Backstage: Street Chronicles (24 page)

“Will you marry me?”

The rock was bigger than the one Kessy’s mom wore. No tears. I was a little glassy eyed but no tears. My mind started to race. The love we made the night before he left passed visions through my brain. I was still Nick’s assistant. For all that I did he hadn’t made me vice president, manager, or anything. I could marry him but then what? Do I just sit back and stay home playing the role of wife? Look at him. He’s so cute! Do I remain his assistant forever? He makes me feel soft. He’s probably going to ask for a prenup. So what happens if we get divorced? I love him. I don’t want to divorce him. I don’t own anything. I made this company better. I negotiated contracts for his line of clothes, and three acts. Was I just going to be someone’s wife with no acknowledgment of my contributions? He remained on one knee.

“Baby, say something.”

“Wow, Nick, I don’t know what to say. I love you. I want to say yes.”

“So say yes!”

“What happens if we do get married? Will I have to quit? Do I move into your house and we ride in together? How does that work with Hustle Hard?”

I tried to smile and not show how much it weighed on my
mind. I mean I really did love him and wanted to marry him. But I couldn’t afford to be like my mother and find myself calling my child for money because I needed a husband to take care of me, when he is no longer my husband.

“Is that what you’re worried about? I swear you would think you started this business the way you are so committed. It works how you want it to work. You don’t see I would do anything for you? If you don’t want to work you don’t have to. You will be my wife. What’s mine is yours. I love you. Hustle Hard is better because of you and so am I. Since you walked in that door you’ve stood as my partner. I just want you to be my partner at home, too.”

No more needed to be said. I was going to become Sakia Sands-Michaels. I couldn’t wait to tell Kessy. I, who had vowed to never get married, was going to marry Nicholas Michaels. Maybe it was going to be okay. I did love him. Maybe I wasn’t going to be like my mom and dad. We could stay married forever.

The door flung open, exposing Nick and I standing in an embrace and locked in a kiss that had possibilities of leading elsewhere. It was a good kiss! The look on Nick’s face told Brooke that she better have a really good reason for not respecting the closed door.

“I’m sorry, Nick, but there’s this guy on my line who says he just came from Cassandra’s house.”

“Yeah, okay! Why is he calling me? Tell him she doesn’t work here anymore.”

“I did but he says that’s not why he’s calling.”

Nick picked up the line in his office. I stood there with him waiting to hear why this man was calling. I saw a tear trickle down Nicholas’s face then I heard him ask, “When did she pass?”

I wasn’t sure what to say. I had no idea how to feel. I handed Nick a tissue. The man on the phone said Cassandra passed two days ago and he was collecting some of her things for the funeral
home to bury her in. I could hear him crying through the phone. The man was Cassandra’s father. He said on the coffee table next to her Bible, Cassandra left a note addressed to Nicholas. It didn’t say much, except, “I’m sorry.”

In my mind, Cassandra’s dark chocolate skin looked less pretty and less soft. I imagined her crying. Her face still looked sad. I imagined her shaking and reading her Bible.

“In other news, the funeral for twenty-eight-year-old Cassandra Brent was held today. She was the former assistant to Nicholas Michaels, the owner and president of Hustle Hard Records. Here, Mr. Michaels is seen with his current assistant who is also rumored to be his current wife as of four days ago. It has been reported the two eloped and will have a more formal ceremony in a few weeks. As a gift to the Brent family, Mr. Michaels paid all expenses for Cassandra Brent’s funeral. Apparently, Cassandra was the ex-girlfriend of famed label owner Bernard ‘Breeze’ King. Her death appears to be a suicide by an overdose on medication prescribed by her doctor. The young lady was being treated for AIDS.”

Nick clicked the remote and the reporter’s voice came to a stop. The television went black. He sat at the edge of the bed rubbing his forehead. Teardrops slowly dripped down his cheeks and he remained silent. I kneeled on the bed and positioned myself behind him, the white down comforter cushioning my knees. Massaging his shoulders always relaxed him. I knew he was feeling guilty about the way he screamed at her when he fired her. I was feeling guilty myself. I knew what she was doing with giving information to Breeze was wrong, but still I felt like I got her fired. Nicholas and I got married on paper but planning a big ceremony was too hard to think about. That’s why it would be in a few weeks rather than a few months. Neither of us wanted the elaborate planning. It seemed selfish in light of the recent event. The sadness was heavy. That’s why Nicholas paid for the funeral. I mean,
it’s not our fault she died. However, that knowledge didn’t make any of us feel better. It’s a weird thing when someone dies. Your family and friends seem to love you more than they ever did. And the people you violated somehow feel like they violated you. At the funeral, I even saw Breeze crying.

I kept calling Kessy but she wouldn’t answer. I let the phone ring eight times every time I called. Where could she be? This was the morning of my wedding and my best friend was nowhere to be found. My strapless knee-length gown was fitting quite snug on my behind. I’m glad the designer made sure I got a girdle built in to this thing. It made my tummy look flatter than what it was and gave my bottom a boost. White was a good color on me. I looked cuter than I did on prom night. I had a professional do my makeup and she made my face look like a model for beautiful skin. My hair was pinned in a French roll with diamonds and pearls attached to the bobby pins. Sophisticated. That’s how I looked. Where was Kessy? She said she would be here early.

“Mom, have you seen Kessy?”

My mother was sitting in the living area of the mansion we rented for the ceremony. She barely looked at me over the rim of her martini glass. I don’t know why I asked her. She was only smiling because she knew her daughter was marrying someone with some money. I think she had the the surgeon paste her smile there just for this purpose. She could care less about Kessy.

I spotted Rob on his way into where my mom was sitting, coming from the dining area.

“Hi, Rob. Have you seen my friend, Kessy?”

His tux matched Nick’s except his had a teal cummerbund. Nick wanted to wear a vest.

“No, I’m sure she’s around though.”

He held my shoulders as if to tell me to relax. His voice lowered to a whisper. “I just wanted to say thank you for not saying anything about, you know, that whole situation.”

At this point I couldn’t care less about him and Brooke. Couldn’t he see how frantic I was? I couldn’t even look at him. I was looking around and trying to peer over his shoulder.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t think it would help any of us if I did. So, umm, if you see Kessy, can you let her know I’m looking for her?”

How could she not be here? I knew she should have spent the night here with me. Why did I want to be alone? I don’t want to be alone now! Was I the only one looking for her? I didn’t want people to see me before the ceremony but what could I do? I needed her. I went outside where the ceremony would be held. Nick stood in the front row of the white fold-up chairs talking to Kessy’s parents. It looked like all the guests were present. Even Fingers had on a suit with Lakaya as his date. I don’t even know how that happened! The whole crowd held their breath and looked at me in surprise when they saw me running toward Nick. All the chatter ceased. The white lace train was pulling at my hair. It was long and dragging on the grass behind me. I was the only one moving.

“Nick!”

He saw the fear in my eyes. I stopped running. Nick didn’t say a word. He was still about ten feet away and he looked worried and shocked to see me. Kessy’s mother’s eyes were opened wide. The former model put her hand to her mouth and tears rolled down her face. Then I heard a familiar male voice come from behind me. It wasn’t me the crowd was watching.

“Worried, are we?”

I turned toward the voice and saw Breeze at the top of the garden stairs I ran down only seconds ago. He had a gun to Kessy’s head. Her face was bloody and her lipstick smeared. Mascara ran
down her face and her teal halter dress was ripped and speckled with blood. Her legs were shaking and the scratches on Breeze’s face showed there had been a struggle earlier.

“So, Nick, this is your plan? You send these two little hoes to cheat me out of my contracts? Nice to see you, Fingers!”

I closed my eyes knowing Nick didn’t know what Breeze was talking about. I took a deep breath and turned to see Nick looking confident.

“I never cheated you out of anything. You tried to cheat me for years. Who and what is this about?”

Nick walked toward me slowly. How could he be so confident? It’s like he knew Breeze wouldn’t shoot. I wished I could explain it all to him. I wish I could tell him how sorry I was.

“Yes, go stand by your woman, Nick! Cassandra told me about the intern who told you about Fingers. Never did I think this ho right here was her. She’s good, Nick. I give you that.”

For the first time since the police took my father away, I felt helpless. There was nothing I could do to take control of the situation. I was scared. Not just for Kessy, I was scared for us all. Since Cassandra left, Breeze hadn’t been able to sign anyone worth listening to. He tried to drop a record himself and it flopped.

I finally spoke.

“Nick has nothing to do with this. And really neither does Kessy. I’m the one who told her what to do. If you came here for anyone, you came here for me.”

Nicholas’s head tilted to the side when he looked at me. My eyes were getting red and telling him this is all my fault. My mother stood on the side in the background, shaking her head as if this was some regular bull her daughter was always involved in. Kessy’s mom was crying hysterically and her husband held her, rocking her like a baby.

“You can’t protect him. I know he sent you. You were at my house. You sneaky little ho! Acting like you just wanted to watch. All of sudden this dude ain’t taking no phone calls from me, calling
me gay and whatnot. You got Cassandra fired and then Nick signed Fingers. I’m not stupid! I see what happened! You got me, Nick!”

His laugh was that of someone who had surrendered their mind a long time ago. His light skin was now burning red. It was like the devil was coming to life. Nick’s breaths were deep and calm. He was familiar with the scenario. His eyes showed he remembered how I got my job. He stepped forward.

“You’re right, Breeze. I shouldn’t have sent them to you for information. It was wrong. But does it really need to go this far?”

“No, Nick, don’t.”

I couldn’t let him take responsibility. He had nothing to do with it. I was dead wrong. He knew it and still tried to protect me. How could I have done this? How will we get past this? Can we? Will any of us get past today? My head started to hurt. I couldn’t think of a solution.

Breeze shoved Kessy toward Nick and me. He still held the gun and kept it directed at us. I hugged Kessy and whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

She whispered back to me, “He raped me.”

The tears flowed from her caramel face like a waterfall. It was now me who was shaking. What did I do to her? I closed my eyes to stop the tears.

It all seemed to happen so fast. The police officers came rushing in. There was one loud shot. I looked up from Kessy’s shoulders and saw Nick fall to the ground holding his chest. I fell to my knees over Nick’s body. The police grabbed Breeze and put him in handcuffs. Kessy’s sobs were louder and I heard my own breaths. My husband, Nick, lay in my arms shivering.

“Don’t worry. It’s okay. I still love you.”

Those were the last words of Nicholas Michaels. The tears flowed freely from my eyes. I begged God to give Nick back to me. I cried, I screamed. I didn’t want to let go, but Nick already had. My face was red and swollen. My heart was broken. I couldn’t stop
shaking. The paramedics tried to pull me away. It was then I realized what love was. He loved me. I loved him but not enough. I put myself before him every time. Now, I lost him and to some degree a part of myself.

My name is Sakia “Saks” Sands-Michaels and I am president and CEO of Hustle Hard Records. My record label is one of the most successful independent labels there are. I sit at the top. This was the story of how I got here.

hat’s the point?” Crook questioned, shaking the dice in his palm. The corner of Clinton Avenue and Clinton Place was feenin with young hungry wolves packed together, everybody on their own grind, but prepared to come up off the back of anybody weak enough to fall victim. The six men in the circle were huddled together like a football team, watching the dice careen across the broken pavement, money scattered all around six-two.