by Will Brown
“Man, I’m tired of struggling out here. I’ve been working the Chicago circuit for a while now and I have to tell you, I’m glad that DJ recommended me to Andre and T-Bird...now I can finally feel like I’m feeding my family by making some real stacks being on this tour.”
“I believe you’re right,” JJ added. “You’re going to do just fine. I tell you what, why don’t you take a walk with me and let me show you the rest of the club?”
As they made their way to the restaurant where the dinner shows were hosted, JJ asked,
“So do you think you can give the people a few laughs? I’m going to launch your career to the next level, if you’re ready. I want these folks to hear what you have to offer.”
Little Joe stopped in his tracks and looked at JJ.
“Hey any friend of T-Bird's is a friend of mine and like I said, I’m tired of struggling out here.”
JJ immediately went to the stage and grabbed the microphone to introduce Little Joe to the people sitting in the lounge and told them what they were about to experience. While everyone looked on with anticipation, Little Joe took the mic and had them laughing to the point of tears in mere seconds. JJ just shook his head as he watched. He knew from that very moment he was going to do everything he could to get him signed with someone. Andre just folded his hands and stuck out his chest.
“I told you, didn’t I?”
“Yes you did and I’m sure glad he joined you guys on the tour.”
As soon as Little Joe finished, Shaun walked in and over to the table.
“Come man.. sit down,” Andre said. “Man you just missed it. This guy is off the chain!”
“What guy? Shaun asked.
“Little Joe. He’s from Chicago. We just added him to the tour.”
“I’m proud of you Andre. I see you’re learning fast..." Shawn gave him some dap before turning to T-Bird.
“How you doing T-bird? I thought you would be somewhere relaxing. Andre told me you guys were on your way back but I didn’t expect to see you here. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I arrived this afternoon but had to meet with the guys. While I was in Chicago, I receive some exciting news from Vivian about the foundation. I’ve got to make some important decisions before I go out and perform tomorrow night and then its on to NY.”
JJ couldn’t believe how generous T-Bird was acting towards Shaun. All he could think about was their last encounter weeks before when he tried to apologize to her during breakfast. He really didn’t think they'd resolved their differences and were working towards being friends.
Dressed comfortably in velvet sports jacket, an open collar shirt and a pair of designer jeans, he took a seat right next to her. Andre immediately reached over to slap him five to celebrate seeing him again. That alone gave him enough courage to maintain his composure as he sat with everyone.
“Shaun whatever you’re drinking, it’s on me,” JJ shouted out. “You know you’re still my boy and I must say you looking good.”
“Thanks JJ. You sure know how to make a brother feel at home. I’ll have my usual and hold the ice... Thank you,” he told the waitress.
As the DJ slowed down the night, he looked T-Bird right in the eye while admiring her.
“Excuse me, but may I have the honor of this dance with you?”
Before she could answer, he pulled her onto the dance floor and wrapped his arms around her waist.
Immediately JJ wrapped his arms around Vivian’s shoulder before commenting. “Look at those two. I still see love in those two. I just don’t understand why they can’t work things out and get back together.”
Vivian looked at JJ. “Well, some things just take time. Rome wasn't built in a day you know.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.
T-Bird had her head resting on Shaun’s shoulder. “It’s nice to see you again” Shaun said to her, holding her tight and looking into her green eyes.
“It’s nice to see you too Shaun,” she replied, as they continued to dance.
Realizing there was still business to take care of and enjoying his embracing just a bit more than she was willing to admit, she grabbed him by the hand.
“Come on. Why don’t you join us back at the booth?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t. I don’t want to do anything to ruin your night. I just wanted to see you, that's all. Maybe some other time.”
“You take care of yourself and I’ll be in touch. Okay?” She said while letting go of his hand.
Shaun just smiled. “You know I will. I just received a nice check from a past debt and I invested it in the stock market.” Everyone witnessing that moment wished Darnell right out the picture.
“Hey, where you think you’re going? You’re not leaving until you have another drink and this time with me.” Andre said. Just having that minute with T-Bird to dance was enough.
“I think I’m going upstairs,” Trey said, grabbing Carlotta by the hand to take her to the cigar cafe so she could experience smoking a stogie. She chose to light an Arturo Fuente Hemingway and could barely catch her breath after inhaling. She then told him she remembered her father smoking cigars as a child and would sneak a smoke after he would leave one in the ashtray.
Downstairs, Andre and Shaun continued drinking.
“Shaun, look man, JJ is going to give me a chance to become partner of the Club Tea Pot in London. Do you know what this means? I need you.”
“Yeah, I feel you Andre. I’m getting it together. I’m not letting another dime go to gambling...”
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Sunday arrived sooner than expected for the next stop on the tour; downtown Newark. For T-Bird, it was going to be a piece of cake because this was her city. Everyone was full of anticipation after the world premiere of her music on the air and her album release party. All weekend long the radio stations promoted the show and her new single (Can’t Wait Another Minute), while playing exerts from her interviews.
When the show began, Little Joe didn’t waste any time getting into the audiences' face with his latest jokes, making them laugh hysterically. The place was so packed, you could barely move without stepping on someone's shoes and in Newark, that was a big no no. The brothers and sisters in the city had a fetish for dressing and looking good. So, when you put on the threads, you knew you were fly and stepping on someone’s shoes was out of the question unless you wanted to get punched in the face.
Everyone was having a great time enjoying all the acts. The groups learned so much from watching T-Bird and her performances since they were all still practically new to the game. The next show was scheduled for Thursday in White Plains. The last show was on Friday at Madison Square Garden. It would be the last big concert summer event going into the Labor Day weekend, signifying the end of summer in N.Y. To perform at Madison Square Garden was a milestone in music. The fans didn’t waste any time filling seats and charging the atmosphere with excitement. Even DJ Lock Down, from WBBS, would be there. He was one of the first radio announcers promoting the show.
The show schedule was hectic and time moved with the speed of light. Before anyone realized, it was Friday night and Madison Square Garden was slammed people and media of all types. It was one of the most defining moments in T-Bird's career, as well as the other performers and a huge success. Backstage there was nothing but excitement, as all of T-Bird's closest music and business associates came out to support her. Carlotta was even able to get her girlfriends Jessica and Amelia backstage passes thanks to Trey...
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Meanwhile, back in Atlanta, Desiree was meeting with Gary, the private investigator she'd hired to keep an eye on Darnell.
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After the show, everyone met at the Tea Pot for the after party. They took their regular booth and drank bottles of Champagne and Cognac cheered all the performances. Request for autographs came from all directions as they dispersed to the different floors in the club.
Andre
pulled out the accounting sheets, showing the revenues from the two concerts totaling $1.6 million.
“Look here, after paying for advertising, radio slots, posters all over the city, security, insurance and the stagehands operating the sound and lights, we’re still walking away with a million. Can you handle that?” he asked.
“I sure can,” Melvin the piano player interjected, sipping from his glass. “Just keep showing me the money baby, and I’ll keep playing my ass off!”
“No doubt, no doubt,” Andre continued. "I tell you what... we’re going to take a short break so everybody’s off until Thursday morning. That will give you all a chance to tie down the rest of your business affairs and then we’ll move on to Memphis, New Orleans, Houston, Los Angeles and finally Atlanta. The remaining shows will be in San Diego, Oakland and Vegas..."
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Desiree had already begun a series of articles on her cuz and the rest of the groups on the tour. Being the Chief Editor had its benefits, allowing her to expose the readers to the inside stories of the tour and interviews from radio station and other magazines. She received a phone call from Gary, letting her know he was on the job...
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Having two days to finalize business with the foundation worked out perfectly for T-Bird, giving her peace of mind, knowing JJ and the guys were on top of things. When everyone met on the bus, Little Joe had them laughing non-stop as they rode almost 16 hours.
Just as T-Bird was about to close her eyes and dose off for a quick nap, Darnell called.
“Hello?”
“T-Bird, is that you?” It’s me Darnell..."
"Wow do you sound tired.” You would have thought he was on tour!
“Well, hello stranger and how are you?”
“We’re on the road again. I’m doing okay.”
“What’s going on with you?” T-Bird wondered if that was a trick question.
“Have you received any new projects from Desiree?”
“No...I’m just trying to clear my desk so when you get here there will be nothing to keep me from giving you every minute of my time.”
“Good answer again. We’ve been riding all day so we should be arriving in Memphis soon.”
“I can’t wait to see you when you hit Atlanta. You have really stolen my heart and that’s rare.”
“I just hope you realize how special you really are.” She replied, warming to his words.
“Baby everything about us is special. Believe that.”
“Well, we’re just entering the city limits. Can I call you later?”
“Okay I’ll be waiting,” Darnell responded.
When T-Bird and the groups arrived in Memphis, they performed another perfect show and continued on to New Orleans, where she was able to take Andre and the entire entourage to meet her family. Although the city was culturally exciting, there were poverty ravished neighborhoods outside the square. Everyone living in the Bayou was proud she and Desiree had made it out to become successful. There was nothing that could compare to being home, experiencing so much love, good food and seeing everybody. Before she left, she gave them all tickets to the show that night.
Her cousin Chancy pulled her to the side; he wanted to talk to her about Darnell because Desiree had already called, telling him her concerns and that she'd hired an investigator to watch him. Although surprised, T-Bird tried to down play the situation, letting him know everything was alright between them. If she didn’t, she knew her cousins would go to Atlanta to have a conversation with Darnell. Chancy had just been released from prison and reminded her that even though everyone in the family had liked Shaun, he'd barely gotten away with spending all T-Bird’s money and hurting her. It didn’t matter he'd been her husband. Only there love for T-Bird and not wanting to hurt her further had spared Shaun a bullet. Darnell fucking up and being on the D-low was going to be a totally different story.
They'd planned a trip to Ms. Rita, the palm reader, to find out the truth but Desiree said no, to let her handle it first. She didn’t want Chancy to overreact and end up back in jail. No one in the family wanted to see their cousin hurt again by Darnell. Chancy made it clear if she ever called him because Darnell wasn't doing the right thing, he would come to Atlanta and kill him...point blank. If they'd only known their intuition was right, Chancy would have been headed to the ATL with guns loaded. Darnell was living a double life as a bisexual man.
Being home in New Orleans, gave T-Bird the opportunity to see old friends. With a new album, it seemed the whole city was coming out to see her show before she moved on Los Angeles and Atlanta. Reconnecting with her roots helped put quite a few things into perspective for her and reminded her of just how truly blessed and loved she was. She had no intention of calling Darnell as they had agreed. She wanted to arrive in the city, totally surprising him and finding out for herself what was really going on; to see if he was telling her the truth about really wanting to be with her. The only person she had intended telling was Desiree, in order to confirm all the interviews that were scheduled.
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Early the morning after T-Bird's arrival in Atlanta, Desiree excitedly took her all over the city shopping and visiting friends since the show wasn’t until the next night at the Roxy Theater. Gary, the private investigator, was watching Darnell meet with his male acquaintances. He had no idea he was being followed and airing all his dirty laundry. Or, that T-Bird was in town. For some reason, his lover Lamar had failed to tell him of Desiree's plans.
After doing early morning interviews with V106.1 and 94.9, T-Bird had the remaining day to herself. Darnell still didn’t know she was there until one of his friends called telling him. He immediately attempted to call her but got no answer. She was already in one of Desiree’s cars trying to find her way to his place. Desiree called.
“Cuz, if you’re going looking for Darnell.. good luck. He didn’t even come to work today. Do you think he even knows you’re here?”
“Babe, shame on him if he doesn’t after all the advertising going on,” T-Bird replied.
“Maybe you need to think about trying to find him later and we hit the clubs tonight.”
She was trying to deter her from looking for Darnell at least for the night; she wasn’t about to tell her cuz she'd hired someone to follow her boo around town. More importantly, she'd hoped to find out what he was doing before T-Bird even arrived.
“Don’t worry cuz. I’ve already made a few decisions about me and Darnell and if he doesn’t want to tell me the truth, that his feelings have changed or he’s seeing someone else, then it’s all good. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure something is going on. Either way I’d still like to know the truth.
“Just be careful babe, these folks down here drive too fast and will run you off the road. I’ve got some loose ends to tie up while you’re out..before we get together. I’ll see you when you get back.”
Desiree was praying Gary called her to at least say their suspicions were unfounded before T-Bird arrived at Darnell's condo. But, gut instinct and women's intuition told her the shit was about to hit the fan. Only question was, could she stop T-Bird before she splattered it all over Atlanta...
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A big lump sat in the middle her stomach and throat as she got out the car and walked up the front stairs to ring the bell. That same gut instinct and woman's intuition told her this was not gonna be pretty. T-Bird, are you sure you're ready for this, she asked in her mind. Yes, was the answer she got back.
Coincidentally, or was it, a pizza was being delivered to the unit next door. Thinking quick on her feet she paid the deliveryman $50 to knock on Darnell’s door. After several knocks a voice from the other side of the door finally answered. “Who is it?” The voice sounded vaguely familiar to her; she'd heard it somewhere before.
"Pizza delivery sir.”
Once again the male voice answered. “Pizza? No one here ordered pizza,” he s
aid, while opening the door. It was Lamar dressed in a bathrobe. It appeared he had just gotten out of the shower.
As she stood in the doorway, Lamar looked her up and down, positioning his hands on his hips. “What do you want?”
Immediately the deliveryman knew it was going to be trouble and moved out of the way.
“What the hell do you mean what do I want?” T-Bird’s first thought was to call Andre, but instead stood her ground. “You need to tell me what the hell you’re doing here and half naked? I’m looking for Darnell. This is his place isn’t it?”
“Bitch, don’t worry about where he is and you better get ta stepping before I kick your ass! Darnell belongs to me and this is our place.”
“Oh hell no you didn’t just tell me that! Nigga, you need to do yourself a favor and start digging your own grave cause yo ass won't live to see the sun go down.”
The commotion at the door made another voice from the back room echoed out.
“What in the world is going on?” T-Bird immediately identified the voice as Darnell. When he walked out to the front room, he was also wearing a bathrobe and T-Bird couldn’t believe her eyes. Some things are too obvious to be believed or denied.
“T-Bird! Wait a minute! I mean what are you doing here? I received a phone call telling me you were here but I thought it was a joke. I thought you weren’t arriving until tomorrow.”
The woman was speechless, subdued, but the New Orleans hood rat, the around-the-way-girl, the fighter emerged to take her place and take over. She immediately pushed them both out of the way, forcing her way inside and knocking a shocked Lamar to the floor. All hell broke loose...shit flew everywhere!
At that moment, Gary was calling Desiree, telling her to get over to Darnell’s place right away! His investigator had just called saying T-Bird was going ham after finding Darnell with another man. Allowing reality to set in, every bit of logic went right out of the window, leaving Darnell no way to explain what was happening. The investigator rushed inside, identifying himself as he watched Darnell try to restrain her before she destroyed his place. However, T-Bird was so crazed, she tossed him into the wall like a balled up paper bag and punched him right in the face. As he and his lover attempted to run out the front door, the investigator pulled his gun to keep them from leaving. All she could do was grab her own hair and let out a loud scream.