Victorie (Urban Fiction)

Chapter 21

"Hey girl! You're looking mighty refreshed and glowy today," Ari grinned at me.
"Hey! And you are too!" I told her. "Listen Ari about last night... I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have went off on you like I did."
"It's ok. You told me some things that I needed to hear," she said. "I had a long talk with Zayn. I'm not about to be performing girlfriend duties without the title. I told him we're either official or nothing at all. I been rocking with him for too long."
"I hear you," I said. "I guess this trip's purpose is to start new chapters."
"I know how you started yours," she laughed. "Oh my God Jaison! Why you fucking me like this!!" she mocked me.
"I'm so embarrassed," I said. "Where were you at to hear me?"
"The whole hotel probably heard," she laughed. "But I was coming to check on you when I heard you getting your back broke."
"Aww man," I said feeling my face flush.

"You ready to mingle, and pass out these mixtapes?" Jaison asked walking up to me.
"Yes I'm ready," I said. "Let's network, and put these in the right hands."
We were at day one of the festival. The Sun Music festival is basically just a two day gathering where unsigned West coast artists network and showcase their talents in the hopes of getting signed or gaining more fans. Our performance was set for tomorrow, but we decided to pass out mixtapes today because we wanted people to come back and look forward to seeing us perform live. If the crowd loved you then you'd have a better chance of catching the attention of the right people. "Hi sir," I said as I approached this older white man. "I'm Victorie. Is it ok if I give you one of my mixtapes?"
"Hi Victorie, nice to meet you. I'm Dan," he said. "Sure I'll take one. You're beautiful. What do you do? Sing? Rap?"
"I sing Rnb," I replied. "Do you like Rnb?"
"I love Rnb," he smiled. "That's actually what I came to hear. Do you perform today?"
"I perform tomorrow," I said. "I hope you come back and see me tomorrow."
"I most definitely will," he responded.
"It was nice meeting you Mr. Dan," I smiled. "I hope you enjoy the mixtape." I moved along and continued to pass out my cds until they were gone.

"You think some of them uppity white folks gone listen to y'all's music?" Ari asked. We'd finished passing out our CDs and were now watching some of the other performers while waiting on Jaison and Zayn to join us.
"Some of these uppity white folks are music execs," I said to her. "You never know who's who which is why you have to mingle and don't stereotype anybody out here. Plus we're bringing attention to ourselves by being the only ones out here passing out our music."
"I just ran into the CEO of Legendary Records!" Jaison said excitedly. "He loves our song, and he says he's looking forward to seeing me perform and hearing more of my music."
"I'm so excited for you baby," I smiled giving him a kiss. "Can you believe we're the only ones passing out our music?"
"That's a good thing," he said. "Makes us look more determined."
This girl on stage started singing a fire cover the song Every Kind of Way by H.E.R. "This is one of my favorites," I said pulling Jaison by the arm. "Let's dance." We danced until the song ended.
"That nigga whipped," Zayn joked. "Showing all type of PDA." We all laughed. Then Jaison's phone rang.
"I gotta take this. It's Auntie J," he said walking off to hear better.

"Victorie, come here right quick," he called to me. "We need to go back to the room."
"Why?" I asked. "What's wrong?"
"I'll tell you when we get to the room," he said. "We need to get away from all these people first."
"Ok," I said nervously. Zayn and Ari stayed at the festival while we returned to the room.

"What is it Jaison?" I asked sitting on the bed. "You scaring me. Why you look so sad? What happened?" I was so scared that I started to cry. "Talk to me!"
"It's CeCe," he said.
"Is she in the hospital? Is she sick? What's wrong with her Jaison?" I asked hoping it wasn't too bad.
"She's gone Victorie," he said sadly.
"She's gone? What happened to her?!" I cried.
"Auntie J just found her," he said with tears in his eyes. "She overdosed on pain meds; committed suicide."
"She called me last night, and I missed her call," I sobbed. "My best friend needed me, and I wasn't there. I need to go home. Take me home Jaison."
"Torie baby there's nothing you could've done," he consoled me. "Don't start blaming yourself. CeCe was dealing with a lot of hurt and mental issues. She's at peace now."
"I just want to go home Jaison," I cried.
"We'll go home tomorrow after the festival," he said holding me. "CeCe would want us to go out there and kill that shit, and that's what we gone do. I believe that something is gone shake for us, but it can't if we leave now."
Jaison held me as I cried myself to sleep. I had a dream about CeCe. We were backstage, and she approached me. She had a glow about her.
"CeCe what are you doing here?" I asked. "You didn't tell me you were coming out here to the festival. How'd you get here?"
"You know I couldn't miss your big performance," she smiled. "Don't worry about how I got here."
"I'm so nervous girl," I said.
"Don't be. You're going to do so good, and after this there's gonna be so many great things in store for you," she said. "You'll see."
"After this is over, you have to go out with Jaison and I to celebrate," I smiled. "Plus I have so much to fill you in on girl."
"I can't stay Torie," she said. "I just came to watch your performance. I have to leave right after."
"Where you going?" I asked her sadly.
"To a place much better than our hood, a place where I'm so happy," she smiled.
"I don't want you to leave me," I said sadly.
"I'm going to come back and see you," she said. "Plus you have Jaison now. He'll make sure you're alright."
"Ok," I said crying. "I love you CeCe."
"I love you too," she said hugging me tight. "Now go kill that performance."

I was still sad when I awoke, but I felt much better knowing that CeCe was happy and at peace. Jaison and I talked about some of our craziest moments with CeCe. I'd never laughed and cried so much in my life.