Long Island's Rising Popstar

Chapter 11: Outside

This was a war.

The Fresh King of New York, Tammy and Nancy followed Luke Cage out of Harlem's Paradise and right through the alleys and the darkness of the city.

After the shocking revelation that Niayrah has been cheating on Jay with Eczavier Okoye, he was never going to be the same. And at this point, he couldn't take any time to cool down, not yet.

They had been contained, but now they were outside, and vulnerable to ECZ's gang. It was his doing, but Fresh was the one who fell into his trap. Although he had rose to a good position, it was short lived. Because the man Jaelen had worked for was, based on Luke's description, more than just a weapons dealer.

Jay wished that he'd listened to the bulletproof hero before, but he needed Luke to understand where he was going with his music and the whole performance- it was a chance of a lifetime, and the fact that he took it meant that he was determined to rise up to the top, especially with the people he cared about.

But now, those people were in trouble.

"How much further?" Nancy squeaked out, Tammy following closely behind.

"Not much, but we gotta keep moving." Luke ordered. "We don't want Eczavier and his gang to find us."

That much was true, and whoever they were meeting had better be nice enough to let them stay until everything calmed down.

"How do we even know we can trust you not to, like, hand us over to the police or something like that?"

"Because they don't trust me to play by the rules. I work on my own terms, and I know Harlem. You don't. Stay close."

They were scared out of their minds, but they had no choice but to keep going.

Luke Cage led the artists to a house that looked pretty decent, and considering everything they had been through, Jaelen would have even taken a dilapidated and abandoned house over nothing. But the man knocked on the door, the chain unlocking and the door opening.

A woman with a distressed expression on her face scanned the three young singers with narrowed eyes.

"What is going on, Luke? You say these kids were with Cottonmouth?"

"Trust me, it's different than that."

"In your cases, it's hard to trust you."

"I know, but they don't fully understand what they've gotten themselves into. And it's bigger than Cottonmouth?"

The woman's eyes widened. "Bigger than Cottonmouth?"

"One of his past goons tried to kill him, and Mr. Rapper over here."

Jay scoffed. "Excuse me, the name is-"

"Quiet!" Both adults said in hushed shouts.

"Look, they're innocent of all this. And they need to lay low until tomorrow. Can they stay... please?"

She rolled her eyes, but stepped aside. "Hey, as long as it's not as crazy the time with that Witch Doctor."

Nancy perked up. "Uh, what?"

"Nothing you need to know about. Get in here."

The door closed behind them, and The Fresh King knew they couldn't leave now. This is where his performance had got him, and he had to deal with that.

"Alright, what is going on?" Tammy demanded.

"You tell me."

"No, who are you? And why are we here?"