Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 18:45:41 -0400
From: Sammie G <sum1plezzcall_911@hotmail.com>
Subject: LaDulceVida, Chapter 3

       Disclaimer: This is a FICTIONAL story describing the life and
problems from the POV of a young man.  If you find this type of story
offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you are, then refrain
from reading it.

      This story is a continuation of Rain_On_Me
       Feel free to send email or comments about the story to
       sum1plezzCall_911@hotmail.com

SORRY FOR THE BAD EDITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M GOING TO START TO EDIT MYSELF.

		       LaDulceVida - The Sweet Life

				HAZEL EYES

I was waiting in the corridor backstage. Almost a week had passed and Eric
had finally felt comfortable singing the strange lament that he called,
"Life isn't sweet".  Gotti, the owner of the record label had somehow found
it in his heart to give us a second chance after we more than screwed up
our first chance at a debut. I was on edge, I knew everyone was on the
edge. Hype had went balls out on preparing us for the performance. He
believed that sex sold. He had me dressed with no shirt and these jeans
that had so many 'fashionable' rips inside that you thought I had just come
back from wrestling African lions.

Jay was the next to come. He didn't look nervous at all. He looked almost
irritated, fanning himself constantly because of the hot concert lights
that we could feel even from the backstage corridor. Ice, our security
blanket, kept handing him glasses of water that Jay would swallow one after
another.

"Where the hell is Eric?" Jay asked me, "These pants are squeezing the hell
out of my balls."

He was right. We were wearing similar pants and they were probably the
tightest pants that I ever wore in my life. I stood up and stretched being
reminded of the slight pain that was shooting up my groin.

"Here he comes," I heard Hype say. He too had been missing in action but
just seemed to be appearing what out of no where.

Eric came walking down the hall with Nina by his side. She was still trying
to coach him on expressing his feelings through the music. Eric himself, I
mean, he looked almost fucking good enough to eat! He wasn't wearing any
shirt, but did have on a little trench coat that no doubt Hype instructed
him to wear. The sweat glistened down his body. I could see his
nipples. They were a chestnut color and they looked so goddam soft. I could
see his chest.  He definitely had a better chest than both Jay and I. I
tried not to look at him, trying not to look at the sharp v-section that
was at his abdominal region. They were like a trail to heaven. They were
almost like a goddam arrow pointing deep into his crotch area. I could see
his six-pack abs even against the dim light. His tinted beige complexion
brought out everything in him.

He walked right next to me and stood between Jay and I. I tried not to have
eye contact with him, still a little mad about all that he had told me a
week before.

"Adrian, is that a woody?!" Jay suddenly cried out loud enough for people
to laugh on just the way he said it.

I looked down. I couldn't believe I had the biggest boner that I probably
ever had in my life and I didn't even notice it! I looked at Eric, who was
staring at my dick (just like every other goddam person that heard I had
it). I could feel my skin blush into the deepest red, my cheeks completely
blooming with embarrassment! I knew looking at Eric would probably just
make it worse. Soon everyone was laughing, pointing at it like it was a
goddam joke. Even Eric...

Hype gave a little laugh and then his face went serious, "Adrian, this
isn't the time to be getting excited."

"Ugh---it was a little breezy," I lied through my teeth.

Then I saw Jay, as if he hadn't already had a good enough time. He looked
at me, then looked at Eric. I swear to god, I would have slammed his clown
ass into the railing if he embarrassed me again with Eric.

"Right..." Jay told me, with such a sarcastic sound that everyone knew that
he didn't believe a word of it.

I closed my eyes. I breathed hard, blushing even more, trying to
concentrate on everything from dead puppies to old nuns, but it didn't
work. Eric's cologne was close. I could smell the fine odor of sexual
appeal all around him. I opened my eyes, hoping that the erection had gone
away. No.

"The shows about to begin!" I heard Hype calling out suddenly after a few
of the stage hands walked up to him to give him an alert.

Jay jumped to his feet, almost immediately, his eyes lighting up at the
thought of beginning. All of a sudden no one cared about the hard-on that I
was carrying around anymore. I was walking around with a 7 inch pole down
my pants and no one could even give it a second look. Then I noticed Eric,
he was looking at me with a bit of worry. I felt like I was almost gonna
melt when he came and touched me on the shoulder, but that just made the
hard-on rage even harder.

He gave me an innocent smile, still teasing me a little and said, "Lemme
help."

He dug into the cup that Jay had been drinking out of and pulled out some
ice.

"I really don't need your help..."

I really didn't. Him just looking at me was making my dick hard even worse.
He looked me in the eyes and suddenly I felt him pulling at my pants! I
thought I was going to cum all over myself when he did that. I wondered if
that is what he was trying to do; make me cum and then the boner would go
away.

"Lean back and hold your breath for as long you can," he told me.

I did so, leaning back and holding my breath. Suddenly I felt him drop the
ice cube down my pants, no he didn't just drop it. He had actually put his
hands down my pants and placed the ice cube on my dick! I moaned, a little
excited but then slowly I could feel the ice cube nearly freezing my dick
and then there was no sensation. In a second, the impossible boner was
beaten by the cold temperature. He pulled his cold hand out of my pants.

"Ugh...thanks," I told him, hoping not to look too deep in his eyes and get
the erection once again.

"Its cool, my brother used to do it all the time just before he went into
church," Eric said and started laughing. I gave a little laugh too, not
because it was funny but because it would have been awkward as hell not to
laugh.

It wasn't long before we walked out on stage. I could feel the warm heat
that exploded off the stage. As it was set up, I was supposed to be playing
the piano, while Eric sang his melody. Jay and I had the part of singing
backup and singing the chorus with him. I went to the piano, hoping not to
trip over anything because I had been blinded by the stage lights.  There
were these little wing fans on the front of the stage, but I could hardly
feel it. I saw Eric, standing there next to Jay. The crowd was silent as
hell at that moment. I saw Jay then, flashing a little smile and trying to
milk the dead crowd for all it was worth. It was almost like even before we
started to perform, they wanted to boo us of the stage.  The piano bench
seemed a little more comfortable for me then standing around dancing any
day.  Either way, I was cued and began to play the melody on the keys. I
concentrated so hard on them, not wanting to mess this day up, feeling like
this was the only opportunity we had to impress Gotti and the rest of the
record company. The crowd fell completely silent by the time Eric began to
sing. His lips parted and began to describe feelings, feelings that he had
once felt when trying to get closer to another person.

"You made my dream come true And with secrets you only knew You caressed my
soul A dream that grew A bird that flew A day that came Give me your body,
your love As you touch those certain places >From the low up above Give me
your body, body, your love."

Then came Jay and I for the chorus.

"Your lips speak soft sweetness Your touch a cool caress I am lost in your
magic My heart beats within your chest Sometimes I can't stand the bitter
taste of life Your love was the only fruit I could eat I'm starving off a
melody That starts and ends with Life isn't sweet"

It was a performance that I would remember for all time. I remember how I
felt when Eric hit that last part of the chorus. I remember how the crowd
stood up off their feet and started cheering, suddenly awaken by such a
slow serenade. I remember wanting to cry, but not knowing exactly how. I
saw Irv Gotti and a lot of other celebrities in the crowd. They were
standing, off their chairs and clapping. I wanted to kiss Eric for singing
so goddam well, but I think he was a little overwhelmed with all the
attention he was getting off those little teenage girls. They were throwing
their panties or stage after him! I could hear Ice calling us to get off
stage, saying that the crowd was going a little crazy. Eric was the first
to leave and I would have been close behind if I didn't have to actually
usher Jay off the stage myself.

That was only the beginning of what was going on. Soon the radio began to
feed off the single.  They premiered it on the following Tuesday and ever
since then they couldn't stop playing it.  Gotti began to see a new
interest on us. We began to perform even more, at the clubs or what not.
We all knew that it was only a matter of time before we would be doing the
BIG star things like making a music videos for the song. I prayed it
wouldn't end up like one of those one hit wonders, but the truth was I had
gotten so greedy over the quick fame that had come that I didn't even mind
if it did become a one hit wonder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<Hello> I said after dialing the number.

<Hey> The voice answered.

<Is this Antonio?>

<Yeah, it is. Lemme guess who this is...>

<Adrian.> <Wow, so hazel eyes finally gives me a call?>

<Hazel eyes?>

No one had ever called me by that before. I knew I had hazel eyes, but it
was never a nickname.  There was a pause. It wasn't long or overdrawn, but
none-the-less, it was a pause. I could hear strange whispers in the
background and then I heard Antonio come back on the phone.

<Can you meet me?> he asked suddenly.

<Now?>

<Yeah. I really wanna see you again.>

I blushed.

<Sure, I guess.>

<Good, come to the Syndicate. Oh, Adrian. Can you do me a favor? Your
manager Hype Williams is having dinner with Mr. Knight. Could you probably
bring the other band members, too? Mr. Knight really wants to meet them.>

Before I had a chance to say anything, Antonio hung up the phone.  I didn't
know how I was going to get both Jay and Eric to come with me to the
Syndicate. All I knew was Antonio wanted them to be there. I never had much
of a problem getting Jay to go anywhere, but what surprised me was how
willing Eric was to go. He had made it clear that he forever wanted to stay
away from the Syndicate, but now he used the excuse saying that he wanted
to go to the Syndicate and prove to me that they were just using me or
whatever. I really didn't hear too much of his whole explanation on why he
wanted to go to the Syndicate, but was just sincerely happy that he wanted
to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We arrived at the Syndicate in our Ice's town car. It was almost midnight
by now. The fresh moon lit up the sky, but that wasn't the only source of
light on the busy street. The bright lights around the club scene were
brightening up the streets.

"Look," Jay suddenly said leaning out into window, "They're giving us the
royal treatment."

I looked out the window to wonder what the hell was going on. There was a
red carpet and a couple bouncers waiting for us next to the door. Behind
them was a long line of guys waiting to get into the Syndicate. One of the
bouncers waved Ice's town car to come right to the front entrance. Jay and
I got a little star-stricken as we walked out of the town car flashing a
conceited look at all the guys who would probably be waiting for an hour to
get into the high-class club.  Eric dragged on behind us, like he wasn't
excited. He always tried to put that barrier up in him.  Jay tapped my back
as we entered into the expensive club.

As soon as we entered the club, high glasses of Ambrosia (a sweet drink
that had become famous in the Syndicate) was served to us with orange peels
hanging over the side.  The fancy ushers led us towards the backroom, the
backrooms that I never even knew existed! I could smell the scent of some
kind of food that I recognized as Italian food from the first sniff.

I leaned over to Jay, "They never treated us like this before."

He flashed me one of his many vain smiles, "They probably heard our new
single on the radio."

"Eric's single," I corrected him.

He acted as though he didn't hear me and kept walking. It was like Jay to
act like he had anything to do with the making or producing that song. I
shifted back a little to wait for Eric. He gave me a smile when he saw me
waiting up for him.

"Like the treatment?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Definitely different."

We were ushered into a different part of the Syndicate, a part of the
Syndicate that looked almost completely like a restaurant. I could still
hear the loud music from far away, but it wasn't very loud in this part of
the Syndicate. There were red curtains against the wall and fancy Greek
tables with a little angel fountain dead in the center of the room. I was
so surprised all of a sudden, looking around and noticing the people that
were in the room. I noticed some of these important looking faces that were
around the room. They had on all their Gucci outfits and big Rolex watches,
with the fancy shoes to match. Most were just smoking a cigar and talking
amongst themselves, but a couple were actually having a bite to eat too. I
noticed Mr. Knight. He had his cane and was sitting at the far end of the
table. His cronies surrounded the table, just watching him like he was a
piece of art or some goddam jewel.

As I got closer I looked at Mr. Knight. I had seen him before. He looked a
little pale today, his eyes looking faded. He clutched to his cane and he
saw us, then I saw his mouth wrinkle up to give us a slight smile. I
wondered if it was the HIV that made him look so creepy.

"Please sit," Mr. Knight invited us, at the table where he was at.

I looked around for Antonio and saw him sitting near the door. I could have
sworn he was some kind of goddam bellboy by the way he was serving the
'bigger' people in the Syndicate. He gave me a slight wave as our eyes met
and then disappeared into the next room. My eyes followed him until I heard
a loud bang and looked at the table.

One of Mr. Knights bodyguards had slammed Jay's arm onto the table. Eric
had jumped out of his seat as though trying to aide him and the other
cronies swarmed around the table suddenly. I looked at everyone in almost
complete confusion.

"I just wanted to shake his hand," I heard Jay say.

They slammed his hand on the table because he reached out to shake Mr.
Knight's hand?! I began to notice how really big the Syndicate had
become. It had always been a big deal to people, but now it had somehow
managed to lose all types of competition in the area. If Mr. Knight didn't
own the clubs near them, he owned the guy who fucked the owner of the club.

"Relax, everyone," Mr. Knight said giving another one of his creepy smiles,
"Everyone is so tense tonight. The boy was just trying to be friendly."

Mr. Knight reached across the table and shook Jay's hand. Jay and I sat,
but Eric still seemed to be at a face off with the goddam cronies. They
were looking at each other, staring each other down until finally
Mr. Knight waved his hand and the cronies backed up away from the table a
little bit.

Eric finally sat at the table.

"Are you boy's hungry?"

"No, sir. But I just wanna say. I am so happy that you invited us here,"
Jay sucked up further, "It's a real honor."

"No, the honor is mine," Mr. Knight said and suddenly called out,
"Antonio!"

Antonio ran out of the backroom. He didn't look like he had looked with me.
He wasn't the superior guy, but instead his ego seemed to have shrunk in
the presence of Mr. Knight.

"Yes sir?"

"Bring these boys some more ambrosia. And by the way bring me one of those
Cuban cigars."

Mr. Knight waved him off and Antonio disappeared into the backroom again.
Antonio came back with the drinks and the cigar. I gave him a look, as
though intriguing on why he would tell me to come here and meet him, if he
was working. He didn't give me a look, he just put the drink in front of me
and handed Mr. Knight his cigar. Mr. Knight started to smoke the cigar
slowly, staring Jay right into the eye and then staring at me.

"We were told that our manager was here," Eric said suddenly, setting off
one of those real uncomfortable stares back at Mr. Knight. I wanted to tell
him to loosen up but everyone's attention was already on him.

"Oh, Hype Williams. Yes, he was here. He left earlier," Mr. Knight said,
nonchalantly.

"He left...so why is it that we are here?" Eric said.

I wanted to know the same thing, but I wasn't going to ask it like Eric. He
didn't even touch the drink, keeping it at a distance like it was probably
poisoned. He sat a little away from the table, looking as awkward as a
Buddha statue in the middle of an Episcopalian church.

"Relax," Mr. Knight said, "You and I. We have a mutual friend."

"Who?" Jay asked, probably just wanting to get into a conversation with
such a important man.

Mr. Knight replied, "His name was Damien."

Everyone went quiet at the moment. Jay had knew the name well. He tried to
keep away from the name. He still blamed himself for Damien's death. He had
never told Eric that it was him who had caused the big pileup after he had
been out drinking that night. He looked away from the table. Then I looked
at Eric...I couldn't read his eyes or even guess what he was thinking at
the moment. He was just staring out, almost lost all of a sudden.

I looked around, just wanting to see Antonio some more. Someone was
walking, the footsteps were clear again the wooden tiles of the
restaurant. I turned around and saw the guy that came right up to the table
and stood in back of Mr. Knight. I looked at him, remembering the perfected
face and expression of cockiness on him. It was the heir to the
Syndicate...Robbie.

"Mr. Knight, you shouldn't be smoking those things," Robbie suddenly said
putting his hand on Mr. Knight's shoulders and looking at his cigar.

"Aww, you worry too much," Mr. Knight said, "I was just talking to our
young friends here about why I brought them here."

"Why? Why would you bring him here?" Robbie said. I could see an anger in
his eyes as he looked right at Eric, causing Mr. Knight to let out a small
laugh of satisfaction.

"Trust me, I don't wanna be here," Eric replied, not looking Robbie right
back.

The hostility between the two was so clear, almost like it was rubbed out
in blood. I knew that they had history and I wondered if Mr. Knight had any
idea what this history was. He seemed very amused by it though.

"Mr. Knight. Let me take out the trash on this one," Robbie said suddenly,
clearly threatening Eric, "He is worthless to you."

I could see Eric about to say something back but Mr. Knight interrupted
quickly, "Robbie calm down. Leave the past as it was. Boys, this is from
the Syndicate. Lets say a gift...or perhaps more of a proposition. Friends
do favors for friends. Perhaps...we can be friends."

I saw him slide a stuffed envelope towards the other side of the table.

"What! Propositions! I can't believe your making a deal with HIM!"

I saw Mr. Knight grabbing Robbie by his sleeve suddenly, "Listen up! The
Syndicate is still mine! I will make deals with who I please."

Robbie gave Mr. Knight a shot look. I could tell that even though everyone
who worked for the Syndicate was afraid of Mr. Knight, Robbie seemed to
prove as the exception.  He gave Mr.  Knight one of those real freaky
'Carrie' looks and then turned around and walked out of the room.  The
stuffed envelope was halfway across the table and when Robbie left, Mr.
Knight pushed it even closer to us. I could tell it was stuffed with
money. You had to be an idiot not to tell. I saw Jay reaching out for the
envelope and suddenly Eric stopped him.

"No! We don't want your money," Eric suddenly said and pushed the envelope
back.

"Speak for yourself," Jay said, trying even harder to reach for the
envelope.

"No, please Jay. We can't accept this money. Not from them," Eric pleaded.

I saw the passion in Eric's eyes. There was this strong feeling of sympathy
and wonder that lit up in his eyes. I finally got up as well and helped
Eric push the envelope away.

"Jay back off," I said, knowing that Jay would listen to me before he
listened to Eric, "Mr.  Knight, you heard Eric, we will have to decline."

"Hmmm," Mr. Knight grunted, "You boys don't seem to get it. I am offering
you my friendship and you are turning it down. I hope you realize what this
means...ANTONIO!  Come show these boys out."

We got up and followed Antonio awkwardly out of the room, knowing that we
were being followed by eyes. We didn't talk during the way, just kept
walking. It was very, very awkward! I saw Jay's face. He looked more than
pissed at the moment. He looked beyond pissed. and I tried to keep him at
bay with stern looks, but he just looked like he was about to explode.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the front entrance Antonio finally decided to talk to me. Eric and Jay
went into the town car, taking all of their hostilities into the town car
with them. Antonio looked at me with a exotic look and then pulled out a
piece of paper.

"Sorry I didn't get to really talk to you today, but tomorrow night can you
come to this address."

"I dunno. I came here to see you today. How do I know that you aren't just
calling this meeting so I can talk to your boss again?"

He leaned over and wrapped his hand around my head, kissing me. Our lips
pressed up against one another and his tongue even managed to move into my
lips. We tongue kissed long and hard, him reaching down to squeeze my ass
like it was a beanie bag. I could see him start to get even more risky,
moving his hand down the side of my pants and suddenly I pulled back,
feeling my hard-on going from mediocre, to nearly full.

"I'll be there," I managed to say after we broke the kiss. I walked towards
the town car, completely dazed by the intense kiss he had given me.

I went into the town car to see Eric and Jay already arguing in the middle
of the town car. Ice ignored it and started to drive the car down the
street. Jay looked probably like someone had just stolen his liver and ran
away with it. His face was so flushed with anger and disappointment.

He told Eric with more rage than I had ever seen him with, "What the hell
was that about! Do you know who that guy is back there?"

Eric looked out, almost completely calm or probably seeming calm because
his mind was somewhere else thinking intensely, "I know who he is."

"You goddam offended Mr. Knight. Don't you know that it is polite to accept
gifts. That was MONEY too! Adrian! Say something."

He was right. I hated to admit it but Jay was right. Accepting a gift from
a guy like Mr. Knight could only help us. I mean it was good to have
friends in high places especially when you were in the entertainment
business. Eric had completely shot that guy down and I had helped him. I
knew that Eric wouldn't have butt into it, if he didn't feel real strong
about it. He never really cared too much about how we spent our advance or
got too much into all the deal issues. He was usually just along for the
ride, so I knew for sure there must have been a reason that he got so
involved when we were back at the Syndicate. I knew Jay would be mad
regardless of the explanation, but I really needed a piece of mind to find
out what it was that was on Eric's mind.

I looked at Eric, deeply into his eyes, trying to breach that wonder that I
kept, "Eric, you do have a lot of explaining to do. Your past is beginning
to affect us."

He stayed silent only for a little while and stared out, into the dark
pavement that was outside our window. I could see him concentrating as
though bringing back thoughts that had come and was already inside of his
mind.

"I'm sorry. I am getting you guys involved in my past," he told us.

"Its ok. We are in this together," I told him and put his hand on his,
"Isn't that right, Jay?"

Jay grunted and crossed his hands leaning back into the car seat, still
pissed off that we hadn't taken the money. I wanted to give a little laugh
but then felt Eric's hand next to mind. He rubbed my hand a little,
accepting my support.

"I really never trusted Mr. Knight. I mean looking back into my past, I
never trusted him. I used to warn Damien to stay away from him, but he
never listened. I knew what he was trying to do to Damien, the sick twisted
thoughts that he had in mind for Damien."

"He wanted to have sex with Damien."

"I guess. He probably had HIV back then too. I remember once that I had did
something to Damien one time and he found confide in that guy. That guy
told him all kinds of dumb crap. He took Damien to work at his little club
scene. All that did was get some guy to almost rape Damien in a private
room. Mr. Knight is just bad news."

"Damien must have been a close friend for you to be so protective," I said
suddenly.

Eric looked out at the pavement and then turned back to me, "Yeah."

"You loved him?"

Jay all of a sudden started to laugh, probably because he had told me
almost a thousand times that Eric wasn't gay and that I should stop
thinking about him being gay. He had told me that Eric was probably
straighter than he was. I guess part of me never believed Jay, so I was
asking him now, up front. I had always been so afraid to talk about
something like that with Eric.

"I more than loved him," Eric said suddenly, causing Jay to stop laughing.

"You're gay?" Jay asked, bluntly.

"JAY!" I called out, in embarrassment.

"Its ok," Eric said, "It was never that simple as being gay. I had been
attracted to men, but only on a physical level and it was never too strong
for me to control, until I met Damien. I adored him. I didn't just want sex
from him. I would do anything he wanted and he wanted us to fall in
love. So we did. It would have probably been the perfect relationship, but
people didn't want to see us together. Those people ended up killing him in
the end."

I wanted to ask what people he were talking about but then I heard Jay
finally say something.

"So now we know who you are singing about," Jay said suddenly, giving a
little laugh.

It hit me like a ton of bricks. Now I knew for sure that Eric and Damien
were once lovers. I felt happy and sad at the same time. No, it was more
than just happy and sad. My emotions were so mixed up. I felt jealousy. I
felt satisfaction. For some reason the curiosity hurt. The way Eric had
described his relationship with Damien was like Damien was the only person
he could ever love.  It almost seemed like he wasn't even going to try and
let anyone into his life. I could see why he was so closed off. I knew that
I had only been scratching the surface of what went on in the past, but I
wanted to know more. There was no time tonight. Eric seemed like he was
getting uncomfortable talking about it and I guess he though he had already
told us too much. I wanted to know who this Robbie to him? What did he mean
that the people who didn't want to see him with Damien, ended up killing
Damien in the end?