The 2 Minute Engagement

Chapter 14

Chapter 14
Luke

2016

"Y'all are finally starting to look like something," Brooke claps as we finally get through the entire set for If It Isn't Love without being stopped once. "Now add the emotion, stage presence. I want to feel like I'm watching New Edition perform. Again."

With sweat dripping down our bodies and air hard to come by, we do the dance again. This time, we try harder to appear like New Edition. When we finish, I think we accomplished that.

"Bryshere," Jacque pauses as she thinks of a way to phrase her words. "Love the mic more."

"Love the mic more? What?" Bryshere asks and we laugh.

"You heard me. Whenever Mike sings, he puts his all into the mic like he's loving it. You know what I mean." Jacque nods.

"Y'all take ten. BGT get up and perform the song. I swear if it isn't just like your dads," Brooke leaves the threat in the air before we sit down.

It's one of those practices where BGT came in the watch. To help critique us. Mostly it felt like to embarrass us. We aren't dancers. We can do a little something. We have some rhythm but we aren't dancers like these guys are.

We sit around the room with various looks of disgust as we watch them sing and dance their way through the song. It's effortless.

"Uncle Brooke," JJ says as she, Kim, and LuLu enter the room. "Don't do them that. BGT isn't playing New Edition in the miniseries. Those men over there are. Watching someone else do your job won't help. It just embarrasses you."

"Sometime embarrassment helps." Brooke says and we just shake our heads.

"Boys, that's enough. Everyone needs to get in the studio anyway. Littles, y'all get ready for The Love You Save." Steph says.

We pack our bags and move over to the sound studio to doing vocal. "I honestly don't feel like singing." Algee says when we sit down in the studio.

"I never want to sing." Woody says and we laugh.

"That's because you trash," LuLu teases as she, her cousin, and sister enter the room. "Sounding like a dying cat head ass."

I hold my arms out and she sits in my lap. "Where were y'all for practice?" I ask.

"JJ had a doctor's appointment. We went because Chance couldn't come this time." Kim answers.

"Boy or girl?" Keith asks. Everyone gets on him for the stupid question.

"I'm only a few weeks, KeKe. We won't know until five months." JJ rolls her eyes. "But I want a girl. Just so I can train her to be a NBA star. She won't be in the music industry."

"That'll be hard," Jimmy Jam says as he, Steph, and Terry Lewis enter the studio. "Her mom is a part of one of the best girl groups of the generation and her dad is one of the best orators of the generation. She'll be drawn toward music."

"Or he," Bryshere says. "Then maybe he can learn how to be sauve like his Uncle Bry."

"My baby does not need anymore uncles," JJ shakes her head. "The only uncle my baby is allowed to have is KeKe."

"Ayyyyee." Keith smiles widely. We all start arguing about the uncle title as LuLu, JJ, and Kim laugh.

"Let's get to work." Steph shakes her head.

We spend much needed hours in the studio laying down vocals for different bits in the miniseries. Apparently SJC and New Edition were able to talk their way into having a five-day, two-hour each day miniseries for the story. Steph, Cassie, and Jacque argued that if it were just NE or just SJC then three days would be enough but it's two groups and a lot of story/life to cover. I think five days still isn't enough. I wish they could talk BET into doing a TV series. Have multiple seasons, hire us all full-time and actresses to play the young SJC, get actors to play LuLu and her siblings and her cousins. It would as big as Empire.