My Cup Runs Over: The Ultimate and Final Deception (7 page)

The manager couldn’t believe he was receiving the tickets. Not only that, but he was serving the very entertainers that were a part of the interview he heard on the radio. Before they could begin eating, people were coming over to the table for autographs. One young lady came over to Little Joe.

“Excuse me... as you can see we had to come in here to get something to eat because you weren’t outside selling those fish sandwiches. So you know you have to give us an autograph..”

Everyone began to laugh again. Little Joe yelled out to everyone, “I told you. Didn’t I tell you? I could have been making some money right now. I’ll tell you! You guys sure know how to blow a brother’s hustle. Thanks baby. I tell you what. Your meal is on me tonight. How about that?” The woman didn’t hesitate one minute to say thank you as she began screaming in excitement in front of her girlfriends.

“Now after you finish eating you and all your girlfriends can just come on over here and go right home with me.” 

“What…Okay but be careful what you ask for. Are you sure you can handle all of us?” she asked while looking over the menu.  “We’ll be over as soon as we’re finished eating. Thank you.”

T-Bird looked at Andre shaking her head. She couldn’t believe how off the chain Little Joe was, driving everyone crazy. Those qualities made her want him around even more. She expressed this to Andre.

“There’s no way we can afford to let him get away. I want him on the tour until we finish and I need you to work it out.” 

“No problem, I’ll talk to him and his manager tomorrow night and put the deal together.”

Everyone began to eat while continuing to socialize with the people who continued to come over and talk to them about the concert. The young lady who received a meal on Little Joe returned back to the table with her girlfriends to talk with Little Joe and exchanged phone numbers with him, with the hope of possibly seeing him again. She then introduced her friends to all the members, with the possibility of attending future shows.

“Man later for those groupies.” Andre said. “We’re gonna see plenty of that. Everybody better be careful; the next thing you know, somebody will be accusing you of rape. Believe me, I know all the tricks of the trade and you don’t want to face all that just for a booty call. You know what I mean? Business is business and you have to take care of that first, not your agenda. Remember everything you do affects all of us. On tour, we’re all one family and we have to look out for each other.”

The drummer looked at Melvin. “He’s really trippin man. I’ve been through this before, too many times over the years so this ain’t nothing new to me. That’s why I bought my jimmies with me. I’m gonna have my fun. I can tell you that right now. I don’t know who he think he’s talking to because I left my parent's house a long time ago.”

Andre walked right over. “Yeah that may be true, but I set the rules and they will be respected. If you fuck up one time you’ll be off the tour. You got that. Chump?” Melvin just looked at the drummer.

“Look man chill out! Andre’s cool but I’m gonna tell you right now he’s strictly business. Let’s do the right thing. I want to see what else he has to offer after this tour is over and I want to get paid. Remember, he still has a new group in London that he’ll be bringing here soon and you never know when he can use us.”

Afterwards, no one said a word, deciding to keep their opinions to themselves.  It was 3 in the morning by the time the left the cafe... 

The Show

When she arrived back at the hotel, T-Bird had a message waiting from JJ, wanting to know how the show went and letting her know the Wednesday night, talent night was continuously growing. There were new poetry readers along with up and coming singers. Looking at the clock, there was no way she was returning his call at this hour. The weather in Chicago offered a cool breeze that sailed through the air off the waters of the great lakes and the only thing T-Bird desired was more sleep; there was another full day of events ahead. 

By 8 o’clock Andre was ringing her phone.

“Good morning, are you awake yet? We’ve got another interview on the morning show at 10 o’clock.” 

“Oh...no…What? I don’t have a choice. I’m just not sure my body’s connecting with my mind just yet. Give me a minute. I’ll be ready and meet you downstairs shortly,” she yawned hard and stretched even harder.

On the way to the radio station, he looked at T-Bird, handing her a bundle of papers.

“What's this?” she asked while looking them over.

“What do think? We’ve got Little Joe on the tour... that’s what it is! I was able to make it happen. Me and his manger created the whole contract online last night while you were performing and put the deal together. You did say you didn’t want him to get away, didn’t you?  I don’t want you to think I don’t know what I’m doing. Your ex taught me well.” 

“Okay you made your point. So now what?” 

“Listen, I’ve got thirty minutes to finalize this contract and our last interview is at 1:30 with WBLK. After that, we can chill for the rest of the day.”

“Fabulous, absolutely fabulous. I will not hesitate to get back to my room and yes Shaun taught you well. Furthermore I have to return JJ’s call.” She continued.

The moment they finished her 1:30 interview, T-Bird couldn’t wait to call JJ to give him an update.

“JJ, you won’t believe this comedian we have opening for us. This guy is phenomenal! We couldn’t resist adding him; he’s just that good. If he ever performed at the Tea Pot, you would have him signed somewhere in L.A in no time! Little Joe is the real deal.”

“Is that right?” JJ asked. "Well, I can’t wait to meet him and I’ll do whatever I can to help him out.” 

“Great, I just wanted to return your call and let you and the guys know I‘m doing fine,” 

“Sounds good and tell Andre I’ll talk to him later.”

Meanwhile, Andre was on the phone talking to Little Joe’s Manager. He had already heard about him and Shaun’s reputation, knew they were strictly business and didn’t play around if anyone tried to cross them by not paying them their money. There would be consequences.

“Andre, I’ve been waiting on you. I heard you guys did really well last night. Huh? The contract is cool and I can live with getting 3%.”

“Yeah Chicago showed us a lot of love. I don’t think we could have asked for more” Andre answered. 

“Little Joe told me you guys are treating him real good being on the bill. I’m wishing you the best. I’m signing the contract and faxing it back to you. It’s nice doing business with you. Little Joe has a great future ahead of him. Call me if you need me. I know you have a million things to do.”

”You’re right and as they say, time is money. Don’t worry I’ll be in touch. Nice doing business with you too.” Andre ended the call with pure satisfaction written all over his face.

Before T-Bird could relax, her phone was ringing again; Darnell was on the other end.

“Hey baby. So how are things going?” he said, hoping to keep the conversation upbeat and positive since he wasn’t on her good side. 

“Hello Darnell, I just walked into the room. Your timing is perfect. Can you bear with me while I get a few things organized?” 

"I can call you back later if you’d like.” Darnell wanted to pacify her if at all possible.

“I thought you would want to talk to me since we really haven’t had much time. What’s going on?”

"I know you’ve been a little upset. I just want us to move forward..." Darnell added some sexy to his voice, hoping the concern would convince her he was serious about them going forward.

“Well, let’s just move on from that. We’re still learning each other and it’s been a little hectic for both of us.” T-Bird was containing her excitement, still skeptical about Darnell's honesty.

“Thanks bae, I really needed to hear that from you. Thing have been crazy since I returned from Miami.”

“Speaking of Miami, did you see your family while you were there?”

“No I didn’t. I was so caught up in doing the interview I didn’t have a chance to call anyone. Come on. I already feel guilty enough. Don’t make me feel any worse.”

Once again T-Bird found that hard to believe. He'd been right in his own city yet didn't find the time to call his family? Something just didn't add up.

“Babe, my show starts at 7:30, so I think I’d better wind down and relax for a while. I’ll call you tomorrow before I leave for Detroit. When we leave there we'll be heading to Cleveland then returning to New Jersey and N.Y.”

“That sounds fine. I’ll talk to you then,” he said, before ending their call.

T-Bird laid across the bed trying to gather her thoughts about the conversation with Darnell. However, it wasn't long before Desiree was calling also.

“Hey girl! How is everything there in Chi Town? I know you’re doing your thing!”

“I sure am cuz! It’s good to hear your voice. The show was a smash. By the way, I just talked to Darnell. Cuz, I need to have one of those heart to heart talks with you again.”

“Okay... sure. What’s up?”

"Well, it seems as if every time I talk to Darnell I get this uncomfortable feeling. I think there’s something he’s not telling me.”

“Cuz, I’ve already talked to Darnell and everything is fine. I think this job and falling head over hills after meeting you has put more on him than he can bare... I hope you not getting crazy cause he putting that love thang on you? Come on, you can tell me the truth?”

They both began to laugh as T-Bird responded. “Yeah, I put the love thing on him but he giving it back to me too. I still don’t know, though. There’s something I can't put my finger on right now. I wish I knew what it was; I just pray God reveals it to me an soon. There’s just too much at stake and if JJ's opinion of him turns out to be true, I will never forgive myself.”

“Girl chill out, everything is fine. You are trippin! Nothing is going to go wrong and if it does, he better leave town. I’ve already warned him to do the right thing and he promised he would. The only thing I can do is believe what he said...” Desiree was not about to share what she'd heard without concrete proof.

“Thanks for the encouragement cuz. You always seemed to have the right words at the right time.”

“Hey, it’s gonna to be all good. Look, I have to go. I’ve got a meeting at 6 p.m. I just wanted to drop you a line to see how things were going. I’ll holla,” Desiree said preparing to end their call. 

“Girl, you know you crazy. I’m going to get some rest before the show tonight. I’ll chat with you later...”

________________________

Seven o’clock and everyone was in the lobby waiting for the bus to pick them up, headed to the theater for another sold out performance. The manager from the restaurant, who'd received the free tickets, was there sitting in the front row along with his wife and another couple. Just as he did the night before, Little Joe was making tears fall from his jokes. 

“I haven’t seen no shit like this in a long time. Fucking woman fainting and shit! Shit! Can I get security after the show too? What the hell! Damn, if I had a bag and held it upside down, it wouldn’t matter who fell out first. This has been a great show! Well, one thing for sure, if All State, was sponsoring this event, they would definitely tell you, you’re in good hands! All right, there’s no since in delaying the show any further. We might as well keep the momentum because we got it going on Got dammit! ”

The minute Little Joe finished announcing T-Bird’s name, the lights went dim. Suddenly a beam of white light shined on the middle of the stage, capturing the guitar player sitting in a highchair. He began to play. The sound from the guitar seemed to set the atmosphere as the spotlight radiated around him. You could hear a pin drop on cotton. The mood was so surreal as T-bird continued to deliver her all to the audience.  Afterwards, she brought all the acts back and pointed at Little Joe.

“Do you see this guy? He is absolutely terrific and we’re taking him with us Chicago! We’re ready to leave now but we’ll be back.” She said, waving to the audience.

When everyone arrived back at the hotel, Andre presented her with a check for all to see totaling $290,000.00, which included performances for two nights. Since T-Bird own the entire tour, there was no middle man eating all of her profits. Thanks to Shaun, she'd learned very fast how to keep all her money.

Later, in her dressing room, she received a call from Vivian, telling her about the progress of the foundation and that another check came into the office in the amount of $25,000.00. 

“You also have a letter here from the City. Would you like me to read it?”

“I sure would.. go ahead. Tell me what it says.”

“Oh my God, T, you’ll never believe this!”

“Never believe what? Tell, tell me what it says girl!”

Vivian could barely catch her breathe while she tried to read the letter.  “Okay. It says..."

"On behalf of the City Council Board for the City of Newark, New Jersey, we the Council Members, award Tamara Robinson, President of said foundation R.E.A.C.T. the total amount of $1, 000000.00. This said total amount is being granted to your foundation on behalf of the Urban Development and Grants Program, sponsored and funded by the State of New Jersey. The said check is to be used for the implementation of programs focused on higher learning and education for students being trained at the foundation, R.E.A.C.T. Also, the following companies,
EBI Technologies
,
Image Plus
and
Video-Technologies
, would like to sponsor twelve certified instructors, three from each entity in their field of expertise, recently obtaining their licenses and are willing to temporarily assist you, in the execution and implementation of training and skill development in the field of computer software and repair, data processing, film production and graphic designs, until such time as you can employ the necessary qualified personnel to assume their positions. Thus creating an official school of business for individuals who lack the necessary skills to seek or qualify for a skilled set environment with the possibility of future employment.

After carefully monitoring the appropriation of monies donated to the said foundation R.E.A.C.T. and its reputation for the contribution of time invested giving back to its community, it gives the City of Newark great privilege in recognizing your efforts to the highest degree. Therefore, we the City of Newark and State of New Jersey, also will award the said foundation R.E.A.C.T. a suite of rooms at 1 Plaza North, for the fee of $1.00 as an abode appropriate for a School of Business
..."

The more Vivian read, the harder it was for T-Bird to perceive in her mind what she was hearing as Vivian finished reading the letter.

“Wait.. wait a minute! Can you please read that letter to me again? Please.. once more from the top. Better yet, I think you just need to let me get some rest and call me back to make sure I’m hearing you right.” T-Bird wondered if she was already asleep and dreaming.

“O my God! It’s true and it won’t change when I do. After all you’ve done for the community, it’s paid off much bigger than any of us would have ever expected! Would you mind if I let JJ look this letter over?” Vivian was beside herself with excitement as the full import of the letter began to settle over her.

“Yes please do..,” she said as tears began to swell in her eyes. “..because right now I can’t even think straight.”

“You know there must be at least $10,00000.00 in the bank by now.” Vivian continued. “I’m truly honored that you’ve allowed me to help you with the foundation again. Everything you guys are doing is going to affect so many lives. It’s going to be absolutely remarkable” Vivian continued.

“Girl, I’m just thankful to God we could do something like this; being able to help other people at this magnitude. I don’t have the slightest clue how I’m going to juggle the foundation now in the middle of my career.. we’ll figure all that out. I’ll talk to you late...”

When T-Bird hung up the phone, she sat there in her chair trying to digest everything that had just taken place. Her efforts, along with those of her closest friends, to change their community was coming to pass. As far as she was concerned, there
had
to be some hidden clause in that letter somewhere. However, it was all true.

Vivian attempted to wait up for JJ. However, realizing he'd be at the club until early morning, she placed the letter on the nightstand for him.What she didn't know was, earlier that day he'd taken time to go find a card that expressed his dedication to her and their marriage. Their counselor was doing a great job helping them build trust again. Vivian was fast asleep when he laid the card next to her pillow.