Chapter 42
forty-two
“I knew you was about to disappoint me,” Cairo stated, sitting in one of the LBMF tent studios he booked for this session with East.
One thing he could appreciate about this festival was that they made it easy for artists, labels and producers to have immersive experiences while keeping the fans involved.
Each recording tent allowed a screen where the fans could pass by, stop and lounge while watching the ins and outs of recording a record— if the artist and producers chose to.
Right now, Cairo had everything blacked out, very particular about his processes.
East dropped his bag in seat. “Nah, never that. I ran to get back here.”
Cairo fused his brows. “Where the fuck you staying?”
“Like thirty minutes away at a pay by day,” East spoke like it was nothing.
“I’m not trying to get in your business, how the fuck you get in this festival?”
“I had to do a little one two,” East shared. “The guy who owns this festival got a daughter who is cute enough.”
Cairo muffled his laughter. “You fucked his daughter to get in?”
“Listen, not my proudest moment but I needed to get here so I had to use what I had to get what I needed,” East shared.
“Gahhhdamnnn,” Cairo blew out. “Get in the booth. We got to get you out the fuckin’ for a spot struggle. Hope you didn’t knock her up ‘cause you gon have more on your head after this.”
East laughed and got into the booth. “Always strapped.”
“Uh huh,” Cairo laughed, feeling like he was looking at a young version of himself. This had to be how KP felt. The shit was waking up parts of himself he didn’t know were there. No one got in. Cairo was a vault and somehow, East had cracked the door and was trying to wiggle in.
While Cairo worked to give East something solid to have to the sound stage tomorrow, he was impressed by his ability to spit off the dome. Hitting a few keys to pause the music and stop recording, Cairo asked, “Why you using a ghostwriter?”
East pulled in a deep breath. “I told that nigga I’d keep his shit low.”
“Give it to me without the names and particulars,” Cairo replied.
“Essentially, it goes like this. Nigga got a larger-than-life brother, hood legend. Overlooked, kinda trying to step into big shoes. Ended up getting a body. Now he’s sitting in prison too proud to reach out, too proud to tell his brother the real.
So he writes these poems, I rap them. Just to give him a voice.
I can rap but that nigga deserve a voice too. ”
Cairo ingested that. “Aight, so if you were to get a deal off the weekend, how you handling him?”
“When El Jefe signs me, they can take that whole advance and bring him home. Feel me?” East stated.
An honorable man. Off that alone, East was going to the stars and he was going to take his friend with him. If it were Cairo, Nate was going everywhere he went. Yeah, the future was looking bright. The track was done, and East was walking out the tent with enough beats on stash to drop an EP.
“You here solo, right? No bullshit?” Cairo asked, roaming out the tent behind him.
“Yeah, I met up with some people I met on social media, but I’m cool without it. I’m starting to feel the pressure of what’s riding on this. If I fuck it up, I’ve fucked it up,” East shared.
“Tell you what,” Cairo said, digging in his pocket for his room key and a couple hundred dollars.
“My room is 6008. It’ll be clear for you in about forty minutes.
Get you some food and rest up for tomorrow.
When this weekend is over, I’m setting you up in the city. I need you close until Jefe calls.”
“Nigga, you sure?”
“No one has ever extended you a leg up? Some kind gestures and shit?” Cairo asked with a frown.
“Nah. Moms put me out at fourteen. I’ve been in and out of juvie, jail, and prison. Just been getting by,” East shared.
Cairo patted his shoulder. “Your head is about to be in the clouds. Keep your feet on the ground, aight?”
“Thanks, OG,” East’s words were laced with gratitude.
This moment was a stark reminder for Cairo.
It played just how his encounters with KP played out, and he accepted it.
AyeZee might’ve been laid to rest, but his spirit was still guiding him.
If only he could show Cairo how to get back in his daughter’s good graces.
“Don’t mention it. Add this to the pressure you feel in your chest, nigga. Don’t let me down. You hear me?” Cairo asked.
“Heard. You watching the concert?” East asked, looking in the direction of the cabana where Kamilla was sitting down in a mini dress. “Your lady is over there.”
“I’m watching something, might not be the concert.
Stay, kick it. Watch how these niggas move.
RowdyRedd and Sincere might be CKs, but they’re good men.
Don’t take your ass back to the pay by day.
I know you got everything in your bag,” Cairo pointed out before he started walking in Kamilla’s direction.
CiCi was gone and so was her security. Her alone in this crowd didn’t sit well with him.
Cairo entered her space, the layered scent of mango and exotic fruits over creamy coconut made him groan.
He missed that scent. Flashes of memory reminded him how he curled up in his sheets inhaling it like a man lovesick after only a couple hours of her presence.
A summer that rewired his brain chemistry.
It gave him something to hold and to love, and it loved him back without regret.
“Yeah, I fucked that up,” he grumbled, before moving into the section. “Where your people at?”
Kamilla’s attention was in her phone, curls pulled into a large bun, a few loose coils framing her face, makeup vibrant and flawless. Breathtaking. She barely looked up at him before answering, “Handling some business. Are you going to sit here and demand shit all night?”
“Nah,” he offered, sitting down and inhaling her scent. “You smell too fucking good for me to be showing my ass. But I’ll let you know one thing; I’m fucking you out that dress tonight.”
“There’s several other women here you can fuck, Cairo,” she grumbled, locking her phone and standing. “Duty calls.”
Kamilla pulled her dress down and hurried off toward the stage. No security in sight meant that he was on duty, so he stayed a few steps behind her while she maneuvered backstage. Climbing, the steps behind her, he was stopped by a large guard.
She knew he was there. “Relax, he’s with me.”
Cairo knocked his hand off and continued behind her until she reached RowdyRedd’s green room.
“We talked about this,” she said, walking in to the torn up dressing room. “Look at me. We talked about this.”
Rowdy was in a state, like he was possessed. And Kamilla was the only one who could get through. She stepped out of her heels and moved over to him.
“Did you take your medicine today?” Kamilla questioned, rummaging through his bags. Viles of cocaine but not the bottle she was looking for. “Rodrick.”
“I don’t need that shit. Those muhfuckas trying to come in here and get me,” Rowdy spoke, looking past Cairo. He saw shit like this in prison. Inmates who would stop taking their meds or sell them to another inmate finally broke. It took them weeks to regulate.
“How much did you take?” Kamilla asked.
“J-just a few lines,” he admitted, even in his state he wouldn’t lie to her. “I wanted to feel like I wasn’t a washed up muhfucka, K. I’m not washed up.”
“You aren’t,” she sighed, abandoning the search. “You gotta get right, Rod. You promised me.”
“I know,” he sighed. “I know, I just …fuck!”
He started slapping his face before turning to the wall and attempting to hit it across the wall.
She pushed him back and looked at Cairo, “get me EMS and Sincere.”
“K,” Cairo spoke, not wanting to leave her alone.
“He won’t hurt me. Go get Sincere and EMS. Please.”
Cairo rushed out the room, finding EMS and directing them to Rodrick’s room. Next stop, he wrapped his knuckles across Sincere’s door. A cloud of smoke greeted him before Sincere looked him up and down.
“Ah shit, C4, nigga. What’s good? Ay, I didn’t do shit,” Sincere started.
Cairo passed over the greeting and the jokes of who he used to be and got straight to the point. “Kamilla needs you.”
There was a zap of energy that moved through Sincere as he ran out of his dressing room. His hardbottom-covered feet clacking across the floor to urgently meet her halfway. “What you need?”
“Rowdy can’t do his set. I need you to handle it. Whatever artists you can pull on stage, do it. I’ll handle the overhead for it. I’m going to the hospital with him until his girlfriend gets here. You got me?”
“You know I got you. Handle that shit,” Sincere said before spinning on the red soles and going to do what was asked of him.
Kamilla looked at Cairo. “I have to handle this.”
“I’ll meet you there, handle your shit,” Cairo said.
An hour later, Kamilla sat in the hall, her eyes closed and leg bouncing. Cairo placed his hand on her knee, “Breathe.”
She pulled in a deep breath and pushed it out.
“Rodrick is bipolar. Lucci made a deal to keep him signed – rehab and medication. He was doing so good. About to retire and settle down with his long-time girlfriend. Rodrick was the only CK to show up to dad’s funeral.
He was the only one from the other side to check on my momma.
I hate he did this. I hate he did this. I can’t stand it. ”
“He’s going to be alright,” Cairo assured, his tone calm and even offering her comfort even in this in between place they were in. “Where is his management?”
“I’m very sure the management got him the drugs.
I should’ve known when he got rid of his last management team.
” She opened her eyes and swiped her face free of tears and makeup.
“All I want for him is to get better and stay better. This industry is all some of these guys have. Afraid to go back to the streets, afraid to be washed up. That man in there is good. I just want him to see it.”
“If you’ve told him and took time to show him, he knows. That’s why you’re the only voice he can hear through that noise. You’ve always been able to cut through the noise. Don’t hold this weight, K.”
“That’s hard to do. I’m already holding a lot.”
“You know I’m not going nowhere and I’m all ears. When you’re ready,” he spoke softly, leaving his ego at the door.
Kamilla gave him a loaded expression as if there was something dancing at the tip of her tongue. Before she could form her lips, the nurse appeared.
“Ms. Palmer, he’s asking for you.”
Kamilla stood and looked at Cairo. “Head back; go have fun. I’ll be here for a while.”