Spin it Like That (14 page)

“You will not be signing with that man,” she said. She glared at me, daring me to say something, and I looked back at her just as hard.

“Yes, I will be,” I said. “He's offering me a chance at my dream, and I'm not going to let you or anyone else stop me.”

“Little girl, you forget that you're living under my roof—”

“But that can change,” I said. “I moved out before, and I can do it again.”

People were starting to look at us, but I didn't care.

“Why don't we finish this conversation at home?” Daddy said quietly.

“Don't bother,” I said. I pushed back my chair.

“Don't you move,” Daddy said. It was very rare that he got angry with me, but when he did, I knew not to cross him. This was one of those times. “I'm not going to put up with you running away again. We are going to work through this as a family. Now, we're going to sit here and finish our dinner like we have some sense. Derrick, pass me the salt.”

Derrick and I both did as we were told.

Somehow we made it through dinner. Daddy tried to make polite conversation, but it didn't work. When we finally got home, I expected Mama to go off.

Instead, she looked at me and shook her head.

“You know what? Do what you want to do. I'm tired. I'm done. If you want to ruin your life, I'm not going to stop you.”

“Baby, don't say that,” Daddy said.

“No, Daddy, it's okay. We all know how Mama really feels. She doesn't like me doing the music. I get it. It's cool. I won't sign with DC Records,” I said.

I turned around and walked to my room, not really caring anymore. In a few short days, I had lost not one but two record deals. There was no way life could get any worse.

I
was awake most of the night thinking about the last few days. It was around daybreak when I decided that I was not going to let Mama kill my dream. DC was offering me the opportunity of a lifetime, and I was going to take it.

I was up by seven so I could make into the city for my eleven o'clock meeting with DC.

I had just sat down to eat a bowl of cereal when Derrick walked into the kitchen. “What are you doing up so early?” he asked.

I had decided I wasn't going to tell anyone about accepting the record deal until after the contracts were signed, so I said, “I'm going to check out NYU. Maybe I'll go to school there.”

“For real?” he said, looking excited. “You want me to go with you?”

“Nah, it's okay,” I said quickly. I had never lied to my brother, and I knew he was going to see straight through it, but he didn't.

“No, I'll go with you,” he insisted. “I see Mama finally got to you.”

I just smiled. I thought about leaving without my brother while he was getting dressed, but I decided not to. Even if he didn't agree with what I was doing, I knew he'd have my back. I was running late, so Derrick said he'd drive me.

Derrick looked at me crazy when I told him to park on the same block as DC Records, but he didn't say a word. As we approached the office, he stopped me.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“What does it look like?” I said.

“Jas, you are not signing with these people.”

“Watch me,” I said, pulling open the glass door so I could head into the building.

“I can't let you do this.”

“Look, I've made up my mind that I'm signing with DC, so if you have a problem with that, you need to go wait in the car.”

He must have seen the determination on my face, because he just sighed and followed me inside.

I wasn't sure what kind of office to expect, but what greeted me was actually very nice. After being ushered past the receptionist's desk, I made it to DC's inner office, which had comfortable leather furniture, as well as copies of what looked like hundreds of gold records.

I spotted Jessica immediately, although she hadn't said a word. She looked like I had pictured her—a younger version of Halle Berry.

She seemed stressed, kind of the way she always sounded, but her face brightened when she saw me.

“Hey, Jasmine,” she said as though we saw each other every day. It was kind of hard to believe it was our first time meeting.

“Hi, Jessica,” I said. I turned to Derrick. “This is my brother.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jessica said.

Derrick just nodded.

“So today's the big day, huh?” she said, turning to me.

“Yeah. It looks that way,” I said.

We all looked up when the door behind Jessica opened and DC walked out. He was wearing a red suit with a black shirt and a red tie along with a red hat.

“Hey, Jasmine,” he said, sticking his trademark cigar in his mouth, then extending his arms for a hug.

I hugged him then turned to Derrick. “Do you remember my brother?” I said.

“Derrick, nice seeing you again.” DC extended his hand.

I could tell Derrick didn't want to speak, but he knew better than to be disrespectful. “How are you?” he said.

“You guys come on in.” DC led us into the biggest office I had ever seen. It looked bigger than our whole house.

Derrick and I settled into two chairs in front of DC's desk and waited while he shuffled through some papers. He was just about to speak when a knock sounded on the door. Before DC could respond, the door swung open and in walked his partner, Ron.

“Hey, guys,” he said, shaking Derrick's hand, then leaning over to give me a hug.

“Hi,” I said, excited. For some reason, his presence made the record deal more real to me.

“Let's get down to business,” DC said after Ron was seated.

I sat up straight, trying to look as professional as possible, while Derrick slumped in his seat, looking bored. I gave him the eye, but he ignored me.

“Jasmine, we really believe you have a future with this company. We are committed to taking you all the way to the top. As you know, we've had some trouble with some of our artists in the past, but we want to change our image, and we believe you are the person to help us do that. I know the best producers in the business, and I know we're going to produce a chart-topping album.

“I've taken the liberty of drawing up a contract for you. It's our standard new-artist agreement. We believe in you so much, we want to sign you for five albums.” DC slid the contract and a pen toward me, and as I started to sign my name, Derrick grabbed my arm.

“You need to have Uncle Henry look that over,” he said.

I ignored him. What was my uncle going to do? DC had said it was the standard new-artist contract, so it wasn't like I could make changes to it. Plus, if I told my uncle, he would tell my parents, and I didn't want them to know anything about my deal until the contract was signed.

I finished signing my name and slid the contract back to DC, who grinned and stuck out his hand. “Welcome to DC Records,” he said before he began talking about recording, going on tour and promoting my album.

I heard everything he was saying, but at the same time, I was daydreaming about taking center stage before a crowd screaming my name as I stood in the spotlight.

“Triple T has already agreed to produce a few of your songs,” I heard Ron say.

“What?” I asked, quickly focusing on the conversation.

“I spoke with him this morning, and he said you guys have already spoken and that he even has a few songs you recorded together.”

“I don't want him on my album,” I said sharply.

Ron ignored me and turned to Derrick. “We also want you to rap on a few of the singles. Of course, you'll be compensated.”

Derrick laughed under his breath. “Thanks but no thanks,” he said. He got up from the chair and walked toward the door. “I'm going to wait downstairs.”

I was so embarrassed. “Derrick, what are you doing?” I asked, running over to him.

“You didn't need to sign with these clowns, Jas.” He didn't seem to care if they heard him or not. I looked back, and it was pretty obvious they had heard him.

“Excuse us,” I said; then I led Derrick into a small conference room Jessica said we could use. “What are you doing?”

“No, what are you doing?” Derrick yelled. “You just sold your soul to the devil. Why would you sign a deal for five records? You're going to be recording with them forever.”

I thought about what my brother was saying and realized he was right. Five albums sounded good, but if I only put out something every two years, that meant I could be working for DC Records for the next ten years. I knew they were trying to change their image, but they hadn't done it yet. Plus, they had already hooked me up with Triple T, and I knew I never wanted to see him again after what went down with him and Loretta, but judging by the way Ron had ignored my objections, I really didn't have a choice. I decided not to worry about all that.

“Why are you messing this up for me?” I said, putting aside my doubts.

“You're messing this up for yourself,” Derrick said. He took a deep breath, then shook his head at me. “I'm going to wait downstairs while you finish up.”

DC and Ron went over a few more things before they handed me a copy of the contract. I went downstairs to find Derrick sitting in the car listening to the radio. He smiled when he saw me, which I took as a good sign that he wasn't mad.

“I got my deal. You're looking at DC Records' newest artist,” I said, waving my contract at him.

He took it from me and gave me a sad smile.

“You're not going to congratulate me?” I said.

“Congratulations,” he said, but I could tell he didn't mean it.

His attitude made me mad all over again. “You know what? Forget you. You're just jealous because I'm already living my dream,” I said. “I didn't have to set foot in college, and I'm already making more money than you.”

“Whatever, Jas,” he said. He went to start his car, but it just sputtered. He tried it several times, but the same thing kept happening.

“It sounds like the battery's dead again,” he said. He got out of the car and went to check under the hood. I slid down in my seat, embarrassed. I was about to become a household name and I was sitting in my brother's broke-down car.

“Start it again,” he said.

“You need to get another car,” I mumbled as I leaned over and started the ignition.

He stuck his head in the driver's-side window. “Everybody doesn't have money like you, Jas.”

“I'll buy you a car,” I said.

“What do I look like, letting my little sister buy me a car?” he said. “I can afford to buy my own car.”

“Doesn't look like it,” I said, rolling my eyes.

Derrick snatched open the door. “You know what? I'm about sick of you. You're starting to act just like these people at DC records. You're turning into a money-hungry little witch.”

He looked as surprised at having said the words as I felt at having heard them. My mouth dropped open.

“I'm sorry,” he said.

I just shook my head. “No, you're not.”

When he didn't respond, it just made me feel worse. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, until I finally couldn't take it anymore.

“So you're not going to apologize?” I asked.

He slowly shook his head. “Not for telling the truth,” he said.

I nodded and reached for the door handle. “Forget you, Derrick. You make me sick. I hate you.” I slammed the door and started walking toward the subway.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

I didn't even bother to respond. Tears fell, and I wiped them away. I'd thought that if anyone would always understand me, it would be my brother. On what was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, I felt as though my world was crashing down around me.

I was about a block away when I heard what sounded like a car engine backfiring. It really didn't register until it happened three more times that it was gunshots. I instinctively ducked, just like the other people on the sidewalk, and once the shots were over, I thought of my brother.

I found myself running down the block, where a crowd was forming. I searched it for my brother, but I didn't see him.

“Derrick—” I yelled, but he didn't answer me, so I yelled a little louder, but he didn't say anything.

People were starting to look at me, but I didn't care. I knew my brother had to be nearby because his car was still parked, so I tore through the crowd screaming his name.

That was when I saw him.

It took a few seconds for it to hit me that he was on the ground. He looked like he had just fallen and hadn't yet managed to get up. I hurried over to give him a hand.

That was when I saw the blood.

It was everywhere, spurting out of his chest like a fountain.

“Derrick,” I whispered, not believing what I was seeing.

He tried to talk, but blood came out of his mouth, too.

I slid down beside him and grabbed his head. “Don't talk,” I said. I blindly looked into the crowd. “Can someone call 911?”

I didn't even wait for an answer as I refocused on my brother.

“You're going to be okay. Help is coming,” I said, looking into his eyes.

He looked so scared, and I remembered the time when we were little and I fell out of a tree and broke my arm in two places. Derrick had sat beside me like I was doing now for him, and I was sure I had the same look of fear in my eyes he'd had in his all those years ago.

I just sat holding and rocking him trying to offer words of comfort until I heard the sirens. The ambulance and police pulled up about the same time, and the emergency medical technicians pretty much had to rip my brother from my arms so they could work on him.

When they finally got him stable enough, they put him in the ambulance, and I jumped in right behind them, praying like I had never prayed before.

My brother died on the way to the hospital.

I sat and watched helplessly as the EMTs worked on him, trying to save his life, but in the end, he just slipped away.

I didn't remember much after that. Someone called my parents, and they came to the hospital looking as shocked as I felt. Actually, I was more numb than anything. My brother was my everything—my best friend, my world. There was no way he was gone.

When we finally made it back to the house later that evening, I kept waiting on him to walk through the door. When that didn't happen, I told myself he was out hanging with Kyle or at work, and that I would see him soon.