Doing My Own Thing (20 page)

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Authors: Nikki Carter

BOOK: Doing My Own Thing
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29
T
onight, since Manny jacked up my bedroom, I'm sleeping on the living room couch. I'm way too tired to clean my room tonight and Aunt Charlie is not going to do it, even though it's her baby that made the mess. Just plain old triflin'.
Sam and I cleared an area in all of the boxes and containers so that I can at least see the TV. He's chilling like he doesn't want to go home.
“Doesn't your mother want to see you since you've been gone for four days?” I ask. His car has been parked in our driveway the entire weekend, so it's not like anyone has to take him home.
“She does, and I want to see her, but I'm afraid.”
“Of what? Your mama?”
Sam chuckles. “No. I'm afraid of what my mama is gonna do when she finds out I'm going to move to New York. She's gonna trip out.”
“But why? You're gonna go to school, so she should be okay with it.”
Sam shakes his head. “Not my mother. I mean, you've met her. She thinks I'm a baby when it comes to living in another city. She was super happy when I said I was going to Georgia Tech.”
“Do you want me to go with you when you tell her?” I ask, even though I'm not sure I want to be anywhere near that conversation.
“Nah. I'll do it on my own. “If I'm not man enough to face my mother, then I shouldn't be moving out on my own, right?”
“I guess.”
A loud pounding on the door scares the daylights out of me. Sam and I jump up at the same time. I hope it's not some thugs trying to get revenge for what Carlos did to Bryce.
“Mama!”
That wail belongs to only one person. Dreya.
I run to the door and open it. Dreya's entire mouth is bloodied! She grabs hold of me and melts into my arms.
“Who did this?” I ask.
“Some girls . . .”
Why do I not believe this? “Aunt Charlie!” I yell.
Aunt Charlie and my mom come up from their bedrooms. When Aunt Charlie sees Dreya, she screams. She runs to me and takes Dreya into her own arms like we're passing a newborn baby.
“That punk did this to you, didn't he?” Aunt Charlie asks.
Dreya shakes her head. “The . . . the limo took me home, and I got unpacked. Then, I wanted a Sl-slush from Sonic, and I was leaving my apartment. And s-some hoodrat girls jumped on me.”
“Oh my goodness,” my mother says. “I'm calling the police. This is assault.”
Aunt Charlie looks at Dreya's neck. “Well, where did these bruises come from? They aren't fresh!”
Dang . . . all those episodes of
Law & Order
and
CSI
got Aunt Charlie sleuthing like some kind of forensic blood-splatter analyst.
“I don't know what you're talking about. Some girls just jumped me,” Dreya says.
Aunt Charlie ignores Dreya's weak explanation and looks at me. “Sunday . . .”
“Why y'all always got to bring me in it? She told you what she wanted you to know.”
My mother says, “Dreya and Sunday. Y'all better stop playing games. This is serious, now.”
Sam stands up. “I don't know why y'all are protecting that fool. Ms. Charlie, Truth choked your daughter when we were in Barbados. Zac handled him, but it happened too quickly to keep him from putting his hands on Dreya.”
Aunt Charlie removes her arms from Dreya and waves her fist at the sky. “That . . .”
The rest of her monologue is full of bad language. I mean . . . Auntie Charlie is mad!
My mom says, “Charlie, calm down. Dreya, are you sure Truth didn't do this to your face?”
“He didn't, Auntie Shawn. I wouldn't lie about this.”
My mother frowns. “At this point, I don't know what you would lie about. Come on. We're going to the police station.”
Dreya howls at the top of her lungs. “I can't go to the police station with my face looking like this!”
“So you're not reporting it?” Aunt Charlie asks. “I know that Truth had something to do with this.”
“Me too!” I say. “You're stupid if you keep letting him do this to you. How many injuries do you need to get?”
“Sunday, can you just call Big D?” Dreya asks.
“He's not the police.”
Aunt Charlie says, “Dreya, I'm not playing with you. You obviously came here because you didn't know what to do with yourself, so we're going to help you. You're going to press charges and you're going to get a restraining order on Truth. Period. No more discussion.”
Rarely does Aunt Charlie put her foot down about anything, but this time, I can tell she's serious.
“Well, I don't want them to come with me,” Dreya says, pointing at me and Sam.
“Okay!” I say. “I don't have to come with you. I don't know why you're trying to dog me. I'm not the one who delivered you a beatdown.”
My mom says, “Sunday, that's enough. Dreya is stressed out right now. Me and Charlie are taking her in. Just stay here and take care of Manny, okay?”
I nod. Of course, I'll take care of my cousin. I'm the one always trying to do the right thing.
I watch as my mother and Aunt Charlie take Dreya by each of her arms and lead her out of the house. I feel so torn, because part of me is angry that Truth would go this far to get back at Dreya, and the other part of me is done caring about Dreya's mess when she doesn't want my concern.
“You do know that Truth might not have anything to do with this latest beatdown, right?” Sam asks after they leave. “He's probably too worried about his music career to still try and get at Dreya.”
“Who else would do that to Dreya?”
“As foul as she is, she's got to have some other enemies.”
I think of the other person who is Dreya's archenemy. “Bethany . . . but I don't think it could've been her. She's happy that she and Dilly are back together.”
“Well, whoever it was, it looks like Truth is going to get blamed.”
I try to make myself feel sorry for Truth that he might be getting blamed for a crime that he didn't commit. Then I think about his hands wrapped around Dreya's neck in that limo, trying to hurt her, and I just can't make myself feel any sympathy.
Imagine that.
30
S
am and I are at Big D's studio to have a meeting about my record release. It's pretty tense in the room, because Sam's chilling at the boards adjusting and readjusting the equipment like this is the last time he's gonna touch it. Big D has this big old sad face looking like somebody stole his puppy.
And we're supposed to be celebrating! My record is coming out in a week! Somebody ought to be pumped up in here besides me.
I squeal as I see my album cover on
Amazon.com
. “It's here, Big D! Epsilon put it up today like they said they would. The cover art is slamming! It looks so much better than the mock-ups they sent us by e-mail.”
Sam leaves the instruments and looks over my shoulder. “What's your Amazon rank?” he asks.
“I don't know! Where do I see that?”
“Scroll down,” Sam says.
“Oh . . . it's four hundred. That's bad, huh?” I look at Big D, hoping he has something assuring to say.
“Actually, since they just put the album up less than an hour ago, that's good. You need to go on your Twitter page and let your fans know it's there.”
I open another Internet tab, go to
Twitter.com
, and post,
My record is on
Amazon.com
!! Woo-hoo. Please help me get my rank up into the top ten!
“Now we wait,” Big D says. “But you've got a good number of followers.”
“Mystique has like five million.”
“You will too,” Sam says. “Just wait and see.”
Big D pats me on the shoulder. “Mystique didn't start off on top, baby. You've got to crawl before you walk.”
I love Big D's pep talks. He keeps it all-the-way real. “You're right, Big D. I know I've still got a lot of work to do to reach her status. I'm gonna work it out though.”
“I know you are, baby girl. Now go ahead and refresh that browser.”
I click the F5 button on my laptop to refresh the screen. I look down at my status again, and I've moved from four hundred on my Amazon rank to nineteen. In minutes I shot all the way up.
“Does this mean I've sold a lot of records already?” I ask.
“It means that people are placing pre-orders, because the music isn't available yet,” Big D says. “They're on your tip, baby girl. You should be happy!”
“I'm amazed, actually,” I say.
This entire journey with recording my first record feels completely like a dream sequence. Having a record deal seemed to be the most impossible thing that could ever happen to me, then going on tour was impossible! Then, filming a video in Barbados, of all places. Impossible!
“Don't be amazed,” Sam says. “You're amazing.”
“I've got a surprise for you, Sunday. I was gonna wait until everyone was here later, but I think this is a perfect time for it.”
Big D reaches into a cardboard box under his keyboard, and pulls out a CD. I see the pink and immediately start screaming! It's my CD! I'm wearing pink and khaki on the cover (like Dreya complained about), and my hair is in big loose waves framing my face. I've got on my bracelet with the
S
charm that Sam bought me months ago. In big bright letters it says
Sunday
. A self-titled record! That's what's up!
Epsilon Records was a little on the fence about calling the album
Sunday
, but Mystique convinced them that it would help with my brand recognition to come out the gate with a self-titled CD. Yeah, I don't know exactly what that means, but I trust Mystique when it comes to brand recognition. The entire world knows who she is!
“Look Sam! Look!”
Sam chuckles and takes another CD from Big D. “You look hot on here, Sunday. Just like a diva. I'm glad I got you before you blew up. I probably would've had to wait in line behind all the other dudes tryna holla.”
“Can I take one to my mom?” I ask.
“The whole box is yours,” Big D says. “They're your free copies.”
Sam pulls the insert out of the CD cover and unfolds it. “Let's see who she thanks.”
“Everybody!” I say with a laugh.
Sam reads,
“First, I want to thank God, who is the head of my life. I would like to thank Big D for discovering my talents and Mystique for putting me on the map. I couldn't do any of this without my mother, Shawn Tolliver. She holds it down for me at all times. Speaking of family, Aunt Charlie, Manny, and Dreya, much love forever! To my boo and bestie, Sam.”
He stops reading.
And laughs.
“
Boo and bestie
?” he asks.
“Hey, Big D had me writing that at like the last minute or something. I couldn't think of anything else!”
Sam continues,
“To my boo and bestie, Sam, you rock. Your talent inspires me. You are my muse. I would also like to thank Mystical Sounds and Epsilon Records for doing the do, and pulling out all the stops. Appreciate y'all. Last but not least, I want to thank my fans! Can't do this without you. Come ride with me all the way to the top of the Billboard charts! Much love, Sunday xoxo!”
“Aw, Sunday,” Sam says, “that was cute. I'm so happy to be your boo and your bestie.”
“I'm never going to live that down, am I?”
Sam looks at the ceiling and then back at me. “Um . . . no.”
Big D says, “Congratulations, Sunday. You deserve it.”
Sam grabs a Sharpie off the counter and holds out the CD. “I want the first autographed copy of your CD!”
I can't help but smile as I take the CD from Sam's hand. “Okay . . . let's see. . . . What do I want to write.
To my boo and my bestie . . . Sam. . . . Do you, and continue to reach for the stars, so you can pluck down one for me. Much love, Sunday.”
“Much love?” Big D chuckles as he asks his question. “You two are funny. Both too proud to admit that you're totally gone for each other. I'm going to enjoy dancing at your wedding.”
Wedding?
Okay, Big D has seriously hit the fast-forward button. I am not marrying anybody until I finish college, make a million, pass the bar. . . . Oh dang, I've got a lot of stuff I'm trying to do before I walk down anybody's aisle.
Sam's in for a loooonnnnng wait! I hope he's up for it.
“Why don't you hit refresh again!” Sam says. “Let's see where you are now.”
I click the F5 button once more and guess what? I'm number eight.
Big D sits on his keyboard stool, and grabs his head. “You went into the
Amazon.com
top ten in the first hour of posting on
Amazon.com
, and you're not even released yet.”
“That's really good, right?” I ask.
“Sunday, that's beyond good. That's incredible! You need to go home and celebrate with your mother,” Big D says. “Ms. Tolliver is going to be so happy.”
“She is, Big D. She's going to be ridiculously happy.”
No one will be more thrilled 'bout this CD than my mother. Her losing my college fund was the catalyst to this entire journey. Like, I probably wouldn't have even stepped out and wrote that one hook for Truth if I hadn't been thinking of a way to raise money for my tuition.
It was a tragic situation turned into something good. Funny how things can happen that way. I wonder what good will come of the tragedy between Dreya and Truth. Maybe the good won't happen right away, but I think that eventually it will. Only time will tell.
Wait. Is that the title to a song?

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