especially on the first night. But there was something about Prince that left me wanting all of him, forever.
7
Trent
I pulled in front of the shabby-looking storefront bar on Merrick Boulevard and smiled. As Ice Cube would say, “Today was a good day.” I had my car back, I’d just gotten five hundred dollars and my dick sucked by this stupid ass chick who thought I was a stockbroker. To top that off, I was about to get paid again, because I was picking up Indigo and we were headed to Atlantic City. I was paying for the hotel room, but I’m sure once I pretended to lose all my money at the tables she’d pick up the slack and hand over a couple’a grand so I could continue to have fun. So yeah, today was a good day.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
I looked out my car window and my contented smile disappeared at the sight of Jasper’s toothless grin. Jasper was the right-hand man to my mentor, Big Mike Wilson. Mike owned 718, the small lounge I was parked in front of. Jasper ran the bar while Mike, a former member of the early eighties one-hit-wonder rap group called the Supreme Team, ran a rinky-dink music studio in the basement. He tried to make it seem like he was helping struggling rappers get a break, but Mike wasn’t fooling me. He might have helped a few brothers break into the industry, but the truth was that Mike wasn’t doing anything different from me. He was beating people out of their money. Almost everyone who came in there couldn’t rap or sing worth shit, but Mike would take their money and encourage them to make as many demos as possible. Mike’s famous line was, “I can make you famous.”
“Yo, Trent! Mike wants to see you inside. He just finished that girl’s demo.”
“Yeah, aw’ight. Tell ’im I’ll be right there.” Jasper stepped away from the car, and I took a few seconds to get myself together. I had to make sure my clothes and hair were right. Image is everything, especially when you’re gonna be around a guy like Big Mike Wilson. When I stepped out the car, Jasper was waiting for me by the entrance to the bar like I was some little kid who might get lost. I ignored him and walked inside where I was greeted by Indigo and Big Mike’s new flavor of the month, Beverly, sitting at the bar.
“Trent!” Indigo shouted.
She jumped up from her seat and ran over to me, wrapping her arms around my neck before kissing me square on the lips.
“Thank you!” Kiss. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Kiss, kiss, kiss.
“Wow, I guess things musta went pretty well, huh?”
“Did they.” She sighed. “You gotta hear my demo. I sound better than Alicia Keys. Beverly thinks we should cancel our trip to A.C. and go meet with Russell Simmons this week.”
“Is that what Beverly thinks?” I glanced over at Beverly and rolled my eyes. She was always getting into shit that was none of her business. I, for one, was gonna be glad when Big Mike found another piece of ass.
“Uh-huh, what do you think?” Indigo gave me this pleading look, and I knew that after we returned from Atlantic City I was gonna have to cut her loose. Not that I wanted to. She was actually a pretty decent girl and way more generous than I would have expected. And by the way she was falling for me, I could probably milk her for another five or ten grand. It’s just that she was so damn worrisome and now that her demo was finished it was obvious she was gonna drive me crazy about meeting Russell Simmons. Shit, the only thing Russell and I had in common was that we were both from Queens.
“I think it’s a great idea, only I just found out Russell’s out of town till next week. Besides, I wanted to let some other people listen to your demo while we were out of town. See if they can write some songs that’ll fit your range.”
“Big Mike said I had better range than anyone he’s ever worked with. He said I was the type of singer he’d love to work with. That he could make me famous. Didn’t he, Beverly?” She
7
Trent
I pulled in front of the shabby-looking storefront bar on Merrick Boulevard and smiled. As Ice Cube would say, “Today was a good day.” I had my car back, I’d just gotten five hundred dollars and my dick sucked by this stupid ass chick who thought I was a stockbroker. To top that off, I was about to get paid again, because I was picking up Indigo and we were headed to Atlantic City. I was paying for the hotel room, but I’m sure once I pretended to lose all my money at the tables she’d pick up the slack and hand over a couple’a grand so I could continue to have fun. So yeah, today was a good day.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
I looked out my car window and my contented smile disappeared at the sight of Jasper’s toothless grin. Jasper was the right-hand man to my mentor, Big Mike Wilson. Mike owned 718, the small lounge I was parked in front of. Jasper ran the bar while Mike, a former member of the early eighties one-hit-wonder rap group called the Supreme Team, ran a rinky-dink music studio in the basement. He tried to make it seem like he was helping struggling rappers get a break, but Mike wasn’t fooling me. He might have helped a few brothers break into the industry, but the truth was that Mike wasn’t doing anything different from me. He was beating people out of their money. Almost everyone who came in there couldn’t rap or sing worth shit, but Mike would take their money and encourage them to make as many demos as possible. Mike’s famous line was, “I can make you famous.”
“Yo, Trent! Mike wants to see you inside. He just finished that girl’s demo.”
“Yeah, aw’ight. Tell ’im I’ll be right there.” Jasper stepped away from the car, and I took a few seconds to get myself together. I had to make sure my clothes and hair were right. Image is everything, especially when you’re gonna be around a guy like Big Mike Wilson. When I stepped out the car, Jasper was waiting for me by the entrance to the bar like I was some little kid who might get lost. I ignored him and walked inside where I was greeted by Indigo and Big Mike’s new flavor of the month, Beverly, sitting at the bar.
“Trent!” Indigo shouted.
She jumped up from her seat and ran over to me, wrapping her arms around my neck before kissing me square on the lips.
“Thank you!” Kiss. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Kiss, kiss, kiss.
“Wow, I guess things musta went pretty well, huh?”
“Did they.” She sighed. “You gotta hear my demo. I sound better than Alicia Keys. Beverly thinks we should cancel our trip to A.C. and go meet with Russell Simmons this week.”
“Is that what Beverly thinks?” I glanced over at Beverly and rolled my eyes. She was always getting into shit that was none of her business. I, for one, was gonna be glad when Big Mike found another piece of ass.
“Uh-huh, what do you think?” Indigo gave me this pleading look, and I knew that after we returned from Atlantic City I was gonna have to cut her loose. Not that I wanted to. She was actually a pretty decent girl and way more generous than I would have expected. And by the way she was falling for me, I could probably milk her for another five or ten grand. It’s just that she was so damn worrisome and now that her demo was finished it was obvious she was gonna drive me crazy about meeting Russell Simmons. Shit, the only thing Russell and I had in common was that we were both from Queens.
“I think it’s a great idea, only I just found out Russell’s out of town till next week. Besides, I wanted to let some other people listen to your demo while we were out of town. See if they can write some songs that’ll fit your range.”
“Big Mike said I had better range than anyone he’s ever worked with. He said I was the type of singer he’d love to work with. That he could make me famous. Didn’t he, Beverly?” She
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