Victorie (Urban Fiction)

Chapter 35

"CeCe girl I got a record deal!!" I squealed sitting by her headstone. " I know you talked to the big man up there for me. I wish you were physically here to share in this joy with me. You know we'd turn up. I miss you so much CeCe." Before I knew it, I was crying tears of joy and sadness. My text notification sounded.
Jaison: I'm at home. Wya
Me: omw
"CeCe I gotta go girl," I said kissing my hand and placing it on her headstone. "I'll be back soon. I love you."

"Hey baby," I said entering the house.
"Hey ma," Jaison greeted. "You look nice. Where the baby?"
"She's with her grandma," I said. "I had to go handle something, and then I stopped by the cemetery."
"Oh ok," he said.
"I got something to show you," I said sitting next to him on the couch. I pulled the signed contract out of my purse.
"What's this?" he asked reading it. A smile spread across his face. "You got a record deal?!"
"I had lunch with Mr. Dan," I said. "Turns out he owns Powerhouse Records."
"Old white man Mr. Dan?" Jaison asked.
"Yes him," I smiled. "One of the coolest old cats ever."
"Wow..." Jaison said smiling.
"I had Armad look over it," I said. "It's a six album contract with a five hundred thousand dollar advance.  He really believes that I can deliver six good albums."
"You did it baby!!!" he kissed me. "I told you it would happen."
"We gotta go get Joy from school and go tell mama!" I said jumping up. "Come on!"

"Will you just tell me what's going on?" Joy asked a million times.
"Just wait until we get to Mama's girl," I said smiling.
"Y'all keep smiling, so I wanna know now," she whined.
As soon as we pulled into the yard, she hopped out.
"Mama what's going on?" she asked. "Why they checked me out of school?"
"I don't know Joy," my mama said. "I didn't even know that they'd picked you up. Victorie what's wrong with you?"
"Everybody sit down," I said. "I have an announcement to make..."
"What? You pregnant?" my mama asked.
"No mama," I said. "But I now have a record deal!!!"
"What? When?" mama asked.
"Oh my God!!!" Joy screamed jumping up and down.
"I got a six album contract with Powerhouse Records," I said. "That's where I was earlier. I signed the papers, and I'm gonna take them back tomorrow."
"My baby is gonna be a star!!" mama screamed waking a sleeping Zuri who hollered in the other room. "Joy go get the baby. It's time to celebrate."
We all went back to Jaison's where we called Cedric, Mike, Sheika, Anika, and Ari to celebrate with us.

The next day, I made my way back to the offices of Powerhouse Records. "Hi," I smiled at the secretary. "Is Mr. Schaffer in?"
"Hi Victorie," she smiled back. "He told me to bring you straight to his office whenever you came back."
She led me down a hallway to the last door. She knocked lightly on the door.
"Mr. Schaffer, Miss Victorie is here," she said before opening the door.
"I've made my decision," I smiled soon as she shut the door. I flipped to the last page where I'd signed.
"Welcome to Powerhouse," he smiled.
"I'd like to introduce you to a few people." He then got on his phone, and in a couple of minutes six more people joined us in his office.
"I'd like for you guys to meet our newest artist Victorie," he said. "This young woman is a superstar. Victorie could you sing a little something for these people?"
"Sure," I said. I then delivered a cover of  Sinead Harnett's "If You Let Me". When I finished, they applauded me.
"Told you she's a superstar," Mr. Dan said.

"Mr. Dan can I ask you something?" I asked just before I got ready to go home.
"Sure," he said.
"You're a big part of the Sun Music Festival right?" I asked. "Can you explain to me how it works? We were basically a bunch of nobodies until we were asked to perform there, but we were compensated."
"The Sun Music Festival is something a few of my record business friends and I put together," he explained. "We invite aspiring artists from the west coast to perform. Artists who have local radio play or those who have a good social media following. We put them up in front of thousands just to see what they really got. We compensate them because a lot of them miss work or quit their jobs just in the hopes of getting signed. We're not heartless people."
"Oh ok," I said.
"Some people come to the festival just to hear one genre of music. If you can move those people, then you're definitely gifted. You moved the whole audience. You pushed your music, and a lot of people that I know only come when it's the day for certain music showed up just to see you. They sang along to your track. I knew then that I had to sign you," he went on. "I look forward to making hit after hit with you.