GHETTO SUPERSTAR (10 page)

Nigga please
, Fabiola had thought to herself.
Not to me it doesn't
. And if she could help it, it would never happen again. Fabiola's mind was made up: She was done with G.P.
and all the rest of the young knuckleheads who were trying to pass themselves off as men these days.

While Fabiola struggled not to get her ankle bandages wet in the shower, she heard her phone ring. She knew there was no way she would have been able to get to it in time, so she let it go to voice mail. After her shower, she dried off, slipped on some lounge clothes, and climbed back into bed. She reached for her phone and checked her messages to find one from her mother, who was calling her from work. Although Fab wanted to rest, she had to meet her mother for their weekly lunch date, and canceling was not an option. Viola had left precise instructions. “Girl, I hope you ain't in bed; it's ten o'clock in the morning.”

Fabiola shifted her foot, which was propped up with a quart-sized bag of ice lying on her ankle. “Well, whatever you're doing,” the message went on to say, “I want you to meet me at the Applebee's on Laburnum at twelve-fifteen. Adora may not be there, so don't make me wait there alone. See you then.”

Fabiola had held the phone out and looked while rolling her eyes. “No ‘Not if you're busy’ or ‘If you don't have anything planned,’ but
‘See you then,’”
she said out loud before closing her phone. Regardless of her mother's delivery, she knew she had to get up and get moving. Viola had been on top of her business all of her daughters' lives. There was no denying that she loved her girls and wanted better for her daughters than what she had growing up. She loved her son, Ocean, too, but it was different with the girls.

After getting out of bed and dressed, Fabiola drove over to the restaurant and found a spot next to her mother's Honda. She eased her vintage Mercedes into the open space. As she flipped the mirror down on the visor to check her makeup, she realized that besides some slight bags under her eyes from not getting any sleep last night, she looked fabulous. She was wearing a brown
velour sweatsuit and brown-on-brown Gucci sneakers. She put her fake Gucci sunglasses over her eyes and strolled into the restaurant.

“Are you eating alone, ma'am?” a skinny waitress standing at the seating station asked. She was wearing a pair of black pants that sagged at her butt, and a burgundy pullover polo shirt with the restaurant's name stitched on it.

“No,” Fabiola responded. “I'm meeting my mother and sister. At least one of them should already be here.” Fabiola gave the place a quick scan while she spoke.

“I do believe a member of your party has arrived. Follow me, please.” The waitress led her halfway around the curved aisle, and Fabiola spotted her mother sitting at a table in the corner sipping on a glass of water with a lemon wedge on the rim.

Viola looked up and saw her daughter. Fabiola never could sneak up on her. None of her kids could. She always knew when one of them was around.

“Hello, Mother,” Fabiola said, taking a seat. “Have you been here long?”

“No, only a few minutes.”

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Where's Adora?” Fabiola asked.

“She's a bit under the weather.”

“Ahlll, I gotta call her.”

“You should.” Viola changed the subject. “But Johnny Wiz said he loved your photos.” Viola was too excited to answer her daughter's question. “I e-mailed the shots to his office yesterday, and his assistant got back to me this morning. How great is that?”

Johnny Wiz was the CEO of The Wizard Entertainment Group and was considered music royalty in the entertainment world. His father was one of the first black rock stars and his mother was an iconic Creole jazz singer. Together, his parents
started the label. According to the media, from the time Johnny was old enough to be potty-trained, his second home was at The Wizard. He'd been doing odd jobs at the company ever since he was six. When he graduated from Harvard University, where he completed graduate programs in both business and law, he transformed what was a small independent family label into a major one.

With his father having long ago passed away and his mother's decision to
officially
retire ten years ago—at seventy—Johnny had been running the family's business. Despite a team of top-notch lawyers, advisers, and staff, though, his mother still wanted to have some say, so in the business the final word always came from the mouth of The Wizard. Having his mother in it drove him crazy, but what he could he do? Either roll with the punches or pick another career.

Fabiola had seen many TV specials on him and remembered that the walls of his office held more platinum plaques than he could keep count of. Fabiola always imagined that one day her name would be on one of them.

“Johnny the Wizard!” Fabiola squealed. “Momma, why didn't you tell me that you were in touch with The Wizard? The Wizard Entertainment Group is where I've always wanted to be.”

“I did tell you that there were other people checking for you and that I wouldn't stop until we had a deal, right?”

“But The Wizard isn't just other people. He's … The Wizard.” Fabiola was so excited she could hardly think straight. “Ever since I can remember it has been my dream to sign a contract with them.”

“Are you ready to order yet, ma'am, or can I get you something to drink while you decide?” a waitress popped up out of nowhere to inquire.

“Hot tea, please—with two teaspoons of honey.” Fabiola had read somewhere that hot tea and honey were good for overworked vocal chords and had been drinking the mixture ever since.

“Anything else?” the waitress asked.

“No, but thank you,” Fabiola said.

After the waitress was gone, her mother confided, “It was always a dream of mine growing up, too, to be a famous singer on The Wizard, living the life, with a ton of Grammys under my belt.”

“I'm going to make it happen for both of us,” Fabiola said. “Mark my words: Johnny Wiz is going to love me.”

“What is there not to love, baby?” her mother boasted. “You have the voice of an angel, and you're gorgeous. You get your good looks from me.” Viola struck one of her best glamour-girl poses.

“When I get the money from my first hit”—Fabiola was already thinking abut the future—“I'm going to buy us all a big house.”

“That will be a blessing for sure,” Viola said. Fabiola didn't respond. Viola could tell from the expression on her face that she was somewhere else. “A penny for your thoughts?”

“It's nothing.”

“Tell that lie to somebody who didn't carry you for nine months.”

“It's just that I feel this is the ultimate test.”

“Why do you say that?” Viola wasn't sure where her daughter was coming from.

“Because Johnny Wiz is the best of the best. He
is
music.”

“That's why he's going to love your stuff. The great always recognize the great!” Viola assured her daughter. “I know you are going to make me proud.”

“I just want him to love me the way Hot Soundz loved me.”

“Trust me: They would love to have you at The Wizard Entertainment Group, especially after the ordeal over at Hot Soundz. I heard that before Hot Soundz closed they had been engaged in a less-than-friendly rivalry with The Wizard since Johnny took over the reins from his mother.” Viola had indeed done her homework.

“You're right, Mommy. I just really want this to happen in my life, like finally, for real.”

“Ow,” Fabiola exclaimed after accidentally bumping her ankle on the table leg.

“I didn't realize that you twisted it up that bad messing with that hooligan,” Viola said.

“Well, that was just one more thing to keep me motivated. I can't take any more episodes like last night.”

“I don't know what you saw in that boy.”

“Me either,” Fabiola said to her mother as she sipped her tea. “But I don't want to waste one more moment thinking about him.”

“That's why you can't be dealing with those kind of guys—”

“Mommy, please,” Fabiola cut her mother off before she could get into one of her drawn-out speeches about how important it was to have the right man. “I already know where you are going, and last night was the nail in the coffin.”

Viola added, “You do understand something like this could have really destroyed your career before it even took off?”

“Yeah, Mommy, I totally get it.”

“Good.” Viola switched gears. “Did you ever speak to your Aunt Rose?”

“As a matter of fact I did catch up with her.”

“You never did tell me why it was so important that you spoke to her.”

“Mommy.” Fab took another sip of tea, not really wanting to
tell her mother everything, so she stalled a little bit. “You remember Mr. Casino, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” she said. “But what does he have to do with Rose?”

“Well, he was shot, and now he's in the hospital.”

“That must have been the shooting they were talking about on the news,” Viola said.

“He got shot Wednesday night on his way to a Halloween party,” Fabiola said. “I went to the hospital the morning of the shooting and it was ridiculous how people were acting.”

“I can only imagine. He's a pretty powerful man. But why were you down there?”

“I don't know, Mommy. He's just done so much for us. I felt compelled to see if there was anything I could do for him.”

“What did you have in mind?” Viola asked, curious.

“I didn't even think that far ahead. Anything: fluff his pillow, get him water, read him a book, whatever …”

“I understand more than you may think, Fabiola. The man reached out and helped us during one of the lowest times in our lives and continues to help us every day by allowing us to stay in his property and not asking for a dime. I think it's really sweet of you to want to be supportive of him in his time of need. I'm proud of you.” Viola patted her daughter's hand.

“I am really glad you understand, Mommy.”

“I do understand totally, but I don't want you spending so much time there that you take your eye off the prize.”

The comment her mother had just made wasn't what Fabiola wanted to hear, so she changed the subject. After a moment, Fabiola asked, “Mom, what exactly are we going to do about that daggone Ocean?”

“What has your brother done now?” Viola asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I ran into one of his girlfriends last night.”

“What's so odd about that? If you live in Richmond you're bound to run into one of that boy's friends.”

“That's my point,” Fabiola said. “It's impossible to try and keep up with all of his women. It's starting to feel awkward when I meet one of his new conquests, because I always end up having to provide an alibi or corroborate a lie. It gets to be too much.” Fabiola shook her head. “Why can't he just have two women like most guys his age?” They both laughed.

“They're crazy to put up with his foolishness,” Momma said. “He don't look that damn good. I told him that I didn't want to meet any more women until he done bought one of 'em a ring and done proposed.”

“And that hasn't stopped him yet, has it?”

The waitress reappeared. “Do you all need anything else?”

“Are you going to take Adora some food since she's not feeling well?”

“It's chicken soup at the house, she can warm that up.”

“Just the check—that's it.” Viola then redirected her attention back to the conversation at hand. “Well, at least I don't have to deal with as many women as I use to,” Viola said. She looked at Fab's plate. “You barely touched your food. What's wrong, baby? You didn't like the chicken sandwich?”

“Just wasn't hungry.”

“Wrap it up and carry it with you then.”

Right on time, the waitress slid through the aisle balancing a tray of dirty dishes in one hand and their check in the other. She dropped the check off on the table facedown and kept it moving toward the kitchen.

“I just don't like when they try to be my friend, and then expect me to go against the grain when Ocean start acting up,” Fabiola said. “I know Ocean got some bullshit with him when it
comes to women but he is my brother, and that's where my loyalty rests.”

Viola dug into her pocketbook and came out with a few dollars to pay for the lunch. “Always remember that,” she smiled as she laid the money on the table. “Well, my sweets, I am off to find out just how much Mr. Johnny Wiz loves your voice and the ever-so-stunning photos.” They both stood up.

“Thanks, Mommy.”

“For what?”

“For everything: the lunch and just for continuing to make it happen. I don't know what I would do without you.”

A little moisture formed in the corner of Viola's eye, but she didn't let it get any further than that. “You are so welcome, baby,” she said, leaning in to kiss Fabiola on the cheek. “You seem about five inches shorter.”

“I'm trying not to put that much strain on my ankle. I need it as strong as possible for when I perform.”

“You're right, baby, take it easy,” she agreed. “By the way, where are you going when you leave here?”

“To the hospital,” Fabiola said, “to see Casino.”

“I'd like to go,” Viola said in more of a question form than a statement.

“Right now it's immediate family only. Aunt Rose pulled a few strings to get me in.”

“Maybe when he's a little better then,” Viola said, hoping his fine self would be doing all right soon.

ODE BLUE!” The nurse was running down the hall screaming at the top of her lungs. “CODE BLUE! CODE BLUE!” Doctors and nurses started rushing from everywhere in response to the emergency call.