A Silenced Gift

Chapter 2

© 2017 D.S. Little
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the author, except as permitted by U.S. Copyright law.
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Jaren

"So this nigga gon' tell me that he think you don' gon' soft." My boy Ro told me as we all sat around in the studio playing back the track that we had been working on that night.

Ro was one of my boys from way back. He was average-sized for a guy but stocky. We used to play ball together. He was now trying to break into the game like me and I was finally giving him the opportunity by letting him do a verse on a song for my new album.

"What the fuck?" I laughed while putting my cup of Hennessy down.

"He was talkin' bout ever since you wifed up shorty that all you wanna talk about is love or makin' love." Ro finished.

"That nigga must not have heard that verse I did on that Nas record or the 2 Chainz joint." I replied not sure why Ro telling me this was getting me worked up.

"Yo shit on that Kendrick joint was fire." My boy Richie Beats chimed in. Richie had been with me since I started rapping and he produced most of my beats. He was a straight pretty boy! Mixed with Puerto Rican and Black with light skin and even lighter eyes, he was the most conceited person I knew! Girls seemed to love him and he loved them equally.

"And you murdered your verse on that Khaled song they been playing all summer." Simon added.

When Courtney was my assistant I never liked having her around the studio because it was full of mostly niggas and I didn't want her around all that. As my new assistant I let Simon pretty much go with me anywhere.

"I don't know what the fuck that nigga talkin' bout." I said pouring more Henny in my cup and taking a sip.

"You know TK, he always talkin' shit." Ro shrugged. "He's still pissed off at you for throwing him off that tour last summer. You need to go holla at that nigga."

I looked over at Tyson, we were making similar expressions and I was pretty sure he was thinking the same thing as me. While on the Humble Hustle Tour with Kendrick that previous summer TK had gotten out of hand. He acted as if he was on his tour and was constantly getting in fights with different people daily. He had made some comments about Fatima, my relationship with her and some other out of pocket shit that was the final straw for me. I didn't let anybody come for her, especially around me.

TK and I got into it, almost going to physical blows, and hadn't spoken since. We had also been boys since elementary school and he always held me down. Once my career took off he started turning into somebody else, someone I didn't know or like and I couldn't afford to have that around me. Somebody in my camp was leaking shit and talking to the media about me and Fatima so I got rid of almost everyone around me and started fresh with a new team.

Aside from Richie, Ro, and Tyson, everyone else around me was a fresh face. As much as TK was my boy, being engaged to Fatima and having our baby on the way, I didn't need that energy around me or my family.

"Those songs that he considers soft are some of his biggest hits." Joel pointed out. "Mainstream loves those songs. You can't turn on a radio or go to a club without constantly hearing his voice! We talking about Rihanna, Trey, Breezy, Keri Hilson, Bryson, Monica, Trina, K. Michelle, Sevyn, and Pia. Jericho's audience is so much bigger from doing those songs."

Joel was so different than everyone around me and I liked it that way. He was the type of manager who preferred to remain in the background and preferred to let his client shine. He wore black rimmed glasses and we often teased him that he reminded us of Lawrence off of that show Insecure. He hated it though.