by Denora Boone
“I had always wanted to start a gospel label under Hype Lyfe but my old man was against it. Both me and my mama tried to get him to see the bigger picture but he was too against it. Felt like it was a waste of time and money. Anyway, when he pulled that stunt on me after the showcase I knew it was time for me to make moves on my own,” he said.
“You mean when he gave the position away that you earned?”
Nodding his head to her question, he continued.
“When that cat got on stage rapping about God and then you followed behind him blowing us all away, I felt like that was a sign to step out on faith.”
“So you were finally able to convince your dad?”
“Nah. This is all me. I gave him my resignation letter a while back and took the money that I had saved up and started the process to open my own gospel label,” he said shocking her.
“Oh my God, baby! I’m so proud of you!” Qyree had told her what he wanted to do for a while, but she never thought he would go that far and actually do it. She had been praying for God to lead him and it looked like her prayer had been answered.
“Thanks, Chey. It was a big step and I’m still not too sure how it will all work out, but I’m going to give it a try. I mean, as long as you stand by my side,” he said to her with a questioning look.
“Of course I have your back. What are you going to name it?” she asked.
“I’m not sure yet. I was hoping we could come up with something together. And who knows, maybe you can record your first platinum album and put us on the map,” he laughed lightly, but she didn’t join in with him. Immediately at the sound of stepping into the studio again, Chey felt like she was going to be sick. She was just good with supporting Qyree on this new journey, but the past that she still wasn’t over was slowly creeping its way into her present.
Qyree watched her demeanor change yet again at the mention of her being in the studio. This wasn’t the first time he brought it up and her mood changed suddenly. She would get this far away look on her face and her breathing would become rapid like she had just run a mile. Each and every time he asked her what was wrong, she brushed it off and he knew that if he gave her the opportunity to blow it off again, she would. Before they went any further in their relationship, he needed to know what demon she was fighting and how he could help her to get over whatever she had gone through. Qyree may have been new and starting over in his walk with Christ, but he knew the power of prayer, thanks to Chey. Saying a quick and silent one, he moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her and just stood there. Nothing had been said between the two of them for close to ten minutes, before she finally opened her mouth.
“My mother had one of the most amazing voices that I had ever heard,” she began. “As far back as I could remember, when she would tuck me in at night she would sing this little song she made up.”
Qyree said nothing as he observed the side of her face. She still had the same faraway look in her eyes, but she was now smiling as she thought about her mother.
“I love you a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck. A hug around the neck. And a barrel and a heap, a barrel and a heap and you make my life complete…” she sang and trailed off. The tears that were falling down her face wouldn’t allow her to continue, and Qyree was unsure of what to do so he held her tighter.
“I was six years old when it happened. All my mother talked about was becoming a singer. She wanted nothing more than to sing to the glory of God, but my father was against it. He felt like if she got discovered then she would leave him and find someone better. He didn’t think that she wanted to do it to make a better life for us all. So she snuck behind his back and started going to the studio. It wasn’t often because she couldn’t afford booking time on the regular because she didn’t want my father to know.
This particular day, she decided to take me with her. I had been begging to go for so long and she had finally given in. I wouldn’t dare let my father know because I knew he would be mad and not let me go again. My mother told him that we were going to the store for something for dinner, but we ended up at the makeshift studio that her friend had set up in her basement. Ms. Janice’s brother lived with her and they had dreams of making it into the music business, and they knew the talent that my mother was gifted with would set it off,” Chey paused.
“Have you ever shared this with anyone, Cheynese?” Qyree asked her. She knew he was serious because he never called her by her full name. All she could do was shake her head no.
“I’m listening, bae. I got you.”
Taking a deep breath, she continued with the most difficult part of her past.
“I still don’t know how my daddy found out where we were, but he did. When my mother heard him yelling from the front of the house, she made me hide. There was a table in the room that had all of the equipment set on it, and it was covered by a big black table cloth that touched the floor. Mommy didn’t want me to go under it just in case it fell, so she made me go behind it and be quiet.
I’ll never forget the look of fear in her eyes as she told me, for what I didn’t know would be the last time, how much she loved me. As soon as the words left her lips, the first shot rang out. Sheer terror covered both of our faces as she told me to be as quiet as I could. She turned to run out of the room when the second shot became closer than the first. God, I was so scared I wet my pants and prayed that he didn’t smell the pee. If he did, he would know where I was.”
By now, she was shaking and trembling inside of Qyree’s arms so bad he had to take her and sit her in the car. Kneeling down beside her, he did his best to comfort her. He should have known it was something horrible by the way she acted, and he was now kicking himself for prying. Had he known it was going to be this bad, he would have left it alone.
“Chey, baby, I’m so sorry you had to go through this and I only made it worse asking you to talk about it. I’m so, so sorry baby,” he apologized as she shook her head.
“No. I needed to get this out. The haunting has been so bad for almost twenty years and I can’t keep letting the enemy attack me in this area any longer.”
Taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes, she finished.
“Don’t get me wrong, my daddy was a good man. He took care of home and we never had to worry about a thing. That was until he lost his job down at the chalk mine that he was working at. It seemed like everything went downhill after that. My parents constantly argued about Mommy going out and getting work, but he was dead set against it. He was the head of the household and if she was to go out and work, that would look like he wasn’t handling business. So when she kept bringing up the singing, he thought she was trying to leave him. I would never forget the night I lay in my bed and heard him tell her in a tone neither of us had heard before, that if she tried to leave him, he would kill her. That day in the studio, he kept that promise,” she said looking Qyree in his eyes, and his heart felt like it was being ripped out of his chest. No longer was she crying and her breathing had become normal again.
“Mommy ran out to try and stop him or to calm him down, when they began yelling back and forth. She was telling him how she just wanted a better life for us and how she didn’t mind helping. That’s what God put her in his life for, to be his help mate. He wasn’t trying to hear anything that she was saying and then all of a sudden it got quiet. I started to move from my hiding place, when I heard my mama scream before there was another shot. Scared still, one last shot went off and the sound of death in that house was louder than any sound I have ever heard.”
Qyree was at a loss for words as he tried his best to comfort and console Chey. Looking at her on the outside, you would think that she had it altogether, but she was really in a constant battle on the inside. He couldn’t imagine having to face what she had faced at such a young age. To see his mother and father fighting over a woman was as bad as it had gotten for him, but Chey had to experience the loss of not one, but both of her parents.
/> They sat outside the building a few more minutes before deciding to go and get settled in for the night. He had a date night planned for them but after the bomb she just dropped, he knew that all she would probably want to do was check into their hotel room and chill. That was fine by him, because as long as he was in her presence, that was all that mattered to him. He could do nothing for the rest of his life but as long as he was doing nothing with her, he would be satisfied.
Shaking his head, he kissed her head and shut her door so that he could walk around to his side of the car and get in.
“I’m sorry Qy, for dropping that all on you like that,” she said bringing him out of his thoughts. All his life, he had been taught to care only about his feelings and in this moment, he realized that everything wasn’t just about him. There were so many people who were hurting, especially the women he used, but there were even more people who failed to pay attention to the needs of others. That wasn’t what God put them here for.
It was then that Qyree made the conscience decision to repent for all of his sins. He couldn’t go another day being as selfish as he had been and with God on his side, he knew that he could be a better man than he had been. People never realized how their testimonies, as bad as some were, could be that one thing that stood between someone else and Christ. He hated that Chey had to endure so much pain, but there was purpose in it. A powerful purpose at that.
Pulling out of the lot, Chey welcomed Qyree’s hand inside of hers and she felt like such a burden had been lifted by getting that horrible memory out. While her healing may have just taken place, Qyree couldn’t help but to feel like something was on the way. A raging storm was brewing and it was headed right for him.
-21-
Since Chey’s revelation the day before, Qyree decided to wake up early and have breakfast delivered to her in bed. He could only imagine how tough it was for her, so he wanted to do whatever he could to bring that smile he loved so much back to her face.
They had a suite with two bedrooms so after the three chick flicks she made him watch, she ended up falling asleep on him. After making sure everything was secure, he eased out of her room and decided that he too would call it a night. He wasn’t even pressed about sleeping in the same bed as her and he could tell that she was shocked at how he responded to her when she let him know. Yeah, his old ways may have preceded him, but he was all about trying something different. It was never too late to change and for him, a future with Chey was his motivation.
Picking up the phone, he was glad that he had been paying attention to what she liked to eat. Qyree was glad that she wasn’t shy around him when it came to eating like most of the women in his past. She said she would rather get full than be around him with her stomach sounding like a mating call in the wilderness. That was something else he loved about her. Chey had a sense of humor out of this world and kept him laughing.
Thirty minutes after he placed their order, room service was knocking on the door. He knew she was still asleep by the sounds of the trees being sawed down in her room. Chuckling to himself, he opened the door to a bad lil’ mama on the other side. Her body was on point and her face wasn’t half bad either. She was definitely someone he would have tried to make a pass on under normal circumstances, but it amazed him how he felt nothing. For the first time in his life, Qyree really felt like he had found the one. If Chey could make him pass up making a new notch in his player’s belt and giving up that playboy life, she had to be a keeper.
“You ordered breakfast, handsome?” the girl whose nametag read Rena, asked.
“Sure did,” Qyree said keeping it short and pulling out a twenty for a tip.
Holding her hand out to stop him from handing over the money, she said, “No need for that, but I wouldn’t mind your number instead.”
It’s funny how now that he was trying to change his life around in a different way, women throwing themselves at him was no longer appealing to him. Since being back in Chey’s life, seeing how she carried herself, and him getting closer to God, his outlook on life was different. Did he get close to slipping a few times? Absolutely, but he was able to catch himself before he messed up the blessing that had come into his life.
Smiling politely, he shook his head and replied, “No thank you, sweetheart, my lady won’t appreciate that much. I appreciate you bringing us our breakfast though. You be blessed,” he said closing the door.
Chey had been awakened when she heard knocking at the door and as hard as she tried to come out of her slumber to get it, she just couldn’t move fast enough. She had hoped Qyree didn’t hear her snoring because she was sure if he did, it would be a turnoff for him. She had left her nasal strips at home by accident, so she knew it went down while she was asleep.
Opening up to him the way she did the night before had drained her, but it was much needed and for the first time in years, the dream that haunted her did not replay itself as she slept.
By the time she made it out of the room Qyree was already at the door and she could hear that he was speaking to a woman. When she declined his money and asked for his number, the first thing she felt like doing was making her presence known, but just as fast as that thought came it left. If Qyree was serious about them as he had declared, then he would handle this situation accordingly. A relationship had to be based on trust and if she didn’t trust him, there would be no reason for them to move forward. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel like she didn’t believe he could change and continue to hold his past over his head. If God didn’t remind Paul that he was a murderer, who was she to remind him of the man he no longer was.
Hearing his response to the young woman made her heart swell, and she silently thanked God. She didn’t thank Him for Qyree claiming her as his woman, she thanked God for the turnaround in his life. She prayed that even if they didn’t last forever, Qyree would stay on the right path. He was so much more than what he thought he was and she hoped he could see it as well.
Chey hadn’t even noticed he was looking into her smiling face until he was right up on her. She had been so deep in thought about him.
“What you smiling at? I know ya boy fly early in the morning. I woke up like this,” he said standing back and striking a pose.
Chey couldn’t help but to laugh, but suddenly stopped when she realized she hadn’t brushed her teeth yet and instantly covered her mouth.
“Yea, you might want to throw something around in that mouth real fast before you do all that laughing. Almost burned off my beard; you know how long it took me to get it like this?” he laughed.
She punched him in his chest with a closed fist, as he faked pain.
“That was not funny! My breath is not that bad,” she pouted as he walked closer to her and put his arms around her waist.
“If smelling your hot breath for the rest of my life guarantees me that I have you for the rest of my life, then that’s what it is,” he said sincerely placing a soft kiss on her lips. “Now hurry up so we can eat and get out for the day before we have to go to dinner at my parents’ house.”
Chey saw how his mood changed that fast and instead of calling him out on it, she nodded her head and walked over to the food. Looking down in awe, she smiled. He had been paying so much attention to her and what she liked, and the breakfast before her said that. Chey loved her eggs scrambled soft with cheese and steak strips, a side of hash browns topped with mushrooms, and a bowl of strawberries and cantaloupe. She had to have a cup of Tazo Passion tea each morning or her day started off on the wrong foot. For him to think of her in such a way meant so much to her, and she could see this relationship was heading in the right direction. So why was her gut telling her something was about to try and knock them off course?
-22-
Jaxon sat in his office looking over the paperwork that sat on his desk. He was so overwhelmed with work that he hadn’t had a day off in what felt like years. As soon as Qyree turned in his resignation letter, things went downhill. Jaxon didn’t think
about what his son’s reaction would be once he told him he was giving his job to someone else. He felt like since Qyree was the best man fit for the job, he would continue to work in the same capacity as he had been doing all of these years. In fact, he had been the reason that they had all of the hottest acts that they had now, but that wasn’t enough to give him the position he was working for. That position belonged to someone else and come hell or high water, he was going to sit in it soon.
Now, it didn’t bother him at first that Qyree quit, but the moment he found out he was starting his own label, Jaxon flipped. There was no way that he was going to allow his son to outshine him. That was the main reason that he wouldn’t let him get that spot. Had he been given that title, all eyes would be on his son instead of Jaxon and he wasn’t having that.
“Mr. Reeves, your wife is on line one,” he heard his assistant speak through the phone. Not bothering to reply, he simply picked up the receiver and pressed the button to bring Zaria on the line.
His marriage was rocky before, but it was even worse now. He could only imagine what she wanted being that she hadn’t said one word to him since she came back from the doctor a week ago. She had one of the nastiest attitudes known to man and that was another reason why he had been staying downtown in his condo with Natalia. She, too, was getting on his nerves with all of her nagging and whining, but she always knew how to please him when he was stressed. That’s all that mattered to him anyway.
“Yea Zaria, what’s up?” he asked with an obvious attitude.
“Don’t forget Qy and his friend are coming over for dinner. Do you think you will have time to jump out of the trashcan you been laying up in long enough to find your way home?” she shot back, matching his attitude. He could tell that she had been drinking by the way she was slurring her words.
“I’ll be there,” he said and hung up in her ear. If Zaria was already drinking, then he knew it would only be a matter of time before something jumped off this evening, and he wasn’t looking forward to it. The only reason he was going was because he wanted to let Qyree know that he wouldn’t make it in this industry without him, and either he gets back on board or risk getting blackballed. Jaxon was such a force to be reckoned with that he knew his reach would be far. There would be no one that would want to associate themselves with his son if he had anything to do with it.