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“I’m sorry ma, you want me to cook for you before I leave?” She slowly pulled out of my embrace and wiped her face then cleared her throat. I had never seen someone transform that fast from crying to being absolutely fine.

“No, I’m fine, I have a date and I need to be getting ready for that.” I looked at her shocked because she sure was going out a little more than normal.

“Who is this guy ma?” I gave her a curious look and she just blushed and touched the curling rods in her hair to make sure they were still in place.

“He’s just a friend chile. How’s Praylah doing? I tried calling her and she didn’t answer.” She changed the topic fast and I caught on to her not wanting to tell her business to me, yet she loved knowing all of mine, including Praylah.

“I don’t know, I have to go see about her but don’t want to run into that man of hers.” I shook my head. Praylah was back with Jarei and I didn’t know why. She didn’t explain it much, but she said she felt like it was best to work on her family no matter how imperfect it was. I hated that for her, but she had to find her own backbone. I was starting to become used to Praylah’s indecisive mind. One moment she was done then the next she was doing it for Heaven. Which was a weak ass excuse.

“I wish she could let him go; I’ll be praying hard for her. That boy is the devil.” My mom picked up her phone, the screen lit up, and she smiled like she saw a message that had her super geeked.

“Your father called, said he wanted to meet with you sometime next week.” My stomach instantly dropped. I didn’t like the fact that my father always called my mom first as if I was a kid when it came time to see or even talk to me. I knew that he really didn’t even want to see about me. He just liked to somehow have an excuse to talk to my mom.

“Why didn’t he just call me and say that instead of making it weird.”

“Chile, I don’t know. I wish the nigga would just call you. Every time I hear his voice, I run to the bathroom to take a shit because he makes my stomach hurt that bad.” Silence fell over us and we both fell out laughing. My mom couldn’t stand my father and she had every right to feel how she felt. My dad didn’t really want to see me like I said. Usually if he did, he would send one of his famous long text that he sent every other year when he was feeling guilty of not being a good father. I loved him still, but he was sorry as hell in the dad department. Now that I was grown it didn’t bother me much. I just was over getting worked up and hopeful with him.

I stayed and talked a little longer with my mom then finally said my goodbyes. I made my way to my car and headed straight home. I guess I would finish enjoying my day off since it was right back to work for me tomorrow. I still didn’t know if Praylah would show face at work. I hope she did because the last thing her ass needed to do was quit and become dependent on her nothing-ass baby daddy.

Pulling in front of my house my phone started ringing on cue. I frowned at the unknown number but still answered out of curiosity.

“Hello?” I placed the phone on speaker.

“Hello, am I speaking with Era?” The voice belonged to a woman. Her voice was soft and low.

“Yes, this is her, may I ask who is calling?”

“Sure, this is Shelby Watts. I’m a friend of Soulful Hurtz. I wanted to set a time and date to sit down and meet with you. Soulful sent me a couple of videos of you from Instagram and you have talent and the voice to go along with it.” Her voice cheered up and my stomach fluttered for multiple reasons.

Soulful Hurtz was still on my mind heavy when he shouldn’t have been. The man was fine and knew exactly what to do with all the dick he was packing. Too bad he was another cheating dog that happened to be married. I wouldn’t let that mess up the great connection he gave me with Shelby.

“I’ve been blackballed by my ex-boyfriend Devin. He produces and also manages big celebrities; the list goes on of all the things he contributes to the industry. I caught him cheating and broke up with him. He promised me that I wouldn’t get far. So, I’m letting you know this because I don’t want to waste your time.” I blurted that out fast. My mom always taught me to keep it real and be upfront. She taught me that time meant everything, and to demand for people to respect my time and that I should respect theirs.

“I’ve had a few clients that were supposed to be blackballed but now they’re multimillionaires. I don’t want you worrying who this so-called pig of an ex is. You give me his name and trust me when I say my connects and reach will triumph right over him.” I smiled at that because since my encounter with Devin and him showing me that contract, I felt super helpless. It felt like I would never reach my biggest dreams.

I loved to cook but I was in love with singing. It did something to me every single time I hit a high or low note. Singing repaired all of the hurt I ever endured. It was therapy for my soul and mind, so I never planned on stopping. I just thought that I would never get far.

“His name is Devin.” Shelby would be the first person that I admitted this too. I didn’t want to tell my mom or uncles because I knew that if I told them how dirty Devin was playing with me, they wouldn’t hesitate to touch him.

“He will not be a problem. Now tell me Era, are you ready to become a big star? Because that’s where you will be headed working with me. There will be late nights, early mornings, and things will move fast as hell. I can promise you, with your voice and my expertise we will go far. All you have to do is give me a day and time to meet and I will send you the address to my office.” My eyes welled up with tears, I could hear my heart beating through my eardrums.

“Tomorrow. I can meet with you tomorrow, anytime.” This was big and I was hopeful that Mr. Brownston would understand me calling off of work. Before I called him, I planned on calling Praylah to see if she could cover for me so I wouldn’t have to bother Mr. Brownston.

“Great, I was hoping you said tomorrow. I will send you the time and address. See you tomorrow, Era.”

“Thank you, see you tomorrow.” I hung the phone up and just stared at it for a couple of seconds not believing the call I just got. If I had Soulful’s number, I would call him and thank him a million times but then again, I didn’t want to bother. The man was married and probably didn’t want to be reached. My disappointment in Soulful almost took over me until I pushed it away. I already made myself accept that he was a married man, and I had no business even thinking about him.

That was a hard task when he blessed me big time by sending Shelby my way. It also made me wonder how he even got my number to give to Shelby when we never exchanged digits. Then again, men like Soulful could do just about anything he wanted to with the money he had.

I checked out my house and noticed a couple of kids on bikes riding by. My neighborhood was peaceful way quieter than where my mom stayed at in south-central LA. Focusing back on my phone, I called Praylah first. It rang a couple times then went straight to voicemail. Getting pissed off with her ignoring me and me having to cover for her at work, I called again. I couldn’t keep covering and hiding the fact that she hadn’t come in to work for over two weeks. Mr. Brownston was a businessman, he wouldn’t hesitate to fire her ass no matter how much he liked her he was a firm believer in setting a perfect example and he never showed favoritism. His favorite saying was, “a job is a job”.

“Damn bitch, why the fuck you keep calling?” I could hear Heaven whining in the background and that pulled at my heartstrings tough.

“Nigga who the fuck you calling, bitch?” I looked at the phone like I was daring Jarei to confess who he was talking so boldly to.

“You bitch! My bitch can’t be friends with yo’ burnt skillet fat ass. Stop texting her about that fuck ass job and asking if she is okay. Praylah ain’t working that job nor coming around yo’ ugly fat ass no more. She a stay-at-home mother now.” He chuckled at the last part and I wish me and him were face-to-face so I could stomp his damn private parts out.

“Look how insecure and controlling you sound. You know your little small-time hustling ass can’t keep a solid income coming but now your ego is bruised. I can’t wait until Praylah sees how she doesn’t need your needy ass! She has her parents and me to help and back her. Oh, and not only does she has us, she has Debo, nigga! So, if something happens to her, you might as well kiss your pathetic ass life away!” I hung up before he could say anything. I said a quick silent prayer for my best friend hoping that she would snap out of whatever trance she was in.