by Will Brown
“Sure, go ahead. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m starving.” JJ responded. When she'd fixed breakfast for them all and everyone had eaten, they just sat there not knowing what to say. Trey had already asked JJ not to be too hard on her.
“Look, I don’t know what say. I wish I would have listened but it’s a little too late for that so I’ll just eat the humble pie.”
“Nobody’s going to blame you for following your heart. T. We’ve all been there before and had our share of ups and downs.” JJ was finally saying something that made sense especially since he and Vivian were still healing their marriage.
“So where do we go from here? Trey asked.
“I guess we go home and I’ll take a break before the West Coast tour begins.”
In the midst of the conversation, she received a call with an invitation to attend a black carpet gala event honoring the most influential black women in the city and to her surprise, Desiree was on the list. In the interim, Desiree returned.
“Q, would you come here a minute? I need to talk to you.” She walked him outside through her pavilion, asking him to sit down.
“I’m not going to beat around the bush. I realize Vita did what she did to entice you. Sorry for her because I kicked her ass real good right in front of all the girls in that office. I bet no one else will get any ideas in the future about trying to insult me. Especially over a piece of dick. To add to that, she’s finished. She will never get another job in this city if I can help it. That bitch might as well find a rock and crawl under it. I’m going to blackball her..." she breathed and continued.
"...As for you, I think we need to take a break. I should have not expected anything less. I knew from the beginning you were a playboy and cuz tried to warn me. Nevertheless, I was hoping you would see the bigger picture. I gave up a lot to be with you... I even fell in love with you Q. Damn you. I gave you my heart. My heart Q and this is what you give me in return? Yeah... you’ve got swagger for sure. I was sure you really loved me.” She said as she began to cry.
“Please Dee. Just give me another chance to make this right. I had no idea Vita was coming to my office. I even asked her if you knew she was there and she said no. Desiree, I do love you. You have to believe me.”
She began to wipe away tears, becoming angry all over again. "Yeah, but you love pussy, anyone’s ones pussy who’s willing to spread their legs and give it to you. Ye, I told cuz I could handle you because I’m a grown ass woman. However, I have to concede defeat. You are something else Mr. Anderson. We need to let time tell the real story about who we really are. Or should I just say, who we're supposed to be. Through it all, your friends didn’t want us together anyway so I’m sure they’re all happy. Well, we’d better get back to them before T-bird comes looking for us. We both have the same issues right now.” She said, leaving Q speechless.
“I do have an event I’m honored in. At least I have something to be proud of. Cuz will make sure you get the reviews to read. Just accept it as a token of what we shared.” She appeared to be putting the finishing touches on their short-lived relationship.
"I love you so much... I will fall off the earth as long as I know you’re with me,” he continued.
“Wow, how convenient” She expressed.” You didn’t see it that way when you were with Vita. Come on, we better go. I need to find a dress to wear.”
Before Q could say a word, Desiree grabbed and kissed him, putting every inch of her tongue down his throat as she passionately caressed his face.
When they arrived back in the house, everyone was sitting at the table with the exception of T-Bird. She was upstairs looking for a dress for Desiree to wear for that evening. She bought down the dress and while showing it off, Andre walked in. The look he exchanged with Desiree was priceless. Immediately, he went over to greet Shaun, sharing that he'd just received a call from L.A. offering them an opportunity to move the concert dates up because a convention was coming to town.
“I think it it’s a good idea” T-Bird said. “It will definitely keep me too busy to consume myself with thoughts of Darnell. By the way Dre, Desiree is being honored tonight along with several others as one of the most influential black women in the city.”
Desiree couldn’t even look him in the face, still thinking about how good the sex had been.
“Well…isn’t that interesting? First we go through the pain and now we share the pleasure. Congratulations.” Andre spoke these words trying to keep a straight face.
“I’m going to return the call to LA, letting them know we’re taking the dates. Afterwards, I’ll tell everyone at the hotel. More money. More money.” He said still sitting next to Shaun.
“You know it takes guts keeping yourself together, especially around the groups. I’m proud of you.” He continued.
“I’m just trying to do what I have to. I’m sure I’m going to have my moments. For now I have to hold it together” She walked over to give everyone a hug for coming to see about her then sat next to Q.
“Are You alright?”
“Yeah I’m okay.” He replied.
“So why aren’t you eating? There’s still food left from last night. Let me go make you a plate.”
“Andre, thank you for being there for me, over the past few days. I am very thankful know I have you as my manager.” T-Bird said s she headed to prepare some food for Q.
In the morning she was leaving and couldn’t wait to put everything connected with Darnell and that experience behind her. But tonight, she was going to this red carpet event with her cuz, to celebrate the power and influence of strong, black women and she was not willing to look back...
___________________
Desiree’s boss was also at the event. While making their rounds around the room, a newspaper journalists walked up to them.
“Excuse me Ms. Robinson. Your show was great but can you tell me about the incident that took place in midtown yesterday.What happened? My sources say you were involved in nasty brawl with a male friend. Is that true?”
Immediately Desiree interrupted. “I’m sorry sir but please, don’t harass her with a bunch of accusations...okay? Now if you want to talk about her tour, that's great. Otherwise, you can put this conversation to bed. Enjoy your night. I’m sure there are plenty of stories here to put in your column.”
As they took their seat at an assigned table, the best surprise of the night was Desiree receiving an award for best editor.
The morning seemed to come too soon as everyone struggled to get to the airport for the flight to L.A. People even came over to ask for autographs before they could board the plane. Four hours later, they were in L.A. and the weather was a perfect 85 degrees. Upon landing, they all headed for the hotel in Beverly Hills.
Since everyone was still trying to recuperate from partying all night, they decided to just go to their rooms and chill, but not before Andre could gather them all together.
“Listen guys, we have four days after the gig to chill and enjoy L.A. I know you had fun last night in Atlanta, but I have a lot of friends out here. So we’ll be getting it in.” He expressed.
“I can’t wait.” T-Bird said. “As long as I see Rodeo Drive, do some shopping, have some chicken and waffles, then go to South Beach and Malibu...I'm good!”
Andre just smiled. “Okay, I see somebody is obviously feeling better and has some plans for me. I’m going to let you do you.”
As usual, the show was great and later that night Andre received a call from one of his associates who lived near San Bernardino Valley. He invited him to come hang out with him in Compton and meet some of the guys he networked with in industry. When they arrived, all the gangsters were hanging out with the women, showing off their cars and shooting dice. Andre grew up in the streets so shooting dice and hustling was no big deal. He delighted in playing the game.
As the money started to stack, one of the guys playing decided to call Andre out because he was standing around watching and not playing.
> “Hey, you a mark? Are you playing or what? You can’t just stand around here hoping somebody’s going to throw you a bone? Either you’re playing or not. Better yet why don’t you just leave?”
It was obvious the guy had no idea Andre had just as much money in his pocket as anyone else. He threw a stack into the pot and began to play. Every time he threw the dice, he won, making a fool out the guy that had challenged him, trying to show off in front of his homeboys. Andre humiliated him to the point of leaving as everybody laughed at him. It was only a matter of minutes before Andre and his friend prepared to leave after talking and exchanging numbers with a few guys, when the brother who'd lost his money returned with friends and commenced to do a drive by. They began shooting up the entire corner; bullets were flying everywhere as everyone tried to run for cover.
Subsequently, Andre and his friend were shot multiple times in the side and back and had to be rush to the hospital. All this behind a silly game of craps and a foul temper. While the doctors operated, one of the police officers on the scene found his cell phone and called JJ’s number since it was one of the last numbers called before.
“Hello this is the L.A. police...who am I speaking with?”
"This is Jay Jones. L.A. Police? Why are you calling me?” he asked. “What’s going on out there?” Immediately he thought of T-Bird and Darnell.
“There’s been a shooting sir and we have a guy named Andre here in the emergency room. He’s been shot and we’re trying to locate his family.”
“What! Where is T-Bird?”
“Who is T-Bird?” the officer asked.
“She is a singer who’s out there on tour with him. Andre is her manager. They just did a performance.’
“You’ve got to be kidding?” the officer said. "You mean Tamara Robinson. I was doing security at that show last night. I really enjoyed her. Well, to get back to the matter at hand, your friend in being operated on as we speak.We were told it was a drive by shooting and we’re investigating what happened.”
“Drive by shooting? What in the hell is going on out there? Look officer, I’m going to give you the phone number for Tamara Robinson. She will be able to come to the hospital to see about him, until I can get a plane out there. I’m an entertainment lawyer.”
“Thank you sir,” the officer stated. “Well, I’ll get in touch with her right away.”
As soon as JJ gave the officer T-Bird's number and hung up the phone, he told Vivian what had happened to Andre. Before he could give her the details, Vivian screamed. “Oh God no!!!” She then asked, “Where is T-Bird?”
“I don’t know, honey. I don’t know. Look, we’ve got to calm down and call Trey and Q and tell them what’s going on.”
JJ could barely dial the numbers on the keypad, he was so nervous, repeating what the officer had told him twice in less than 10 minute. Immediately, Q told JJ to put a few things in a bag and meet him at the office so they could leave.
“You’re not going out there without me” Trey said. “I’m calling Shaun.”
The moment he found out, the next question out of his mouth was “Is T-Bird okay? What about my wife. Is she okay?” He shouted.
“She’s fine” Trey answered. "We’re still waiting on her to call us. JJ gave her cell number to the police officer who called him.”
“Trey, y'all need to go out there, see about Andre and get her back here.” Shaun expressed.
When the police finally got in touch with T-Bird, she and the guys were on their way out to Malibu. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Just when she thought all the drama was over, she was facing another dramatic moment. This time it was even more serious than her and Darnell.
“Pull over. Pull over right now!” she begged Melvin. “Andre’s been shot, Andre's been shot! We have to turn around and get to the hospital in L.A. right now! Oh my God! This is crazy! We need to activate the navigation to get us there. This can’t be happening.”
You could hear a pin drop as everyone tried to pull their composure together, especially after hearing the news of the shooting on the radio. The local DJ was elaborating on how Andre was affiliated with the show as T-Bird’s manager and no one knew her whereabouts.
Still rushing to hospital, she calmed down enough to call Q. When he answered, he could hear the trembling in her voice; she could hear the relief in his.
“Hey, calm down baby, we all have to be strong right now until we can find out how bad this thing is. We’re on our way out there right now. I might as well tell you now, so there aren’t any more surprises. We’re bringing Shaun with us. You’re going to need him. Furthermore, Andre is all he has left.”
All she wanted to do was break down and cry but there was still too much to do. She found the strength to call Desiree, who simply fell to the floor totally distraught. Once again they were sharing the same pain and devastation.
By the time T-Bird arrived at the hospital, the police officer was waiting in the conference room with all of Andre’s possessions. Soon after, the doctors came out to speak to her and the entire group..
“Well..good news.. he’s going to be okay. We’re transferring him out of the recovery room right now and up to ICU. He’ll have to remain in intensive care until we can get him more stable. Now there are a few other conditions I have to make you aware of. There’s no easy way to say this. Your friend may never walk again. One of the bullets that struck him in the back is still lodged perilously close his spinal cord. To do surgery right now would be too dangerous. We are hoping the bullet moves away from the spinal cord so it becomes operable. He also has a collapsed lung due to the other gunshot wound in his side. His friend was really lucky too... he only suffered gunshot wounds in his left arm and both legs...”
The moment the doctor finished giving his report, everyone was in shock, deciding to go back to the hotel and wait for T-Bird’s call to discuss what to do next. Melvin wanted to stay with her but she insisted he head back to the hotel as well.
“T-Bird, I’ll be near the phone the minute you need anything. Okay?” Melvin said.
“Sure and if you can, please try to keep the guys together.We all need each other right now. I’m going to wait here for Q, JJ and Trey. They’re on the way.
All night, she helplessly sat at Andre’s bedside watching him bandaged with a tube in the side of his chest pumping blood off his lung. He was still unconscious and breathing with oxygen support. Q, Trey, JJ and Shaun rushed to the hospital as soon as they landed to find T-Bird asleep in the chair next to his bed. They couldn’t believe they were looking at their friend all hooked up to oxygen with tubes coming out of his body.
T-Bird woke with a start. She saw Shaun, collapsed in his arms and began to cry.
“Shaun…What am I going to do? I feel like this is all my fault. If only I had not asked him to help me he wouldn’t be laying here like this.”
Although he was hurt and angry, he continued to hold her.“It’s not your fault. This was just a senseless act of stupid violence. That’s all. Unfortunately, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. These gangs out here are no joke and you can get killed just for looking at someone who is still trying to earn some street cred. We have to allow the police to handle it now.” Shaun said.
“Why don’t we go back to the hotel and take a look at all the business options. Q and Trey can stay here. JJ, can you come with us since you know your way around the city and can help us make some decisions?”
“You got it... let’s roll. Trey, Q, we’ll be back. Let us know if he wakes up while we’re gone.” JJ said with frustration.
“Go ahead man we’ll keep you posted if anything changes,” Q said.
When they arrived at the hotel, JJ gathered everyone for a meeting in the reception lounge. They needed privacy and to get away from the media, who were already trying to spot T-Bird in the hotel, hoping to get a comment about Andre’s condition and how the shooting occurred. He told the groups Shaun was temporarily taking over the tour until they go
t back home. It was a hard pill to swallow, after only one performance. After what happened to Andre, L.A. was not where any of them wanted to be. They discussed a few more details before everyone was encouraged to get some rest, stay close and to stay away from the media if at all possible.
With the meeting over, they took an exit out the back to make their way back to the hospital.
“How is he doing?” Shaun asked.
“I think he’s trying to wake up. I saw him moving his head.” Q answered.
Immediately T-Bird went to his side along with Shaun and JJ.
“Andre, can you hear me? She asked. Still in pain he blinked with his eyes to acknowledge her.
“We’re all here. Q, JJ, Shaun and Trey. We’re all here babe. Don’t worry about a thing, just rest and we’re going to get you back home..."
He pointed to the pad on the table, navigating his hand to have it bought closer to him. He then wrote down that he knew he was paralyzed as tears began to roll down his face. All T-Bird could do was grab him to give him a hug while crying with him and then left the room unable to watch him any longer. He then reached for Shaun’s hand.
“I’m here brother and I promise you we will get through this. You’re gonna walk again, if I have to spend every dime I have, you’re going to walk again..."
It took almost a week before Andre could be transported back home to a rehabilitation hospital, with the hope of a miracle and physical therapy. The shows in Oakland, San Diego and Hawaii were canceled while T-Bird and Shaun tried to re-strategize the remaining tour dates. Sitting in her living room, she said to him.
“I really appreciate your help right now. Let me just say that the most important thing I need from you right now is your friendship. I mean, don’t get any ideas about us getting back together. I’ve been through enough and I have had it with men.”
“Wait a minute. Let’s not go there because of what you went through with Darnell. I didn’t make you run off with some fly guy who just happened to be gay. That was your decision. I tried to let you know that I still loved you but you didn’t want to hear it. So let’s just get over it. Okay? As a matter of fact, I’ve changed more than you could have imagined. You can’t just throw love away.”