Chapter 7: Chapter 7

: A Million Dollars

Chris couldn't contain the excitement he felt streaming through him and expressing itself through a smile that spread from ear to ear as they left the music hall.

They walked toward the bus stops till in disbelief of what had occurred, "Mr. Robin Ryder, dang,” Chris muttered for the hundredth time as they boarded the half empty, evening bus finding two empty spots.

"Wait!" Someone called out just as the bus started, the doors opening again as another passenger boarded, a girl with blond hair but her face was not seen as she wore a black hoodie with a black heavy bag draped over her right shoulder ,

“you know Justin, I don't think I'll be able to sleep today," Chris begun while Justin was staring suspiciously at the girl. She looked familiar to him.

"Justin!" Chris exclaimed, snapping his fingers in front of his focused face, " if you like her then just go talk to her, no need to drool all over me," he concluded dusting his shoulder off.

Justin rolled his eyes, grinning, pushing Chris by his shoulder playfully.

"I'll be right back," he announced, standing up.

"Go get 'em Tiger," Chris rallied causing Justin to throw him a silly look, as he walked toward the girl.

She had sat at the very back with her head leaning against the window pain, like she was staring at the town pass them by in a blurry mess of watching the sun set in the distance.

He sat next to her and he noticed the heavy bag that lay on her lap.

"They're all gone," she whispered lowly in a soft voice.

"Excuse me, what?" Justin asked wondering what she was talking about.

She turned her head towards him and her sad blue eyes met his,

"Clair? What are you doing here? How did you find me?" Justin asked a look of shall spreading through him? He hadn't seen Clair in six months though he prayed every night that she was okay.

She let out a small amused laugh which didn't hide the fact that something was bothering her at all, her sad eyes was all he needed to see past her glowing face.

"Did you really think I'd let you just leave? I followed you, even saw the police arrest you. I was ninety nine percent sure you was going to jail,” She explained faking a smile, "imagine my surprise at your luck when they took you to an orphanage," she finished.

Justin breathed out, shaking his head. Only Clair could do such, “What are doing here then? So far away from The Wolves territory?" he asked his confused expression returning as he whispered the last part.

“You haven't heard?"

Justin shook his head, gathering his confusion.

"It was all over the news, I'm shocked you haven't heard it," Clair began biting her lip slowly, the sadness in her tone was evident," The Wolves hideout, was raided by the police two days ago. Royce had sent me to buy something at the store, we were going to switch hideaways that very day, you know..after the..." she trailer of looking at Justin as she gulped slowly, "well, after that, the Big Boss was taking us higher up, but fate had it's own plan for us," she said sniffing.

“When I came back I found the police all over the place, they took your brother and charged him for all manner of things, you know your brother," she said looking up at him.

She paused gauging his surprised reaction. Justin sad there expressionless. Was he upset his brother was going to Jail? No not one bit, not after what he did to him. He tightened his fist shifting in the chair as he looked up far ahead avoiding Clair's gaze.

Clair cleared her throat, "Any way, that's not what I came here for, I came to give you this,” she said handing the bag over to him.

Justin took the bag slowly, uncertain of what it may have contained but strangely still curious, it was very heavy and boxy. Whatever was inside had been packed to the brim?

He glanced at her hesitantly for a second before he finally decided to open it, his fingers fidgeting with the Zip as he pulled it down. His jaw dropped. It was full of money,

A Lot of money. He immediately shut the bag closed, a deep sweat forming over his brown his face morphing into shock,

“H-how m-much is this?" He stuttered in a low whisper,

"2 million," she replied,

"Two million do-!!" Justin shouted, cutting himself short as Chris and some others turned to look back at them.

He quickly bent over and looked up at her from behind the chair, "two million dollars?" He whispered, “are you crazy?" He asked looking at the money one more time for a second.

Clair didn't reply.

"I-I, I can't take this," he finally decided handing over the bag back to her,

“Don’t be blind Justin, you know you need this money," Clair retorted.

"Actually I d-don't, I have all I need already. Plus, I'm trying to bury my past and I'm a hundred percent sure this money was stolen," he said pointing at the bag, "I don't want to be part of that, besides you probably need it more than I do," he replied.

"I have more than enough so just take it," she argued, pushing the bag to him,

"No I don't want it," he retorted pushing it back to her, “how much could you possibly have? You need this money,”

"8" Clair replied.

Justin laughed, “You got eight thousand dollars and you think that will sustain you? Clair, just get the millions,"

"No I meant eight million dollars," Clair corrected. Justin's eyes almost came out of his sockets,

"8 mil...!" He shouted, then noticed people were staring at him.

He pushed his head lower, "Ten million dollars?" Where the hell did you get cash like that?"

“We sold the documents to our client on the black market, the one gave the order. The total amount to thirty million, but Chad gave me this money to take care of myself, and invest in while he was in prison."

“And how about the rest?"

Clair smiled, " You're trying to burry your past, that's all you need to know."

"Any way, I still won't accept this money," Justin concluded, getting up. But before he could leave- Clair tugged his hand causing him to turn coming face to face with her tears as tried to cover her puffed up face.

Her face was red and her nose snuffed up. She bent over and buried her head in her hands and begun to cry silently.

Justin was shocked, firstly on the sudden mood change and secondly because he had never once seen Clair cry.

She was the toughest girl Justin knew. He sat next to her and rubbed her back,

" look I know you'll make i away from all of this," he said, " If you like, I can talk to Miss Janice to see if there are any other orphanages for you, I'm sure she'd find one, you can create another home just like I did, with a more stable family,"

Clair sat up and looked him straight in the eye, she had stopped crying but her eyes were still red, “maybe I don't want another home, maybe I don't want another family," she mumbled, flung her arms around him. Justin was taken by surprised but embraced her all the same, stroking her blond hair.

“Royce is dead," she whispered in his ears.

"What?! Your brother? What happened?"

“When the cops raided the hideout, a cop found Royce putting the guns away, he was terrified and he shot my brother dead," she cried in his ear for a moment laying her soft head on his shoulder.

Justin cradled her in his arms for a moment. Then suddenly she let go of him,

"I'm going to kill him," she informed.

"Who?" Justin asked as she stood up, throwing the bag over her back,

“The cop who murdered my brother," she said walking away.

Justin got scared as he heard those words, he had never seen Clair sound so cold before,

"Clair!" He called after her, she paused and turning her head slightly, " take care of yourself Justin, you're the only one I have left, " she whispered and proceeded out of the bus as it came to a complete stop.

“I still think we should talk about this!" He called out to her but she was already off the bus. Justin stood up looking bewildered.

He watched as the bus began to move again and the retreating figure of Clair was lost around the corner.

He headed back to Chris. “What was that all about?" Chris asked,” I’ll tell you later, now isn't the place." Justin replied still in deep thought.

**

That night Justin and Chris lay in bed staring up at the ceiling.

Justin had just finished telling Chris what had happened with Clair. How their secret hide away had been raided by the police and the money she had offered him.

He knew he could trust Chris with these things.

"So your saying is, this chick gave you two million dollars and you refused?" He asked sitting up in bed.

“You don't get it man, it was probably dirty money,"

Chris paused in bed thinking it over before lying back down, "yeah, you probably did the right thing."

“I know, but I can't help but worry about her, you know like where she is now? Who she is with, is she hungry, alone? Cold? Clair always had my back, now when she needs me most I'm nowhere near her," he mumbled turning over in bed,

“You tried to help her but she didn't listen, that's not your fault," Chris eased.

Justin sighed deeply shutting his eyes," I know but still I can't help but worry, she told me I was the only one she had left," he replied.

“Man, you sound like you really like this girl!" Chris said laughing.

Justin scowled in the darkness,

“I do, but not like that. Clair is like the sister I never had."

"Yeah okay, if you say so," Chris replied hardly convinced, “this day was going so well," he continued, " you know what?

Just think of happy thoughts and go to sleep, tomorrow is a big day for you after all," Chris finished.

"Yeah because we're going to..." Justin trailed off and they shouted together, "Capital Records baby!" They both laughed.

“Goodnight bro," Justin whispered,

“Goodnight man," Chris replied.

**********

Chris woke up early the next morning quite excited. He shook Justin awake and then drew the curtains apart and let the morning light in.

"What, why?" Justin groaned as he sat up in bed and tried to shield his eyes from the light. He was not a morning person and Chris new that.

"C'mon bro! Today's the day!" Chris replied excitedly, giving him a little shove.

"Are you crazy? It's five am in the morning. Do you want us to be the first ones to arrive at Capital Records even before they open it?" He asked checking his watch, grunting, then laying back down in bed, covering the blankets over his head.

“You know what?"

"What?" Justin replied in a muffled voice from under the covers.

"You were right before, I probably got a lot dumber because you certainly haven't got any smarter," he said stripping the covers off of Justin.

"What the heck?!" Justin yelled trying to pull the covers back but Chris stood his ground.

“Well, genius, we got chores to do," Chris explained mockingly, "and it's our turn to wash the bus, so if we want to arrive at Capital Records by 11 am, we got to start now,"

Justin rolled his eyes, grumbling in frustration before sitting up. He was shirtless and his six pack stood out in the morning light.

"You’ve been working out," Chris wiggled his eyebrows playfully, handing him his towel,

“Whatever, Mr. know it all," Justin muttered, grabbing his towel and tooth brush.

He hated no, loathed waking up early, so he was very grumpy.

He stood up and headed out the door,

“I don't mean to brag, but I do know a lot," Chris replied knowing he had won this round.

They headed towards the showers and took a bath. After that, they did their house chores. By the time they were done the whole orphanage was awake and the breakfast bell rang.

They ate their breakfast and went out to clean the bus. An hour later Justin and Chris had finished and they headed up the stairs toward the bedroom dirty, sweaty and muddy,

"I guess we should have showered after we did the chores," Chris realized,

Justin sneered, "and you called yourself a know it all."

They both headed toward the showers again. As Justin was showering, Chris called over from the neighboring shower.

“It’s already 11:30, I don't think you'll have time to practice, how about you practice here."

"What? Where?" Justin called back,

"Here!" Chris replied.

"Forget it man!" Justin retorted.

"C'mon, you have to practice man!" Chris called back,

"No matter what, I will not sing in the shower!" He cried back.

"Why?" Chris shouted over,

Justin shook his head in annoyance, "okay, what's this man? Piss Justin off day?" He asked.

Chris laughed, "Nah, I just like seeing you worked up, coz you look so cute," he called back, laughing again.

Justin didn't have the right words for his friend’s behavior,

"And that little vein in your forehead pops up," Chris added

“No it doesn't!" Justin replied glancing into the mirror and sure enough he saw the little vein.

"Your silence means you checked out to see if I was telling the truth, and you're still quiet. So it means you've seen it," Chris called over the running showers.

Justin burst out laughing when he saw he's friend knew him so well, “yeah you got me!" He replied.

"Yeah that's more like it, you need to laugh Justin, and today’s your big day."

Justin smiled to himself, he was lucky to have a friend like Chris, Chris knew him so well in just a few months that he knew just the right buttons to press to change Justin from a grumpy mood to a happy one.

**

By twelve thirty they were in the bus on their way to Capital Records Chicago, on the other side of town.

When the bus finally stopped they climbed out and walked along the busy streets. Justin had never been to this side of town before. Maybe once when he was younger, but he couldn't quite remember.

There was a lot of traffic and buildings that towered over them in magical splendor. "Here it is, Capital Records in all its Magnificence!" Chris introduced as they stopped in front of a large tall building.

It had security at the door and seemed to be made of pure glass. They crossed the street and headed into the building.

Inside it was very large. There was a pretty secretary sitting at a glass table typing away on a Mac.

Chris walked to her and Justin followed taking in the sight.

"Welcome to Capital Records, how may I be of assistance?" The woman asked, she looked much younger now that they had gotten closer.

Justin leaned in offering her a quaint smile, handing her the card Mr Ryder had given to them.

She stopped for a second and looked at Justin. Her eyes skimming over him notably, her whole aura changed as if she had just decided he was hot and became very nice to them. She flipped the card over and said in a very sexy smoothing and alluring tone,

"Ah, Mr. Ryder's VIP card, you must be very special," she came out from behind her desk and motioned to a guard who was also smartly dressed in a smart sharp black suit, just like how Mr Ryder's body guards had been.

He nodded to her and looked away. "Follow me," she said leading the way. Chris and Justin looked at each other, then followed her.

She wore a short tight black skirt with a brown top and a black scarf around her neck.

Her hair was tied up in a neat ponytail, she wore six inch brownish gold heels and gold studs making her look very attractive.

The boys were more than happy to follow her. She got in the elevator and they followed right behind her like lost puppies.

"Going up to third floor," she said to no one in particular.

Then a computerized voice repeated "command accepted, third floor," and the elevator closed up.

They went up until the elevator opened again and they got out.

They walked down the hall way, passing by different rooms till they found themselves standing in front of a medium office, nothing fancy, but cozy.

The room was glass but not see through, meaning it had a lot of privacy.

The secretary walked in, "Sir I brought these two boys in," she said handing over the card to a gentleman who was sitting in the chair of his office. He got the card scanning it over, his eyebrows arching, then widening before he turned and smiled at the boys,

"I.... trust Lucy took good care of you," he asked switching from between them.

Lucy smiled and the boys nodded in approval,

"Thank you Lucy," the man said and she nodded taking one last look at the boys before she left them. "Welcome boys to Capital Records Chicago," he introduced getting up from his seat, "I'm George," he continued, giving them a hand shake, there was something strange about this fellow, Justin thought "and you are?"

"Oh, I'm Justin and this is my Best friend Chris," Justin introduced.

George walked around them making Chris feel like they were being examined, "Mr Ryder told me to expect two boys, who I should treat with care." He eyed Justin, then he smiled, "I think you're the singer, you definitely suit the description and you are no doubt attractive," he studied Justin, biting his lip.

"Mmm, indeed yummy!" George concluded

Justin blushed,

"Very well, let's see if your talent can be compared to your appearance, ta-ta" he said heading out of his office.

The boys guessed that maybe 'ta-ta' to the man, meant "follow me'.

They walked close behind him and couldn't help but noticing that George had some what a girlish behavior as well as his accent.

They entered into a studio.

“Mr Ryder will be here in thirty minutes, he said he wanted to be there during your first recording. So meanwhile this is Beatz, your new producer slash whatever," he said showing them a handsome dark skinned dude with a smooth cut beard.

He wore a headstock and put on a black jacket. He had a tattoo of a small ship on his wrist but all in all, he looked friendly, he gave them both a fist bump.

"Okay, so I'm going to leave you boys to it and Beats will explain the rest," George said leaving, closing the door behind him.

"Okay guys, I think you guys already know me, but I don't know you," Beats began turning round to face the boys with a friendly grin.

"Well I'm Justin and this is Chris," Justin reintroduced.

"Nice to know you guys, so my Job here is too.... Come closer I don't bite," the boys chuckled and stood next to Beatz.

"Okay, that's better, like I was saying, my job is to make the beats for your song and produce them at a Capitol standard, but before I can begin to do that, you'll first have to perform a song that has already been done, you know," he said looking up at them, "you can pick any song and I'll give you the beat," he continued.

"So like a cover?" Chris asked,

"precisely, then you get behind this glass and put those headsets on," he said pointing to the glass, "it will allow you to hear the beat playing and you can sing into the microphone where I'll be recording from here. There will be a camera guy also video recording you, when that's over the video will be posted on our YouTube channel. If you get a lot of views you will already have a fan base thus making it easier for your song to sell, when you actually start releasing your own music."

He finished.

"OK that sounds easy enough," Justin replied,

"Yeah it is, but most artist get nervous when they see Mr Ryder watching them because he decides your fate. So just relax and take it easy," he advised.

"How many views is he supposed to get in order to qualify?" Chris asked.

"In the least, one million," Beats replied.

There was a long pause,

"A million views?!" Chris blurted out.

"Yeah, we have 18 million followers, one million should be enough,"

"But-"

"Chris, there's really nothing we can do to change it," Justin reasoned.

There was no point in complaining really.

"Listen to that dude," Beats backed up.

Chris folded his arms, "sure, go ahead,"

"So is there any particular song you'd like to sing for Mr Ryder?” Beats asked.