In 1978, an 11-year old, Bobby Brown convinces his friends, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Laila Williams, and Ralph Tresvant to perform at talent shows around Boston, Massachusetts. The group is soon later discovered and signs a record deal, coming ou...
A young Ricky Bell walk through his apartment looking for someone in particular. "Hey Peanut, you seen Ma? Is she here?" He asked his older sister. "She should be." Peanut replied. "Did she go to the store or something? I ain't seen her." Ricky questioned.
"I don't know. I just told you she should be." Peanut said. Since Peanut wasn't any help to Ricky he decides to go ask someone else. Opening the bathroom door, he walks in on his brother rolling up a joint.
"Where's Ma at?" Ricky asked. "Don't you know how to knock?" His older brother said. "Just tell me where Ma is!" Ricky said obviously not caring. "Close the damn door, man." His brother said as he slammed the door in his face. Ricky scoffed as he went somewhere else in the apartment to find his mom, before bumping into one of his other siblings.
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Eventually he ends up finding his mom in the kitchen smoking a cigarette. "Hey Ma." Ricky spoke. "Hey, baby. You got my cigarettes?" Mae, his mother replied. "Yeah." Ricky said taking the cigarettes out of his pockets and giving them to his mom. "Damn it, boy. I asked you to bring me light 100s. You know I'm tryna quit." Ricky's mom said tossing the cigarettes on the table.
"Sorry..." Ricky apologized. "Uh, Ma? Can I go to the talent show tonight with my friends?" Ricky asked his mother. "Which friends?"
"Mike and Laila."
His mother took a break from folding the clothes and looked at Ricky like he had lost his mind. "Micheal Bivins and Laila Williams?" She said. "Yeah."
"Hell no. I don't think so. Bad ass boy. Always hanging out with Dante and 'em. Drinkin, smokin' reefer. And don't get me started on Laila, that girl's so naive she can't save her life. Always hanging around those ghetto boys, mess with the wrong one, she'll probably be end up on the streets." His mother said.
"If you had any damn sense, you'd stay away from them. Watch. See where they end up in ten years." Ricky began to walk away from his mom before she could say anything else. "Pregnant or probably locked up!" She said before Ricky closed the door. "Big-headed self."
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Later that night at the basketball court, Mike was playing ball with some guys. "Freak Out" by Le Chic was playing while I was up against the fence writing some new lyrics in my notebook.
"A tough night, shoot." Mike said. "A quarter a game. At this point, you owe me a dollar. Gain point." I looked up from my notebook and watched as Mike proved the other boys wrong and made the winning shot.
"Let me get that dollar off you, brother." Mike went up to the older kid and he gave him the dollar he won. "See? What I tell you." Mike said, showing me the dollar he won.
"Yeah, yeah. Good job, Mike." I smiled, closing my notebook as Ricky walked up to the fence.
"Whaddup, Rick?" Mike says walking up to Ricky.
"Whaddup, Mike?" Ricky said dapping up Mike. "Whatddup, Lai?"
"Hey Rick, I'm surprised to see you, your mom let you out?" I asked.
"Nah, she still thinks I'm in my room. Y'all ready to go see Bob?" Ricky asks his friends. "Yeah, this his first show in Cathedral we can't miss it." I said walking ahead of the two. "Let's go." Mike tells Ricky as the three of us walk to the talent show.
We eventually reach Cathedral and inside was pretty loud due to girls screaming over a couple of guys that were singing. Mike, Ricky, and I find a spot against the wall and watch the group of guys performance.
"Man, they kill it every time." Mike said. "Look how together they are, the outfits, the hair, the steps." Ricky said. "They move at the exact right time." Mike added.
Once they finished their performance, the girls in the crowd near the stage cheered for them. "All right, all right. Give it up for the Untouchables! They did that like they meant that, right?" The MC spoke into the microphone. "All right, let's keep this show rolling. C'mon on, y'all. Settle down. Listen, this next young man is making his stage debut, all right? He's only 11 years old. But the best thing is he is from right here in Roxbury. So show some love for Lil Bobby Brown!" The MC said introducing Bobby.
The audience cheers and claps as Bobby walks onstage with a gray suit and purple tie, adjusting the mic to his level. "Let's go, Bob! You got this, man! Go Bobby! You can do it!" Me, Ricky, and Mike cheered for their friend as he prepared for his performance.
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As the crowd cheers Bobby points off stage, cueing the track he would be singing to. The music starts and Bobby freezes in place looking at the audience that continued cheering. The music continues but no words come from Bobby. The crowd eventually stops cheering and starts looking confused. They beginning to start to boo him and Bobby runs off due to stage fright.
We all sighed as we watched the whole thing. "Ladies and gentlemen, just a little stage fright. It happens sometimes." The MC says to the crowd.
"That's your boy up there? That lil kid sucked." A tall guy turns and says to us. "I know he did better than yo monkey lookin' ass could do." Mike retorted causing Me and Ricky to look back at him and the dude. "The hell you just say?"
"I didn't stutter." Mike says.
"Come again?" The guy says getting all in Mike's face. Mike shoves him before grabbing my hand and running off. Ricky does the same thing before running off as well. "Take y'all asses back to OP with that!" The guy yells before returning back to his friends.
