Tales of the Hood (10 page)

As the weeks went by, Shakira grew bigger and bigger whilst mine and Vanessa's relationship was proving to be as solid as ever. Since I got signed I had been at the studio nearly every day of every week, working hard to get my first single up and running. I got dressed one morning and decided to take Vanessa to the studio with me. After hearing her voice when she was singing in the shower I thought she might enjoy having a little fun on the microphone.

“Hurry up and get ready we don't have all day,” I moaned. Women always take forever to sort themselves out.

“I'm coming, I'm coming. I'm just sorting out Shakira's baby bag.”

“Alright forget it. I'm going now so if you're coming, meet me there,” I said becoming restless. I didn't like being held up when it came to business.

“Okay then, catch up with you in a bit,” she replied.

As I made my way to the studio I saw three men sleeping rough on the kerb. I was making a bit of money now so I decided to throw £2 in each of their cups, hoping they would be grateful when they woke up. That could have been me in that situation and trust me, I would have been damn grateful for that £2. When I got to the studio my agent was waiting to start the recording. I was hoping to finish my first single today so it could get released in the next couple weeks; meaning more money for us. I'd received so much support. Everywhere I went people wanted to know more about me and my music. I was finally feeling some stability.

“You ready to start?” he asked, setting up.

“Yeah let's do this,” I said, positioning myself in the booth. He played a beat and signalled to me. I started rapping to the sound; letting the words flow from my heart and off my tongue. When I was in that booth I felt like I had no worries in the world. I could say and do what I liked because I knew that all I wanted to do was inspire others to do the same; do something with their lives. After I recorded the track a few times I sat down with my agent to play it back. It was then that Vanessa strolled in and sat down next to me. When we played back the track it sounded valuable. I felt as if I was certain this was going to be a hit when it was released. When I played back the track for Vanessa to hear it again she hummed along to it slowly. It sounded sensational. I told her to join me in the booth and sing the chorus for me. We played it back again with the amendments and it sounded much better than before. It's like her voice gave the song more life. We smiled, as we knew it was a good mix. We were so into the music we didn't realise that time was flying by and it was getting late. We packed up, called it a day and headed out. Vanessa went to pick up Shakira from her friend's house whilst I made my way home alone. When I got in I sat down embraced and a good evening. The success was one a step closer. I could just see it.

***

The track that Vanessa featured on would be on the shelves in various shops around London this week. It was an exciting moment for me. This was the start of earning decent, legal money. Even though I was new to the business and not many people knew what I was about, the single started selling instantly and with that I had more money to provide for Vanessa and Shakira. Vanessa suggested we move into Maurice's house and sell my flat in the blocks. In the letter Maurice left to me he also left the documents to the house stating that it should be left to me. I didn't disagree with her because my flat brought back daunting memories that I would like to forget: the death of my mum and Donny in the living room; the thought of Myah walking around like she owned the place. I had to let it all go now but my mum only ever owned half so it wouldn't go for much. When I put the flat up for sale there wasn't many offers. I couldn't blame people. Who would want to live in a terrorised area like this? Everyone wanted to move out, not in. When we did get an offer we accepted it straight away because we knew we wouldn't get another like it. Just leaving that place behind lifted a huge burden off my shoulders, but then again it made me feel further away from my mum. She would agree that it was time for a change so I tried to look on the bright side. When you hit rock bottom the only direction that's left to go is up, and up is the way I was moving.

We wanted to make our new house a real home; somewhere we could call our own until I had enough money to buy us a house out of the ends. We started with downstairs. We had a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and a dining room. Not to mention the garden. I really didn't know how Maurice's mum could afford to buy such an immaculate house but couldn't give Maurice dinner money. It was ours now and that's all that mattered.

“I want the kitchen to be yellow; the bathroom to be blue; the living room to be red and the dining room to be cream,” Vanessa ordered the workmen. I sipped my juice and watched as she gave our home its womanly touch. I gave the studio a break for a while so I could spend more time with Vanessa and the baby. Shakira was growing up so fast that I was fearful I'd miss all the special aspects of her young life. It was a couple of days before the workmen finished the downstairs area of the house and moved on to the three bedrooms upstairs and second bathroom.

“Upstairs I would like much warmer colours, so in the bedrooms I would like colours ranging from brown to cream and the bathroom to be green, thank you,” Vanessa said, proudly looking around at her ideas becoming reality. It was just over a week until the house was completely done and it looked great. Most of all Vanessa was happy with it and Shakira seemed quite fond of it too with her slow forming smiles. Everything was actually paying off now. I had my family; I had a house that was suited to our taste; I was making an honest living for my girl and my baby - there was finally something positive in my life. I was living in the here and now to make sure I made the most of this positive vibe before negativity came around the corner.

Vanessa and I took the rest of the evening to kick back and watch some TV. It had been a long time since we'd actually spent some quality time together. I was flicking through the channels when I passed the news and I heard something that interested me. “A young female by the name of Holly Andrews has been found badly beaten near a canal on the north side. In her current condition she is unable to tell police what happened but more updates will be broadcast when received. Thank you and goodnight.”

I wasn't shocked because I knew who had probably done it to her. That's what you get for working with the enemy; with Jamal. She was lucky that was all she got. “Is that the Holly we know?” Vanessa asked curiously.

“Yeah, Jamal probably didn't need her anymore and left her for dead,” I said, disinterested.

“Good, she deserves everything she gets after what she did to you and Maurice. I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that she looks so innocent yet she has the heart of a devil,” she cursed.

I wondered what Holly had done that pissed Jamal off so much. After what she did to Maurice I felt cold towards her. Hearing her name alone made my veins pulsate. There wasn't a harsh enough word to describe her. And it was so true; she was so innocent when we all first met. You would have never thought that months later Maurice would get raped and commit suicide because he couldn't live with it. As my mother always used to say, ‘what goes around comes around.' God will deal with the things they do; can't let hate in my heart consume me too.

Vanessa and I lay peacefully next to Shakira in the bed. I watched her nostrils flare then drop as I thought about what happened to Holly. It made me wonder if Jamal could do that to his own girl - or whatever Holly was to him - then he could definitely carry out his threat on my family. In my moment of vigorous thinking I heard a quiet but firm knock at the door. Vanessa opened her eyes as I got up to answer it.

“Who could that be at this time in the morning man?” she asked.

“I don't know but you stay here. I'll soon be back,” I whispered.

Tiptoeing downstairs I switched on the light. Not many people knew we lived in Maurice's house. When I looked through the peep-hole you would not believe who it was.
How dare she turn up at my house!
I opened the door just to verify that I was actually seeing this. It was Holly; a rather battered and bruised Holly.

A full moon floated over the shaking trees as I went outside to interrogate Holly. “What are you doing at my house?” I shouted hesitantly. I knew it was late so I tried to keep calm but she was out of line.

“Please don't shout. I came to talk. I'm sorry about all that's happened, I really need your help. Jamal is going to kill me if I don't get myself together,” she said, gradually breaking down to tears. As heartless as it was, I laughed to show I really didn't care. She had contributed to my best friend's suicide and now she wanted to come and tell me that her man - the one who raped Maurice and killed my mum - was going to kill her. He did it because of her influence and now she wanted mine. It was humiliating.

“Seriously Jayden, I know everything about him. If I don't get some form of protection he will get me. And eventually he will get you too,” she exaggerated.

“You think I would ever help you after all you did? You must be mistaken. Have you forgotten all the trouble you caused? For all I know this very meeting now could be a set up.”

“No it really isn't. You have to believe me! I don't have time to beg,” she sobbed erratically.

Out of nowhere Vanessa stormed out with, her silk dressing gown trailing behind her. “Bitch you better be off my property in the next thirty seconds or I'm calling the police to remove you,” she said bluntly. After I told her everything she had as much hatred for Holly and Jamal as I did.

“Argh is no one going to believe me? Fine, when it all backfires don't say I didn't warn you. I tried to make things right, but you stubborn assholes just wouldn't listen! What I did to Maurice I accept responsibility for. I thought it was the right way to go about things at the time but realising everything it caused after tore me up inside. Jamal saw that I was developing heart and that's why things broke down,” she said, before hobbling off and crying silently.

In a way I wanted to know what she was talking about but I didn't want to get involved in her issues. It's like everything she said had some sort of subliminal message behind it; as if she knew certain things but didn't want to reveal too much. Regardless of what her motives were Holly could not be trusted and that was all I needed to know. We re-entered the house and went to bed.

“Who does she think she is? Turning to you like you want anything to do with her,” said Vanessa, bewildered by Holly's shock appearance.

“Exactly, she wants to stir things up. Keep us wondering what's going to happen next but I refuse to let her get to me now,” I replied, convincing myself that I truly felt that way. Soon after Vanessa dozed off but I couldn't sleep. Call it a case of insomnia. The conversation was playing on my mind, like a complex puzzle. If it had anything to do with what Jamal was planning for me and my girls then I was anxious, but ready.

After all the drama Holly brought round the other day, I thought it be best that my family and me got out of the area for the day. I knew a nice park around the suburbs of London that my mum used to take me and Maurice to. It was a special part of our childhood. I decided to take them there to have a chance to forget about the chaos going on and think about something humble. I had a surprise for Vanessa outside first. I had spent nearly every penny I made from my first single to get it so I hoped she liked it.

“Jayden what you doing?” she said, struggling as I tried to put the blindfold over her eyes.

“Well if you keep still then you will know,” I replied, shaking her gently. I slowly lead her downstairs and out the front door.

“I'm so excited,” she said, running on the spot. I loved it when I was able to make her happy. I took off the blindfold, “You didn't!” she gasped with amazement.

“I did,” I replied, grinning at the new grey Mercedes sitting in front of me. “This is our new car.” She was speechless. She ran up to me and jumped in my arms.

“I can't believe you got us a car. You're such a darling,” she laughed, pinching my cheeks.

“Well now we have Shakira we need one. We can't be jumping on public transport with all these mad people about,” I said, trying my best not to refer to Jamal.

“True but I don't want you splashing out on us all the time, you worked hard for what you have. Thank you so much babe,” she said staring lovingly at our new vehicle. I smiled as I saw how happy she was.

“Get strapped in because I'm taking you and Shakira are to one of my favourite childhood places,” I said with great enthusiasm.

“Oh. What's it like?” she asked curiously.

“You'll see.”

***

We pulled up outside the two big gates at the entrance of the park and stepped out of the car. The park was crowded with young children running around, young adults talking on the phone and mothers picking up toys off the ground.

“This is really nice, Jay. We need to get a water fountain like that in our garden,” Vanessa said, pointing ambitiously. She was getting a bit excited that I had a bit of money in my pocket because she'd never experienced the high life before. We didn't want for nothing now; I just wanted to gain some stability in the music game before making serious decisions like moving away. I laid out a blanket on the grass and put Shakira down to move about and explore with her eyes. All the quality time I spent with her was meaningful to me. Watching a baby grow provides a feeling that one cannot explain.

“Maurice and I used to play fight for hours whilst my mum lay on this very blanket watching us,” I told Vanessa as I recollected, looking at the sky.

“Well I guarantee you I can take you down right now so lets not even go there!” she laughed.

“Oh, is that what you really think yeah?” I said, standing up. I grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back, “So who's strong now?” I boasted.

She pinched me and I fell to the floor twisted. “I'm a girl and I got you to the floor in less than five seconds. You need to fix up mate,” she grinned.

“That was just luck. Won't happen again” I replied, enjoying the banter.

“C'mon then big guy, let's go for round two,” she said, bopping on the spot with her fists before her.

“Nah, I'll pass. I'm going to chill with my other girl” I said crawling over to lie next to Shakira.

Vanessa joined us before kissing Shakira on the cheek, “you okay baby girl?” she cooed.

“I'm going to the ice -cream van up there, do you want anything?” she asked.

“Yeah, chocolate ice -cream please. Want us to come with you?” I asked.

“No it's alright, I'll be back in a minute,” she said walking away. I felt blessed that I could sit in a park with my family without any stress. Well, that's what I thought.

The park we were in was surrounded by three different postcodes. That meant three different gangs. Upon recognition of this, I knew there was bound to be conflict. It was hot summers day so everyone was out and about. A group of boys came and owned a bench. Minutes later a second group of boys approached the same bench, asking the other boys to move.

“Blood what you doing in our ends?” one spoke.

“Fam, at the end of the day, we were here first and I don't see your name written on the park so you can't tell us shit! Unless you're going to do me something come out my face,” the other replied.

That's all I heard before a major crowd of people started grabbing their children and charging in my direction. I picked up Shakira and moved out of the way to avoid being trampled on. The group of boys were fighting and it just got serious. The group sitting on the bench pulled out their knives looking to bore holes in their opponents, not expecting them to pull out there own blades. I knew things were about to get sticky and I didn't want Shakira seeing someone get stabbed on our first proper day out together, whether she understood it or not. I promptly packed up our stuff and went to leave but then I remembered Vanessa hadn't come back from the ice -cream van yet. When I scanned the area she wasn't even standing there. I was getting concerned. Even though the commotion happened so fast it shouldn't have taken her so long to walk up and back in the first place. The boys started moving up to each other again. You could tell that none of them wanted to do any harm to anyone but just to look big and keep a good reputation on the roads they had to; they had to prove themselves; portray themselves as people that they weren't and, most importantly, people they didn't want to be. I wanted to leave before the blood started to fall so I went to sit in the car and drove around the edges looking for Vanessa. After about half an hour I went back to the park and saw a figure lying on the floor in the distance. The boys had taken their beef to the roads so it was easy for me to run up and see the figure was Vanessa. She had a large cut on her head but her eyes flickered open.

“What happened?” I asked frantically, picking her up off the ground.

“I don't know. I came back from the van and when I turned around everyone was running towards me and knocked me down. What was going on? And I'm bleeding,” she said acknowledging the pain.

“Let's get you home and clean that up,” I said as I helped her into the car. I really hoped the gash was nothing serious. I didn't want anything going wrong when I was so close to success.

When we got home I cleaned up her forehead softly. “That stings man. Take your time,” she complained.

“I am. You're lucky you don't need stitches because then you would really have something to complain about,” I smiled.

“True but you're not exactly a doctor so be careful,” she continued. I placed some gauze over the cut and patted her on her head. “Mind you don't mess up my weave, you play too much,” she said, hot and frustrated. I grinned as I stood up. “Where are you going?” she asked.

“I'm going to the studio; gonna record a couple songs for the album. Is that okay with you?” I replied just to keep her sweet.

“Yeah course. I'm going to cook dinner later so make sure you're back by then unless you wanna dish out your own,” she said, marching to the kitchen. I had myself a real woman; a woman that cooks and cleans; looks after Shakira and still has energy to cater to me too. I felt settled and that's not something that happens often.

***

I made my way to the studio on foot. The walk was taking a while and my agent was calling me persistently so I took a short cut through an alleyway. As I went to turn the corner I saw a group of people stamping on something. Before I even got a closer look I turned back around and waited by the corner. I wanted to see but didn't want to be see; whatever was going on, I didn't want any association with. I peeked around the corner again but this time I recognised a familiar face. It was Joel. I focused further and realised that it was Crime Scene, but I couldn't make out who or what they were stamping on. I waited until I saw that the boys were running off then took the opportunity to be nosey. When I walked closer I saw that the person they were stamping on was Myah. I was bemused. She was basically the boss of them. She made them into something and they turned on her. In some ways I couldn't blame them. She treated and spoke to them like shit. I found it so hard to believe that I had thought being under her wing would get me somewhere.

“Jayden is that you?” she groaned, looking in my direction. I looked at her with devil eyes. For her to even acknowledge me made me slightly heave. “Help me please. I can't move anything,” she sobbed. I just stared at her. At that moment I was feeling conflicting emotions. I actually considered getting her some help. Her eyes were black and blue; her nose was pouring with blood and her lip was split in two. Her face was literally like looking into a nightmare.

“After what you did to me, you want to ask for my help? Don't make me laugh! Seeing you like this reminds me of something. Hmm let me try and remember, oh yeah, when you fucking set me up at my own party!” I said regurgitating my hatred towards her.

“I'm sorry. Please can you help me? I can't feel my legs,” she struggled.

I had a good heart but it was no where to be found right now. “Give me a chance to think about that one…No! You can rot here after what you did to me. If I died that night, who would you really be asking for help now?” I spat as I walked away, leaving her reaching out and sobbing.

After my fierce encounter with Myah my mind was lost in the recording booth. I managed to get one song done before I realised all I wanted to do was go home. There was no point starting something if I couldn't complete it at a high standard. I avoided walking the way I came just in case I saw her lying there all crumpled. It was hard enough doing it the first time but what can I say, she deserved it. She spoilt my whole mood to the point where I felt so down. Exactly how I felt when I lost Maurice.

Upon arriving home I checked on Vanessa to see if she was alright then went downstairs to watch TV. They were both sleeping so it was nice to have some me time. I don't know why but I suddenly felt sorry for Myah. A wave of guilt washed over me for not helping her, but I could not have helped anyway. The thought of how I felt when I was lying there getting trampled on because of her jealousy refused to let me intervene. I knew if I stayed in the house my head would burst with questions of what happened and why, so I put my jacket on and went to the frontline. The way I was going to put my mind at ease was to directly ask Crime Scene what was going on. It was chilly outside so I tied my hood tight on my head. As I approached them they looked threatened by me as they couldn't see my face, so Jason pulled out a knife.

“What's man saying?” he said, trying to intimidate me. When I took off my hood and he realised it was me he calmed down and put the knife away. “Oh shit! Sorry fam, you just looked a bit bookie with your hood up,” he laughed. I wasn't there to make any jokes I just wanted to know what I wanted to know.

“It's cool. What's going on with you lot anyway? It's been a long time,” I said, breaking the ice.

“Nothing much really. Where have you been? We haven't seen much of you round here lately since you released your first tune. By the way it's a banger,” replied Joel, playing the track aloud.

“Safe for the support. I've moved up the road but man's still about until I have enough money to move out the ends. What happened earlier with Myah? I saw you lot kicking her face in,” I asked, trying to appear disinterested. I didn't want them to think I was spying on them when really and truly it was pure coincidence.

“That dumb bitch! I hope she dies there,” Jason replied with great annoyance.

“What did she do? You lot were united,” I probed further.

“After you got rushed at your party she cut out of the area. When we ran into her we asked her what went down with you getting beaten up that night and she told us she set you up with the same yute's that killed Donny. We saw that as a major violation,” said Rico.

“How could she do that after she was the reason for Donny's death in the first place? Then to take the piss even more she sets you up on your birthday with the same guys. That clearly means she respects the work they do and that can't run with us,” said Jose, sipping his drink.

“You would never guess why she said she done it. Because I called her ‘Vanessa' during sex one time and she was basically filled with that much jealousy that she wanted me dead,” I explained.

“Swear down that was all it was? So you lot couldn't handle that between yourselves? She had to involve all them man for a minor domestic issue. She's silly and silly girls end up where she is,” emphasised Joel.

“You lot left her crippled but she did deserve it. I even walked past and couldn't bring myself to help her. Here you lot share this out,” I said as I pulled out a handful of notes from my pocket and put it in Jason's hand.

“Blood there's a good five bills here, bro. What's this for?” “You man rode out for me when I needed you and trust me if I had more than that on me I would give it all to you. If you never jumped in that night I probably wouldn't even be here right now. I had two stab wounds; three broken ribs and two black eyes with your help. Imagine what the outcome would have been if you didn't intervene. You lot even sorted out Myah for me; it's one less thing on my to-do list. This is just a little thanks and it's the least I can do,” I expressed truthfully.

“Safe, but when we saw you getting beaten up we couldn't sit back and watch with a box of popcorn. You're our don, we had to get involved but I hear what you're saying,” replied Jason. They all spudded me and said thanks for the money.

“I'm cutting back home now so I'll see you lot around yeah?” I said, concluding the conversation.