Date: Mon, 09 Aug 2004 11:36:37 -0400
From: Sammie G <sum1plezzcall_911@hotmail.com>
Subject: Ladulcevida, chapter 7

       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 or sammie_g86@yahoo.com

-Sorry about the wrong email that I had up before.

Edited

      LaDulceVida- The Sweet Life

                                          OYE MI CANTO / HEAR MY SONG

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The room that we were in was brimming with anxiety. Eric sat close to
me. It was the day after we had sex at the Marquis hotel. We really didn't
talk about what had happened, because we really didn't have anything to
say. I had made it clear that night that it was just sex, so there wasn't
really any awkwardness between us. In fact, sitting there, I realized that
Eric seemed to be a little closer to me. He stayed close to me since last
night. I was trying not to push the fact about how I felt about him and
trying not to overanalyze his closeness. I tried not to hope anymore.

Hype had met us on the tour bus that afternoon. I guess Jay had brought up
the fact that we weren't getting any money, because it was the only thing
that seemed to be on Hype's mind during the meeting we had.

"Ok, boys. We are in debt."

The idea that we were in debt hit our ears like a goddamn ton of bricks.
Jay's face went from a sort of boredom to complete and utter depression. I
had never seen someone sulk as much as he did when the words came from the
Hype's lips. Eric and I exchanged looks...looks of confusion.  Eric started
laughing...I'm not sure what he was laughing at, but he just started
laughing. I guess the idea that we were so popular and yet were going broke
made things seem a lot more interesting to him.

My face went almost sour, "How are we broke?"

"I should be asking you!" Hype said loudly, slamming his fist onto the
table.

"What do you mean?"

Hype looked around the room until his eyes went stuck on Eric, "Ask him. He
seems to know what the fuck the Syndicate is all about. Did any of you know
that the Syndicate invested money in us through Inc. Records?"

The Syndicate. I was almost sure that Antonio's betrayal would be the last
thing that I would heard about the syndicate. It wasn't. Just the name had
brought my ears to start hurting. I looked at Eric.  I knew I was the only
one that knew about his relationship with Robbie. I also knew that everyone
else probably had an idea about it too. It was clear when you realized the
clear hatred sent back and forth between Eric and Robbie, the heir to the
Syndicate. You could even mention the name of Robbie to Eric and he would
go a little crazy (which was probably vice versa).

Eric wasn't laughing any more, "Wait...this whole time they've been
supporting us?"

I noticed he looked disgusted. His lips were tight and his forehead was
wrinkled up. He was more than disgusted, he was angry. I guess his face for
the Syndicate was because of Robbie.  I guess anytime anyone mentioned the
Syndicate, all he could think about was Robbie.

"Well suddenly they've stopped. Gotti says he can't explain it," Hype
continued, "They are demanding their money back and we don't have it yet!
The last word I heard from the Syndicate is that we should ask Eric why
this is happening..."

I saw Jay rise off the table. If Eric was mad about us accepting money from
the Syndicate in the first place, then Jay's anger seemed to be far more
intense. I saw him turn away from Hype and grip Eric by the collar. He
looked like he was going to strangle Eric.

"Look. Why the fuck does the Syndicate hate you?!"

Eric looked away, falling limply back onto his chair and I saw Jay about to
leap onto Eric. I jumped between them, holding Jay back. He always allowed
himself to get controlled by his lust for success and his love for his
career. He wouldn't let anyone mess with his career.

"Jay calm down. When two elephants fight in the grass...the grass suffers.
The last thing we need is more problems, more trouble in the group."

He looked deep into my eyes and finally he calmed down and leaned against a
wall.

"Well it seems to me like the elephants are Eric and Robbie," Hype said.

I put my finger up to warn Hype, "Stay out of it Hype. It's personal
between them."

Hype was probably going to say something back. He was probably going to
push the issue. Again I saw Eric. He was so silent. He wouldn't protect his
name unless it was very necessary. He was probably thinking now. He looked
hurt. He was becoming distant again. I hated to see him like that. I had
worked so hard to make sure that he wasn't like that anymore. I loved the
side of him that was open. The side of him that allowed us to know just a
little bit more. This quiet side...it scared the shit out of me.

Jay looked at Hype, "So we are fucked! What are we going to do?"

Hype brushed his brows with his hand, "Well, I got Mr. Simmons to get us a
performance at the new Syndicate club called The Motions. It's back in
Jersey. We have to go back to Jersey. You are performing on the grand
opening so Mr. Knight and most of the high Syndicate players will be
there. I guess with a good performance and some nice words from me, Mr.
Knight will give us a little more time to pay back that money."

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

There was nothing else to say really. We were going back to Jersey. The
tour had been postponed. I started to laugh at the thought of it. We had
only gone as far as New York and now we had to be retrace our steps because
the Syndicate had screwed us once again. The Syndicate had screwed 'me'
once again. We were going back to New Jersey.  I guess I would pay a visit
to a few friends that I had met back in Jersey. We were going right next to
Eric's hometown. The place that he seemed to love, but also seemed to be
running away from. Jay was definitely right that we had been fucked! Our
wallets were broke and we were in debt. The craziest thing about it was
that our faces were on a billboard in time square. America loved us and yet
the industry allowed us to be sucked into debt.

The bus ride back to Jersey was one of ceaseless arguing. Jay had tantrums
every hour. Truly he seemed to snap on anything that was near. Of course he
took his anger out on Eric mostly, but since Eric didn't seem to return his
enthusiasm, he went around taking it out on everyone else. It was pure hell
on the trip. I remember getting off the bus and refusing to go to a hotel
where Jay would continue his tantrum.

Eric had decided that he was going to go home actually. He invited me to
come stay with him while we were in New Jersey at his parent's house. I
refused. I refused mostly because when Eric's father came to pick us up, he
seemed more than mean to me. He gave me a long ass look as he started to
pack Eric's stuff into the car. I just smiled and tried to act polite.

"So I guess, I'll see you tonight at the club," Eric said and looked back
at the bus, where Jay was having another tantrum demanding someone put up
money for him to go shopping while he was out in New Jersey because New
York had too many taxes on clothes.

"Yeah, I guess so," I told him.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come stay with my family? I want you to meet
them..."

I looked over at his father. His eyes were burning a hole through my
forehead and his face looked like a goddamn pit bull's. Eric's mother was
in the car seat and she didn't look to comforting either. I knew going
there would probably be a mistake more than anything else. Besides, I
needed time away from Eric so that I wouldn't allow myself to fall deeper
in love with him. I needed time to know that he wasn't going to love me the
same way I loved him.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Besides, I have an old friend that I want to go catch up
with..."

"Ok if you say so. Take care."

I couldn't believe what he did at that moment. It was more than caring to
me. He wrapped his arm around my neck and then leaned me over. For a
moment, I could feel that this touch was different from the touch he gave
me before. He kissed me on the cheek as though it was the most natural
thing in the world and then he held me closer giving me an even tighter
hug. It was crazy.  He acted like he was never going to see me again, even
though we were all gonna meet up at that club later on. The way he held me
tight felt nice and as soon as he broke it I realized that it was probably
too nice to me. I figured that I was once again having the thoughts that he
really was having feelings for me.  That was definitely why I needed time
away from him. I turned away knowing that I had made the right
decision. Being this close to him had sent my mind into a state that I
didn't like. I had become a goddamn desperate little jerk. I had allowed
myself to become too delicate. He didn't know how frail I was. If only he
knew that any little thing he said could make me feel like an Olympian God
or make me feel like a low piece of scum.

The car that was coming to pick me up drove up. Her name was Elizabeth
Inha.  I really don't remember how I met Elle (her nickname), but she was
always there. Elle was the kind of person that would always be there. There
wasn't too much drama with her. She was like one of those friends that you
tell everything too because you know that she will never meet the people
that you are talking about. She knew everything about my personal life but
she was as far away from my personal life as possible. She hadn't even met
Jay and Jay was always with me. Still, I knew that this was probably one of
the best relationships ever. She had more advice than my own parents could
give me. I definitely needed her around this time, with Eric's feelings
completely confusing me.

Having not embraced her in almost a year, I felt her touch to feel very
cleansing. We talked in the car for hours about mostly next to nothing but
what she had been up to this past year. I knew that she was waiting until
we got to her house before saying anything. We had crossed a little short
bridge, opposite from where I remembered the Syndicate to be located. We
climbed up on a long hill to a little house. It was one of those houses
everyone liked, with the white picketed fence and all.  Elle was bi. She
liked both boys and girls, but she depended on neither. She lived alone in
this house and I knew that there was no other way she would want it.

"You can call this your home for the few days that you are going to be
here," Elle said and then gave me a little stern funny look, "But NO longer
than that."

I gave her a look knowing that she was only half joking. She really enjoyed
living on her own and that is probably what I liked about her the most. She
didn't need love.  I wish I could be like her. I wish I didn't need anyone,
but I did. Whether it was Eric, Jay or even Ice to follow me around. I
always needed someone with me so that I could feel more secure in myself.


"I'm used to the bus by now, Elle," I said kicking off my shoes and going
to lay down on the couch. No matter how much she didn't want me to feel
comfortable in her little independent house, I couldn't help it with
Elle. I never could be too comfortable with Elle.

Before long, Elle had got me to start talking and when I started to talk I
couldn't stop. I had told her everything. I had told her about Eric, about
the guy named Damien, about Robbie and the Syndicate, I had told her about
our money situation, I had even told her about the song that I wrote. I had
told her about the sex that I had with Eric after I had written that
song. She of course, was more than interested in all of this.

"Has anything changed since you've had sex with him?" she had asked, after
hours of lounging and me confiding all my problems in her.

"I don't know. I mean...I sincerely can't tell..."

"Well talk to him. Adrian you said that he might be feeling something for
you," Elle nagged, getting up off the couch to start a fire in the
fireplace because it was more than freezing in the house.

"But I may just be like thinking it all up you know?" I told her.

"Elizabeth Bowen once said when you love someone, all your saved-up wishes
start coming out."

That was another thing about Elle. She used quotes more than she should of.
It had started when she got married to this big artistic type guy who gave
speeches. Their whole relationship was based on quotes. She used to listen
to his quotes all the time. She met him through his quotes, she loved him
because of his quotes and when it got boring...she left him because of his
quotes. Yet, now after it all she hadn't forgotten a single quote said to
her. She said that it was punishment for falling in love not with her heart
but with her ears.

"I wish I didn't love him," I told her, speaking feelings that I had never
really thought of, "He is confused and now he's making me confused."

"Talk to him Adrian. Love is like the wind, you can't see it but sometimes
you can feel it. Just ask him how he feels about you."

Elle leaned back against the couch. She had silvery hair that really
matched her personality. She was wise beyond her age. I think Elle was in
her mid 20s, but she never really told me how old she was. She knew
everything.

I looked down remembering the time that I had tried to kiss him and he
turned away, "I don't know. I don't wanna push him away again."

"You aren't pushing him away. You are just trying to know how he feels
about you. Talk to him, one time about everything...if he refuses, you must
stop pursuing him."

"But..."

"Talk to him tonight."

I paused and looked at the fire kindling. Was it really that easy? I knew I
had to talk to him and to get to know him. I had never been so available to
anyone in all my life.  This same girl had once told me of a Chinese
proverb that said to dream of a better life is to spend all of your life
asleep. This was MORE than what I felt now.

"You know..." I suddenly started to say and then paused, "That boy Damien,
the one Eric loved. I saw him just before he fell off the bridge. He had a
look in his eyes. It was almost like he had some kind of aura."

"What do you feel about this boy Damien?"

I sighed.

"I hate him mostly," I told her and knew that she was probably disappointed
at my selfish ways, "He had everything that anyone could ever need and now
even in death, he clings to his possessions. Eric will never forget about
him."

She got up and went to the fireplace and I could see that she had a
distance about her. It always happened to people when Damien's name was
mentioned. It had happened to Eric. The only difference is that Elizabeth
didn't even know who Damien was. Elle went to the fireplace, and I could
see the warm fire spark a bright red against her skin. She knew too much,
probably because she had experienced so much. I had trusted her, accepted
her as a friend. It was rare that she would become like this.

She spoke slowly, full of sincerity, "Remember this. I am only going to
tell you it once. A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings
because it has a song."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

She looked at me and gave me a little smile, "You think about it. Maybe
when you find out what the proverb means, you can figure this whole thing
out."

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

The club Motions was a club on the lower Southside. Elle had decided to
come along and watch the show. She also said that she wanted to meet Eric
(which was very strange of her to want to meet someone in my life). I
wondered if she really wanted to come because she wanted to see if I was
going to talk to Eric. I had made plans to talk to him, but no idea what I
was going to really say. For whatever reason she wanted to come to the club
with me, I agreed and we found ourselves heading to the club by the end of
the night. I was anxious and nervous. This wasn't just any other
performance, this performance would probably decide the fate of the group.
It was still a wonder why the Syndicate would have been secretly supporting
us this whole time and then all of a sudden stop giving us money when we
were near the height of our career. It was more than strange. I knew that
Robbie had his own little agenda as far as hating Eric went, but I really
didn't understand why Mr. Knight would agree to it. Mr. Knight didn't seem
like the person to let personal issues get in the way of good business.

The club was jammed with all the familiar faces from the Syndicate. I
remembered vaguely the older, rich sort of King Pin guys and the mature,
modeling young guys that always used to hang out at the Syndicate. It
seemed like a monster's ball at this club. I knew that probably every sin
ever written was probably being broken in these walls tonight. I could tell
from the mischievous faces that some of the people had when walking in the
club that they were up to no good. Like the original Syndicate club, this
club had the red carpet and bright lights.  Walking in, I noticed it wasn't
really a danceclub, but seemed more like a stage club. They had the theater
lights and everything including aisles of round tables. Waiters were
serving drinks and other refreshments to the crowds that sat at the
roundtables. There was a balcony, where I figured Mr. Knight would be
sitting. Right now however it was kind of empty.

Nina was the first person I saw, giving me a slight wave near the long
corridor hallway towards the main club. I knew she was nervous. She really
wasn't the type to be surrounded by such notorious people like those found
in the Syndicate Ring. Walking into the club, I saw Eric and Jay were
already there with Ice near the entrance to the backstage. They were
talking to Hype and another man when I entered. With my entrance Hype
turned around and I saw him give one of those very VERY commercial
smiles. I was sort of embarrassed with someone as genuine as Elle seeing me
having to play a fake character so I could be likeable to these industry
villains.

"Mr. Gregorio, I would like you to meet our last singer here," Hype
introduced me.

I shook the Italian's hand and felt the thick grip that he had on me. He
wasn't smiling. He wasn't really grimacing either. He just stared at me
examining me like an artist did a painting.

"My name is Adrian," I told him.

Hype quickly went to my ear as I shook his hand whispering, "Adrian, Mr.
Gregorio is Mr.  Knight's treasurer."

In other words, he was the one who had control of the money. I flashed a
bright smile to this guy, remembering him from the old club. I forgot
exactly what had happened between us, but I remembered his words.

"I believe we've met before," Mr. Gregorio had said and gave me a shake,
"You can call me Byron."

Byron! I remembered him immediately. He was that figure that had been
talking to Robbie back at the old Syndicate. I remembered his muscular
biceps from the old club.  Here they were covered up under what seemed to
be like an expensive Armani suit with the matching shoes and all. His
physique could still be shown out of his big clothes and all.  "Nice to see
you again, Byron," I said to him, trying to be as flattering as Hype
usually was, "I hope you enjoy our performance..."

"Actually," Mr. Gregorio interrupted, "You won't be performing tonight."

"What?" I asked and looked around to where I saw Hype.

Hype gave me a little half smile, "It seems like higher power wants only
Eric to sing tonight."

I didn't get it at all. We were a band. Either way, I just sighed and
looked at Eric. He was looking away from me, completely not even paying
attention to what was going on my way. People had asked him to perform
alone before, but we never really did it. Hype always told us to stick
together, but now I guess his motto was "What the Syndicate wants, the
Syndicate gets."

"When you are done here, join me on the balcony to watch your friend
perform," Byron Gregorio said to me suddenly and with a little smile he
turned and walked away.

Hype began to flatter the man as he led him away. They disappeared into the
crowd that was beginning to gather around and take their seats in the
little dining tables in front of the stage. This club was really one of
those high class clubs. I walked closer to Eric and Jay. Eric was getting
ready for the performance and Jay was only there drinking on some pineapple
juice. He gave me a little look and then I saw him turn and looked past me.

"Who is your friend?" he asked giving me a smile and I saw Elle come
forward.

Elle shook his hand, "Elizabeth Inha. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Adrian's cousin, Jay."

I saw Adrian starting to move closer to her. He was such an idiot. Elle was
a little older than him and from experience, she seemed to like mature
guys. Of course, Jay didn't seem to care too much about this. He started to
hit on her and all that. I just moved closer to Eric, watching him next to
the stage. His eyes glittered up as he looked on the stage. There was
complete silence as I walked close to him. Then suddenly he noticed me and
gave me a bright smile, making me wonder if this was the first time he
realized that I had come into the club.

"Hey!" Eric said giving me a bright smile and as I got closer I saw him put
his hand on my shoulder, "Guess you heard I'm performing solo tonight."

"Yeah."

I sat next to him. Then I saw him sliding a little closer to me. I had my
head lowered and he sort of gave me a soft rub on my back. It felt
consoling in a way that I really didn't feel. Before I knew what I was
doing, I was putting my hand on his thigh, rubbing it softly. I knew that
people would probably see us but I really didn't care. I liked feeling
close to him. I almost could foresee him pulling away, but he didn't!
Instead of pulling away, he actually took his left hand and put it over
mine, massaging his fingers with mine.

I was the one who suddenly pulled my hand away, feeling a sort of spark of
emotion that I didn't want to start feeling so soon. Then I said,
"Look...we have a lot of talking to do."

"I was thinking the same thing. After the performance we'll talk."

With that the stage manager had come to get Eric and the ushers had come to
get Jay and I. Elle had to stay downstairs because she wasn't a V.I.P. I
felt like shit, bringing her to the club and then going to the nice balcony
upstairs to see the show while she had to stay on the ground floor like she
was some kind of peasant. I wanted to stay with her but I knew Hype would
have my head if he found out that I hadn't taken up Byron's offer. Elle
wasn't the type to get envious or anything like that anyway.

I was taken upstairs with Jay and the ushers. It was a long stairway but
the time that we had gotten to the top, I could smell chamomile and I could
already hear Eric's song beginning to play.  We were led up the hall and
onto the opera-like balcony. Walking in I saw faces that scared me half to
death.

That guy Byron was there. He was making notes on Eric's performance with a
notepad. Hype was also there. He sat on a stool overlooking the balcony
with his eyes dazed on the stage where Eric was singing. Eric sounded good
tonight. I walked deeper into the room and saw a lot of eyes turn around to
look at me. Jay traced close behind, but still I felt like all the eyes
were following me. I saw Robbie, of course. He sat in the biggest chair in
the room. It was a chair that sort of looked like a throne beside the other
commoner chairs that had a few more important looking faces.  Overall, the
room wasn't crowded, but these people must have been as intimidating as a
room full of critics. Of course Robbie seemed the most intimidating. I
didn't get him.  He had this sexy ass smile that he flashed me that almost
made me melt all of a sudden.

Then suddenly I saw Mr. Knight. He was sitting in a wheelchair, no he
wasn't sitting. He was sort of falling almost halfway out of the chair. His
eyes were lifeless, open but not really looking anywhere. His skin was so
pale, so pale that he almost looked like he was already dead. A nurse was
next to him, feeding him what seemed to be apple sauce or something of the
type. He was so skinny that I could see every vein in his face and could
almost see the shape of his skull. It had stunned me beyond the point that
I couldn't stop staring.

"Oh dear. Please forgive me," Robbie explained, noticing that both Jay and
I were staring completely at him, "I never wanted you to see Mr. Knight
like this. The AIDS has gotten the best of him now, he doesn't have much
longer. Nurse take him out please..."

The nurse had put Mr. Knight into his wheelchair better and I saw them
rolling the sick man out of the room. Then looking back at Robbie we saw
him flash almost a careless smile at us.

"How are you sir?" Jay said suddenly, sucking up like he usually did.
"Unlike Mr. Knight, I am doing quite well," Robbie said and gave a little
laugh, "Have a seat boys."

It was sort of strange that Robbie seemed so nonchalant about Mr. Knight's
sickness. I saw the way Robbie looked. It was all making a little more
sense now. Robbie was in charge now. I could see it in the way he smiled
and laughed. He had more control that Mr.  Knight, now that Mr.  Knight was
sick. It all made sense why our investment had been cut short so
early. Mr. Knight hadn't cut them, it was Robbie who had done it. I
remembered how Mr. Knight had looked. He was so sick, so pale. It was
almost like he had no more will to live at all.  It scared me so much to
see anyone in that kind of state.

Robbie looked out at Eric now, over the balcony and I could hear Eric's
song. Robbie looked at Byron, "Did you ever think he was a singer?"

Byron gave an emotional laugh, "Hey, the kid has talent. You might as well
give him that much..."

Byron and Robbie seemed to be close friends. They both looked at one
another and began to laugh, almost as though they knew who Eric was. I saw
him thumping his wrists, because Eric's song was ending and then he turned
back to me.

"Do you want to know why I want the money back that Mr. Knight loaned you
all?"

"Of course," Jay explained.

Robbie rolled his eyes, demeaning Jay and rudely adding, "I wasn't asking
you. I was asking him."

He looked at me. Eric had told me that they had hated each other so
much. He had told me that Robbie would stop at nothing to destroy the life
of anyone that ever loved Eric. I knew that Robbie hated Eric and so he
hated me. There was nothing that he had to say.

"I already know."

I knew Jay was a little irritated, but he wouldn't say anything in front of
Robbie. Robbie probably knew exactly how to control guys like Jay. He could
keep Jay controlled because he controlled Jay's career. He controlled Jay's
money and fame. That was all that was in Jay. I was a different case. I
wondered how he was trying to capture me or to break me. I knew it must
have been a game with Robbie. The way he looked at us, it was like we were
nothing to him.

"Am I right in what I'm doing?" he asked me.

"No, you aren't."

He began to laugh, joined by Byron and few others at the table. Then I saw
Robbie getting up and looking down the balcony once again where Eric
stood. I could see the hate in his eyes. Hype and Jay must have saw it too,
but they were terrified of Robbie. They didn't even speak. They just
remained quiet.

"Who is to say what is right?" Robbie said and gave me a long smile, "This
world is a world of the blind and I am the man with one eye. Only I know
what is right.  I only knew one other who ever knew what was right. Eric
killed that boy."

"ERIC had nothing to do with Damien's death!" I called out and jumped to my
feet before I knew exactly what I was doing.

Jay pulled me back down hard, slamming me in the chair. Yeah, I admit that
it wasn't the best idea to be screaming at the guy now, but still he was
being unfair. I remember Eric telling me about what had happened the night
that Damien had died. Robbie was chasing after Damien and Eric stopped
him. Eric had no way of knowing that Damien was going to die that night.

"Either way," Robbie told me, looking a little irritated even through his
perfect features, "I am right and I am going to teach you all a very good
lesson. You have one month to sign a contract for paying my money back and
giving me 50% of your profits or the tape will be released."

"What tape?"

Robbie gave me a long look and my heart almost went stone cold, thinking
about what had happened.

Hype looked up suddenly, "What tape?"

Byron held up a tape and started to laugh under his breath, "This tape has
on it a recording of one of your members...Adrian. You see the ladies love
boy bands. What will they feel like when they see a tape of Adrian having
an orgy with three minors."

Suddenly from the other room, I saw them enter. It was Antonio and the two
other boys that were there that night that we went to the abandoned
building and that they left me. I knew what the Syndicate was now. I knew
how they operated. I looked at Antonio. He didn't even have the courtesy to
look back at me. He was looking at Robbie. Jesus, I felt like tearing up. I
saw the tape in Byron's hands and wanted to just grab it and run. I knew
for sure that they must have made copies and even if they didn't there was
no way I could get it out of the hands of Byron.

I heard Jay give a little gasp and my eyes bulged out of my head. Hype was
finally standing up to intercede from the clear threat that they were
giving us but he was quickly stopped by a guard. I couldn't believe what I
was hearing. ANTONIO! I knew it was going to come back to bite me on my
ass. I couldn't breathe all of a sudden. He had recorded what had
happened. He was underage!  I couldn't believe this shit. The embarrassment
had taken me by the throat.  I was the first to run out of the room,
running down the stairs. I didn't know where the hell I was going but I
knew that I had to get out of there. My face had blushed into a dark red. I
had always thought Jay's sex would get us in trouble, but instead it was
mine! I slammed my fist against the wall.


"I really did like you," I heard a voice say.

I turned around and saw Antonio. I turned around. I wanted to beat the hell
out of him, but then I looked at his face. I must have been an idiot,
because he looked so goddamn sincere to me. I looked at the way he looked
at me and felt him put his hand on my head. He rubbed it through me and I
felt so comfortable and so relaxed.

"Why? Why did you have to record me and then give the tape away?" I asked
him, beginning to cry like a little girl by this point, "I mean my
life...was this your plan all along."

"Relax," he said and put his hand next to mine.

"Adrian what the hell are you doing?" a voice had called to me.

I turned around to see Eric. Elle was next to him. I figured she probably
introduced herself when she figured out that it was Eric who had been
performing. I looked at him.  He was right...what the hell was I doing? I
pushed away from Antonio and looked down.

"Ha!" Antonio said looked at Eric, "So this is the infamous Eric? From all
I heard, I am not that impressed. If you had any idea what I went through
to get your ass."

Eric went up to Antonio, "You realize that you broke someone's heart just
so that you can take out Robbie's sick little revenge."

"I would do anything for Robbie," Antonio said.

"But what would he do for you? He is using you like he is using the
Syndicate and like he is using Mr. Knight. Robbie cares about no one."

He cared about no one but Damien. I saw how he spoke about Robbie. I knew
that Antonio loved Robbie. In a way I knew that Antonio was just like
me. He loved Robbie, but Robbie loved Damien. I loved Eric, but Eric loved
Damien. Antonio must have loved Robbie, to have gone to such lengths to
blackmail me. Even if it wasn't a romantic love, it must have been some
kind of love that was strong enough to make him do what he did.

Antonio smiled, "Robbie could kill you any second. If he asked me to do it,
I would you know...but he wants something worse. I want something
worse. Robbie gets his revenge, I get Robbie and the Syndicate gets 50% of
Vida's profits."

Eric looked pissed, by now I could see it in his eyes. Elle had come to
comfort me and was sort of trying to pull me away, but I wanted to see Eric
mad. I wanted to have the courage to be as mad as Antonio and as Eric
was. Antonio had told me he loved me and now he was just saying that he
used those precious words because of Robbie. I felt more like crap then I
had ever felt in my life.  50% profits would break our bank so fast. I
could see we would have to do twice as many shows.  I knew that we would
have to be doing everything multiplied. This was more than hell.

I saw Jay and Hype coming down the stairs now, stopping to see Antonio. I
saw Jay give me the meanest look that he had ever given me in his life and
then look like he was going to continue to walk until Antonio and Eric's
voices started to get louder. More people began to show up at the
staircase. I saw some of the Syndicate people. I think I even saw Byron on
the staircase. I wasn't sure of all the people that were there but all of
them seemed to be quite amused by what was happening.

"What 50% profit?" Eric asked looking at me, "What is he talking about?"

I didn't have a chance to answer before Jay did, "They are blackmailing us.
Adrian had sex with that guy and he's underage. They will release the tape
of it if we don't give them our money.

I looked at Eric. He wasn't going to be mad at me like Jay was. He seemed
to have eyes of a sort of comfort, but why did I feel my body going numb by
the sight of everyone in the club coming to the noisy stairwell and looking
at me. All the eyes were on me now, some of them laughing and others
whispering. I felt so alone, even with Eric speaking for me and Elle
holding me. I felt like I had been totally and completely abandoned.

Eric looked over at Antonio, "You fucking asshole...is this what you
wanted?  Look at him crying there!"

I couldn't believe Eric was standing up so well for me. If only he knew how
many nights I had cried for him as well. This was different though, I
realized. Antonio showed no remorse. His lips wrinkled up into a rotten
fucking smile. I hated him. I knew it then that I had hated him. He looked
deep into my eyes as did everyone else around me close enough to see.
Antonio's friends were behind him laughing now.

"Adrian? He is nothing! He is nothing to you, and to me he is just the
bridge that the Syndicate stepped on to get to you."

The crowd had started to roar, but roared even louder when Eric's fist
slammed in the side of Antonio's face. I saw Antonio fall back into the
crowd, then is a saw one of the bouncers jumping at Eric. By now things had
started to get crazy and before I knew it I saw feet thrashing at me from
above. Elle's hand pulled at me, pulling me out of there. I looked around
and saw Jay and Eric fighting off the bouncers, while Eric tried
desperately to hit Antonio again. The crowded staircase had went into
complete and utter chaos. Elle's hand next to mine was holding tightly onto
me while trying to lead me away. I should have been up there with Eric,
helping him. It was because of me he fought.

I realized now the true face of the Syndicate. There was nothing else about
them that I wanted to know. Their intentions were all face down and nothing
could save us from them now. I thought that maybe if Mr. Knight got better,
he could stop this, but even I knew that he was near his death bed. It hurt
to know that our career was being schemed against this whole time. I knew
that it wasn't just Eric's thing any more. I knew now that I had something
to do with it. We were all in it now...even Jay.

I wondered how long we could fight against the Syndicate. I prayed for the
first time in a long time. I prayed that there was a going to be a miracle
to keep us from the wrath of the Syndicate and their intentions.

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a
song." Oh God, please hear my song.

******************************************************************************

*Thanks for the nice emails. I would like to hear from everyone to know
what you think about where the story is going and your predictions of what
is going to happen or what you would like to see happen. Thanks again
everyone. *_*.