Chapter Two: A Whole New World
~ A WEEK LATER
~
Things
happened unbelievably fast for me, Uncle Ricardo had already
booked the flight arranged the meeting and everything, and I, was
still a way up there on cloud nine, like nothing was actually
real, I had to keep pinching myself everyday.
I’d been
telling everyone I was 15 for quite a while, I suppose it was
something we all did, I was never really far off, so I just
assumed saying so wouldn’t really matter. Ricardo had
told the record big shots that I was 15, when in reality my
birthday was still a few days away. He told me that 14
seemed too young, that they probably wouldn’t go with it,
but that 15 would make all the difference, in all honesty I never
understood that, I never understood why people put so much
emphasis on age, I never really I thought it made much of a
difference.
“Riyan,
are you packed yet?” Papa called from the bottom of the
steps
I snapped out
of my daydream and continued shoveling most of what I owned into
2 plaid suitcases.
I looked
around my room for one last time, taking a deep breath I imagined
what life would be like in America, I’d never been there,
only ever knew the occasional person who’d gone, or seen
what I’d seen on the movies, all of which I assumed weren’t
completely true.
Hauling the
bags down the stairs, I took in the entire house in, remembering
and struggling to memorize everything about it. I’d
never been away from home longer than a week, and now I was going
on a plane, to another country.
“I'm
ready” I sighed, standing in the doorway of the sitting
room, where everyone was gathered
~ 2 HOURS
LATER ~
I nibbled away
self-consciously on my fingernails, What if they didn’t
like me? What if I screwed up? What if I couldn’t sing in
front of them? Thoughts of failure were quickly surfacing in
my head. I’d never really been very good at realizing
I could do something, I always assumed I couldn’t do
anything on my own, I was exactly the most self sufficient
person, and I was afraid that people wouldn’t like that
about me.
“It’s
okay Riyan, they’ll love you” My uncle, as if reading
my mind smiled
I smiled
thankfully, as I tried to close my eyes, perhaps sleep would
help.
~ IN NEW YORK
~
I stepped out
of the airport into a whole new world, my mouth gaped as heavy
rain pounding against the hard concrete pavement. I stood
frozen as people hurried about in all directions, the streets
were crowded with cars, this was a far cry from the pedal driven
cars and the laid back environment I had been so used to.
“Come on”
my uncle announced pulling me into an awaiting cab
~ 20 MINUTES
LATER ~
I could have
sworn we’d only driven a few blocks if that, but it
seemed to take forever. The cab driver seemed Indian, and
has a ramped tongue, as he ratted off as many foreign swear words
he could think of. I assumed they were swear words, from
the froth forming at the corner of his mouth and the quick one
finger solute that came along with it.
We stopped
outside a skyscraper, and for once I understood why they called
them that. The thing was huge, looking up each story at a
time, I really wasn’t sure where the building finished and
the sky began. I was in complete ore.
We veered to
the left, with bags in tow, and hurriedly raced under the cover
of a flash looking hotel. A young guy smiled as he opened
the door, another one rushed across the marble floor and gladly
took our bags.
~ 10 MINUTES
LATER ~
The hotel room
was a double, for both me and my uncle, it seemed more like a
house to me, with plush light fittings and perfectly straight bed
cover. For a moment I wondered if you were actually
supposed to even sleep in the bed, for fear of messing them up.
“Okay,
the meetings in 10 minutes, we should get going” Ricardo
smiled as her straightened my hair
“Perhaps
you should brush that” he winked, pointing me toward the
bathroom.
~ 10 MINUTES
LATER ~
I sat with my
head down, just thinking. Everything had happened so
quickly, I still couldn’t believe this was happening, one
minute I was in my room, singing as I always did, the next thing
I know, I'm here, in New York, sitting in an armchair the size of
a sofa, waiting for some big shot executives to scour over me.
Nervously I
kicked my legs haphazardly in front of me, and without realizing
it, I smack someone directly in the shin.
“Ow”
the voice announced
“Oh my
god, I'm sorry” I stammered looking up, to the poor
recipient of my perfectly aimed foot
“It’s
okay” the small character smiled, as his ruffled hair fell
across his forehead
“I, I, I,
didn’t mean to, I'm so sorry” I practically cried
“Hey, it’s
cool, no problem” The stranger smiled, his blue eyes
piercingly so.
I wept
stupidly, I was just so high strung and I supposed immediately
embarrassed.
My uncle
smiled at me, as he patted my shoulder.
“She a
little high strung, meeting with record label guys” he
explained as I tried furiously to regain composure
“Oh,
well, I know how that feels” the stranger winked as he knelt
down in front of me
I looked up,
sniffing stupidly and wiping away stray tears.
“One
word, yourself. Just be who you are, cause then there’s
no false bounds” he grinned
Instantly I
replied with a smile, as if he bought it directly out of me.
“Mr.
Martin will see you now” and older lady announced as she
gestured for us to go in the room.
The stranger
watched as we strolled into the room, I smiled my thanks as I
disappeared behind the wooden doors.
I immediately
felt like an animal at a zoo, five faces watched my every move,
with practiced posture I slipped into the chair and begged to be
swallowed up, I wasn’t used to this and I was sure the
expression on my face gave that away.
The
conversation began with polite introductions, but I was too
nervous to even really hear what they were saying, let alone take
it in.
“Can she
sing?” the fatter one with the balding head questioned as he
tapped his pen annoyingly across a blank pad. He reminded
me of a lawyer, one that you possibly wouldn’t trust with
your goldfish.
I went to open
my mouth, but my uncle replied for me, I suddenly felt not only
like an animal, but a mute or perhaps invisible one, they spoke
about me, as though I wasn’t even there.
“Can she
dance?”
I went to
speak again.
“Of
course” my uncle replied, patting my leg.
Was I not
supposed to say anything?
The
conversation continued much like that. Until they finally
decided to include me in the conversation. I was asked to
sing, something I had never really mastered in front of anyone
else.
I closed my
eyes, imagining the place I used to go, the arena, the signs.
Breathing deeply I began. I tried to focus on that crowd,
but all I could see were the faces of the men, I didn’t
know, just waiting for me to slip up, and that – was exactly
what I did.
My eyes
opened, filled with indescribable fear, I tried to sing, but not
a sound came out. I turned frightfully and ran directly out
of that room as if it were on fire. I couldn’t do
this, I couldn’t.