Please excuse ANY grammatical errors.

December 25, 1994

~Dalvin's P.O.V~

It's Christmas morning and we just finished passing around a few gifts. This is the first year in a long time we were able to spend Christmas and Thanksgiving with the family. Yes, we aren't able to come home as much as we should and this year has been a struggle for us to do so, but we were able so here we are.

As of now, we're at the table eating breakfast. We didn't open all of our presents we were WAY to hungry to open everything. We brought our parents a bunch of stuff. They gave us everything we deserved during our upbringing. God know we can never repay them for what they did for us, but we can do things for them.

"Kids, your father and I have something to tell you. We don't know how you'd react, so we chose not to announce this with the rest of the family just yet, but we'll eventually tell them as well." Momma said to us all.

After she said those words, my heart dropped thinking the absolute worst. I have a bad feeling about this. Is somebody dead? Somebody dying? Somebody sick? Whatever it is I hope it's bearable for all of us, because I KNOW she's about to tell us something life changing. I know for a fact that Me, Derek, and De feel the same way. The difference is me and De aren't physically showing it, while Derek over here perspiring from his pits and face.

"Okay..." I trialed off, waiting in anticipation.

"Now kids, we ain't mean for this to happen. It just did..." Pops trailed off.

"Okay..." Derek nodded.

"Did y'all kill somebody on some Bonnie and Clyde stuff?" De asked them. "To me it sounds like y'all are about to say y'all got some time in the pen for doing something of that nature." De explained slowly.

"Listen here lil nigga, I'm a pastor. I work in a church. Why would I do something like that? I'm a man of God, and your mother is a woman of God. What our old asses look like doing that?" Our pops said to De.

I chuckled underneath my breath. The ways he started is hilarious, but what more funny is that he's over here talking about he's a man of God but curse like a damn sailor or some shit. See where we got it from? All of us curse but not in front of our parents, we weren't raised like that.

"Hey..." De held up his hands in defense. "Y'all are beatin' around the bush like y'all ashamed of whatever it is y'all did. I just thought-"

"Dad, what is it?" Derek asked cutting DeVanté off.

Pops looked at momma and momma nodded at him. "What we're trying to tell you all is that you all are having another sibling." Momma finally told us.

"Who'd y'all adopt?" Derek furrowed his eyebrows.

"Who y'all take in? The little boy from down the street?" De asked them.

Pops made a face at us then shouted. "No! Now shut up! Ya momma's pregnant." He pointed at moms.

Me, Derek, and De bursted out laughing. "I see y'all got jokes, huh?" I said out of breath, through laughter, and the clapping of my hands.

"Oooowee, y'all we got the funniest parents eva!" Derek said through laughter.

"Y'all too old to be pregnant! Y'all KNOW y'all too old to be havin' sex! If this a joke to get us to use protection, don't worry! We not stupid." De said laughing. "I didn't know old people can get it up!"

"Too old!? Lil nigga, I may be old but not to old to put over my lap all of y'all!" Pops pointed at us. "I may be a man of God but I'm also a man of givin' ass whippings! And I ave you know that ain't nothing wrong with my little swimmers and what they came out of."

"Pops, you takin' viagra now!?" De asked. Pops reached across the table and slapped the back of DeVanté head.

The room went silent then I laughed again. "I'm sorry, pops y'all just funny!"

Pops shot a death glare my way and I quieted down even though it was hard to. "Do we look like we jokin'? We not playin'. Your mama here is actually pregnant. Y'all are about to have another sibling running around here." Dad did the air walk fingers.

"Right, and the next time you call us old, we will show you how old we REALLY are." Out mother warned.

"Wait, so y'all not playin'?" De raised his eyebrows in confusion. "And dad you literally just called yourself old."

"I thought after menopause, women couldn't get pregnant?" Derek asked them.

"I'm going through menopause which means my eggs aren't completely gone. I can still get pregnant and... I just so happen to be it now." Momma explained.

"Oh, so is it a boy or girl?" De asked.

"I don't know, you tell us son?" Pops looked at him with a look.

"It's too early to tell what we're having but it's there." Mother nodded.

"How did y'all let this happen!?" I said wide-eyed. "You guys should be more responsible. A baby is a big responsibility. Y'all should take more precautions." I told them.

"Lower yo damn tone when you talk to me!" Pops warned me with a finger up.

"Yes sir." I whispered.

"He said talk low not whisper fool." De said lowly while side-eyeing me.

"Yes sir." I spoke in a normal tone s my dad could hear.

"Good, also remind yourself who's the parent before I have to. Now let's eat." Pops nodded.

"C-" I cleared my throat. "Can I say something?" I asked mom and dad.

Pops shot me a look. "Go ahead." He motioned after taking a sip of his orange juice.

I inhaled then exhaled. "Where that baby gon' sleep because it ain't sleeping in my room?" I told them.

"You don't live here no more. Y'all barely come and visit. Just for the new baby WILL be sleeping in you old room. Fuck he think this is?" My dad chuckled shaking his head.

De started coughing uncontrollably. "I'm sorry." He said through coughed, I hit him in his back. "Dumbass." He said just loud enough for me to hear him, so I hit him harder, beating his back. De shoved my body out of my chair, which caused me to almost fall to the floor, but I caught myself. "Fuck is you doi-" De yelled out, then he looked around the table.

"JUNIOR!" Mother looked at him surprised.

"I'm sorry!" De quickly apologized to our parents, dropping his fork on his plate. "I didn't mean to-"

Pops held his hand up. "This your first time, and will be the last time we hear you curse. I will say that next time I hear you curse, I will be beating yo ass. All of y'all! It's Christmas, so you get a pass. Think of this as..." Pops looked up at the ceiling "A Christmas present- yeah, that's it!" He snapped his fingers and nodded.

"Ghee, thanks..." De mumbled lowly as I sat back down in my seat.

"Mama, how long have you been pregnant?" I asked curiously turning my head.

"I'm seven weeks." She responded then continued to eat.

Don't get me wrong, our momma ain't fat at all and never have been. I just didn't want to say nothing on Thanksgiving or out og disrespectful, but our mama did look a bit bigger on Thanksgiving. Her stomach was more than usual but I just though it was the Thanksgiving food showing out. After eating we had clean the dishes and put them away. The minute our parents left the kitchen DeVanté and Derek looked at each other with a knowing look then at me. I squinted at them. I know this look all too well.

"Mom-" I yelled but Derek put his hand over my mouth.

"Yeah, nigga did you really think I was goin' to- Derek, hold him tighter! Put him in a headlock from the front!" He said getting hyped. Headlock from the front? What kinda shit is that?

"How the hell do you-" Derek was cut off by De.

"Do it!" He gave a look that is very similar to our father.

"Okay, damn..." Derek said dropping his hand from my mouth and I bit his palm. "Motherfuck-" He cursed shaking his hand.

"Y'all some bitches man. Y'all tryna jump a innocent bystander. Y'all need each other to take ME down." I laughed beating on my chest. De grabbed me and put me in a headlock from the back.

"Get him!" De said to Derek and he slapped me in the face. "My turn. You ain't think I was gon' get my lick back huh?" De said lowly. "Nahh, nigga, you almost got me in trouble."

"Let me the fuck go." I warned trying to get my arms loose from the headlock.

DeVanté chuckled. "Let you g- you want ME to let YOU go? Niggahh, heeelllll nahh! I coulda got my ass whooped because of you." He said and I moved my leg and tripped DeVanté making him fall back but he still had his tight hold on me making me fall with him.

"What type of shit you on!?" I told him and rolled oven on the kitchen floor.

"Derek get him!"

"Momma-" Derek covered my mouth again and pushed me down. DeVanté got in a squatting position in front of me and chuckled. These niggas been double teaming me since I was a kid and I'm tired of it.

"It's payback time nigga!" DeVanté chuckled, came closer and sat on my stomach to where he was facing me. "We gon' bring this wayyy back. You see-" he chuckled. "That food kinda got my stomach hurt with all that milk and shit. So I decided that THIS is how I get you back. My stomach hurts but it's gonna hurt you more than it hurt me." He said and farted on my stomach and twisted my nipples hard. This nigga dirty as fuck for this! I felt the vibrations of his fart.

My automatic response was to scream but it was muffled by Derek. "Got cho ass!" Derek said laughing then sniffed the air. "His ass got me too. Damn, nigga you smell like shit!" Derek made a disgusted face and moved his hand from my mouth.

I pushed DeVanté off me and stood up. The minute his butt left my stomach it got louder. "Check your draws, you might've squeezed a Christmas present out.

DeVanté lifted off of me and as soon as he did the strong got louder. "Oh shit!" He ran out the kitchen holding his ass.

"Funky booty ass!" I yelled out at him. "Y'all some bitches." I turned to Derek. "How you gon' hold me down and take advantage of me? Y'all some bustas. I got y'all." I nodded with a devious smile.

I got a bunch of baby oil in my room, yeah don't ask. Next time one of them takes a shower I'm putting baby oil all over the floor, and turning out the lights. Whoever don't get that are going to wake up with a bunch if snakes in the bed or maybe some animal shit.

"Man, I can't believe Pops momma pregnant." Derek grabbed a dish and started to wash it.

"They had us." I shrugged and grabbed the dry towel. "They always talk about us about using protection but they ain't even doin' it. Her oldest child will be 26 years older than the youngest. We walk around with it, people gon' think we got kids and shit."

"IT's a baby, man. Stop calling the baby a IT." Derek told me. "But yeah, our kids will be dang near the same age as they uncle or aunt. I don't know about you but I'm planning on popping a few out before the year 2000." He told me.

DeVanté walked back in kitchen. "Man, my stomach was hurting like that just for a pebble to come out. Shit crazy man." He shook his head and switched places with Derek. "What was y'all talkin' about?"

"Momma and the baby." Derek told him.

"Oh, pops old as fuck. I would have thought he'd be shooting blanks by now." De shook his head at us laughing.

"I was also saying how our kids gon' be close as hell in age to they uncle." Derek told him.

"Ion know about y'all but I'm tryna be like pops when I'm old." DeVanté told us.

"What? Gettin' old bitches pregnant?" I asked him.

"Aye, nigga, don't be callin moms no bitch!" Derek said to me.

"Say that shit again nigga!" De jumped at me with his fist out.

"You know I ain't call moms no bitch. All in sayin' is that yo ass ain't ever settlin' down at the rate you goin'." I held my hands out in defense then dropped them. "Am I supposed to be scared of yo skinny ass?"

"You are scared of my skinny ass!" De said to me. "And fuck you mean, I'm never settlin' down?" He frowned at me.

"Well at the rate you're goin'..." I side-eyed him.

"Y'all both fuckin' hella women. Y'all both ain't never gon' settle down. Y'all BOTH need to slow the fuck down. Get more like Derek." Derek told us. "Specially you Dalvin, you and yo constant cheatin'. You got a good one AND she in the music industry. That shit hard to come by these days." He shook his head.

"You actin' like you ain't have yo fair share of pussy." I told Derek.

"I did when I was younger, but nigga I'm in my mid twenties and stopped. Why you think I'm in a relationship?" Derek asked us.

"Same reason as me." I patted my chest.

"You in a relationship to cheat. I'm in a relationship because I'm genuine. That's what y'all need to be." He told us.

"Nigga, I'm a genuine ass nigga. I ain't ever cheat in a relationship. I cheated on a bitch that THOUGHT we was in a relationship but never cheated when I was in one. Even when I did get tired of they ass." DeVanté told him. "And THAT'S some real nigga shit."

"I ain't even know yo ass was in a relationship." I frowned at Derek.

"That's because we really only talk when we visit each other. If y'all came home more often, y'all would know." He responded. "Pshh, y'all asses barely come, and I can't leave as much as y'all. My fund ain't like y'alls but y'all still don't come around." Derek told us. I feel bad, but we busy as hell. Besides, who the fuck wants to be in boring ass North Carolina? It's home, but ain't shit to do here.

"Derek, you know we busy." De told him.

"Yeah, we always on the road performing, doing interviews, discovering new talent and shit." I added.

"But y'all find time to fuck bitches. I'm doing some of the same things, and still come around. I visit y'all more than y'all do me. We used to be tight. Y'all niggas left North Carolina without sayin' shit. That shit crazy..." Derek trailed off while shaking his head. Then he continued to load the dishes.

Not to be rude or anything, but don't nobody really know Derek unless they're in the North Carolina vicinity, or go to church. Maybe some neighboring states. Not to mention DeVanté and I are known ALL around the world. We are busy amd have to stay consistent, because the minute we let up, so does our income.

We are a music family and that's all we know. We didn't go to college, and besides family, music is all we know and got. Derek is right that we need to visit home more often, but everytime we do, we have to go to church. When we go to church all the church people do is talk about how we not obeying God and a bunch of other bullshit. Pentecostal church people are just all around different and STRICT. Tell us what we should and shouldn't wear. What to watch and so forth. Who the fuck wants to hear that ALL THE TIME!? NOT US!

"Yeah, but you know what else crazy?" DeVanté tilted his head breaking the awkward silence.

"What?" Me and Derek said at the same time.

"Why the fuck is we washin' dishes when it's a dishwasher right here!?" DeVanté threw the towel besides the sink and pulled the plug.

"You right." I nodded with a chuckle.

"Let's load this bitch up, dumb asses." DeVanté said and Derek opened the dish washer. We loaded all the unwashed dishes up inside the dishwasher.

"You know what else crazy?" I smirked.

"What?" DeVanté and Derek both asked me.

"I AM crazy! And you know what else? I don't give a fuck! Ion give a fuck about you. Ion give a fuck about Stell. Ion give a fuck about Raheem either." I put my finger in Dereks chest.

"Nigga if you don't for yo ugly ass fingers off me..." Derek said.

"That's De with the fingers." I pointed.

"But yo bitch told me she like the arch in these motherfucka's." De said laughing and stretching his fingers out.

I threw my hand at him. "Ahh, fuck you."

Our mother then walked in the kitchen. "I was wondering when you all would remember there was a dishwasher. Since y'all don't like being told what to do, I let you figure it out yourself. Took y'all long enough..." She laughed at us. All our mouths dropped. "Close your mouths before something flies in it. Finish cleaning up before everybody gets here."

January 15, 1995

~Tia's P.O.V~

"My next guest is a young lady of many talents. She's a director, producer, and businesswoman. This woman has worked on many films like The Five Heartbeats, Juice, Philadelphia, Jason's Lyric, Crooklyn, Malcolm X, and her most recent film, Above The Rim." Arsenio announced and the crowd screamed out.

"Ladies and gentleman, please welcome Tia~Nakia!" Arsenio announced to the crowd and they began to cheer.

I shyly walked out waving. There are so many people. Oh my goodness. I'm nervous as heck! This is only my second interview, but I'm still not used to ALL the attention on me. I could've done more but school is way more important. I walked toward Arsenio.

"Hello." I waved then shook his hand. "Hello everyone!" I waved to the crowd.

"Welcome, take a seat, get comfortable." Arsenio told me and I took a seat on the grey couch. "Nervous?"

I smiled nervously. "Yes, VERY." I nodded.

"Don't be. They love you. Don't you guys love her?" He shouted to the crowd and they cheered. "See?"

"Yes." I chuckled.

"You've grown so much from when I saw you. How old are you now?" He asked.

"I'll be twenty-three next month." I responded.

"So that makes it a little over two years ago that I met you, huh?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." I nodded. "Wow, I feel as if that was so long ago. Everything's so different now." I reminisced.

"Everything is different including you, you look nice. Doesn't she look nice everybody?" He asked the audience and they cheered again. There were some "yeah's" and whistling.

"What made you want to go into the film industry?" Arsenio asked me.

"I've always had a vivid imagination since I spent so much time alone, in my head, and writing. I always wanted to do film but was hesitant because of what happens in the industry. Fear was instilled in me. In high school of my senior year there was this new teacher from was is from Egypt and His name was Mr. Sadrak. He was new and automatically became my favorite teacher at the school.

"I felt as if Mr. Sadrak was one of the few teachers in the school who actually cared for the students and their education rather than just a paycheck. I'm the type of person to get close to teachers rather than my classmates and got close to him. When he asked what I wanted to be but told him I wanted to create movie but feared being in the industry, he told me to go for it.

"Mr Sadrak told me he knew some people in the industry he could connect me to. All I had to do was write a script. I trusted him and here I am. He connected me to some people in the industry who knew others in the industry. Those people connected me to Robert Townsend and Keenan Ivory Wayans and that's how The Five Heartbeats came about. Here I am..." I finished, gesturing to myself with a smile.

"Wow, that's interesting. You trusted him like that?" He asked with a laugh.

"Yes, I did but my family didn't. To meet the other's, I had to travel to another state. The crazy thing about it is that I briefly spoke to Robert Townsend before then when he came to a college in Gary. Anyways my family don't trust too many people, so even though I was of age, my step-father and brother tagged along. My step-father paid for everything and all three of us. They weren't playing ANY games, they were ready for whatever came my way. It's not safe for a young lady to travel alone or somewhere foreign." I explained laughing.

"It's not, I heard what happened a couple years back. Was that true?" He asked me.

I nodded. "Indeed it was, but those people are currently serving time in prison for a numerous amount of crimes."

"I'm sorry that happened to you. You're still attending the same school?" He asked me.

"No way!" I chuckled. "Not after that." I shook my head.

"What are you going to school for?"

"Business, I want to know the ends and outs of it. The industry finds loopholes through people's contracts amd screw them over. I've seen it happen too many times and want to avoid it happening to me. MOST of all I'm going to start more businesses, I already started a company." I then turned to the crowd. "You should always have more than one type of income, so that way if one thing don't work out, you have something to fallback on- a plan B." The audience clapped.

"That's some good advice." Arsenio then looked directly in the camera. "Always have something to fallback on." He pointed. "So you have a new movie coming out starring Tupac, how do you feel about that?" He asked me.

"It feels good. This isn't exactly my first time working with him. He's a cool du- guy and one of the best actors I know. He and Leon. Sometimes we improvise lines to see what really works and they're good at doing it. So it was an easy pick when choosing them for certain roles." I explained to Arsenio.

"Here's a preview of one of her new movies Above the Rim. It comes out January 25th." He pointed to the screen. When the preview finished, Asenio pointed to the cameramen. "With that we're going on a commercial break. We'll be back shortly." He said to the camera and we went on break.

I had to take a leak, so I sped walk backstage, but not before excusing myself. After doing my business, washing and drying my hands off, I made sure I was still looking good in the mirror. Indeed I was. I was looking smexy (This is not a typo.) as I don't know what! I smacked my booty right a lady came out of the restroom. My eyes widened. AWKWARD! I walked out and back on set with about two minutes to spare. After the time was up, we were back live.

(Tia's outfit)

"Annnndddd, we're back with Arsenio Hall with our special guest Tia~Nakia." Arenio announced as I saw the camera zoom in on us. "I wanted to clear up some rumors. Are you and Tupac dating?"

I side-eyed him. "No, sir. We are strictly friends. That's my boy."

"What about you and De- DeVanté Swing? At one point they were saying you all were in a love triangle. YOU in the center of it all."

"Noooooo." I shook my head at him. "That's not true AT ALL. If the tabloids can't figure out what's really happening they'll put their own narrative with a photo. You should know..." I told him.

"All too well." He gave me a look that made me laugh. "What the crowd wanted to know was if you're single?"

"I am single." I nodded.

"Are you looking?"

"Hmm, not really, BUT if the right person comes along- they cant be just anybody, then maybe something will happen." I shrugged.

"She's single and ready to mingle fellas!" He made a face. His facial expressions have me GONE. "Does he have to be in the industry?"

"Umm, it would be pretty hard not to be with someone in the industry. People outside the industry don't understand industry people's time. We're constantly away from home. Some people say they do but when it happens they're angry. On the other hand, dating an industry person is hard as well even if you are in it.

"Since they're constantly on the road ad away from you, they're more likely to cheat, which is why many Hollywood relationships don't last. With all that being said, it depends on the guy and what he can handle. He can't be broke or unfaithful though, because I'm not taking care of a grown man!" I laughed. "Ladies, you're his woman not his mother!" I said pointing to the audience.

"You heard her..." He made another face. "Who's your celebrity crush?"

"I don't have one and haven't since I was nineteen. It was Michael Jackson for about a good fifteen years though. I grew up thinking I'd be Mrs. Michael Jackson. I had his face plastered on my wall." I chuckled. "My male cousins tried to steer me away but no. When playing dolls my boyfriend name would be Michael Jackson. The dolls ain't have to look NOTHING like this man, but it never changed."

"That's right, you did mention earlier that you were from Gary, Indiana."

"Yes, born and raised." I nodded.

He laughed and stood up. He held his hand out for me to get up and I grabbed it looking confused. Why the freak are we standing? "Why'd you suddenly stop liking him when you turned nineteen."

I gave a straight face. "I found out that I wasn't his type..."

"Who days you aren't me type?" I heard from besides me.

I turned my head and my heart dropped to my stomach. MICHAEL JACKSON! The audience went CRAZY! You know that when you get very nervous and you feel butterflies in you stomach, vagina, butt, and feel like you're about to pass gas? That me right now! OH MY GOSH, HE'S WALKING CLOSER!

He looks so different these days but he's STILL FIONE. When he stopped in front of me, he opened his arms. I'm a hugger too but I was frozen. This has only occurred in my dreams, except it included other things... Finally, I opened my arms and hugged him back. I shed a few tears... Get a grip, sis he's married. Michael then hugged Arsenio. Michael took off his shades. OH NO, don't do that to me! LORD!

"Look at you all red!" Arsenio said in a funny voice, pointing at my face.

"Are you crying?" Michael asked me.

I wiped underneath my eyes, looked up from the floor, and shook my head no. I probably looked even more red in the face now. Beets ain't got NOTHING on me! "Oh my goodness..." I said lowly and all shy.

Production made the audience cheers die down. "Take a seat." Arsenio told the both of us as he did.
I'm sitting next to Michael Jackson! "What made you attracted to him at such a young age? How old were you?" Arsenio asked me.

My eyes widened. "You ask me right in front of HIM?" My body was vibrating and has been since I hugged him.

"It is an interview so YES." Arsenio laughed.

"I don't don't bite. Don't be afraid." Michael softly said to me. Remember those dreams I mentioned, well, in them he did bite.

I squeezed my eyes shut then opened them back up. "Uh- um, my uncle LOVES you and he'd buy my mother and aunt's tapes of you and your brother. It'd be concerts and music videos. The first time I ever saw you on screen, I was in kindergarten and gathered around the television with my mother, aunts, and cousins. The first video was Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough. The second video on the tape was Rock With You and my exact thoughts were-" I paused in embarrassment, hiding my face.

"Come on, say it." Arsenio said.

"MY GOSH, HE'S CUUUTE!" I said aloud. "Of course I didn't say it aloud, but I had a smile on my face all throughout the tape. That was until Thriller... I was a kid and my family kept telling me you'd come through the TV and bite me." I laughed.

"So you're from Gary too?" Michael asked me.

I nodded. "Yes."

"What part?"

"I lived in different parts but mostly grew up in the east, opposite of where you grew up. The New Marshalltown area." I told him and he looked confused. "It's past the Dorie Miller projects, and before you get to Lake Station." I explained.

"Ahhh, okay!" He nodded. "I'm happy that my family and I aren't the only ones representing back home." He chuckled.

"How do you feel?" Arsneio asked me. "How do you feel on meeting your dream husband?" My eyed widened again at his joke.

"Do you not see my face?" I asked him then laughed nervously. "This is... A LOT." I exhaled through my nose. "I should have said this from jump, but it is nice to meet you." I told Michael.

This is the ONLY time I've EVER acted like a fan girl. I mean, it isn't like other women would react because some women go STUPID in situations like this. Me? I'm shy and completely caught off-guard. Not to mention what I said before he came out here and KNOWING he heard everything.

"It's nice to meet you too." He cheesed. This is awkward as heck!

"Alright now!" Arsenio yelled out. "We'll be back ladies and gentlemen with Gary, Indiana natives, Michael Jackson and Tia~Nakia." Arsenio pointed to the cameras and we were now back on commercial break.

I walked out because it was too much for me. The audience was already enough, then Michael Jackson came out. I'm parched so I walked to the snacks table and grabbed a bottle of water. "I'm sorry sea creatures but ya girl is thirsty." I mumbled to myself and opened the bottle.

"Is that you first and last name?" Michael asked coming up to me.

"Oh, no. I just go by that. It's actually my first and middle name put together. It's a beautiful name and it rhymes." I smiled.

"It is a beautiful name. Where did you get it from?" He asked.

"My grandmother gave me my first name and my middle name is one of my aunts name." I responded to Michael. "Actually, you went to school with her and a few other of my family members."

"Ahh, yeah?" He gave me a look and I nodded and took another sip. If I was alone, this bottle would be getting all the throat action from me. Throat dry as heck. "What's her name?"

"Nakia Andrews, she was in plenty classes of yours," I told him and took a gulp this time.

"I think I remember her. She'd always raise her hand and would always get caught talking." Michael laughed.

"STOP, don't go no further. That's her!" I laughed.

"Small world." He told me.

"Yes, indeedy weedy." I chuckled and drunk some more water.

"So, I've seen some of your work and I'm an artist. I wanted to know of you would like to produce a music video of mines?" He asked me.

"I- yes, sure." I handed him a business card. "This is my business card, you can contact me through this email, this number, or through fax." I told him and he looked at me crazy. "Up! Not used to the shoe being on the other foot, huh?" I chuckled.

"No, people usually contact me." He laughed out.

I shrugged "Well, people aren't me. I'm my own person and walked to the beat of my own drum." I cheesed. The nervousness has slowly disappeared.

Author's Note: How do y'all feel about the soon-to-be new edition to the Degrate family? What about Michael Jackson? I know the Arsenio Hall show ended in '94 but he was an awesome host and had to say his show. P.S I'm praying for everyone around the world but especially Texas.

Word Count: 5,615

Please feel free to like and comment. Feedback gives motivation, and motivation urges me to continue to write.

Thank you all for taking the time out of your day to read another chapter of this story. Thank you for staying despite the slacking.💚🖤❤💜💙💛