91. The Fandom 🙌

I slept in for the morning and got every minute of rest that I needed. After lying in bed for five minutes, I called Deonte.

"Good mo-afternoon, Jae!"

I smiled, "Hey, Deonte! I'm not ready yet, but I can be ready in about 20 minutes."

"It was just a matter of time. You want more of my sister's cooking?"

I chuckled, "Yeah, that's 75% of the reason why I called you. The other 25% is to hang out with you."

We both laughed.

"Cool. I'm on my way now," he told me.

"Okay. See you soon."

"See you soon."

"Bye," I hung up and quickly jumped out of bed.

Deonte put in a code at the gate before driving into the garage.

"Do you like living in a condo?" I asked as I looked out the passenger's window at the building.

"I do. Before my family lived on the same floor with me, I lived in my house in Bakersfield," he replied.

"Do you still have your house?"

Deonte replied, "Most definitely. That's real estate."

"Would you suggest living in a condo?" I asked him.

Deonte looked over at me. "Not if you want privacy and a lot of space."

I thought about my current living situation. It would be nice to have my own place. I looked ahead to see someone run in front of us. "Deonte, stop!" I pointed ahead.

"Whoa!" He slammed on the breaks, putting his arm out in front of me as my body jerked forward.

A girl screamed, "Deonte!"

He looked at me. "Are you okay?"

I nodded my head as I tried to slow my racing heart.

Deonte rolled down his window. "Why are you running out in front of cars, Chanel?!"

She ran to his window and stepped on the running board along the side of the car. She used one hand to hold onto the car door and the other to punch Deonte's arm. "You did that on purpose! Apologize right now or I'm telling mama!"

Tell mama? My eyes grew wide. So, this is the chef. She looks really young.

Deonte rubbed his arm. "Why you acting like that? You see I got my friend with me. And where were you running to?"

She gritted her teeth and bucked her eyes at him. "I don't care who you got with you. You almost ran me over. And don't call me Chanel. I told you that!" She pointed her finger at him.

Deonte exhaled, "Why are you being so annoying?"

"Why are you not apologizing?" She asked him.

"Sorry. Now get down." Deonte lightly slapped her hands off his car.

She hopped down. "I was going to get the ice out the car. It's probably melted by now." She turned around and used her keys to signal her car's location.

We heard it, but we didn't see it.

"How you forget where you park? Get in the backseat."

She did as told. "It's probably on the next level."

"When we get up there, just hit the button on your keys. Oh, Jae, this is my little sister Deana. Deana, this is Jae."

"Oh, my days!" She shouted. "I don't know why I didn't recognize you. Jae A.B., I am your biggest fan! Deonte, why didn't you say she was gonna be here? I look terrible. Forgive me, Jae A.B. I marked my calendar for your album. I need to change clothes. Can I please come to your album release party? I promise I won't act crazy or anything. I can't believe this!"

I didn't know when to interject.

"Chanel, chill! Can you let her speak?" Deonte drove around to the next level in the parking garage.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just love you so much. I'm a part of the Jaebirds. Jae A.B.'s Jaebirds. We always stay fly that's why our records sky high."

I was amazed. "I should be the one apologizing. I did not know my fans had a name."

"You're so funny, Jae A.B.!" Deana laughed at me.

"Chanel, hit your alarm." Deonte stopped his car.

Deana held up her keys and hit the alarm button. Beep! The back lights of her car lit up. She quickly hopped out the backseat and jogged to her car.

Deonte found an empty parking spot on my side. He turned into it. "Did you really not know your fans are called Jaebirds?"

"My team handles all my social media."

"And they don't tell you what's happening on social media?" He put the car in park and turned off the engine.

I admitted, "They do, but I barely listen. I don't care much social media. I get enough drama just being Jae."

Deonte starred at me. At first I thought it was a flirtatious stare, but it was more sympathetic. "That's exactly why I went independent. My label may be small, but I do good because I own everything."

Deana knocked on the driver's window. "Hello! Are you not going to help me?"

"Chanel!" Deonte got out the car.

I did the same.

Deonte carried both bags of ice as we followed him to an elevator. "Did Cha-Cha finish cooking?"

Deana smacked her lips as she took her phone out her pocket and pressed some buttons. The elevator door opened. "Why do you think I have ice? Everybody's up there waiting for you. Oops, did I ruin the surprise?"

Deonte nearly dropped the bags of ice as we all entered the elevator. "What do you mean everybody is here? Why is everybody here?"

His sister folded her arms. "Don't act like you didn't know. Cha-Cha told you this morning after your workout, you need to shower and put on something nice."

"She says that every time I tell her I'm going to the gym."

Deana shook her head. "Brother, I need you to listen to the words that are coming out of my mouth. Cha-Cha always tells you to take a shower when you come back. This time, Cha-Cha told you to shower AND put on something nice. The whole family is here, because Cash told us your song just reached number 5 on the Billboard Charts after yesterday's performance with my favorite Jae A.B." She smiled at me.

Deonte looked at me before looking at his sister. "Jae did not sign-up for this."

Deana stated, "Jae A.B. can be our special guest."

I raised both hands. "I just woke up and put on leisure wear. I came to eat and be merry."

Deana smiled bigger than I thought was possible. "Girl, we don't celebrate Christmas. And don't worry, my closet is your closet. We're the same size. I know this, because I read your measurements on celebritystats.com."

That's a bit much. How does a website know my body measurements?

The elevator doors opened.

Deana walked out and turned to the left.

Deonte walked out and turned to the right. He quickly turned around. "You don't have to come to this party that my family put together. You can hang out in my condo with my sister, and I'll bring you a plate."

"No, it's fine. This is a celebratory moment for you. Congratulations, by the way."

Deonte nodded his head. "Thank you. Chanel and my mom live down the hall. You can follow her. I'm going to take this ice to my apartment and change clothes. Then, I'll come get you." I could hear the apologetic tone in his voice.

"Deonte, it's fine. I'm okay. I'm still going to eat good. Also, how old is your sister? She must've just got out of culinary school?"

"Chanel is 16. She's not the chef. My other sister Cha-Cha is the chef. She's 27."

"That explains a lot," I commented.

Deonte smiled, "Chanel's the baby of the family. She'll mature soon - hopefully."

I smiled before turning around to follow Deana. Now if only I had paid attention to which door she went in. Suddenly, the last door at the end of the corridor opened. Deana stuck her head out. "Jae A.B., over here!"

After walking inside the condo, I had to do a double take. Everything was white - everything!

"My mom's an interior decorator. You'd think she'd have some color around here. Nope! Her clients get the top tier décor, but not our home."

I followed Deana through the open living, dining, and kitchen area to a hall with three doors. She made a right and opened a door. I walked in behind her into a room overwhelmed with colors.

"Did your mom decorate your room?"

Deana chuckled, "Oh, no! I did all this myself. Isn't it beautiful?" She stretched her arms out wide.

I was glad to hear that she decorated it. This was definitely the room of a teenager. As Deana talked and moved around, I noticed she had one wall full of framed images. As I got closer, I saw that they were album covers and next to each album cover was a photo of her and that artist. Of the entire wall, there was an empty space in the middle.

"Oh, my days! You like my wall of music?" Deana stood in front of me. "At the top is the very first album that I ever purchased. When I was 9 and half years old, Hotline Bling was my favorite song. I think it was the first time I actually listened to a song, because I liked it not because it was playing on the radio. I don't even think I had a favorite music genre. Anyway, Drake became my future husband. My brothers hated it."

I giggled.

Deana added, "On my 10th birthday, I got the Views album. Me and my friends went to his Summer Sixteen concert, and we got to meet Drake. He said he would wait for me to turn 18 before he could give me his number."

"Deana!"

She held up two fingers. "I got less than two years to go. I'll be 17 in May. And thanks for not calling me Chanel."

"Why does Deonte call you that?" I asked her.

Deana rolled her eyes. "We all have nicknames. We call Deandre - Cash, December is Cha-Cha, and Deonte is supposed to be CRU Jr. but nobody really calls him that anymore."

"Why CRU Jr.?"

"He was the youngest of his group."

Makes sense. "Why do y'all nicknames start with the letter C?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I guess sense all our names start with the same letter, we just have nicknames with the same letter."

I nodded my head.

Deana pointed at the wall. "Oh, this spot right here is reserved for your album."

I arched my brow. "My album? Do you think it's going to be worthy of your wall?"

"Chronologically, your album should be down there," she pointed near the bottom of the wall. "But I believe that your album is going to go down in history as THE GREATEAT OF ALL TIME. Think Michael Jackson's Thriller. Well, I don't know if that's accurate today." Deana snapped her fingers. "In Rolling Stones' 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, only two women made the top 10. Lauryn Hill's Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is number 10. I got her album when I was 13 and went to her show. She said I had a good ear for music."

I shook my head. "I highly doubt my album will be as good as hers, even Michael Jackson's."

"This is 2022. Black music is everywhere, even if the one that's singing it isn't black. Jae A.B. is going to go down in history for not only being another influential black artist, but for giving my generation good music."

"You describing my music as if it's a renaissance." Kids just be talking -- a lot.

Deana's voice got higher, "We can't put you in a box. You give us hip-hop, 70s funk, and you only sampled one song and made it your own. Today when artists sample music, they use the same lyrics and slightly change the beat. You didn't use any lyrics from California Love. Also, how in the world were you able to give us gospel to a salsa beat?"

I had to laugh on that part. "Gospel?"

"Cha-Cha is mama's Godsent child. That's what my brothers say, anyway. She's never really liked music unless it was about God. When she heard your song 'Easy,' she said you were chosen and that you just don't know it yet. My brothers have been in the music business since they were my age and younger. Cha-Cha is a chef even though she can sing just like Deonte can. Unfortunately, I don't have that gift of vocal ability and agility. I do know that I will be in the music business, but I'm not sure if I want to follow Cash's footsteps or my mom's. My mom was The CRU's manager, then Deonte and Zack Rivers' manager, but when Deonte went independent, my mom retired and decided to chase her first love - interior design. Cash is a music producer and composer. He's recently done music for Zeke Rivers' movies. Now, Netflix is supposed to be offering him a deal."

"Your family must be really close with the Rivers?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Wasn't you born in the 90s?" Deana rhetorically asked me. "They all grew up together. They were the teen heartthrobs of the Y2K era. And yes, I'm a music geek. I eat, sleep, and breathe it."

I don't know if I should be amazed or scared.

Deana clasped her hands together. "Let me shut up, because I'm over here talking and you need something to wear. Personally, I think what you're wearing is so cute and so you, but I do have a few outfits that still have the tags on them."

I cleared my throat, "Deana, are you sure I can fit your clothes? Don't let the filtered photos I take in magazines and camera tricks done on me deceive you."

Deana waved at me to follow her to her closet. "You see I have this problem where I buy in threes - my size, a size up, and a size down."

Her closet was bigger than my bedroom at the River's Residence.

"I had Deonte get my closet re-designed. I decided to have more closet than bedroom space. It's my second bedroom, because Ms. Denfield is nosey. The siblings warned me when I was little. That's the benefit of being the baby in the family."

Noted. "So, what do you think I should wear?" I asked Deana.

As much as she talked my ear off, she was a wise kid and I was learning plenty in her presence.