Unexpected 8: Stand Proud

Chapter 13: Like...now?

Disclaimer: strong language and scenes are presented in this chapter. Readers, please be advised it is not suitable for younger audiences.

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"Hondo, my whole career rests in this gig. Man, I'm not even playing. The payroll is huge!" he said desperately. He took a step in and noticed Nichelle pop her head from behind the corner wall. "Oh, hi!"

"Hello! Nichelle, nice to meet you." she said as she waved to him

"Raymont, evening ma'am." he said shyly

"Good evening. If you'll excuse me..." she said as she headed to the bedroom and closed the door quietly

"Ok. Boy, take a breather and talk to me." Hondo said as he crossed his arms, watching the young man pace the floor

"So, a buddy of mine contacted me . He knows the production manager of this local media company, right? A kid that took some management college classes with me runs it. Anyway, he got the call that Ed Sheeran and Billi Eilish, two huge mega stars, want to shot a video here in LA. Hondo, these are like... the trending celebrities right now. Ed Sheeran's concert tickets are gonna start at almost $200 a pop! He's gonna use the video as sort of an extra promotion to his concert in 6 months. Guy's promising 3 shows!"

"Woah! Two hundred? Damn!" he asked surprised

"Yeah and that's way up there!" Raymont said gesturing the roof

"Wow! So...what do u need, kid?"

"Well, the guy I know put me in contact with the producer and we were about to sign a huge contract. I just had to secure the investors, license specialists, contractors, staff and security. The only problem is that this rich kid from Beverly Hills, name's Clayton Hillshire, went and talked with the guy and rumor has it he wants to bail out from our deal. But Hondo, I already got most of the staff ready. Permits are in process and almost signed!"

"You gotta talk to him then"

"I need leverage! This Hillshire kid has tons of contacts that I don't have. I have only one card to play, if you help me out."

"Ok, I'm listening."

"Look, if there's one thing you can get Sheeran on is with security. The guy is paranoid! He wants top of the line security everywhere. Heard he's a loner and likes to spend as much time alone as possible, so he hires tons of guards. You know? Keep space tight. So..." he paused approaching Hondo, "I need to have the ultimate security team if I'm gonna convince him and his people to hire my services over Hillshire Enterprise. So, do you know anyone? Like retired law enforcement or if they're active, willing to take a side gig? I need like top star, squeaky clean!"

Hondo thought for a second. "One of my teammates has a security business."

"Really? You think I could convince him?"

"Let me talk to him first coz I think he told me something the other day of getting a call from some a rich partner." Hondo said nodding slowly

"Damn! That's probably Hillshire. Just please talk to him. Have him call me too!"

Meanwhile, Street was so tired, every step felt like he had bricks stuck to his feet. He had gotten himself some dinner alone. Miss Rita told him somebody helped her take care of Rubio. When Street called her she told him to just head on home and rest. This after many minutes thanking him and his squad for saving them from the bad guys that afternoon!

Street was so tired he didn't even question or ponder about the kid. Yeah, he loved him very much, but tonight, he was exhausted! If the kid wanted to sleep over Miss Rita, then so be it. He'd swing by in the morning!