Antebellum by R. Kayeen Thomas Page B

what. I just sped up the process.”
    â€œSo you do admit that you played a role in P. Silenzas getting dropped from their label?”
    â€œLook, I’ont know what the conversations sounded like on that end, ’cause I ain’t signed to that label. What I’ll say is the same thing I been sayin’ since the whole thing started—if I ruined anybody’s career, then I ruined the career of two fluke rappers who wasn’t goin’ nowhere to begin with.”
    â€œWell, I guess there’s...”
    â€œYOU A DEAD MAN!”
    Our heads shot around so quickly, you could hear the wind breaking. I knew where the voice was coming from, but because of the stage lights shining on us, I couldn’t see anyone in the audience. Phil stood from his seat.
    â€œWho is that? Security!”
    â€œYOU A DEAD MAN, NIGGA! YOU HEAR ME? I SWEAR TO GOD, YOU...”
    I heard what could only be described as a ghetto warrior cry come from Ray or Henry, and then the sound of a grown man colliding with another grown man. They must have landed on or around some other audience members, because two ladies screamed out simultaneously, after which it sounded like nine or ten full rows of people jumped out of their seats to avoid what was happening. As the seconds rolled by, the commotion grew exponentially.
    It was the two gunshots that sent everything into utter chaos.
    â€œCUT THE FEED!!!!” I heard someone in charge yell out. Almost immediately, the screen attached to the main camera that had been recording us cut to those multicolored bars that show on public broadcasting channels late at night. The lights came up just in time for me to see three different security guards try and pick a man up from under the stomping feet of Brian and Orlando. I would find out later that Henry was the closest to the guy andhad run headfirst into him. After being knocked down, the assailant managed to climb to his knees, take aim, and fire a shot at the stage before Henry pulled him back down again. The gun went off a second time as they were rolling around on the ground. Henry was bleeding from his right arm, and Ray was trying to get him some help while the studio audience rushed out through two different emergency exits like a stampede.
    That’s when it occurred to me that in the thirty seconds that the whole ordeal had taken place, I hadn’t moved. I was frozen in fear. My eyes darted back and forth wildly, but my body wouldn’t budge. Even Phil had ducked to the back after the feed was cut, but I might as well have been super glued to the loveseat. I felt like George Bush on 9-11. My heart was bursting out of my ribcage and I was wheezing to catch my breath, but I sat like a statue until I saw SaTia sprint down the aisle and leap up onto the stage.
    â€œLET’S GO!”
    As she grabbed my hand, the invisible weights fell off my legs. We bolted back through the curtain and the door that I had come through to get to the stage, and then found the side door backstage that led to the garage. The Maybach driver was singing a Whitney Houston song aloud. He choked when we jumped in the car. SaTia couldn’t have cared less.
    â€œGet us out of here!”
    Still trying to clear the saliva from his windpipe, the driver nodded to show that he recognized the request. Wheezing, he floored the gas in the extravagant car and left the most expensive tire tracks anyone has ever seen.

4
    R ose, Loen, and Mytino traveled around a lot, but their main offices were located in Chicago. Loen and Rose had grown up in Chicago, and they’d met Mytino at the University of Illinois. When they dropped out to form Cosmos Records, they started out in Loen’s basement, and then moved into a run-down office space on the outskirts of the city. As Cosmos grew, so did their venues, until they finally decided to buy a building in the Business district and make it their headquarters. They had satellite offices in Miami and