CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
performance night

Lucious

next day

It was Saturday night; the night Lucious had been waiting for the entire week. Tiana and Hakeem were going to kill their performance, he knew that much. And thanks to them, Empire was going to be the talk of the town again.

He had already handled Jamal. He wasn't performing tonight. He wasn't even allowed in the club, so Lucious didn't have to worry about him messing up the mood with that Cookie mess.

In other words, it was gonna be a good night.

Lucious sat at the bar and ordered his drink. Thirsty came up to him. "Hey, Lucious." Thirsty ordered a drink too.

"Jamal and Cookie ain't here, right?"

Thirsty shook his head. "Nope. The bouncer knows not to let them in."

Lucious smirked. "This is gonna be an amazing night then."

"Why don't you want them here?"

"Because it's bad enough that Jamal's emotional as hell. I don't need him making the audience emotional too."

"How would he do that?"

"He wrote a song for Cookie and wanted to perform it tonight."

Thirsty read his mind. "Why does Cookie need a song?"

"Thank you, Thirsty! I was here these past seventeen years, not Cookie! I raised Jamal's ass on my own, but she gets a song before me?!"

Thirsty just shook his head. "Jamal's always been a mama's boy."

"And that's why he's not welcomed in here. His ass can perform for Cookie outside for all I care, but he's not doing it in here."

Thirsty laughed as Andre approached. "Hey, Pop. Everything okay?"

"Your brother isn't performing tonight, so I feel great."

Andre smiled and sat down. "That's good to hear. And hey, Thirsty."

"Hey, Andre." Thirsty drank and pointed at Andre. "You know, you've always been loyal to your father. I like that about you. Jamal needs to take some notes."

Andre laughed. "Yes he does."

They took a sip of their drinks as a dark skinned man went on stage. "Wassup, everybody!" The audience cheered, and he continued. "Welcome to the grand opening of Club Nirvana! This club isn't going to be like anything you've experienced before. It's gonna be the hottest club in New York City!"

The audience cheered again.

"You know why? Because no other club has Empire artists performing!"

The audience went crazy now, and Lucious smirked proudly.

"We got Tiana! We got Hakeem! And we even got Jamal Lyon!"

The audience went even crazier, but Lucious didn't. What the hell did he just say?

Andre had the same reaction. "Jamal? I thought he wasn't performing?"

"He isn't supposed to."

They heard a familiar voice behind them. "Hello, Lucious."

They looked behind and saw Cookie standing there all smug. Lucious hissed at her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Two of my kids are performing. That's why I'm here."

"How'd you get in?" Thirsty questioned.

Cookie just said, "Your money pays good, but mine pays better." She began strutting away. "You can't keep a Cookie down, Lucious!"

He seethed as Thirsty gulped down his drink while shaking his head. "Just bad luck."

Yeah, she was bad luck. Lucious looked over at Andre. "Dre."

"Yes, Pop?"

"Find your brother. Now."

Royalty

Royalty was standing alone at her table. She felt uncomfortable because everyone in attendance was so much older than her. She shouldn't even be at that club, but she had to support her girl Tiana and her brothers.

She didn't know where Cookie disappeared to, but she saw Andre and Lucious over at the bar. Andre left, but Lucious was still there with Thirsty. Royalty would go over there, but she wasn't trying to be near any drinks. Cookie would kill her.

Lucious would probably let her drink because he lets Hakeem drink, but Cookie definitely wouldn't. So she was gonna stay at her table. Alone.

That man came back on stage. "Alright! Y'all ready to get this night started?!" The audience went crazy. "Y'all better be, because Tiana is!"

He pointed behind himself, and the crowd went wild after that. Even Royalty.

The man got off stage, and the stage lights revealed Tiana standing in the center, wearing a glitter outfit. Her back was turned to them.

The beat dropped, and Ro squealed like crazy when Tiana's dancers came walking across the stage while clapping their hands to the beat. She was really getting to see her best friend perform live. She was so excited.

Tiana faced them and began singing while dancing with her backup dancers.

TIANA :

I just came in here to dance
I'm not lookin' for a man
Me and my best friend going in
Boy, you better watch ya hands

Bout to get summertime fine for the bad boys
Damn it I, Damn it I, Damn it, I look good!
Don't know why these bitches all hating on me for
Damn it I, Damn it I, Damn it, I look good!

Tiana and her dancers started dancing hard, shaking their asses and everything.

TIANA :

Look at my body, look at my body
Look at my body, look at my body
Don't I look sexy, don't I look sexy?
Don't I look sexy, don't I look sexy?

"You sure do!" someone yelled, and Ro could've sworn that was Hakeem. She followed the shout, and yup, it was Hakeem. He was smirking at Tiana.

Royalty heard Tiana laugh. Then she and her dancers started dancing on the floor, still looking sexy as ever. Ro was mindblown. That girl was a performer.

Royalty would never be on her level.

She continued watching Tiana, but someone interrupted that. "You're gonna be like her pretty soon."

Ro blinked in disbelief when she saw Blake. "Blake? What are you doing here?"

"The homies are performing. I gotta show love."

"But why aren't you with Hakeem? Aren't you mad at me?"

Blake shook his head. "Not anymore."

That was shocking. "What changed your mind?"

Blake reached over to touch her hand. "When I first met you, I told you that I could never be mad at you. I gotta stay true to those words. And I understand your family is crazy as hell, so you're not gonna be free all the time. I respect that now."

"Wow. Look at you being understanding," she joked.

He chuckled. "I care about you a lot, Ro. I don't wanna lose what we have."

"I see that." Now she felt bad for writing that song about him. Shit.

Silence fell upon them as they watched Tiana's performance. Royalty assumed she had shivered a little because Blake put his jacket over her with a smile. It was cold in there, so she accepted it.

That caught Cookie's attention. "Ro, baby, who's your friend?"

Ro swallowed hard as she introduced them because she knew Cookie didn't like him. "Um. This is Blake. Blake, this is my mother."

Blake spoke kindly. "Oh, Ms. Lyon. I've heard a lot about you."

"Yeah. I bet Hakeem told you it all, huh?"

"Yeah..."

"I don't care about any of that. What I care about is my daughter. So, if you try any of that controlling shit again-"

Ro gasped. "Mom!"

But she kept going. "-And if you hurt her, I'll hurt you. Now, you have a good night."

She left and Blake was startled. Ro laughed nervously. "She's joking!"

She wasn't.