“Boy, I’m right here in the city this summer. We gotta hook up! I’ll find a spot. You free this Friday?”
Anthony is pleasantly surprised to learn he has a friend who will be around for the summer as he learns the city. Mike is excited to hang out and catch up with his friend. Naturally, Mike goes to Duc for ideas of spots to go for happy hour on Friday, but he doesn’t really have any stake in the happy hour scene in Atlanta. It is Jairus who comes up with a place for them to go. Mike invites both Jairus and Duc to come along, wanting them to finally meet someone from one of his stories of the previous summer.
That Friday, Anthony meets up with the fellas at the agreed upon location and is very happy to see Mike. He’s away from home without many friends and is pleased to finally see a familiar face. He’s still the laid back, cool and collected person Mike remembers from their Baton Rouge to New Orleans rides the previous year. Mike is very happy to see him too. And he seems to hit it off well with Jairus and Duc. But everyone hits it off well with Duc. This is no different. As they all get drinks Anthony automatically wonders where the one friend he already knows is and asks, “Where’s my man Ovaughn this summer? He the only one missing, right?” For a moment the guys moods all become somber. Duc and Jairus don’t even realize he met Ovaughn a few times the previous summer and they look at Mike in unison to break the news to Anthony. “Umm...unfortunately...he died in a car accident a few months back.”
“Nah! Seriously?” Anthony pauses in shock and the guys just get quiet until he continues “Damn. That was a good dude. I hate that. Well, it’s a round of shots on me after that.”
Anthony gets the attention of the bartender again and orders a round of shots. Once they get the shots, he quickly changes the subject saying, “So Mike, tell me about this new internship before I get into the stories about last year.” Followed by him laughing at his own joke. Mike and Anthony reminisce about all their stories from the previous summer, giving credence to a lot of the stories Duc and Jairus have heard about Baton Rouge. What Mike doesn’t expect is for Anthony to embarrass him by talking about how all the girls were fawning all over him. Specifically, Silly and Maria. Mike hasn’t spoken much about the situation, so Duc is intrigued, full of questions about what happened and why Mike has been holding out. Mike assures them Anthony is exaggerating but he doesn’t back off his claims while having a laugh at Mike’s discomfort. “Wardy, had a wife and a mistress da whole damn summer!”.
Overall, they have a great time and discuss getting together again soon. It will have to wait at least a couple of weeks since Anthony is driving home the following weekend for the Essence Festival in New Orleans. But he had every intention of taking advantage of now having a friend who was a party promoter in Atlanta.
That evening Duc has to manage a gig for Chaotic Harmony at a small club that is promoted under Malik’s catalog. It is one of the spots that Samantha has been over, and she is trying something new to drum up more business taking a page from Duc’s playbook at Jazzy Belles. Samantha asked him if they can open for her headliners and Duc, still enamored with her, finds a way to make it happen. What she doesn’t realize is that Steven, Imani, and Riley, as well as the rest of Chaotic Harmony, take the invitation to open as a challenge. Riley is especially antagonistic with Samantha and since they feel like they have a working relationship with her they should have been considered as the main act. And they put forth every effort to make her realize it. The venue is full of local artists and fans of the better-known group who will be closing the show as well as a small group of loyal fans of Chaotic Harmony. When the band comes on, they are given 20 minutes to get the crowd going for the headliners. Normally when they come on, they spend the first few minutes introducing themselves when they are in front of a new crowd. Tonight is different. They walk onto the stage and take their instruments and Riley grabs the microphone and says, “We are Chaotic Harmony. Let’s get into it!” They commence to spend the next 30 minutes completely controlling the stage. The band plays riffs of popular rap songs from local stars and transitions them into their own original beats to keep the crowd engaged in things they’re unfamiliar with. Riley’s voice is as strong as it has ever sounded, and she displays her range over cover and original songs making sure the crowd can feel every word. The energy for the entire set is at a maximum, they are engaging, and they put on an overall great show. To date it is the best performance they have had since Riley and Duc joined the band. Even Samantha, Jairus, and Mike are blown away and they have seen them dozens of times.
When they finish their set, they don’t say anything. They just waive at the crowd and walk off. Jairus is standing side stage in shock of not only how good they just performed but that they say nothing upon exiting. He thinks they can’t just leave it like that after they have sucked every ounce of energy out of the crowd and goes on stage and picks up the mic. He turns to the crowd and yells, “Chaotic Harmony ladies and gentlemen!”
That is met with resounding applause from the crowd. He then lifts the mic again and says, “This has been a Duc Martin production,” then puts the mic in the mic stand and walks off stage. That last statement gets both Jairus and Mike hype because they know Duc has been wanting to get his own brand going for some time and it feels like he finally introduces himself to the world. Even if it is in a small club in the hood in Atlanta “A Duc Martin production” is something people will remember.
Duc comes back off the stage and he and the band are celebrating as he sees Samantha talking to the other band trying to calm them down. They are upset about what just took place and are now frustrated that they have to follow that act. Duc eventually comes back out into the club to go see what Mike and Jairus think about the show and is greeted by many of the patrons letting him know how much they like the Chaotic Harmony performance. He makes it over to his friends and starts talking to them but is soon interrupted by a fan who wants to say more than how much he liked the show. Duc tries to thank him and brush him off saying, “I appreciate the love but me and my friends are talking” but he is determined to get his ear and stands there patiently while they talk. That is until Duc turns to him and says, “What’s up dog? What you need?” The guy is barely taller than Duc’s 5-foot 6-inch stature by more than an inch or two and much skinnier. He has a light skin complexion with light eyes but has a rough looking exterior in need of getting his hair braided with a very dressed down look for someone at the club. “Aye, I just wanted to introduce myself to you man. I go by Quad,” he says.
Never hearing the name Quad before, Duc gets a weird look on his face. “What’s your real name?” He isn’t trying to be rude; he is just surprised. Which is funny for someone with a name as unique as Ducron.
“Oh yeah, my real name is William Wells IV so I go by Quad. Get it?”
Duc smirks. “Yeah, I got you. That’s a tight name. What you need though?” He gestures to his friends, reminding Quad they were already talking.
“Yeah…yeah,” he says nervously. “I had to come meet you, man. You manage the band, right? Duc Martin? Well, I’m an MC. If you got them performing like that, I need to fuck with you to help me. I mean, if you looking for other artists.”
As nervous as Quad is, he still put Duc in a bit of shock. Duc never expected this type of reaction from the show but then again, he never expected the show they just had. Before he gets a word in, Quad starts again, “Well, if nothing else maybe the band could use a rapper on one of their songs to complement the singer some time. I’d love to work with y’all.” Quad is leaving no stone unturned trying to take full advantage of his opportunity. Something that Duc completely understands and respects. “I’m definitely open to managing other people,” he says. “Let me get your number and we can talk about it later. You gotta tell me more about what you do and what you think you need. This loud club isn’t really the place for that conversation.”
Quad wasn’t sure what response he would get from Duc, so he is excited to hear something positive. He quickly writes his number down on a bar napkin and gives it to Duc before thanking him and making his exit.
The fellas hang out at the club for the rest of the evening enjoying the party and waiting to see how the other band will follow behind Chaotic Harmony. They did well but after making the crowd wait a half hour before they came out, they have to get the crowd back into it and they don’t have the performance to match their opener. While they perform, Samantha comes out into the club searching for Duc looking unhappy about the turn of events. She politely asks, ”Hey, can we meet for lunch tomorrow to talk?” With a confused look on his face Duc replies, “Yeah, we can do that.” And without another word said she disappears back into the crowd. They don’t see her again for the rest of the evening. Once Chaotic Harmony leaves, Duc has nothing holding him there and his friends have had too much to drink that day after happy hour and the club. They leave before the club lets out, something that is a rarity for them.
The next day Duc wakes up bright and early. At least it’s early for a Saturday. He’s still hype from the energy he had the night before and can’t sleep in. He’s also deep in his thoughts about what Samantha wants to talk about at lunch that day. He knows she is mad about the Chaotic Harmony performance, but he hopes that she has ulterior motives. He tries to tell himself she isn’t thinking about him like that but after longing for something from her for an entire school year he can’t help but hope. He ends up waking Jairus up in his room from all the noise in the kitchen and living room. Jairus doesn’t mind though because while Duc is out on his lunch date, he and Mike are planning to go to a couple of used car dealerships to look for that car his grandfather promised to help him with.
Just after 10 o’clock Mike shows up to pick up Jairus and they head out to go car shopping for the first time. Neither of them has ever been car shopping before and they’re both a little too excited to test drive different cars. Duc thinks they’re funny but tries not to laugh at them because he doesn’t want to kill their vibe. Besides, he is more focused on his own excitement now anticipating lunch with Samantha. As soon as they leave, he quickly hops in the shower and starts picking out clothes for lunch, indecisive about the right thing to wear. At about 11:00 a.m. he gives Samantha a call to determine where she would like to meet for lunch. He is shocked when she tells him to surprise her and that she will be ready to be picked up in about 45 minutes. Now it really is playing with his mind. He’s picking the spot and picking her up. That’s a date. It didn’t even cross his mind that she basically volunteered for him to treat. It wouldn’t have bothered him anyway.
Duc gives it some thought and decides on a moderately new, trendy spot in downtown Atlanta that he noticed but never got around to trying. He heads out and picks Samantha up from her apartment, which is much closer to downtown than his. On the car ride he tries to make small talk asking things like “How’s your day been?” and “What else you got planned this weekend?” But she only has short answers for him “it’s fine” and “nothing much”. She isn’t rude but doesn’t seem to have much to say to him. He wonders how this conversation is supposed to work if she won’t talk to him. He doesn’t realize she’s waiting for him to offer some kind of remorse for how things went the night before. Oblivious of what she wants from him, he tries to start some more small talk to break the tension as they wait for the server to bring drinks. “So have you talked to Malik since the show last night?”
“No, not yet.”
“I’ve been dying to get to this spot. This is your first time right?”
“Yep,” followed by a sigh.
“So where are you going to be working tonight?”
He is so oblivious of her hints at being mad he’s surprised when he hears the frustration in her voice when she finally says, “You know I’m pissed at you for last night right? You’re just gonna act like everything is normal?”
Duc feigns ignorance even though he clearly remembers seeing her having a tough discussion with the headlining act after the Chaotic Harmony performance. Even more frustrated by him acting like he doesn’t understand. “Duc, you sabotaged my show!”
A part of him enjoys seeing her a little angry at him. It’s the most emotion he’s gotten from her since Ovaughn’s death. On the other hand, he doesn’t want her to be mad at him. “Samantha, you know there’s no way I would sabotage your show. I had no idea what they were planning for their performance.”
She says nothing in response. She just looks away from him as if she were giving him the cold shoulder sitting there at the small two top table.
“I think they felt some kind of way about you not even considering them to headline the show,” he says.
That gets her attention. She turns and looks at him waiting for him to explain further. “They feel like you are supposed to be on their team. You’ve been around a lot in the last year I’ve been with them. And even longer with Riley hosting the open mic nights for us. They expected more loyalty from you. At least a chance to earn the main spot. So they decided to show you why since you don’t already know. I swear I didn't know their plan.”
“I got one of the best up and coming bands in the area to perform,” she says. “I couldn’t pass that up. I chose them to open to get them seen more.” She pauses for a moment thinking about what Duc said and considering the band's perspective for the first time. “They did kill it though.”
She finally smiles at Duc for the first time since they sat down in the restaurant. He reaches across the table and places his hand on top of hers. “I’m sorry the show got messed up.”
“Oh you making that up to me.”
He grins at the response but she continues, “You gotta help me find another band or help me fix it with them so they will come back. And I’m going to need Chaotic Harmony to do some shows from time to time since they want to show out. Go ahead and schedule their next Friday now, manager.”
Now Duc’s laughing. The tension has now changed from frustration to attraction. Duc looks deeply in her eyes as he stops laughing, their hands still touching. She knew that eventually he was going to broach the subject of them again. It’s taken a lot longer than she expected from him. But now he finally sees his opportunity. “Why haven’t we done this before now?”
She acts coy. “What do you mean ‘this’? We’ve eaten together plenty of times, Duc.”
Which was true. There were plenty of nights at a club or lounge where they grabbed some food from the kitchen before it got late, sat and ate together. Especially at Jazzy Belles. But she knew what he meant and he wasn’t going to let her off the hook this time.
“Why haven’t you let me take you out before now? I had to piss you off to get a date?”
“Is this a date?” she comes back quickly. “You can’t just take your friend out to lunch?” Duc is persistent and ‘ups the anti’ replying, “You always kiss your friends?”
For a moment she is stuck. She doesn’t know how to smoothly talk around the comment, so instead she goes the abrupt route. “Duc, you are too young for me.”
