A Ruthless Life • Eazy-E & Aaliyah

The Photoshoot

-Aaliyah's POV-

I woke up early because I have a photoshoot at 11:30am. I'm not a morning person, I hate waking up so early. I love to sleep in. I got up, took a shower, brushed my teeth, and made a quick bowl of cereal. I didn't have time to eat a full meal. The time is 10:15am, I have to go to Santa Monica Pier because that's where my photoshoot will take place. I grabbed a muffin and headed towards the door.

My name is Aaliyah Haughton, I was born on January 16, 1969 to Diane and Michael Haughton. I'm 22 years old. I'm not from Los Angeles, I'm originally from Brooklyn, NY. My family moved to California 17 years ago when I was only 5 years old. Ever since I was young, I've always wanted to be an entertainer. My name Aaliyah means "the highest most exalted one, the best," and its pronounced Ah-Lee-Uh but people still say Uh-Lee-Uh but it's cool.

This LA traffic is ridiculous. I called my uncle Barry, he's also my manager. He knew that I wanted to be a singer so he enrolled me in voice classes before I started school.

          "Hello?" he answered.

          "Hey its Aaliyah. I might be a few minutes late because this traffic is off the wall. Just wanted to let you know," I said.

         "Okay I'll let the photographer know," he replied.

Sure enough, I was 15 minutes late. The Santa Monica Pier was shut down because of my photoshoot. LA might have the worst traffic ever, but one thing I do love about the city is the beautiful palm trees, beaches, the culture, music, and warm weather. I'm in love with west coast music. There's nothing like west coast hip hop.

I arrived at my photoshoot and saw lots of cars there. I thought they shut the pier down, guess not.
"Hey Barry. Sorry I'm late. Why is there so many cars here?"

"N.W.A. is also here for a photoshoot. Sorry we didn't notify you. But since you were late, it was a first come first serve. They should be done in about an hour," he said. 

So because I was late, my photoshoot was rescheduled. The rescheduled time is 1:30pm.
I was in hair and makeup for about two hours. For some reason I'm into the tomboy look.

I'm not girly. I love to wear baggy clothes,
dark sunglasses, and bandanas so that's my photoshoot theme. N.W.A. is finally done with their photoshoot. My hair and makeup was done and I was in costume.

After my photoshoot was over Eric approached me.

         "So we meet again," he said. 

"I swear you're stalking," I replied. 

"How is trying to get to know someone stalking? I've been trying to talk to you since 1990 but you just been brushing me off." 

"Well I'm just too busy, I dont have time for a social life Eric. You should understand since you're in the music business too." 

"Well we aint busy right now let's talk. I wanna get to know you," he said.

I hesitated at first. I heard about Eric's life before he became Eazy-E. I know that he was a drug dealer and I heard about him having sex with multiple women without condoms. I dont know this man but he does seem sweet and he is very handsome. He has been trying to get my attention since 1990.

I decided to finally give him a chance and talk to him. I didn't have nothing else to do anyway. We walked around the pier and enjoyed the beautiful view. 

"So how is your day going?" he asked.

"It's okay. My photoshoot was rescheduled two hours later because I was late thanks to this traffic. And then when I got here, I had no idea that you guys had a photoshoot too." I said. 

"Yeah I hate LA traffic too. Where you from? Are you from California?" 

"No I'm from Brooklyn, NY. I moved to LA when I was only 5 years old."

We continued to walk down the beautiful pier. I must admit, California is beautiful. I dont remember too much about New York because I was so young when I moved. Eric and I continued to talk. 

"Tell me more about yourself," he said. 

"I love to sing. My uncle Barry is my manager and he enrolled me in voice classes before I started school. And I just want to be remembered as a full on entertainer and a great person. That's pretty much it. So what about you? Tell me about yourself."

           "I'm from Compton. I dropped out of school in the 10th grade but later I went back and got my GED. I used to sell drugs until I got into music. Dre convinced me to start a record label and rap. I had a rough life and music was my only way out. By the way, N.W.A. had a photoshoot here because I found out that you were going to be here so I arranged a quick photoshoot just to get close to you," he said while laughing. 

I rolled my eyes and laughed. It was probably the biggest smile ever. I still have a lot to learn about Eric. When I was first met him in 1990 I thought that he was going to be rude and not very sociable based off his image. But after today, I see that he's sweet, charming, humble, funny, and very down to earth. 

"I love your smile, you should let me do that more often," he said. 

"Do what?" I asked. 

"Make you smile." 

He then leaned in and gave me a kiss.