An overly-eager artist being welcomed into the industry is taken on a bumpy ride as she learns life does not have as many sunny days as she thought. Within the process, she comes to learn that her tour guide is a lot more important to her than she e...
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January 3, 1985 Atlanta, Georgia
Honestly, I'd really like to tell you everything was much better but it wasn't. I barely talked to my father and I was still screaming fuck my mother in my head. She may have here my ass all the way from home so not too loud... However, I did mean it. We'd gone through two family holidays and on those days somehow we managed to act like there was no problem. Any other day? The connection was gone. She didn't call and I surely was not calling her. Every time I talked to my dad he felt farther and farther away. When I'd go to pick up Eddie every weekend, he'd be going on those 'business trips' more often. It made me feel like he was living a double life. What accountant needed to take so many damn trips for work? He worked in the city we lived in!
Now Eddie? My baby brother was getting himself together. A tender (almost) ten-year-old, who made the local little football team at a nearby community center for the park up the street, was thriving. For a short time he swore he was a black activist, Kwame True if you want be specific. He was always yapping about how Aaliyah and I talked. How we came off that we wanted to be white, he claimed. Thankfully, that didn't last another minute after Papa Fred, Grandma Coretta's old man, heard that mess he was talking. He put his ass right in check. He didn't fail to mention he marched with Dr. King when I was a kid. The passion was there.
That led into Aaliyah. She got a lot better. She quit the office job and returned to being a waitress, working her way up in that kitchen and making culinary connections. She could have used the 'I know Prince!' card, only because I wasn't not famous enough yet... Then she could use me. Surprisingly, this time she actually wanted to do it herself. I wasn't sure if it was because I would kill her or if she legitimately wanted to be an honest woman for once. Aaliyah Johnson, the honest woman... I didn't think that sounded normal enough. It had to grow on me.
On my end of the bridge, I was always busy. In fact, I was busier than I was before. Between the studio and rehearsals for Broadway? I had no time to even dwell on my mother's temporary hatred for me. Warner Bros. was definitely the better side of the grass. I got far more creative control and they promoted me all of the time! I was always doing little shows here and there. The best part about it all was that I finally got my face on the cover of a magazine. I was the lead story. I accomplished more in two months with Warner Bros. than I would for my entirety of being with Atlantic. Life was so nice. I deserved the break I was taking.
So I took my friend to see Prince.
Yes, I broke down and pulled through on my first free day. It was his last show in Atlanta and I'd never been to Atlanta to begin with. Prince didn't invite me to soundcheck. He said it would have ruined the surprise. He wanted me to experience in full at the same time as everyone else. Bitter, I was a little bit but I understood his point and decided to trust him. I'd heard many things about the show. It was time for me to see it with my own eyes... Damn, was I in for some shit.
