Chapter 12
Leaving Graham behind was harder for me than I thought it would be.
However, I was ready to get my career on the right track.
Kimaji had been extremely quiet on our flight, and I wasn’t sure why.
Graham had taken us to the airport, and I’d kissed him long on the lips.
He was so damn sexy. The man at the airport had to blow his whistle at us.
Although we were at the private entrance to the terminal, it seemed extremely busy for a Tuesday.
Noah had funded our tickets, thankfully, so we would be flying with Premier Wings.
I just hoped no one looked at me funny, thinking I’d gotten Graham in trouble.
We would be on the aircraft he typically worked on.
“Maj, you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure? You’ve been quiet, and that’s unlike your ratchet ass.”
She shoulder bumped me as she smiled. “I just can’t get some things out of my head.”
“Some things like what?”
She glanced at me. “If I tell you, you can’t say shit to nobody, not even Graham.”
“Damn. That bad, huh?”
“Yeah. So umm . . . remember when Mama said she was connected to his mama’s pain or abuse rather?”
“Yeah.”
“Her dad repeatedly raped Missus Sidney when she was a kid. She got pregnant at like twelve or thirteen years old. Her mom took her to have an abortion, and they fucked her up. She ended up having to have a full hysterectomy.”
“Oh my God.”
“That’s not all,” she said, then huffed.
“When Mama had Graham and had gone home, his dad was drunk and raped her fresh out of the hospital while she was still bleeding. She was struggling emotionally and during her struggles, she thought about Sidney. She didn’t give Graham up.
She gave him to Sidney. That bullshit about going through the state is a story they concocted together.
That’s why Missus Sidney let her keep up with Graham. ”
“Maj!”
I burst into tears. Hearing so much trauma was heart wrenching, especially when it came to people I knew.
“That was her way of trying to make up for what her dad had done to Sidney all those years ago. I don’t know what made her come clean about it to me, but I’m glad she did.
We sat on the floor almost the entire night, crying our eyes out.
When she was raped by his dad, she thought about Sidney.
Her mental was so fucked up about what he did to her that she could only imagine how Sidney felt having to repeatedly go through that with her dad as a kid, not to mention Sidney’s mom knowing about it .
. . initiating it all to get her drug fix. ”
I sat in the nearest seat. We hadn’t gotten to our gate yet. This was overwhelming, and for once, I wished I didn’t know the tea. This was so fucking sad. I closed my eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat.
“So is your mom from Beaumont or is Missus Sidney from Houston.”
“Sidney is from Houston. She moved to Beaumont not long after finishing law school.”
“Jesus. I don’t think Graham needs to know that. It won’t change anything.”
“He doesn’t need to know at all.”
We stood from our seats and continued down the corridor to our gate. After knowing the truth, I was just as quiet as she was.
“I’ll probably sleep during the flight. I’m so damn tired. I only got like three hours. I need to be at my best for when we get to Baltimore. You know Noah has a son and so does RJ. They are close to our age. They’re both single too.”
I slightly rolled my eyes as my phone vibrated. Checking it, I saw a message from Graham. I miss you already.
I smiled slightly. I miss you too.
I would have to get my feelings in check, because I could imagine all this shit would come to mind every time I looked at him.
If it was a lot for me, I could only imagine how all this affected Ms. K and Mrs. Sidney.
Doing my best not to focus on it, I put in my earbuds and cued up Noah’s artist profile on Apple Music and tried to escape.
“Yo! Welcome to Bal’damore!” RJ said as he opened the door to Noah’s office building for YKMN Records.
I chuckled. His deep voice vibrated my insides every time I heard it. Kimaji was blushing as well.
“Thank you! It’s good to be here,” I said.
“Yep. Y’all come on, and I’ll show you where to go. I was just heading out.”
He led us past the receptionist and to a huge conference room.
Noah was in there along with some other executive-looking people.
When we entered, everyone stood and started clapping.
My eyebrows lifted, and my face heated up.
If this was how they were welcoming me, I couldn’t wait to see the process.
I wasn’t even signed yet. I glanced at Noah, and he was smiling big, then made his way to us.
“What’s up, shorties. Let me introduce y’all to everybody.”
He put his arm around my shoulders and began making introductions.
Once that was done, Maj and I sat, but he remained standing.
He went to the front of the room, and before he could say a word, everyone’s eyes were on his.
I had never seen so much respect in one room amongst so many professionals.
There were at least fifteen other people here.
The door opened and another man walked inside. “My apologies, Noah. Exodus and Sharee’s meeting with Nike ran over.”
“No problem, Russell.” He turned his attention to me.
“SOLA, this is Russell. He will serve as your temporary management. You can vet him. If you like him, you can sign him on permanently. He was my manager before I was discovered until I hired Jah. Once we divorced, he was back on like he never left.”
Russell chuckled. “It’s nice to meet you, SOLA, and . . .”
Kimaji giggled. “I’m Kimaji.”
He nodded and shook our hands.
“My bad, Maj. I wasn’t overlooking you.”
She waved Noah off, and he began speaking to the room.
“We need a big announcement. I mean huge. She came from piss poor business. I want to show SOLA just how professionals are supposed to operate. Not only that, but I want to show her that she is worth just what she think she is, plus some. She has way too much talent to have so much downtime. She should be in demand every time she takes a deep breath. Secondly, I don’t want her in the streets grinding as hard as she is. That’s our job.”
“Noah, why don’t we get a fire track produced, showing the artist lineup .
. . everybody spit a bar, Noelle, Kenya, TAZ, Karma do the hook, like a girl group, and have SOLA come through last with about four bars.
Almost make it like a cinematic six-to-ten-minute spot.
We can hit every social media platform, along with a spot on a couple of major networks. ”
“I like that idea. TAZ could come through with her polyharmony at the end. Any other ideas before I move on?”
“I had an idea,” an older gentleman said. “I don’t think it trumps this one though. Secondly, I think you and Jax should spit a bar in it as well.”
Noah slowly shook his head and smiled. “A’ight.”
I frowned slightly as I looked around, then lifted my hand. “Yes, ma’am, SOLA?”
“I umm . . . I’m still signed with another label.”
Noah smiled and turned to the lady next to him. “Could you pass the contract and other paperwork to Miss SOLA?”
She smiled and passed it to me.
“So, SOLA, I want you to know that you deserve so much better than the hand you’ve been dealt.
I absolutely hate to see people being taken advantage of.
I looked over your bullshit contract and found several breaches in that shit.
I hope you don’t take offense to me doing so.
I called Sidney Taylor and had her make a few ‘threatening’ calls about taking them to court. ”
My eyebrows lifted. “How did they breach the contract?” I asked.
“All this shit you doing to get more publicity . . . They’re supposed to be doing that shit.
There’s actually a fee for it in your paperwork.
They also guaranteed production costs for your first EP.
They didn’t do that. They recouped it out of your royalties.
There’s quite a few other things listed in the report from Missus Taylor.
So after my call and Sidney sending her findings, they gladly released you from your contract and sent a check for production costs. ”
My eyes widened as I brought my attention to the paperwork.
The letter of release was on top, then there was a statement for a deposit into my account in the amount of one point three million.
I started crying. I couldn’t contain my reaction to their care.
They had beat me out of over a million dollars, and I didn’t even know it. Jesus.
Maj was rubbing my back as I cried. “Wow. Thank you so much.”
“Mm-hmm. So can we continue?” he asked with a smirk.
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
Everyone laughed and clapped. This alone made me trust Noah as much as I trusted Maj.
I grabbed her hand under the table as it trembled and listened intently as the meeting continued.
By the time I left, I was a signed artist with YKMN and had attended my first financial literacy class.
Maj had even attended it with me. I was given a signing bonus of half a mil and guaranteed transparency throughout this whole process, which was truly unheard of in this industry.
I had a meeting with Sonya next week to discuss my style and branding. She would meet me at my house. Then the week after, I would be meeting with Jah for marketing. Noah told me I could also look into her as well for management. Although she was retired, she still did favors for him.
As we were leaving out of the building, RJ was waiting for us to take us to our hotel to change. We would be meeting everyone for dinner in a couple of hours. I was so overwhelmed with emotion I hugged RJ. He held his hands out, trying to figure out what was going on. Kimaji was laughing loudly.
“She’s just happy, RJ. Noah was everything she thought he would be, plus more.”
I pulled away from him and saw him frowning. “That nigga a’ight.”
I laughed. For a moment, I thought he was frowning because of how I hugged him. “He’s more than a’ight, RJ. I ain’t never had nobody look out for me like that in the industry. He’s the real deal.”
He smiled as he opened the door. “Yeah. He has a big heart. He don’t like seeing people being taken advantage of. Don’t fuck over him, though, because the nigga petty as hell.”
I chuckled. “Well, I have no intentions of causing his petty side to appear. The way he looked out for me changes my entire outlook on my career. RJ, that man has to be the apple of God’s eye.”
He rolled his eyes, causing us to laugh.
Noah had a song titled “Apple of God’s Eye” some years back.
The rest of the ride was light and filled with laughter.
RJ was an entire fool, but I could tell there was a thug hiding under all the jokes.
I’d been around my brother long enough to recognize it.
Once he got to our hotel, he walked in with us and made sure the room was clear.
I assumed that was something he was used to doing for Noah.
When we walked inside, my breath was taken away.
Flowers were everywhere. Lilies, roses, tulips, and daisies .
. . all of them red. I didn’t know where they’d all come from, but with as beautiful as they were, I didn’t care.
Kimaji walked over to a bouquet and pulled a card from it.
She handed it to me, and I slowly opened it to read,
Congratulations, baby. I’m so proud of you for standing up for yourself, knowing you deserved better.
Noah is going to make sure you make it to where you’re supposed to be.
He’s going to give it his all. You’ll see my family tonight at dinner.
I wish I could be there with you to congratulate you properly, but I’ll see you when you get back. Congrats again. ~Graham
Once again, tears were rolling down my cheeks.
I was so fucking overwhelmed. God was truly looking out for me in my foolishness.
It was orchestrated for me to be on the flight the day I met Graham.
It was orchestrated for Sonya and Sharee to be on it as well.
Everything happened for a reason, even bullshit.
Something beautiful came out of something so superficial.
Graham was just as bad as I was, but here we were embarking on something that could be so beautiful.
I quickly pulled my phone from my bag and sent a text.
Thank you so much, baby. They are beautiful.
I inserted crying emojis. My emotions were on overload, and I couldn’t believe how perfect today had been.
Noah and YKMN had laid out the red carpet for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Today wasn’t even over. I couldn’t wait to call my daddy and tell him.
Bilal and Mama would have been so proud.
Kimaji came over and hugged me tightly. “I’m so proud of you, Arlie. You’ve put in the work, and it has paid off. You deserve all good things, sis. I love you.”
“I love you too! The journey has been a lot, but you have been a constant, Maj. I appreciate your love and support every step of the way. Every woman needs a friend like you.”
“Girl, same for you. When you signed that record deal, you could have forgotten all about me.”
“Why would I forget about the most solid friend I’ve ever had? For your loyalty and support, you deserve this as much as I do.”
We shared tears of joy and love, then began admiring all the flowers in the room. “My brother laying this shit on thick. With the way y’all started, I would have never thought it would progress to all this.”
“Me either, but I’m not mad about it.”
I sat on the bed and lay back, staring at the ceiling with a huge smile on my face. I just wished my mama and brother could see me now.