Chapter 14 Freedom
We’re telling Jamie today that you’re his father, and we decided that if he wants to fly to see you, we would let him fly alone or with Peace, since he already trusts Peace. Just let us know when is a good time for him to visit you.
I immediately replied,
I’m in Nashville for the weekend. I can send for him and Peace to fly out tomorrow, and I’ll make sure he’s back in school on Monday morning.
Expecting her protest that it was too soon, I’d been surprised by her response.
Okay. I’ll let you know if you need to make arrangements.
My heart fluctuated between joy and pain. Joy because I would finally meet my son, and pain that her text shouted a reminder that she was a married woman who would keep her distance.
“Mr. Cade, should I park at the studio and wait for you, or do you want me to get your bags settled at the hotel?” The driver announced as he slowed to a stop in front of Alonzo Taylor’s studio in the suburbs of Vegas. He’d requested a meeting to nail down dates and plans.
“Wait for me. No need to check into a hotel. Change of plans. After I meet with Zo, I’m flying home to Nashville.
Call my assistant and ask her to cancel my hotel and book me on the last flight.
If she can’t find something commercial, private is fine.
” I stared at his sprawling studio in the suburbs of Vegas. “We might be a minute.”
“Yes, sir.”
I opened my door and strolled up the path to the front door.
Before I could knock, a clean-shaven Alonzo with wildly growing hair stepped outside with a wide smile.
Living in the desert had tanned his caramel skin to bronze.
He’d grown leaner with muscles, and he looked younger and healthier than when I last saw him.
“If the mountain won’t come to Mohammad, then Mohammad comes to the mountain. ”
“Which one of us is Mohammad in this situation?” I lifted a brow.
He grabbed me into a hug. “Stop trying to hold on to anger. Yeah…yeah…I know I fucked up. We are here now. Let it go. It’s time for us to eat like the young folks say.”
“Glad you recognize you old.” Genuine happiness and love flowed from his embrace.
How could I stay angry with a man who was a mentor to me when I first started out?
Obviously, the years he was away from the spotlight helped him.
I hugged him back, and the tension that coiled inside from the moment I stepped off the plane until now, released.
“Where’s your guitar?” He looked past me.
“In the car.”
Alonzo shoved my shoulder playfully. “Oh, you were really mad with me. The Free I know always has his guitar strapped to his back, ready to play. And I have some ideas. I made sure it’s just you and me.” Zo yelled to my driver, who stood outside the car on his cell. “Can you get his guitar?”
My driver looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded. The buzz of creativity flowed between us like it always did. I was ready to see his ideas, and the dullness I’d been experiencing since I left Jamaica lifted.
Music had always been my salvation and my reason.
“Remember, while we were in VIP and that woman bent in front of you at a party and started giving you a blow job, just like that.” I laughed loudly.
“I remember thinking that that’s how I know I’ve arrived.
When a random woman wants you so much, she drops to her knees the minute you step into a room. ”
Alonzo shook his head. “The crazy part was that it wasn’t that type of party. For a second, I started to stop her, but back then, my dick answered for me.” He asked with a wicked smile. “Did you ever arrive?”
“Yep.” I rubbed my hands together. “At a restaurant in Puerto Rico. This Latino Mama,” I affected a horrible Spanish accent.
“She came up to me while I was with my band, drinking and talking shit. Told me she was a fan of my music when I asked how much of a fan. She kissed me on the lips and gave me a lap dance that ended with her head between my legs. In. Front. Of. Everyone.”
We howled naughtily before dapping each other off, and I stuffed more potato chips in my mouth.
“That shit gets tired after a while, too much noise coming from everywhere, and you don’t even care about the music anymore,” Alonzo commented.
We were in his large studio playing around with lyrics and music for a new song and discussing the upcoming tour.
Deli sandwiches, chips, and sodas were everywhere.
Alonzo didn’t drink anymore, and once I told him I’d been clean, he’d promised to help me stay on that path, and how he’d found true love and that his life had been much more meaningful once he gave all that up.
“I’m glad everything happened the way it did with those women falsely accusing me of rape. I was living foul. I ain’t never raped nobody, but I did whatever I wanted because I had power, and if you’re not careful, you abuse it.”
“And end up canceled.” I finished glumly, thinking of some of my behavior and attitudes toward women and substances. “Lately, I haven’t been feeling this career.”
“I can tell. Heard it in your last album and could see the deadness in your eyes. I’ve been there. Thought I could help. We need you out here breaking records and barriers. It’s why I reached out.”
“You mean reached out to my management when you could’ve called me?”
His forehead crinkled briefly. “Wasn’t sure how you felt. Had to check the temperature. This business is cutthroat. You’re a superstar now, might not want to be associated with Zo Taylor anymore.”
“Naw, I don’t roll like that. We both came from struggle, and you let me play on your record when people weren’t quite sure what to do with a black man wearing a cowboy hat who plays a guitar, sings country, and raps.
No matter how big I get, I never want to forget how small I was.
And I’ll never forget the people who put me on. ”
Alonzo dapped me again, “Can’t ever forget.”
His collection of awards lined one wall, and on the other was a large, beautiful wedding portrait of him and his lovely wife. In the photo, he gazed into her eyes as he kissed her left ring finger. They made a gorgeous couple like Jamaica and me would.
Except she was already married and determined to stay married to Kody.
I wistfully complimented, “That’s a beautiful picture. How long have you been married?”
“Almost two, with a lifetime to go.” He beamed. “She and her son changed my life. She and my baby girl are coming over later to meet you.”
I smiled. “I get to meet the baby?”
“Yes. I’m a sucker for her. Sage better watch me because I swear she’ll be spoiled rotten.”
“Marriage and family look good on you.”
Alonzo waved his hand before grabbing a sandwich. “Took me way too long to realize that. I hope it doesn’t take you that long. Learn from me. Get you a good woman and let all that other trash go. You can only have so much different pussy.”
“The woman I want is married to someone else. Just found out she has my baby.”
His eyes widened, and he dropped his sandwich on the wrapping. “Say what again? You have a baby with a married woman?”
“No, she had my baby when we were teenagers, and I didn’t find out until recently. Just saw her again after fifteen years. The feelings never stopped. Crazy, right?”
“Before I met Sage, I would’ve thought you were crazy, but I know different now. True love doesn’t end just because the relationship did.”
“Well, she wants to stick to her marriage because she needs stability for her children, and I’m this big star who the world needs more of, or some bullshit.” The sting of rejection sharpened my tone.
Alonzo shook his head. “It’s not bullshit.
She’s right. Do you know how many talented people want the careers we have?
I promise you there are a lot more talented rappers than me, and yet I wore the crown for years.
” He spread his arms wide. “Those awards and record sales aren’t bullshit.
I didn’t put you on just because you could sing and rap.
I put you on because I saw the star in you.
And guess what, I wasn’t wrong. You’re meant to be extraordinary, and it takes a special woman to be with men like us.
They recognize that they have to share us with the world, and most women are selfish when it comes to their men.
My wife struggled with my career. Still struggles because she’s a behind-the-scenes woman and hates all that attention. ”
“Sounds like Jamaica.”
“That’s her name?”
“Yeah. We were both teased about our names in high school.”
“I like it. My stepson’s name is Poet. Guess the name of our daughter?” He smiled.
“Dude, way too many possibilities.” I chuckled.
“Sun Aries,” Alonzo announced proudly, and grabbed a cigar from inside a box on the table and passed it to me.
“Sounds like you.” I smiled, happy for my friend who’d come through the storm of this harsh entertainment business intact.
“I suggest you focus on your child, and if you and Jamaica are meant to be, it will happen. Shit, men trap women with their babies the same way women try to trap men. Well, you got her trapped. Make it happen.”
“Facts.” I knocked on the wooden table before sniffing the cherry-flavored cigar. “Supposed to meet my son. Might meet him tomorrow. He’s fourteen and grown up believing another man is his father. Can’t lie and say that I don’t worry he may not like me.”
“I didn’t find out that my brother, who was killed as a teenager, had a child until she was in her twenties. Something about her being blood, and we just clicked. It’ll be the same for him because you want to be his father.”
I sank back in my chair. “Zo, when did you become all deep and shit?”
“When I found love.” He placed the cigar in his mouth and held up a lighter. “To breaking records on this world tour and having the love you deserve.”
“To breaking records and love.” I lifted my cigar.
My cell pinged.
Jamie wants to fly out tomorrow and meet you. I’ve already reached out to Peace. Figured you might have been too busy to tell him.
A lump formed in my throat, and I held up my cell.
“My son wants to meet me tomorrow.”
Alonzo grinned from ear to ear, and he lit his cigar. “Congratulations to you. The summer coming up, bring him here to the studios, and he can watch us work.”
The possibilities of everything my son and I could do fluttered through my mind. I would be a damn good father, and the happiness I experienced only with Jamaica extended to Jamie. And I hadn’t even met him yet.
With an abundance of joy, I replied to her text:
I’ll make the arrangements. Just know that I thank you so much for deciding to have him, even though I wasn’t there for you. I will never take our son for granted, whether you and I ever become one again. Love you always.
Not expecting a response, I put my phone down and grabbed my guitar from the booth. Ready to use the overwhelming emotions to stoke my creativity. “The juice is flowing again. We should crank something out before I leave in a couple of hours.”
He puffed on his cigar. “Answer your text first and then we about to do another smash. I feel it.”
Balancing my guitar, I reached to pick up my cell.
I trust you will take good care of our son, like you took care of Peace. Love you more.
Alonzo whistled. “You should see that goofy smile on your face. Must be your woman.”
“She will be one day. Bet my career on it.”
Jamaica would be my wife one day. For now, it was about my son, and whenever she realizes that she can’t live without me any longer, I’ll be waiting with open arms.
I pulled my strap over my head. “You ready?”