Hidden Valley (D. SWING)

XVI. Mr. Nice Guy

"What do you mean they cancelled it?"

I leap to my feet, trying to figure out if my brother is joking around or not. He's known to play jokes at the worst times but this would be a new low for Dalvin. Matters get worse when Cedric slides in behind him to back up his announcement, nodding in agreement with Dalvin's mood killing news.

Dalvin repeats himself. "They said they don't need us and that they got another group that can do it."

"That's some bunk shit," I groan, dropping back into my seat. "Fuck 'em. We don't need them motherfuckers. We goin' to New York anyway."

How Chapel Hill could boot us from our spot the day before the performance is a mystery to me but I mean what I say. We don't need them. Jodeci's going to make a killing and it wouldn't be too much better in this world than having the chance to rub this moment in they faces. They can all suck dick. Jodeci don't need those busters.

"I don't know, man. De, we—"

I hold my hand up to silence Cedric's anxieties. "Fuck 'em, K-Ci. We good. We goin' to New York."

If I had a dollar for every time I done said that, I'd be rich enough to go get me a steak in Martha's Vineyard. It's been my answer to anything going wrong at this point. I don't give a fuck because I got a record deal and I'm moving to New York with my boys and my brother. I'm not stressing over nothing down here in Charlotte. It ain't worth it. I got bigger things on my mind and that involves the fame waiting on the four of us once we start dropping all of our crazy good records. Anything going on down here is little people problems. Nuisances. I cain't be letting this place drain me of my good energy, or even a good time, for too much longer.

Cedric nods his head as my words seep into his skull. "You right, man. You right."

My body shifts as I make it known that I don't want to hear anything else about our slot's cancellation. "We here for a reason though." At first, I came to the Hailey house to talk about some of our business before I got rushed at the door by Dalvin with bad news. "We need to go up there with a plan, y'all. We get all our shit figured out before we get there and they can't tell us nothin'! We gone already have it all checked!"

Dalvin points from behind JoJo with a Fanta can in his hand. "Aye, that's a fact!"

"A plan for what though," questions JoJo.

"Everything," Dalvin informs him.

I know we gone be good when we get up north. I don't have no doubt in that. What I really know, though, is that we got to be ready too. I done ran after the dream on a solo journey already and I know some things those executives might be thinking. The biggest thing they gone think is that we're some little kids. We're not. I'm a grown man and my boys is grown men. When it comes to what we do as a group, we know what we're doing. I know we know what we're doing. We can't go up there and let those suits punk us into selling out.

I nod, pointing at my brother in agreement. "Every-fucking-thing, man! We got the look. We got the music shit taken care of. I just need y'all to go up there and keep y'all heads on tight."

"You making it seem like we the only ones who gone fuck up though," points JoJo, knowing he's got the least space to be talking right now. "Motherfucker, you make sure you getting shit done too. Don't just point to us."

"Fuck that, Joe. You know what it is for me, alright? It's always this music thing over everything else."

I don't doubt them. I know that we can all make this thing happen but it's only if we're all on the same page. We have to be doing it together and at once. I can't have JoJo still being a knucklehead, Dalvin running after girls, then me and Cedric are the only focused ones. As girl-struck and dumbfounded as he can be, Cedric gone always show up ready to work. Sometimes he won't even be on time but I promise you, the boy gone get there. I can work with that if he tightens up. Now, I need my brother and JoJo's heads on tight too because if we go up there focused, we can really do this thing.