half of the glass in one gulp, then refilled
it.

"You have no idea what I had to deal with
while you were gone," she said at me, slamming the bottle down on
the counter. There was a great deal of frustration in her eyes and
voice. I stood and listened. "I was the most hated woman on earth.
The headlines called me a whore, a homewrecker, said I
single-handedly ruined Jazzmine's legacy. I had to face all of
it 
alone.
 I had no one to turn to."

"I had to deal with a lot while I was in
prison too, Sundi. Inmates didn't take too kindly of my case."

"I'm not talking about you! I'm talking about
me!"

I kept my mouth closed, then waved my hand as
if she had the floor and I wouldn't interrupt.

"After that mess, the only jobs I was offered
was for posing in men’s magazines or having my ass out on TV. As
bad as I needed money, I turned all of that degrading crap down.
Nobody took me seriously. It took me a long time for that cloud to
pass and for me to rebuild my name. Eliyah Golomb helped me with
that. And you want me to leave his company for yours? You want me
to throw my career away again for you? Because that's where this is
headed. I think I need to stay my ass right where it was at Mount
Eliyah."

"Eliyah Golomb is the devil."

"Is he? Or are you? You've caused me more
pain than him."

"I can't do this without you, Sundi."

She sipped some more wine. "Go talk to your
artist, La'Renz. See if she's even still on board."

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"Just go talk to the girl. Because if she
leaves, then I just might leave with her."

I stepped toward her with my arms open for a
hug. She backed away, then pointed behind me.

"Go, La'Renz. I'm serious."

***

As I was walking down the hall to the room that
Kirbie was staying in, I noticed something on the sleeve of my
white sport shirt. It was specks of blood. Liam Bashor's blood. I
undid the button cuffs and rolled my sleeves up my arms to hide the
violence from earlier.

I didn't know what Sundi was talking about
when she said if Kirbie left then she was leaving too. Kirbie was
going
Nowhere
, with a capital N. She signed a contract. And
if she tried to get out of it, I'd make her life hell.

Stopping at Kirbie's door, I grabbed the knob
and turned it quietly. I didn't knock on doors for artists who
hadn't earned my trust yet.

Slowly, I pushed the door open and saw Kirbie
standing by the guest bed with her back to me, wearing little to
nothing. She had taste in undergarments, I observed—she wore a
stretch lace bandeau top as a bra, with matching lace panties. From
the towel draped over her left shoulder and the crinkly wet hair
sticking to her shoulders and back, it was obvious she had just
showered. 

She didn't know I was in the room yet—it
looked like she was typing on her phone— and this gave me time to
study her frame. She had amazing curves. Better curves than
Jazzmine ever had, and I wasn't being biased either. Kirbie's apple
butt had the perfect roundness and lift. I could imagine it
emblazoned on the side of a New York building in an ad for her
debut album.

"I'm sorry about what took place," I
said.

Startled, she turned toward me and dropped
her phone. As she squatted to pick it up, I looked down at her
cleavage and saw that she had more than enough to attract
advertisers and sell a million records. It was hard for me not to
smile.

Thank you Lord for bringing her to me.

"I didn't hear you come in," she said as she
stood back up.

She shyly grabbed her drying towel and
covered up her frontside. She splayed the bottom of the towel at
her thighs almost like a dress. The rest of the towel was scrunched
up top, concealing her brassiere. I remembered a game we used to
play in prison. It was called "Guess the Nipple." No matter what
Rated-R movie we were watching, inmates would call out sizes,
shapes, and color shades at the TV that they thought matched the
nipple of the onscreen actress. I never joined in the game
ostensibly because I thought it was stupid; but I would sit on the
sidelines with my arms crossed and guess in my head. I would almost
always guess the women's nipple variations correctly before the
movie revealed her breasts. For one, I had slept with a lot of
women. For two, some of the actresses I had actually laid down with
a time or two while—and before—they were famous.

From looking at Kirbie's soft, creamy brown
nude skin, I'd guess that she had small dark brown areolas. I'd put
money on it.

One day I'd find out.

"I'm sorry, I didn't knock," I said. "But I
hope you don't mind me seeing you without clothes on. You're gonna
have to get used to dressing and undressing in front of people
you've never met."

"I know. I don't mind." She sat down on the
edge of the bed and relaxed. The towel flopped into her lap.

"What's that?" I asked, nodding at her
torso.

"What is what?" she replied, looking down at
herself, trying to see what I saw.

"There's a scar on your ribs. What
happened?"

"Oh." Her fingers found the mark and rubbed
it. "An iron did this. It happened when I was a kid. My father ...
he did it."

"Okay. Not to sound insensitive, but I'm just
trying to gauge what your body would look like in a magazine
spread. That scar can be easily smudged out in photo editing
software. Do you have any other blemishes I should know about?"

She shook her head no.

"Cool." I scratched the back of my neck. "Uh
... I came in here to talk about what just happened at the radio
station. I wanna apologize for my actions. That's not how a CEO
should act, and I don't want you to think that's the type of
behavior you signed on to and should look forward to."

"No, I understand. Liam was out of line. He
deserved that."

"He might have deserved it. But I shouldn't
have done it. That interview turned into a sideshow of my previous
life when the focus should have been on you. That was a
disaster."

"It wasn't a complete disaster," Kirbie said.
"I got a chance to sing and they seemed to like it."

I smiled. "That's a positive."

"And I've been getting a crazy amount of
friend requests on The Site. Thousands. It's incredible. That's
what I was looking at when you came in. Some of them are calling
themselves my fans already."

"Really?"

She handed me her phone and I saw all the
friend requests from people across the world, young and old. As I
scrolled down, The Site kept refreshing new requests instantly.
They were pouring in. I handed her the phone back.

"Sundi thinks I scared you off," I said.
"That's not the case, is it?"

"No. I'm in this thing. I'm not going
anywhere."

"I wanna thank you for trying to get the
security guards off of me. I noticed that."

"It was instincts."

I held my palm up and Kirbie gave me a
high-five. I curled my fingers into her hand and we formed a single
fist. We smiled at each other. Her hand was soft, and it reminded
me of one of my first intimate moments with Jazzmine Short.

"I'm gonna make you rich and famous," I said
to Kirbie, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Are you ready for
that?"

"I've been ready for it my whole life," she
said back.

Chapter 22

Kirbie Amor Capelton

After La'Renz left my room, I accepted a few of the
friend requests and then set my phone down and started pulling on a
pair of silk pajama bottoms. I was throwing on an old Care Bears
t-shirt that supposedly once belonged to my mother, when my phone
rang. I thought it was Archie calling me again. He'd called about
nine times since I left Revolt, but I didn't answer because I knew
he was going to say something negative about what happened there. I
was certain he'd heard or seen the footage on the internet as it
was happening or shortly thereafter. All the blogs were covering
it. I didn't want to answer his call because I didn't need his
hating point of view right now. I could predict what he'd
say. 
Kirbie, what kind of shit did you get yourself into? I
thought you were doing music, not UFC. Bring yo ass home before you
make a fool of yourself!

But when I checked my phone it wasn't Archie
calling. It was Coras Bane.

I picked up. "Hello?"

"I watched that Revolt video like twenty
times already," Coras said with amusement. "No you didn't push one
of the security guards." He laughed.

I was blushing. "You saw it?"

"Yeah, I saw it. And so did the rest of
America."

"I think I started off on the wrong foot,
Coras."

"No, you didn't. This is good. All the blogs
are talking about you."

"They're saying I can't sing."

"That's just hate. People don't know what to
think of you right now. There's a definition for that. It's called
xenophobia, the fear of something new. The blogs I've been reading
are saying you have talent. Even GabbyTV admitted that you can
sing, so it just depends on what blog you're reading. And you don't
need nobody else's opinion on whether or not you can sing.
You 
know 
you can blow. And don't you ever forget
that."

"Thank you, Coras."

"You're welcome. And what an unforgettable
first day in New York, huh?"

With the phone to my ear, I started walking
around the room looking at the decorations. There was none, really,
when compared to the Afrocentric designs in Sundi’s hallway and
living room. This guest room was plain—plain bedding, plain
furniture, plain off-yellow paint on the walls.

There was no inspiration to be gained
here.

"Everything has been moving so fast since I
stepped off of the plane," I said to Coras. "I'm just now starting
to be able to relax."

"That's the life. It's gonna get faster."

"I know. But one thing that's been bothering
me is the fact that I'm signed to Taylor Music Group and not Mount
Eliyah ENT."

"Huh? You're signed with Taylor Music
Group?"

"Yes. Sundi Ashworth works for La'Renz.
Something fishy is going on. Because when I started to mention
Sundi's name on-air La'Renz cut me off. I don't think no one knows
they're working together. Coras, I thought you sent your mixtape to
Mount Eliyah, not Taylor."

"I did send it to Mount Eliyah. I don't know
how it got in his hands. Maybe Mount Eliyah and Taylor Music Group
are silent partners. I don't know. You don't need to worry about
all that, though. You just focus on making music. All the behind
the scenes shit is none of your business, but try to stay abreast
of it. Try to pick up on the subtle cues La'Renz throws. Like the
Sundi thing—if he didn't want you mentioning her, then don't
mention her. Ever. Play the game. Be smart. You have a great
opportunity in front of you. Whether you're signed to Mount Eliyah
or Taylor Music Group—it doesn't matter. You're in the game. You're
in the mix. Don't fuck it up. Or I'll kill you. And so will
Gee."

"How's Gee doing?" I asked.

"He's better. It's gonna be a slow recovery.
But I brought a keyboard and headphones up to the hospital for him.
He made me bring it. He said he's gonna make this next beat his
greatest work so you can put it on your first album."

"I can't wait. Is he nearby?"

"No. He's still up at the hospital."

"Where are you? At Ashleigh's? So you guys
did make up, huh?" It was none of my business but I wanted to
know.

"I didn't call to talk about her. I called to
talk about you."

They're back together,
 I
thought. 
I knew it wouldn't take long.

I stuck my head out of the bedroom door when
I heard a shout. Looking down the hall I saw nothing, but it
sounded like Sundi and La'Renz were in the kitchen arguing about
the radio station fight. I closed the door back and went and sat on
the bed.

"Coras, I better go. I need to get some
sleep. Who knows what's in store for me tomorrow."

"Okay. Hang in there. And try not to get in
any more fights."

I smiled even though he couldn't see it. "You
either, Mr. Sprint Center," I quipped.

"I'ma try. Talk to you later. Love you,
Kirbie."

"Bye, Coras."

I hung up.

It might've seemed like I overlooked the fact
that he said 
love you
 to me, but I hadn't. I heard
it loud and clear. We said it to each other a few other times in
the past, but I only said it back to him as a joke, just harmless
flirting. But I didn't want to say it to him this time. I wasn't
feeling it. One would think I didn't tell him 
I love
you
 back because I was engaged to Archie now. But the
truth was that I was feeling jealous over his and Ashleigh’s
unbreakable relationship.