XXPLOSIVE

In Da Club

Marshall's POV, After the show

"New Jersey, thank you for coming out and supporting us man. We love you. Peace."

Fuck, the show went insanely well. It almost felt like a dream, me and D12 in front of this huge crowd, who are rapping our shit. I remember the times at the Hip Hop Shop when we would each practice verses and then perform solo in front of those 25 people at the spot. Oh, how motherfucking far have we come.

I'm not going to lie though; I did have an ecstasy or two before going on stage. I'm not good with handling my nerves, and it has always helped me feel hype as hell. We all walked over backstage and sat down for a minute.

"Fuck guys, NOW WASN'T THAT DOPE?" said Bizzy as he grabbed a Coke. "Fo sure it was!" said Proof, smiling wide. "You killed it dawg! I knew you would, but you a stubborn motherfucker, getting anxious and shit before the show."

"Doody, you know how it is man, it's just... fuck it, who cares, let's party y'all!"
A bunch of hell yeah's chorus across the backstage as the crew was wrapping up things for the night. That's when I saw her walking up to me and I felt myself weirdly get a little clammy.

I met this Chloe chick yesterday and what about her? She was cool. I mean you know, there are girls you know who just want to fuck you, but she didn't seem like one of them. I mean, she was hot, definitely, and I knew that she would look great beneath me, but besides that she just felt so...real? Normal?
I don't know but she seemed fun to hang with. Except for her nasty ass jokes which were so corny; who's this girl, Weird Al? For some reason, I still found them funny though and her banter really helped me stay calm for the two days.

She gives me a small hug, congratulating me on how well the show went.
"Y'all killed it! Proof didn't even have to hype the crowd; they were already so pumped! Especially when Dre and Dido came out, god!" I smiled genuinely as she continued.

"Also, small confession, I might have to check your albums now, because some of those songs have officially grown on me. Like the 'I'm back' song? FUCKING DOPE. I loved that J Lo line on it, although it made me yack. Also, you really didn't hold back on the Real Slim Shady one, did you? Shit's catchy as hell I haven't stopped humming it since your performance" she says with shining eyes, barely taking a breath.

I forgot she was a rap nerd just like me. I liked that she didn't just like my music just because of the hype or controversy, but actually saw it for herself and decided it was good.

"Thank you, I appreciate it man."

There's some awkward silence as we both just stand in front of each other. She was dressed in jean overalls too, and wore a top underneath which clung a bit too tightly to her chest, but I had to remind myself to not stare. That's when I felt my phone vibrate and open it up to see the name "Kim" flash on the screen.

Right, thanks for the reminder Kim! I signal Chloe that I was answering a call and she waves and leaves. I pace around the backstage as Kim withdraws the phone from hold.

It just didn't feel like I married the same girl who I was dating. Since I got signed, she has constantly been either complaining about me cheating, which I never did. In fact, I'd heard from a couple other friends that she was the one whoring around when I wasn't there. After I made the 'Kim' song, which was meant as a joke, she became even irritated and distant with me, was drinking heavily, and we only spoke for the sake of Hailie from then.

"Marshalllll" her slurred voice made me believe that she had been going off those bottles again.

"Kim, you're piss drunk, I can tell. Where's Hailie?