Antebellum Read Free

trust you. I was just feeling a little full of myself. It’s all good, though. I’ll kill ’em like always.”
    â€œGood. ’Cause you know, if you don’t trust me to look out for you, you can always find another manager.”
    She played this game every once in a while, and I have to say, she was always more direct than I was. She knew I wouldn’t hire another manager as long as she made herself available. And I knew that she would always put more effort into looking out for me than she needed to.
    Though the thought of not having her around made my stomach knot up, I pretended to shrug off the comment like I always did.
    â€œWhatever. Can we just get down to the limo?”
    She briefly cut her eyes at me, then softly closed her laptop and began to pack it away. I put on my designer Dolce & Gabbana shades, brushed off my limited-edition Nikes and put in the diamond-and-platinum grill I had custom-made a few months back.
    No sooner than we’d stood up, ready to walk side by side as always, SaTia’s BlackBerry rang. I was content in knowing that she was always taking care of my business. She spoke briefly to one of my endorsers about rescheduling a commercial shoot, and had her technology back in her pocket by the time we reached the elevator.
    â€œYou don’t have those stupid teeth in, do you?”
    The elevator door opened and we both stepped in. The car looked like the shrunken bedroom of a king. I took in the beauty surrounding me while feeling my stomach drop from the descent. SaTia glanced up and saw our reflections in the mirror that doubled as a ceiling. I looked up as well, pressed my teeth together, and opened my lips to show off the precious metal and stones temporarily filling my mouth.
    I thought briefly about how stupid I would look doing that if there wasn’t $100,000 worth of shiny stuff behind my lips.
    SaTia cringed and dropped her eyes to look forward again.
    â€œI don’t think you will ever know how ridiculous those things make you look.”
    â€œImage sells and ordinary is boring. My fans want me to be the star they made me.”
    The line rolled off my tongue like a bowling ball gliding down a lane. It had become my get-out-of-jail-free card for the last two years.
    That’s what the execs—Mr. Rose included—told me when I first started out, and that’s what I lived by. Always be the person your fans want you to be.
    â€œThe guys should be in the lobby waiting for you.” SaTia glanced over at me. “Orlando texted me and let me know the cameras are already down there, so be prepared for pictures. All the guys know you have a meeting to go to, so we’re going to drop them off at the local mall before we head to the restaurant.”
    â€œWhy is it that my boys get to have more fun than me?”
    â€œBecause you’re working.”
    â€œSo what are they doing?”
    â€œLiving off of you.”
    As if on cue, the elevator stopped and the door opened. Three men and one woman, each armed with a high quality camera and a persistent ability to never leave me alone, started flashing pictures. The first two snaps would have blinded me if it wasn’t for the shades I was wearing. The next two hundred or so were a breeze. I turned on the swagger and walked out of the elevator as if I owned the world and everything in it.
    Brian, Henry, Ray, and Orlando were sitting on the lush couches in front of the door. They appeared to be even more sluggish than I was, but when they heard all the commotion and the cameras flashing, they rushed over to me.
    â€œWhat’s good?” I said as I gave them dap.
    They were guys I’d grown up with. We rhymed together in high school. So, as was the rule, when I got big, I brought them with me. I made sure that they were each working toward a solo album, but for now they just backed me up on stage. In order to set themselves apart, they all had alter egos—Brian was