Read Online Time to Shine by Nikki Carter - Free Book Online Page B

deliberate pause, he starts to play.
    I sing, “You checking up on me/You checking up on me/Who do you think you are?/You don’t own me/You don’t know me/I’m a star, baby/Nobody checks up on me.”
    Dreya squeals with delight as we finish the song. “That’s hot! I love it. When can I record it?”
    â€œWe have to write the second verse, and the bridge,” I say. “But it’ll be next week.”
    â€œWhy do we have to wait until next week? You and Sam were always able to bust out a song in an hour or so. What’s up?” Dreya asks.
    I’m not even going to respond to this. Dreya knows exactly what’s up between me and Sam. Everyone in our camp knows. She’s just being messy right now. Sam takes off his baseball cap, scratches the top of his head, and replaces it. I know what this gesture means. He’s trying to avoid answering the question too. It’s amazing how much I picked up of Sam’s individual tics from dating him just that little short time.
    â€œSunday, can I talk to you in private for a minute?” Dreya asks. Then she looks at Sam, Shelly, and Big D. “Can we have a second?”
    Big D frowns. “Am I being kicked out of my own studio?”
    â€œJust for a minute,” Dreya says. “I really, really need to talk to my cousin.”
    Okay, what is Dreya on? My cousin? I haven’t heard her refer to me that way since we were little. She doesn’t even introduce me as her cousin. She’s always like, “This is Sunday.”
    Sam pulls his hat low on his head and stands from the keyboard. “Sunday, get at me before I leave, even if we have to finish this song over the phone.”
    He doesn’t wait for my response, but goes upstairs two steps at a time. Shelly sets her plate of pound cake down on the table and follows behind Sam. Big D is a lot slower in getting up the stairs. I’m starting to be concerned about him. All that weight he’s carrying cannot be good.
    When they are safely upstairs with the door to the basement closed, Dreya says, “Sunday, I’ve got something to say to you. And it’s gonna be hard, but I have to do it.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œI am sorry for what I did to you. I’m sorry I went to Epsilon Records and tried to get you dropped from your deal.”
    This is a shock! An apology from Dreya? Am I being punk’d?
    â€œWhy did you do it? I still don’t understand why.”
    â€œSunday, don’t you see? You are a better singer than me! You write songs. You’re prettier than me! I just wanted, for once, to be better than you . . . to have something that belongs to me.”
    â€œWow. I don’t even know what to say.”
    â€œBut I don’t feel the same way anymore. I know that there is room for both of us.”
    I am skeptical of this entire conversation. This is so unlike Dreya that I think it has to be coming from someone else.
    â€œDid Evan tell you to apologize?” I ask.
    Dreya shakes her head. “No, but he did tell me I was wrong to hate on you. I thought he’d be on my side, but he wasn’t. He thinks family is everything.”
    â€œSo it took Evan to tell you everything my mom has been saying to you since we were little?”
    Dreya looks at the floor and shrugs. When she raises her head there are tears in her eyes. “Sunday, do you know how jealous I’ve been of you our entire lives?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou had the good mother. Auntie Shawn works hard and y’all always had someplace to stay. Me and Manny never knew where we were gonna live, or even if we’d have dinner.”
    I bite my lip and sadly think about Dreya’s life. Aunt Charlie was always in kickin’-it mode. She partied hard, even when she needed to be there for her kids. My mom always had to bail her out and make sure my cousins had a roof over their heads. It always irritated me when they lived