12

Janet

I sat in the studio with Ramón as we listened to the final touches of Made For Now.

My head was nodding back and forth.

Terry and Jimmy sat in the seats in front of the soundboard as Terry lowered the volume a bit. "We been thinking to take the bass out right before Janet enters. It'll give it more of a mellowed out vibe. Thoughts?"

Ramón and I shared a glance signaling that it didn't make neither of us any difference before I spoke. "Let us hear it, but I don't see why not."

They nodded and Jimmy played the version he was speaking of. When my part came up, we heard the songs bass lessen tremendously and my face scrunched up. 

I shook my head. "Uh, I don't think that's it. What do you think?"

Daddy Yankee looked at me and then back at them before shaking his head. "Lo siento. Eso no es."

Terry and Jimmy both shot me a confused glance before asking. "What did he say?"

Chuckling, I translated. "He said 'Sorry, that's not it.' So if he says that then leave it how it was. Nothings wrong with the first final version you all sent over." 

"Exactly." Daddy agreed with me.

"Oh so he speak English when he not dissing our mixes. Cool." Terry joked.

Ramón, Jimmy and I laughed. I checked my clock and saw that it was running on 1 pm.

My eyes widened as I stood. "Hey, I have to go. I have to go get Eissa from school."

They all nodded me off as Ramón and I hugged briefly. I left the studio and Joey was waiting for me outside, when I got in the truck he looked back at me. "Now when I'm late, you're going through the motions, but when I'm on time your ass ain't ready? How does that work?"

I rolled my eyes. "You choose the wrong days to be late. That's why."

He shrugged. "We going to your house?"

"No. The school. I have to go get Eissa and talk to Kyrin."

Joey shot me a glance in the rear view mirror. "Ou, going see your boo?"

"She's not my boo Joey. At least not yet." I mumbled.

"Oh. I fucking knew it! I knew something was going to happen between y'all. Plus momma Kat told me that you're gay and I was like 'up, I believe it'."

I frowned slightly. "How many people is she telling? She told Tiff and you? Probably told the world."

"She called us on a group call too. Talking tea on that house phone." He chuckled and I rolled my eyes.

"Whew. That's Katherine Jackson for you."

"So what are you and Kyrin going to talk about?"

"Mind yours." I told him with a attitude attached.

He chuckled. "I'll mind both of ours J, don't push it."

"Mhm. You've done that plenty of times before. Matter fact, driver roll up the partition please."

"Girl, I'm more than your driver and you are not Beyonce. You can have it your way any other day, but today Burger King is closed."

I looked at him in irritation. "Whatever Joey."

"And I'm going speak to Kyrin. Ya know, out of all the crackheads you've dated, I have a feeling that she's going to be my favorite." He mused lightly.

"She doesn't do crack..." Trailing off, I realized he was joking. "Joey, now you're wrong for that. Only one of them did crack."

"That's not how they were acting." His reply was the last of the dialogue we had because we had pulled up to the school.

Getting out, I shot him a look that told him to stay in the car as I made my way inside the school. Grabbing a pass from the front office, I made my way to Kyrin's room.

When I walked through her already opened door my lip turned up slightly as my eyebrows knitted at my sight. She was standing there hugging some chick.

I cleared my throat slightly and they pulled away. Kyrin smiled at me. "Oh hey J. Eissa went out to play with the kids. Which is really unusual for him, but today he was pretty sociable."

"Oh that's good." I replied as I noticed that the woman was staring at me and almost frozen.

My guess is that Kyrin saw the look on my face because she mouthed the word. "Stop", before she popped the woman on her shoulder. "P, say something."

"Holy shit. That's Janet fucking Jackson." The girl let out suddenly.

I exhaled to myself as my face stayed firm. "Hi."

Kyrin rolled her eyes. "Okay, well Phoebe meet Janet. Janet this is Phoebe, my sister."

She emphasized the word for my benefit. Finally, I smiled at the woman. "Nice to meet you."

Phoebe shook my hand shakily. "Too you. Fuck.. I mean—. You too."

"Why the hell are you so nervous?" Kyrin asked her as we ended the handshake.

"Bitch. It's Janet fucking Jackson!" She emphasized as she pointed at me and I laughed.

Ky rolled her eyes. "Whatever P. Can you give me and Janet a moment?"

Phoebe looked around. "And go where? I just landed in LA, I don't know this damn place."

"I don't know. Find some damn where."

I sighed as I spoke to Kyrin. "It's okay. She can stay."

If looks could kill, I'd be 6 feet under because Kyrin looked as if I had killed her dog or something.

"Damn J, why'd you have to say—."

Phoebe squealed as she cut her sister off. "Janet wants me to stay. Ha bitch. I'm here to stay then."

Kyrin ignored her and grabbed my hand and led me to her desk as she handed me some paperwork. "It's Eissa's reports. The test he took before you know..."

I looked them over but didn't really understand what all the graphs and charts entailed exactly. Still, I knew it was something good. "So, I'm guessing this is good."

"Good? Babe, this is great." Kyrin explained. "If you do decide to put him back here, he doesn't need to be in my class anymore. If anything he needs to be skipped up a grade or even two."

"He's used to you though. We have to consider the fact of his social life and the fact that he is a introverted person." I pointed out.

She nodded in agreement. "I agree, but it's an option. Just keep it in mind."

Moving my head slightly, I noted that kids were outside. They were in a circle and something made me look closer. "Kyrin..."

"Huh?" She paid me no mind at the moment but was still looking at the paperwork.

"Kyrin Broussard." I called out louder this time because I was for sure that I was hallucinating.

I looked back at her and this time she looked up at me. "What?"

"Am I tripping?" I asked as I looked between the window and her. "Or is my son outside fighting?"

Kyrin rushed over to the window and her eyes widened in horror. "Shit."

We both turned around and rushed out the door. I was hot on Kyrin's feet and I heard Phoebe behind us.

She busted out the doors and we saw that another woman was breaking them apart. "Hey! Hey! Break it up!"

Kyrin rushed in to help, and grabbed my son off of the other little boy. Eissa was red and shaking.

The other little boy jumped to his feet and backed away. "Man, you're crazy!"

Eissa yelled back. "I told you not to touch me!"

I watched as Kyrin placed Eissa on the ground and yelled at the kids. "Everyone's standing here watching right? Recess is cancelled for two weeks! Go to class and don't let me beat y'all there!"

All the kids scattered and we were left with the adults, Eissa, and the little boy he had just fought.

Kyrin looked between the little boy and Eissa as her nostrils flared. "Seriously boys?"

Eissa mugged the boy and the boy mugged him back.

The other woman looked at the little boy. "What happened Trey?"

The Trey boy yelled. "He just went crazy on me!"

"No! No!" Eissa disagreed. "You pushed me into the lockers! I told you to stop and when we got out here you kept hitting me!"

I could tell my son was telling the truth, and Kyrin could as well but she still placed him on the ground and looked at the lady. "Carmen, just keep Trey in your class. We can't let this situation hit the office."

Oh, this was the Carmen woman? Eissa's 'favorite teacher'.

Carmen nodded as Eissa ran over to me and hugged me. Trey and Carmen walked away from us and Kyrin went to walk as well.

When I tried to pull her back, she shook her head. "Give me a minute J."

Nodding, I let her go as she walked ahead of Phoebe, Eissa and I.

Eissa began crying and I stopped and squatted. "E, look it's okay."

He shook his head. "I didn't mean to be mean mommy. He just kept hitting me."

"And you did the right thing." Phoebe interjected. "He had no business putting his hands on you."

I agreed. "Exactly. Come on. Let's go catch up with Butterfly."

We walked to the classroom and saw that Kyrin was sitting at her desk with her head down.

Eissa mumbled brokenly. "Is Butterfly mad at me?"

Sighing, I shook my head. "No buddy. Phoebe, you mind taking Eissa to my driver outside? His name is Joey. You can't miss him."

She nodded. "Yeah. Of course. No problem."

Phoebe grabbed Eissa's hand and they headed outside. I turned to Kyrin as I shut her classroom door.

When I walked over to her, I grabbed a chair and sat next to her. "I know this is bad... but it's going to be okay."

"No. It isn't Janet."

"Yes it is. It was just a fight, Ky." I replied not really understanding why she was so upset.

Kyrin's head flew up as she told me what was really bothering her. "Trey Brenton is the districts superintendent son. So when Trey goes home and tells his stuck up ass mother that he fought Eissa, I'm fucked. So no J, this is not going to be okay."

"So you'll get in trouble for a boy putting his hands on my son?"

"Janet!" She raised her voice which told me I was missing whatever point she was trying to display to me. "Eissa isn't enrolled in this school right now. He wasn't supposed to be here. This falls on me. Nobody else."

"You don't need this damn job, Kyrin." I replied as I rolled my eyes.

She scoffed. "Janet, I'll talk to you later. Maybe you should go."

I sighed. "I'm not leaving until I know we have a solution for this."

"There is no damn solution!"

This was my first time seeing Kyrin lose her temper and it didn't scare me as much as I thought it would.

"There's always a solution." My voice stayed calm with her. "If you want to teach that bad, then I can buy you a damn school, Kyrin."

When she looked at me, I saw that tears were in her eyes. "You don't get it. I worked hard for this J. I'm not that type of person. I'm not charity, and I don't like taking handouts quite often. You just don't get it."

"Explain it to me then."

"My family is just different and I don't know if you could tell or not, but I'm the only one in LA. Everyone else is in Texas. I am the only one who didn't depend on fathers hand me outs. This was my one independent thing. This one was for me." The tears began to drop and I was quick to wipe them.

"It's still for you." I told her in all seriousness. She shook her head and I spoke again as my hands cradled her face. "It is for you baby. I'll handle it. Just let me handle it."

"Ok." She replied slowly before I put my hand under her chin and connected our lips.

When we pulled apart, I mumbled. "Do you trust me?"

Kyrin didn't hesitate to answer. "Of course."

"Quit." I replied simply.

Her face furrowed. "Huh?"

"You just said you trust me. I'll handle it, but you have to trust me. So quit."

She nodded in compliance. "When?"

"Right now."