Ghetto

Chapter 20

Hazel

"What time is it?" I asked Dreux in my drowsy state from the passenger seat. My hand rested limply in his with our fingers intertwined and my head rested on a small pillow propped between my shoulder and the window. Apart from yet another argument with the father of my child, my album release party was a complete success. Johanna and I made connections with plenty of major label executives in hopes of talking up a possible record deal. Until I am contacted about said deal, I'll keep working to keep money in my pockets and food on the table.

"10 after 12." He responded.

"Where we headed?" I yawned and glanced in his direction.

"To O's spot actually, he had a few tracks he picked out for you." Dreux smirked, knowing what I was thinking. Instead of responding, I sighed and proceeded to rest my eyes once more. "I know you tired baby. We got work to do though, which means we gone stop by this here store and grab your studio care package."

"Dreux, I have been awake since 5 a.m. yesterday morning." I groaned. "With zero naps and recording is the last thing I wanna do right now."

"Wow...you telling me you don't want the care package?" He asked taking his eyes off the road for a second glancing at me.

"I'm sleepy baby but I only remember saying that the last thing I wanted to do was record, I'm never not in the mood for the care package." I smirked taking a quick peek at his face before resting my eyes again.

"The last thing you wanna do is usually a priority love. I'll try to make the drive a lil longer for you so you got some time for a nap, alright?" Dreux knew he was good at one thing and that's persuading me. He's usually always pushing me to do what's best for my career and for Sky regardless of my pouting and protesting in the process.

"Alright, I guess I can do a little more work. What's in it for me afterwards?" I yawned.

"Ahh ha," Dreux chuckled, "Okay so we already finna get the care package." He thought for a second as he pulled into the parking lot of 7-Eleven. "How 'bout while you recording, I'll be cooking up a nice breakfast for you to eat before you sleep the whole afternoon."

"Deal. I like the way you think baby. Want anything out of the store?" I asked and he shook his head while digging his credit card from his wallet to give to me. I took his card and swiftly made my way to the entrance ready to purchase a long mental list of snacks and drinks that always get me through a night of recording. Little does Dreux know, I plan on recording the song I'll be performing on the Grammy's along with my platinum single.

"Welcome to 7-Eleven." The store clerk greeted me and I used most of my energy to give her a genuine smile and wave. The first thing I grabbed was a few aloe Vera waters to sober my self up a bit because those Long Island Iced teas definitely snuck up and hit me hard once I got my third glass. Next were nachos, slim Jims and gummy apple rings just to give myself a little more sustenance. When visiting Omari's studio I usually expect him to have bottles always open on our arrival and a wood or two right beside it.

"Okay this is definitely all I need. Don't let me turn and pick up anything else." I joked with the cashier to kill the awkward silence between us, the only people in the store

"You can never have enough," she giggled, "what about a slurpee?"

"Nah I can do without it but only tonight, I'll be back for it sooner or later though." Just as she was preparing to respond, there was breaking celebrity news article that interrupted her episode of Botched.

"On yesterday evening we reported breaking news about a car accident involving R&B artist August Alsina....." My heart immediately dropped and I ran as fast I could out of the store to grab my phone.