Allegedly Book 2

Charles

"Yo C, can I holla at you for a minute?" Cinco said as he walked towards me in the hall.           "Yeah come on." I told him as I led him to my office. I closed the door behind him as we both took a seat at my desk. "Alright, I'm all ears, what's good?"                                                                        "So I'm just trying to figure out when I will get a chance at something bigger? Like no disrespect, but I feel like I've been benched around this bitch. I understand that I came with a lot but I've been working so hard to show you that I'm not the same nigga you met. I'm growing and evolving and I don't just want to be stuck at that old level." I looked him in his eyes when he spoke each and every word. I could tell that he felt that from the bottom of his heart and I respected it on some real shit.                                                                                                                                       "You know what Cinco, you're right. You aren't the same dude that walked up in here day 1. You took some steps back for a minute there, and you ultimately went a different path. I commend you for that for real, that's big. I respect you as an artist and I see you coming into your own. However, I do need you to show me something though."                                                                                  "What's that?" he asked me eagerly.                                                                                                                           "Show me why I should choose you over anyone else for that spot." He just looked at me for a few and let the words sink in. I could tell he was trying to find the words.                                                 "It's like demons follow me everywhere that I go, I try to shake em off but they be like Hey Cinco. Instead of running, I learn their names, I felt like it was best to have them on my side in this game. I realize that it's me against my subconscious, Trying to stomach my everyday would make the average nigga nauseous. Come vibe with he kid and see if you feel the breeze, Trying sucka duck some shit because back-tracking ain't my steez. I just flow with it because I don't get left I'm the leaver, Swerving lanes to keep dodging the Grim Reaper. I'm passing on the scripts and moving away from the lean cuz I can't keep falling, Not trying to be under the influence because Death keep calling. In this dark place I realized with my demons I just have to embrace em so we can level, I keep trying to hold hands with God but I'm still square dancing with the Devil." I'm not gone lie, that shit was nice, but dark. I understood every word though.                       "Cinco, I believe in you youngin. And maybe that's more than the average person, but I see something in you that I believe you don't even see for yourself. I'm willing to bet on you, because I know this is what you need just like your next breath. So...this next showcase, I want you to MC it." He looked at me like he really didn't know what to say for real.                                                                "Wait...you trust  that I can do all that?" he asked me and I got up and poured myself a drink and I tossed him a bottle of water. I took a sip and looked over at him.                                                                   "I trust it, but more importantly, I trust you. See ever since we had that talk and we broke everything down, you've been different. You took sometime to unlearn bad habits and to build yourself back up. All the things you were trying to numb yourself to, you took time to feel. Those feelings are now seeping out into your work and I love that for you for real. Bruh I've never been against you at any point of time. So, you ask if I can trust you to do all of that, hell yeah! I trust you for that and then some. What you have to trust is trust in your abilities. As long as you believe in yourself, that's all that matters." I told him and he got up and came over and surprisingly he embraced me. I embraced him back, because I think that's what he was really lacking. My young bull didn't really get much support and nobody embraced him for who he truly is. "You got this!" I told him as he released me from his hold.                                                               "Man thanks C." he said with tears in his eyes. "I appreciate this!" he said.                                             "I appreciate you." I told him as he walked out. Each and every day I question myself about what I'm doing and the direction that I'm going in, interactions like this made it all worth it. I saw the change and I welcomed it all for real. I just pray it is all solid enough to continue. I heard a knock at the door and without looking, I just said "Come in."                                                                                          "Nice, I like what you did with the place." I heard her say and I looked up and saw Emerald.             "Hey!" I said; I was taken aback for real "Thank you. What brings you to my neck of the woods?"    "Had to come see the competition." she said as we both laughed. "Naw really I wanted to pitch something to you though." she said to me.                                                                                                              "Talk to me, I talk back." I said to her as I gestured for her to take a seat as I went to sit down too. "So, we heard about your Royal Battle, love the theme and the idea behind it. That's different and fresh, love that. But I was wondering if you'd like to open another avenue to go with it?"          "What type of avenue you referring to?" I asked her because I wasn't sure what she was thinking. "Film. Like reality filming. We'd love to capture the artists getting ready for the event and the practice and all that goes along with it. I feel like this type of exposure would boost your visibility." She had a very interesting point, but I didn't want to just agree without speaking with them first. But we just might be in business for real.                                                                                             "Let me discuss it with them first before I give a definitive answer." I told her. She smiled.                 "Sure, so when you all agree, we must celebrate the start of a beautiful business relationship." Assumptive, but I ain't mad at her.