Backstage: Street Chronicles by Nikki Turner Read Free Book Online Page A

else not calling.”
    How did I know he was going to say that? He was really getting on my nerves. I didn’t get back half of what Bone took from me. I’m down and now he want me to come out my profit to make up the difference. Man, this shit is crazy! “So what you want me to tell them?”
    “Tell them to find somebody who know how to cook. That oil base you got to cook slow. Besides, how they going to complain when there is no work in the city and they are getting it on consignment? They were not going to do anything but cut it anyway. Tell them don’t cut it.”
    How I look telling them that? That’s bad business. Him not trying to straighten this out was bad business. I was beginning to feel Wes was like the record contract I couldn’t get out of. I couldn’t win for losing. That’s why I ain’t got nothing!
    My lawyer called me first. “Thank you Jesus.” My case had been dropped. I paid him enough. They say them Jews know what they doing. He made a believer out of me. Handle your business. I see you!
    I turned on the television and that fast it had leaked to the press. Damn! Did they know before me? I thought my fans wouldbe happy for me. The press, the world, people’s fucked-up way of thinking had turned something positive for me into something negative. They even had a number you could call to vote whether I was snitching or not. What? Why couldn’t they accept the fact that I paid seventy-five thousand dollars to my lawyer and would have given him more to get me off?
    I had a meeting with my record label. Every time something popped off or caused controversy, I thought they finally were going to let me go. I couldn’t be that lucky. My album was supposed to drop in two months and the following Tuesday I was scheduled to drop my first single. I had the full layout of my first video. I was trying to get them to let Quanie Cash direct my first video. These meetings made me sick though. They sat around and sniffed a bunch of cocaine and thought about how they were going to screw me around.
    “Well we think ‘cause of the bad publicity that we should just put your project on the shelf for a minute.”
    “What’s a minute?” I asked all frantic. I knew it was going to be some shit in the game. When I think of a shelf I think of it being dusty. Is my album going to collect dust?
    “We are in the same city. We’ll call you. Let’s just see if everything that is going on in the media blows over. Nobody loves a snitch in the music industry.”
    “I ain’t no muthafuckin snitch!”
    “Calm down. I’m not saying you are. It just doesn’t look good. That’s all.”
    I called Wes to vent and let him know what they were saying about his number one hustler. I had already sent that money. I only owed him like one hundred thousand. I knew he was going to trip. A nickel bag sold in the park, he wants in on it. I was doing my best to round it up. It’s hard when your clientele is short-handed.
    “So, is it true?”
    “Is what true?” I asked. All I could think about at the momentwas what they were saying about me. I didn’t know whether he was going to call the number and cast a vote.
    “Did your case get dropped?”
    “Yeah.” I didn’t sound like someone who was grateful or blessed. The case being dropped seemed more of a curse. Maybe it was just my punishment for all the wrongdoings that I had done in my life. Karma. My music was doing so well when I caught the charge. Now the case was gone, I’m not doing good at all. They want me to become a Ja Rule.
    Wes sat on the other end of the line quiet as a church mouse. Mouse. Rat. Wrong metaphor.
    “I’m going to have that money for you in the next few days.”
    “Forget about it.”
    “For real?” ‘Bout time he showed me some slack. Now he was being business-minded. Then I paused. Was he quoting the movie
The Godfather?
What was he going to say next? Just leave the gun, take the cannoli? I wanted to ask, “Are you done fucking with me?”