𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 ¹

twenty six.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
mama

Jamal

Tiana had just finished her performance, and Jamal was up next. He was standing backstage with sweaty palms because he was nervous.

He was nervous because this was the first time people were going to hear his song. This was the first time Cookie was going to hear his song. This was her first time seeing him perform period, and he wanted to make her proud.

Tiana walked backstage. "Good luck, Jamal."

"I need it, because I definitely can't compete with what you just did," he joked.

She laughed. "You'll do great." Then she walked away.

Jamal took a deep breath. Yeah, he'd do great.

He waited for that man to introduce him to the stage, but Andre came running up to him. "Jamal! What are you doing?!"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting ready to perform."

"You shouldn't be performing! Pop said no!"

"Does it look like I care about what he said?" Jamal replied angrily.

"You should. He's your boss."

"Then let him fire me for all I fucking care," Jamal spat. "I'm performing for Ma. End of story."

Andre blocked his path. "I can't let you do that."

Jamal glared at him. "You know, shit is starting to add up. You're the one who told Lucious that I ran to Ma, huh?"

Andre admitted it. "He needed to know you were going behind his back."

Wow. "What you did was shady, Dre. You almost fucked everything up for me. Thankfully, Ma cares about me more than you and Lucious combined."

"I do care about you, Jamal! Why do you think I'm trying to stop you? Because if you go through with this, Pop isn't going to make you CEO!" Andre warned.

"Enough with the CEO bullshit!" Jamal snapped viciously. "Is that all you care about?!"

Andre was offended. "The problem isn't me caring too much. The problem is that you guys don't care enough. Our father is dying, and you're going to disrespect him like this?"

Jamal chuckled angrily. "You know what? Fuck you, fuck Lucious, and fuck that CEO position."

"You don't mean that."

"Oh, I do. I hope this competition was worth losing your brothers over."

Andre sighed. "Jamal-"

But it was Jamal's turn to perform. "Give a big round of applause for Jamal Lyon!"

The audience clapped and cheered, and Jamal made his way on stage. Andre grabbed his arm. "Jamal, don't!"

"Get off me, Andre!" He yanked his arm away and walked on stage to the piano. He sat at the piano and heard Cookie shout, "That's my baby!" Meanwhile, Lucious was glaring at Jamal, and Jamal couldn't care less. He was doing this, end of story.

He spoke into the mic. "This song is dedicated to my favorite woman in the world: my mother."

Cookie's jaw dropped. She covered her mouth as he began playing the piano. He started singing while looking right at her.

Listen mama, so many words to describe you
Strong would be an understatement
Warrior would suit you so much better, cause you've been fighting

She was just turning sixteen
Daddy left her out in the cold streets
He wasn't having it
He found all her sins underneath her mattress
Then suddenly, her daddy up and died
But still, she sees her father there in Lucious' eyes

Cookie and Lucious exchanged a look after that. Cookie swallowed hard and focused on Jamal again.

Mama, oh mama
For everything you've been through, there's nothing that I won't do for you
Mama, oh mama
You deserve the best of what this world can offer to you

Jamal smiled at her as he sung the next part, and she smiled back. He sang into the mic with so much power in his voice because his next lyrics made him angry thinking about what had happened.

In love with the thought of becoming queen
She never told, she did seventeen
She gave it all so unselfishly
And she did it all just for loyalty
That's my mama

As Jamal sung with so much emotion, he saw Lucious storming out. Jamal was glad that he did because it was time for Cookie to come on stage with him.

He got up and gestured for her to come up. She obeyed, feeling completely overwhelmed. She had tears in her eyes as he sung while looking into her eyes. When it was over, the piano faded out, and Jamal finished off by saying, "I love you, Ma."

"I love you too, baby!" Cookie wiped her tears and hugged him tight as the audience clapped. Jamal could hear some people sniffling.

"Well, wasn't that amazing?! Can we have one more round of applause for Jamal Lyon!" that man said.

The audience cheered loudly, and Jamal chuckled a little. "Thank you." He and Cookie exited and went backstage. Of course they were greeted by an angry Lucious.

Lucious clapped slowly. "Wow. How bold of you. Performing against my wishes."

Here we go.