Jamie has it all - depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and a hate for her endless acne. With no friends, a distant family, and a nonexistent love-life, Jamie has made it through her twenties by hanging onto her dream of becoming a professional si...
"I know I keep asking you this... but it's almost midnight."
I stopped him before he could continue. "Nope! Still not ready to go home unless you want me to."
Deonte smiled, "You can stay as long as you want, but I know you have a busy schedule."
I ran my hands along the edge of the pool table. "It's cause I'm not sleepy, yet."
"How late you trying to stay up?" He asked me.
I asked, "Hey, do you remember when you said you would tell me more about what happened with The CRU?"
Deonte smiled at me. "That's a long story."
I walked over to him. "I got nothing but time, sir."
We left the game room and went to the kitchen to grab snacks and drinks. Soon, we were back on the couch.
After gulping half of his drink, Deonte began, "Are you sure you want to hear about my group?"
I slid closer to him. "I'm all ears."
Deonte smiled at me. "One of our favorite movies was The Temptations. We used to always joke about who would be the David Ruffin of the group, but it was just jokes. After starting our group and practicing for a year, we went to every label for five years trying to get signed. Then, it happened. We spent three years with New Millennium Records, but our music wasn't really selling like it should've been. After our second album barely made the charts, we started to look at other record companies. At the same time, our label was going through a financial crisis. They were dropping artists left and right. Then, Unlimited Records called."
I was tuned into this story like a kid during story time on the reading rug.
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Deonte continued, "We all showed up, sung for them, talked with them, ate with them. Then, they told my mom they only wanted to sign me."
I bucked my eyes.
"I couldn't understand it. I didn't even want to be there that day. Like, I was doing the bare minimum. Trenton and Jiles were more excited than I was about being there."
I asked, "Were you tired?"
Deonte smiled, "I was thinking about my girlfriend. I wanted to be with her instead of entertaining a record company. I was young, though. I should've put more effort into our performance. I believe if I would've done that, then Unlimited wouldn't have singled me out. We came into the industry as a group, and we said we would leave the industry as a group."
I nodded my head.
"We left Unlimited, and my mom was like 'I know you don't want to say anything, but you should tell them whether you take the deal or not."
This sounds like a movie.
Deonte sighed, "I told my mom I would, but the very next day, Unlimited called me and I took the deal."
