Chapter 9-15 (END)
Chapter 9
I walk into the studio. Bueno was in the booth recording a cover of a 2pac song. I look at him and smile. He smiles back at me. I lean against the wall and I listen to him.
He raps:“Come on come on
I see no changes. Wake up in the morning and I ask myself,
“Is life worth living? Should I blast myself?”
I’m tired of bein’ poor and even worse I’m black.
My stomach hurts, so I’m lookin’ for a purse to snatch.
Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he’s a hero.
Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares? One less hungry mouth on the welfare.
First ship ‘em dope & let ‘em deal to brothers.
Give ‘em guns, step back, and watch ‘em kill each other.
‘It’s time to fight back’, that’s what Huey said.
2 shots in the dark now Huey’s dead.
I got love for my brother, but we can never go nowhere
unless we share with each other. We gotta start makin’ changes.
Learn to see me as a brother ‘stead of 2 distant strangers.
And that’s how it’s supposed to be.
How can the Devil take a brother if he’s close to me?
I’d love to go back to when we played as kids
but things changed, and that’s the way it is”
I watch him take off the headphones. He looks at me and left the booth. He signals Rubetta to come to him and she did. I see him whisper something to her. He hates me, right now. He walks over to me and grabs my hand, spins me around and wraps his arms around me. “I love you, you know that shawty.” I blushed a little. “Now, how about a sing song, Cassie?” I nod. “Get in the booth,” he says letting me walk a little, before he slaps my butt. I walk into the booth and put the headphones on.
I sing: “Oh baby baby baby
I see us on our first date
You’re doin everything that makes me smile
And when we had our first kiss
It happened on a Thursday
Ooooo it set my soul on fire
Ooo baby baby baby
I can’t wait for the first time
My imagination’s runnin wild
It feels like ooooo
You don’t know my name
And I swear it baby, it feels like oooo ooooo ooooo ooooo
You don’t know my name”
Bueno presses a button and says, “one more song or you should work on your EP.” He looks at me and smiles. Before I met Bruno, Bueno would never make me sing one more song. It’s always one song per session, but now that Bruno came in our lives. He wants me to work for him, now. I feel like he’s using me now, but I need to not care about it for now. I care about Bueno a lot, a lot, but Bruno… He doesn’t know me, all too well.
Chapter 10
I look at the lyrics on the stand. It was the lyrics to Miss You by Aaliyah. I look at Bueno. He was folding his arms. I look back at the lyrics and sang the song.
It’s been too long and I’m lost without you
What am I gonna do?
Said I been needin’ you, wantin’ you
(Said I need you)
Wonderin’ if you’re the same and who’s been with you
Is your heart still mine?
I wanna cry sometimes
I miss you
Off to college
Yes, you went away
Straight from high school
You up and left me
We were close friends
Also lovers
Did everything
For one another
Now you’re gone and I’m lost without you here now
But I know I gotta live and make it somehow
Come back…to me
Can you…feel me (Callin’)
Hear me…callin’ (For you)
For you…’Cause it’s
It’s been too long and I’m lost without you
What am I gonna do?
Said I been needin’ you, wantin’ you
Wonderin’ if you’re the same and who’s been with you
Is your heart still mine?
I wanna cry sometimes
I miss you
Now I’m sittin’ here
Thinkin’ ‘bout you
And the days we used to share
It’s drivin’ me crazy
I don’t know what to do
I’m just wonderin’ if you still care
I don’t wanna let you know
That it’s killin’ me
I know you got another life you gotta concentrate baby
Come back…to me
Can you…feel me (Callin’)
Hear me…callin’ (For you)
For you…’Cause it’s
It’s been too long and I’m lost without you
What am I gonna do?
Said I been needin’ you, wantin’ you
Wonderin’ if you’re the same and who’s been with you
Is your heart still mine?
I wanna cry sometimes
I miss you
It’s been too long and I’m lost without you
What am I gonna do?
Said I been needin’ you, wantin’ you
Wonderin’ if you’re the same and who’s been with you
Is your heart still mine?
I wanna cry sometimes
I miss you
I…can’t…be…no…more
Since you went away I
Don’t really feel like talkin’
No one here to love me
Baby do you understand me
I can’t do or be without you
It’s been too long and I’m lost without you
(Tell me what I’m gonna do)
What am I gonna do?
Said I been needin’ you, wantin’ you
Wonderin’ if you’re the same and who’s been with you
Is your heart still mine?
I wanna cry sometimes
I miss you
It’s been too long and I’m lost without you
(Tell me what I’m gonna do)
What am I gonna do?
Said I been needin’ you, wantin’ you
Wonderin’ if you’re the same and who’s been with you
Is your heart still mine?
I wanna cry sometimes
I miss you
It’s been too long and I’m lost without you
(Tell me what I’m gonna do)
What am I gonna do?
Said I been needin’ you, wantin’ you
Wonderin’ if you’re the same and who’s been with you
Is your heart still mine?
I wanna cry sometimes
I miss you
A couple of minutes later… I see Bruno arrive and Bueno leave. I sit down on the sofa, thinking, “This is all my fault. They hate each other.”
Chapter 11
I held myself warm that night. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking of them. Damn. I am messed up. I am fucking messed up. I need something to keep me active, but what? I removed the sheets off me, and walk out of my room, and walk down the stairs. I see two guys fighting on my doorstep, not physically, but verbally. I run up to the door and opened it. “Hey,” I say. Margaritte pushes them away to the side and sighs. “Hey… Cass, just tell these two that they can’t push you to love them both at the same time. You just need to chose. Who you want to be with?” Margaritte walks in and pass me. Bueno steps in. He grabs my hand and says, “Cass, I care about-” “No, he doesn’t Cass,” Bruno interrupts Bueno. “Fuck it, boys,” I say, walking away from them and into my kitchen.
A few hours later. Bruno, Bueno and Margaritte are all in the kitchen. I’m in the lounge, watching MTV to clear my mind. “Bueno, just cut the carrots,” I hear Margaritte say. “Fine.” “Bruno watch the stove.” “What’s a stove?” “It’s what’s in front of you, bitch.” “Oh… I see it.” I roll my eyes.
A couple of minutes later. I hear one of the boys say, “What did you do? Cass is gonna kill us.” “Let’s not tell her what happened. Here hold this.” “Sure.” My heart pounded like some heavy bass drum. I stand up and walked into the kitchen. I scream. “Marge?” I sat down on my ankles, and placed my hand on top of her hand, and lifted it off. I looked at them, then at my hand. I saw blood. I got up from the floor and turned around. I see Bruno with the knife. I place my hand in front of him. “Give me the knife, Bruno.” And he did. I place the knife on the kitchen table. “What are we going to do?” Bueno asks. “We live life like it never happened. The life before all the girl is mine thing happened.,” I say, air quoting, the girl is mine. “What do you mean?” Bruno asks. “It means that your going to leave me alone.” “I guess, this is goodbye.” “Bye Bruno.” Bruno left. I grab Bueno’s hand. “Just like before,” he says. I nod. “Let’s all the cops and say that the murderer took before we can catch him.” “And that your protege saw the whole thing happen, but didn’t see that face of the murderer.” “Let’s go with that.” I smile at him and say, “You make the call, Bueno.”
Chapter 12
I lean against the door way with my arms folded. “So, what happened exactly?” he asks us. Bueno looks at me. “Tell him, what Bruno told you.” “Yeah.” “So, what happened.” “He killed my girlfriend’s friend, right in front of me.” I eyes lifted. “I’m so sorry that you have to hear it, but he did.” “So, where is he now?” “I don’t know.” I walk out of the kitchen. I take the telephone of the charger and dialed Jaime’s number. “Hello?” “Cassandra. Please, don’t believe Bueno. He just told me to hold the knife. I saw everything. He killed Margaritte.” “You lied to me,” I cry. “Cass.” “Bruno. You told me that you won’t hurt my friends, but you did. I can’t trust you anymore. We’re letting you go as an artist.” “What?” “Margaritte is my cousin. Her family owns Motown Records. We’re dropping you as an artist. Don’t come to the studio tomorrow anymore. Just do whatsoever. ‘Cause I have no time to deal with you and this shit.” I hang up and lean against the wall. I dropped down and cried.
A few moments later. I see the cops carry Margaritte’s body in a black bag. Bueno follow them out and I hear the door close shut and lock.
~+**+**+~
I start to think of Cassandra and what I saw in her place when he pushed the knife into Margaritte. Damn. Cassandra is in danger of her own death. “Jaime.” “What?” she asks me. “I need your car.” “Fine.” She give me the keys. “Go, but what do you need it first?” “Cassandra is in danger.” “What?” Her eyes lifted. “Her boyfriend did something awful and I’m scared for her.” “Go… Don’t wait around her. Go be her hero.” I smile and left.
~+**+**+~
I scream. “Come here, Cassandra.” “NO!” I run to the front door and unlocked it as fast as I could. I opened the door and ran out. I kept screaming. “You can’t run too fast for me, bitch.” “NO!” I ran even faster.
Chapter 13
I see Lyne ahead. She waves at me, smiling. “Hey,” she says. Damn. She’s so innocent and she’s with Jesse. “Jesse take Lyne and take her away from here” “Why?” she asks. “No time for asking, Lyne. Just go with Jesse. Ok?!” She nods. Jesse takes her hand and they run off, far from here. I sat down. I look around and I sighed. I see Bruno walking towards me. “Bruno go inside, the cafe. You don’t know, what you are dealing with.” I sat down, in front of me. “Whatever, Cass. I love you.” “I love you too, but you need to go.” “Now, why is that? You left Bueno at your place, right.” “He ran after me. He is gonna kill me if I see you. So, go now.” He sighs and pulls out his gun. “Take this.” “Bruno, I can’t.” “Just do it.” I place my hand on top of the gun, he places his hand on top of mine and pushes it towards me. “Think about it. Me and you together.” “Forever?” He nods. “No one can ever come between us?” “Yes.” I kiss him. I hear a gun shot. I look at my side and saw Bueno. I pull back from the kiss and put my hand on my waist. I look at my hand and I see blood. Bruno grabs my hand and sees it too. He takes the gun from the table and pulls the trigger, three times. He places the gun back on the table. I hear Bueno say, “Rikki? *looks at Bruno* Bruno, you just killed my friend.” “Well, you killed hers and mine. We’re both even now.” “Bruno?” He looks at me. “Don’t let me go.” “I won’t” He walks to me and carries me. “Where are you taking me?” He walks towards Bueno. Bueno looks at him. He places me beside Rikki. “What are we going to do?” “Well, your friend is dead and Cassandra is not. I’ll drive her to the hospital.” “I want to come.” “Sure, but I’ll leave you with her.” “Why?” “I’m leaving California for a while.” Everything went black for me and I didn’t hear anything for that moment on.
Chapter 14
I sat down, next to Bruno. “Thank you.” “For what?” he asks. “For being such a good friend.” He smiles. “I told the cops that you didn’t kill Margaritte and that I did.” “Why did you do that?” “Because it’s the truth.” I look around. “Thank you,” he says. “I’m going to jail in four months. Look after her for me.” “I can’t.” “Why?” “I’m not going to be here, next week.” “Heading back home.” He nods. “I’m sorry, but you can still be a singer, Bruno. You can be all of the girls favorite and much more. I’ll have Cassandra. She deserves you and It’s hard for me to let her go like that. She loves you and it will break her heart if you leave. Just think about it, Bruno.” He looks at me. “I want the best for her. If you leave then she’ll have to put up with visiting me in jail ever so often.” He sighs. “I know, that’s why I wrote her a song that she could sing in her album.” He gives me the sheets. I read the title of the page. “Killa on the Run.” “Yeah.” “Why?” “She’s been through a lot, recently, and Kara called me a bitch and wants me to sell the fucking song.” “Your moving to Atlanta.” He nods. “Oh, and when she wakes up. Play her this for me.” He gives me a CD. “Sure.” He stands up and starts to walk. “Bruno!” He stops walking and turns around. I walk up to him. “Come back when your okay with everything.” He nods. “Bye.” He turns back around and leaves.
“Uhmm… Sir. Miss Lopez is wake.” I follow the nurse into her room. She walks her hands up and pushes herself up. “Hey,” she says. The nurse fixes her sheets and leaves the room. “Where is he?” she asks. “He already left about an hour ago.” “He must hate me.” I shock my head. “Well, he does if he didn’t wait.” I flashed the CD at her. “What is that?” I put it in her CD player and pressed play.
Chapter 15
Well, it is time to bid, Music of the Sun. Goodbye. It’s finally came down to this, Cassandra in the hospital. Well, just read on. Press the heart button, if you want a squeal. But for now, I’m going to write Best Thing I Never Had.
I hear Bruno’s sighs and small laughs. “Uhmm… Ok. Cassandra, thank you for teaching me that love is the best feeling in the world. I don’t know what to do if I never met you. I know, there’s a lot of price to pay when you’re a struggling artist. You taught me to keep on being myself. I respect you for that. I taught me that the music of the sun is the element to every word on a piece of paper. And I actually even secretly recorded you say something like.” I laugh. “Uhmm… Fuck you, bitch. My poses aren’t natural, it’s the mafucking sun.” I hear myself laugh and say, “Bruno, what the hell are you doing?” I hear Bruno reply, “Just say something, I need something to remind us of this freak fest.” “OK.” “Go on,” he laughs in the recording. “I’ll rap then.” “A model can rap.” “Yeh ah.” “Go ahead, Cass.” “Well, I mean. I’m not just a pretty face. Call me, Lola like Lola Monroe or Kimmy like Lil Kim. But I’m a fever pitch, I just hit a home run with this boy named Bruno, Mars.” “I’m outta this world.” “Fuck it. Imma be that bitch on the street.” “What?” “Nothing.” “Imma hit it like those girls saying damn, damn, damn.” I hear myself laugh again. I hear Bruno sigh again. “Well, I’m not gonna argue with you, but your such a freak something. Damn. You can hear me. I love you. *sighs and vocalizes* Here’s something that I wrote for you.” I hear some buzzing noises, after he says wrote for you on the recording. I heard sing the song. Bueno gives me the sheets, and I read the lyrics and loved it. I wanted it. I look at Bueno. “When I get out of here, this song is my first single without a doubt.” “I know. He gave the song to you. The song will be a hit for you.” I smile.
THE END