Chapter Twenty-Four
Channing
I looked down at my phone and frowned for the umpteenth time. Raheem had been blowing my phone up all damn day. I didn’t know who told this man we were friends, but he had the game all fucked up. We didn’t hang out. We didn’t get together to smoke or drink and shit. I definitely wasn’t his listening ear. I was his producer for one project, and that was it.
I pressed the ignore button then tossed the phone on the table beside me and refocused my attention back on Stella Solar. She was in the studio today, recording her second single. Her first had gotten mad play on the radio, and the label decided it was time to push her a little more. Listening to her belt her original piece was an experience.
As she came to a close, I stood and clapped for her.
“That’s what the fuck I’m talking about!” I declared.
She grinned and covered her face in excitement.
“You are gonna be a star, baby. Come on out here and listen to this playback.”
She eagerly pulled off the headphones and hung them up before coming out of the booth and taking a seat next to me. Her smile was bright as she listened to her vocals echoing through the speakers.
“I don’t even have anything to say,” I told her. “That was a perfect take.”
“Really? You mean that?”
“You were made for this, love.”
She buried her hands in her face and began to cry. “You’ve literally changed my life, Mr. Watson. If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be waiting tables at the diner.”
“I just gave you a chance to take a chance on yourself. You are the talent, Stella. You’ve got what it takes to have a long-lasting career. Big things are coming for you.”
She nodded as she wiped her tears. “I wish my father could be here to witness this. This was his dream for both of us.”
“Then you sing for him every time you sing. Make every note worth it.”
She smiled. “I will.”
“Good. You got anything else in your arsenal today? We could knock out another track.”
“Yes! Just let me grab my song book.”
She rushed back into the booth just as the door to the studio opened.
“This is a closed session,” I said without looking up.
“Boss… you may wanna go to the parking garage.”
I looked up to see James, the head of security, standing there with a worried look on his face.
“What’s up?”
“Um… the guys have Price Cole detained, and the police are on the way.”
“Detained? What’s that gotta do with me?”
He looked around the room at the rest of the engineers. A few guilty looks presented on their faces, and it told me everything I needed to know. Nate had run his mouth, and somebody in this room ran back to Raheem. James motioned for me to follow him. I sighed as I grabbed my phone and keys.
“I’ll be right back,” I stated as I walked out of the room. As soon as I closed the door, I turned to James. “How bad is it?”
“He fucked up your car pretty bad. He was trying to get into the building, but the guys got to him in time.”
I nodded. I could feel the anger brewing in my chest as we took the elevator down to the parking level where my car was. This man had lost his fucking mind. When we stepped off the elevator, I saw Raheem struggling to get away from the guards that held him. I smoothly walked over to where they stood, my eyes assessing the damage to my car. All four tires were flat. He’d busted out every single window and taken a steel bat to the frame.
Bitch shit.
“You fuckin’ my girl, nigga?” he asked, seething in anger.
I crossed my hands at my waist. “Nah, I’m fuckin’ mine.”
He tried to get at me, but security held him back.
“Let him go,” I said. “He’s got some shit he wants to get off his chest, and I’m in the mood to hear him out this time.”
The guards looked at each other then back at me.
“Let. Him. Go.”
Slowly, they released Raheem. Just as I anticipated, he swung at me. I stepped back just in time for him to miss, and I caught him in a headlock. I had a good thirty pounds and a couple of inches on him, so he wasn’t getting out of my grasp.
“Don’t you ever in yo’ muthafucking life swing at me, nigga,” I said in a low tone in his ear.
Releasing him, I shoved him away from me.
“How you gon’ fuck my bitch!” he yelled.
“One, I knew nothing of your involvement when I initially met her. Two, she was a single woman when I met her. You were too busy up Imani’s ass, so why the hell does it matter to you? Were you thinking about her when you basically admitted to me that you were fucking your labelmate? You couldn’t even be loyal to your woman, so what kind of loyalty should either of us have toward you?”
“That ain’t yo’ fuckin’ business!”
“You made it my business by opening yo’ mouth. You were out here making babies and shit and had the muthafucking audacity to be moping about a female you were cheating on because she decided she deserved better. That better wasn’t me at the time, but it is now. I’m having the time of my life with the woman that used to be yours.”
He tried to swing at me again, and this time, I let him have it. My fist connected with his face, and his body hit the ground.
“Didn’t I tell you not to fucking swing at me!” I yelled, towering over him. “Don’t make me beat your ass in this parking lot. You might be used to them country ass whuppings, but you don’t know nothing about this Cali shit. Fuck around and get yo’ muthafuckin’ top blown off and sent back to South Carolina in a body bag.”
I stepped back as the police rolled into the parking level with their lights on. They got out of the car and walked over to us.
“What seems to be the problem?” asked the one named Officer Penn.
“The problem is this grown ass man throwing a hissy fit. Look at my damn car.”
He looked around me at the damage.
“Did anybody witness this man in the act?”
The guards nodded and told him it was all on video. While Officer Penn followed James to the security office, Raheem was placed in cuffs and into the back of the crusader. I stepped off to the side to call Martin’s Auto Shop to come get my car. Raheem was gonna pay for my shit, whether he knew it or not. It was coming right off the top of those royalty payments.
He was more than likely going to get off with a slap on the wrist. The most he’d get was community service and a hefty fine. That was fine for the country, but he was coming up off my check.
While I waited for the officer to return, my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket, looking to see that it was Rhythm. I sighed as I stepped away and answered it.
“Hey, love.”
“Hey, baby… is everything okay? You sound upset.”
“I am upset. I’m about to fuck Raheem up.”
“What happened?”
“Well, he now knows about you and me. He decided to grow some balls today and call himself confronting me, but not before taking a bat to my car. My tires are slashed, my windows are busted, and my shit is all dented up.”
“What!”
“Yeah. He was big mad. Now he’s sitting in the back of a police car.”
“Channing… I’m so sorry. This is all my fault—”
“No, it’s not. I’m just as much in this shit as you are. Ain’t no blame game.”
She sighed heavily. “I hate this happened. I’ll pay for your car—”
“You’ll do no such thing. He’s gonna pay for it, and that’s it.”
“Can I at least pick you up for our lunch date? I just need to lay eyes on you, and I don’t wanna cancel.”
I sighed. “Okay. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“Okay.”
I could hear the worry in her voice as we disconnected the call, and I knew she was going to think about this shit all day. I almost wished I hadn’t told her, but it was bound to make the news. She would ask me, and I’d still have to tell her what happened.
Once the officer confirmed that Raheem had indeed vandalized my car, he was formally read his rights and taken down to the station. I had the guard wait with my car while I headed back into the building and up to the studio. He’d fucked up my day, but I wouldn’t take that out on Stella Solar. When I walked back into the studio, nobody looked me in the eye but her.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“It will be,” I said, looking around the room. “Let’s knock this out.”
We were able to make leeway in her second recording before it was time to wrap it up for the day. She left out with a smile, leaving the rest of us alone. I stood to gather my things so I could dip out for lunch. Everybody else left out while Theo hung behind.
“Yo,” he said, leaning against the wall. “You really dealing with Cole’s ol’ lady?”
I chuckled. “Since when do we discuss personal shit with each other?”
“I mean, people been talking.”
“By people, you mean Nate’s ass.”
“It ain’t just Nate. People have been seeing you two out together. That’s some messy shit, Channing.”
“Look, I didn’t know he even had a girl, just like damn near everybody else. Wasn’t shit as messy as him parading around with Imani’s ass, knowing he had a girl. Not that I owe you or anybody else an explanation, but they were already broken up when I met her, Theo. I didn’t even know they were affiliated until his listening party. By then, it was too late. I’m not concerned with her being his ex because he wasn’t concerned with her being his woman when he had her.”
He shrugged. “I mean, I guess I can see that point.”
“It ain’t a point for you or anybody else to see. We grown. Y’all don’t need to do that gossiping shit either. Let this be the first and last time you address me about anything I’m doing outside of this music. Don’t let finding yourself in my business find you an ass whupping.”
“I didn’t mean any harm, man. I’d just hate to see this shit overshadow your talent.”
“One thing about me, Theo. I’ve never concerned myself with other people’s opinions. Y’all know me at work. Outside of this building, I have shit going on that none of you know about, and I’m gonna keep it that way. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my lady is waiting on me to take her to lunch.”
I didn’t say anything else as I left the studio.