by Briann Danae
Five
Walking in the club, bobbing his head to Travis Scott “3500”, Shemel took a hit of his blunt, then passed it to Pierre. They had been smoking all day and he had lost count of what number they were on. The place was packed, but that was to be expected. They had been promoting the show for almost two months now. Mel didn't really need to promo, but he wouldn't knock the other niggas who did. Shit, that was how he made it this far.
His bodyguard Larry, that his brother Omar requested be in attendance, tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. Nodding his head toward the section that was marked off for him and the fam, he walked in that direction. That was after multiple people wanting to take pictures and females who couldn’t seem to keep their hands to themselves stopped him. He was rocking some red True Religion jeans, a simple black tee, with his black Nike boots. His dreads were tucked underneath a skully cap and the only jewelry he had on was his Rollie and rope chain.
Glancing around the venue, he saw a bunch of familiar faces, mainly females. They were dressed in little to nothing, even though the temperature outside was freeze-yo-ass-off cold. That’s what it was all about for them though, the attention. A few niggas were giving him mean mugs, but he wasn't tripping. A nigga will never prosper hating on the next man, and he couldn't give less of a fuck about ‘em.
Stepping into the roped off section, everybody started piling in. The section was big enough to hold at least twenty-five people, but it was only about fifteen of them. All family. He knew his cousins would be trying to bring chicks up there, if they weren't already on their way, so he wasn't tripping. Grabbing the bottle of D’Usse out the ice, he poured a cup and started sipping. He had been getting high since this morning and needed something to balance him out. Shemel didn't know where the blunt he passed Pierre earlier had gone and wasn't even bout to look for it.
“Aye nigga! Don't be over here getting fucked up and you can't perform,” Laron yelled over the music.
“Like that’ll happen,” Mel said, chuckling. It didn't matter how much he drank or smoked, his ass was performing. As soon as he hit the stage, he’d sober up a little bit, but for right now, he was chilling. He didn't go on until one and it had just hit eleven-thirty.
A group of females walked into their section and Mel immediately sat up. He wasn't checking for none of ‘em, but he wasn’t comfortable with random people in his section. Especially females. Touching his waist, he made sure his gun was there, just in case anything popped off. Looking over at Pierre, he saw him do the same thing. They were on the same shit. Bitches would be quick to set a nigga up, no matter how fine they were.
A Spanish looking chick walked over and stood in front of him. She wasn't bad looking. A little on the chubby side from eating all the tamales, but she was pretty. She was wearing some white high-waist jeans and a lace bralette that had her nipples on display. Mel shook his head at how underdressed she was and knew he wouldn't dare fuck with her, especially coming out the house dressed like that. Nah, he wasn't feeling little Selena at all.
“Hey Young Mel,” she said seductively.
“What's good?” Mel replied nonchalantly.
“I can't wait to see you perform later on. I know you gone kill it.”
“Yeah. I appreciate that,” he replied, taking another sip of his drink.
This Spanish chick reached down to grab the bottle and before Shemel could respond, Ricky was going in.
“Yo, what is you doing?” he said, swatting her hand away.
“I was just getting me a drink. Y’all got us up here, but ain’t offering nothing.”
“I ain’t invite you up here, that was them niggas,” he said, pointing towards Fatz nem. “We gotta save these drinks for the bad bitches.”
“What you tryna say nigga? I am bad,” she said with her hand on her hip.
“You bad alright. Bad body as fuck. You ain’t make the cut ma. You gotta go,” he said, chuckling. Ricky didn’t like chubby girls at all. He liked his women skinny, with just enough ass to grip. Plus, little mama’s attitude was about to piss him off. She looked over at Shemel and all he did was shrug his shoulders. He didn’t care what happened.
“Are you serious right now? Fuck you, box head ass. I’m too fine to be up here anyway,” she said storming off, trying to get her friends’ attention. They weren't paying her any mind though, so she just left out of their section.
“Yeah yeah, Kangaroo pouch. Go down there and find a lame nigga,” Ricky said, laughing. He was high as hell and was lit off Patron.
“You gotta chill man. These females gone jump you,” Mel said, laughing.
“I wish a bitch would put her hands on me. I’d shoot her fingers off,” Ricky said seriously. Only females crazy enough to deal with him were the ones who were just as crazy.
Mel laughed as he continued to sip his drink. His mama had told him not to get too faded cause there was going to be some big names in the building tonight, but he didn't listen. He had to be in his zone, especially around all these people.
Across the way, on the other side of their section, Pierre had some chick bent over, touching her toes, twerking to “Throw Sum Mo”. She had hella ass, so throwing it was not a problem at all. The ladies flocked to Pierre, just like every other nigga in their circle. He's light skinned, standing at 6'1, tattoos covering almost every part of his body and what the ladies adored most; his slick mouth. He could talk a chick out of her panties in no time. He was just that nigga.
Nodding his head in approval at little mama doing her thing, Mel stood up from his spot, ready to peep the scene a little more. Walking in, he didn't really get a chance to check the crowd over like he wanted to, but now was perfect timing. Standing behind the railing, he looked through the dark crowd. The only area with light was the bar, and the different sections. On the floor, there was only enough light so you could squeeze your way through.
A few other local rappers nodded their heads his way. Many of them had been wanting to do a collaboration, but they money wasn't looking right. Back in the day, he wouldn't mind, but not anymore. Niggas would be quick to try and make a come up off his name. The same way Meek did Drake. Young Mel didn't need to do no features; he was poppin' by himself. Only reason he did the collaboration a few days ago was because his manager said it would be a good look for the show. Whatever involved the right amount of money looked good to Shemel, so he hopped on board.
Looking down at his watch, he had about forty-five minutes until he went on. Time was moving quick and he was getting even more anxious. Like hustling, he enjoyed the rush of seeing the crowd rap along to his lyrics. It was his adrenaline to keep him going. He put his all into his music and for people to fuck with it on such a level he didn't think would happen, he felt honored. Mel glanced toward the door to see if there was still a long line, and his eyes damn near popped out of his head.
"Damn. She’s dressed simple as hell and still fine," he said, licking his lips.
Brix, Carissa, and their friend Lexi strolled through the entrance without paying a dime. The bouncer wanted Carissa's number, and the only way he was getting it was if he let them in for free. She convinced him she would throw him the digits and once he lifted the rope, she rattled off the fake number she gave almost every dude. Walking straight in, the trio waited until they were a good distance away to clown the bouncer.
"Girl, that nigga was not getting my number. He looked old enough to be my daddy," she told Brix, while laughing.
"Right! The hell he thought this was," Lexi joined in.
"He was mad creepy too," Brix replied, while fluffing her hair out. When she got off work yesterday, Carissa finally decided to tell her where they were going for the weekend, so she roller set her hair using perm rods. Her hair was so thick it took her about three hours for it to completely dry, and she was not happy about that. Taking the rollers out this morning though, she was glad she didn't get impatient, because her hair was giving every bit of life.
Not big on the uniform
ed look everyone went for, she used her pick to dishevel them in small sections before she achieved the look she was going for, big, and that it was. Her attire for the night were some black ripped skinny jeans, a cream cropped sweater that stopped just below her belly button and some olive green booties, which were her fave. She had them in just about every color. Topping the outfit off with a leather jacket and her MK clutch, she was ready to hit the bar.
She and Carissa had been drinking the whole ride there, but it seemed as soon as they stepped out of the car, they sobered up quick as hell. Lexi offered to drive since she had to work in the morning and knew a hangover was not something she could afford to be dealing with. With it being her last day of training on her new job, she was not taking any chances of waking up late.
Snatching her arm away from multiple guys, Brix finally made it to the bar area and took a seat. She had visited Club 210 plenty of times in her younger days and was grateful for the number of bars they had. Carissa and Lexi stood on each side of her, ready to place their orders as well.
"Three Patron and pineapples?" Brix asked her girls.
"Make it five. Two for us, and one for the baby over there," Carissa said, smirking. Brix told the bartender the order and sat back, listening to the two debate.
"You know I can outdrink you any day. Don't play," Lexi said, laughing.
"Girl bye. You be drunk off of two little shots, then be all in yo feelings over Trey," Carissa replied, before digging in her purse to pay. Trey was Lexi's boyfriend of two years. He worked for Pepsi as a truck driver and was on the road for long periods of time. So, of course, she had a right to miss him.
"At least I have someone to be in my feelings over. Which nigga cut you off this week?" Lexi laughed, slapping hands with Brix.
"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" she laughed before placing the money on the bar. Tonight, the bar had a deal going on. Drinks were two for three-fifty and Carissa planned to come back for as many as possible.
Taking their drinks from the bar, they headed toward the stage so they could have a better view. Brix didn't really want to be up front, because the lights were killer, but she didn't want to stand alone either. Carrying her two drinks and sipping slowly, she could already feel the effects of the tequila. They had been drinking Malibu Rum in the car and the mixture of the two had her feeling lovely.
Shemel watched from his section as Brix and her crew walked through the crowd like they owned the place. He had seen some bad females tonight, but they were killing it effortlessly. Pierre came and stood by him, sipping on his dirty Sprite, and threw his arm around his shoulder.
"What's good bro? You ready?"
"Fasho. I just seen my future wife walk in though," he said, with his eyes still fixated on Brix. It didn't matter that there were hundreds of people surrounding her; she stood out among them all.
"Maaan, here you go. Get ya mind right and off these bitches," Pierre said.
Mel looked over at him and said, "She ain't no bitch, P."
"Whoa! Excuse me my nigga," Pierre said, laughing.
"You good. I gotta get her though," he said, shaking his head. Shemel made up in his mind; if it was the last thing he did, he was going to cuff little Brix. He had to. The fact that she turned him down so easily, made him even more attracted to her.
"I hear you. We'll catch up with her later though. Let's head to the stage," Pierre responded before walking away.
Walking out the section and down the stairs, they walked through the back of the club to get to the stage. They didn't have time to be squeezing through no crowd and niggas tryna snatch chains. They'd end the little show before it even got cracking, fucking with them.
Once they finally made it on stage, it was like the spotlight was on them, instead of the rapper performing before him. Shemel bobbed his head to the beat, taking a sip of his bottled water. He trashed his cup before they walked out the section. He didn't know who the rapper was on stage performing, but he liked his flow. He reminded him of Lil’ Snupe when he was alive and killing shit; the accent and all.
"Aye! What's dude name performing?" he asked Jerome, who was rapping along.
"That's that young nigga Vino I had told you bout a while back. He nice ain't he?" Jerome asked.
"Yeah. I’mma have to link up with dude. How old is he?"
"Young man. He just turned twenty-one."
Mel nodded his head, already plotting on his next move. Talent that raw and at that age was hard to come by. He was gone make sure they swapped contact info before the night ended. Giving thanks to the crowd, Vino walked toward the exit where Mel was standing and nodded his head.
"Good shit,” Mel told Vino, before tossing his water bottle to Jerome.
Walking on stage, his heart rate increased. The energy from the crowd had him hype, and although he wasn't new to this, he still got the jitters when first gracing the platform. Grabbing the mic from his DJ, he spoke to the crowd.
"What's good St. Louis! Y'all ready to turn this bitch up?" he asked, with his voice booming throughout the club.
"YEAHHHH!" the crowd screamed and clapped. Weed smoke could be smelled in the air from blunts being passed around on the under.
"Nah. Y'all don't sound ready. I said, is y'all ready to turn this mufucka up!" The crowd went wild and his DJ dropped the beat.
Standing next to Carissa, who was rapping along with Mel and moving her hands like she was in a rap video, Brix looked on with lust in her eyes. She wasn't sure if it was the liquor that had her feeling this way or the way Shemel’s dreads swung around wildly as he hyped the crowd up. Licking her lips, she started to sway to the beat. Since she didn't know the lyrics, she just focused on his lips as he spat into the mic.
"Okay, bitch! I see you representing for yo man," Carissa said jokingly. Little did she know, in Brix's mind, she was doing just that. Taking the last sip from her second drink, she sat the cup down and leaned over to whisper in Lexi's ear.
"How does she know all the words?" she asked smiling. She was tipsy as hell and on the verge of being drunk.
"This mixtape has been out for a while. The words are really catchy if you just listen to ‘em over and over," Lexi replied, bobbing her head. Unlike Brix, she knew who Shemel was way before he became well known. He and her brother used to play on the same AAU team back in the day. She would have never thought lil Mel would be slanging dope and rapping about it years later.
"It just seems so hard to remember," Brix said laughing. "Maybe I'll have him teach me."
Lexi looked wide-eyed at Brix's statement and shook her head. She knew her friend was definitely drunk talking like that. Just earlier this week, he wasn't her type. Now she wanted to learn his lyrics like she was a fan. Lexi wouldn't blast her out right now though. She'd save that for tomorrow, once the alcohol wore off.
The DJ began to play his latest song that he uploaded to YouTube just the day before. The video was already at ten thousand views and was definitely going to receive more after tonight. Mel’s promo team had put in work the last twenty-four hours to make sure the song was heard before tonight’s show. By the looks of the crowd, their hard work hadn’t gone unnoticed.
On the other side of the club, Reilyn and her group of friends stood in VIP, watching her "man" perform. She had been to plenty of his shows and wouldn't dare miss one, regardless of if they were fucking around or not. Taking a sip from her champagne flute, Reilyn swayed her hips to the beat.
"Girl, who in the hell is Mel down there rapping to?" her friend Neka asked.
Squinting her eyes to get a better look, Reilyn shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure, but we sure as hell about to find out."
Getting all her crew’s attention, they filed out of the VIP section like they just walked off the runway. Slightly pushing people out of her and her crew’s way, Rei made it to the stage just when Mel was motioning for Brix to come on stage with him.
"No the hell he didn't," Reilyn said in disbelief.
"Yes the hell he did,"
Neka said, chuckling. She low-key had a thing for Mel, but Reilyn just had to have him. Neka was stuck with messing with one of his cousins, but she didn't care. As long as she could be around Young Mel, she was good.
Shaking her head no, Brix tried stepping out of the random spotlight that was shining down on her. Shemel had his hand out as he rapped to her, wanting to pull her on stage.
"You better get yo ass up there and claim your man," Carissa said, pushing her toward the stage steps. Looking back over her shoulder, Brix flipped her off and climbed the steps. She was nervous as hell, but the alcohol gave her that liquid courage she needed to get through this.