“Good point, but I think everything working together is what did it.”
Tameka sighed, and there was a long pause on the line. “You made it, sis. You did,” Tameka said in a slow, motherly tone.
I paused as well, thinking of my mother. She wasn’t supportive of me singing rhythm and blues. She was a church-going woman who didn’t like to hear her daughter sing secular music about parts of life that were unholy, namely sex out of wedlock. When I say I grew up in the church, I mean, I was in there.
Monday, we had adult bible study. Tuesday, we attended the children’s bible study. Wednesday, there was more adult bible study. Thursday, there was choir practice. Friday, I had to stay home to practice choir songs. Saturday, we had choir practice. All-day long Sunday, I was in church for morning service, afternoon service, visiting church service, and maybe even dinner. I was just tired of church. I had participated in enough of it to last a lifetime.
I was as spiritual as any Bible-loving Christian, but after I got old enough to tell mama that I wasn’t going to church, I did it happily. I decided to live a life outside of the church, which meant I only visited three times a year—Christmas, Mother’s Day, and Easter.
I made a vow to never make my child give their entire life to something they couldn’t fully understand until they got older. Life has many phases that don’t involve the church. And, well, my current phase had everything to do with cleansing my soul of people who hurt me in the past so that I could fulfill my lingering desire for love, romance, and spending my life with all-around good people that weren’t sanctimonious. My musical journey, so to speak, was an exploration of finding me. I didn’t tell that to anyone, but I shared my feelings with my music.
“This is no mistake, Alise. You earned it,” Tameka said, bringing my thoughts back to our conversation. It was so good to have friends like Jayne, Tameka, and Kemara. Moments like this made me truly embraced what I had accomplished.
I refreshed the bestsellers page, and I was still sitting at number one. It had been that way for about an hour, so it was reality.
“I hit number one,” I said slowly, finally taking the time to speak it into the universe.
I quickly took screenshots of the bestseller’s pages on iTunes and Amazon and pulled up Instagram.
“I’m about to make a post on Instagram about it,” I said.
Tameka squealed. “Hold on. Before you do that, let’s call the rest of the girls and let them know about it. I’ll add Kemara, and you add Jayne,” she instructed.
I saved the pictures to my photos. If, by chance, my rankings slipped by the time I clicked back on the page, I would forever have this memory. I dialed Jayne in, and she was already talking smack when she answered.
“Girl, what’s up? Wait, don’t tell me you slipped from number two and went to number three because I’d hate to have to ride over to the Apple headquarters and threaten them at knife-point to get your shit back up in rank, but you know I will do it. I’ll take that one for the team,” she said, all on one long breath.
“Calm down, Jayne.” I laughed. “I’m about to add Tameka to the call.” I clicked the line over to join our call with Tameka and Kemara’s without giving Jayne a chance to respond.
“Oh, it must be a real problem if you’re assembling the team. We must be getting ready to ride down there to Apple,” Jayne was saying when I returned back to the line with Tameka and Kemara in tow.
“Tameka just told me you hit number one!” Kemara squealed, breaking the news to the group before I could.
“Number one? The hell, Alise! You hit number one?” Jayne yelled. “Had me over here ready to go to war with Apple execs when you’re sitting at number one. Welp, change of plans. It’s time to hit the strip club. Hold on, who comes through the Sugar Hill on Monday nights? I think Big Dick Marcus will be there tonight, so you know it’s on and popping,” Jayne conspired with herself as she concocted a wild plan to celebrate.
“Uh—” Kemara said and then stopped.
With Kemara being a newlywed and Tameka’s wedding less than a month away, they would most likely not be down for a stroll through Sugar Hill tonight. Truthfully, neither was I.
“Yes, I hit number one, Jayne, and no, we’re not going to a strip club. You’re thinking too deep and too much about this.” I laughed.
“How about we go out for lunch?” Tameka said, more sensibly.
“Now, that sounds like something I can do,” Kemara said.
“Y’all are so lame, but whatever. See you girls later. Be ready for the tea,” Jayne said. “Just text me the details.” With that, she hung up.
Tameka, Kemara, and I made plans to meet up later, and I texted the details to Jayne, to which she responded with a ‘resting bitch face’ emoji. I shook my head and got up from the chair I was sitting in and decided to call my promotions firm and thank the lead, Monica, for her hard work. Before I could dial, Monica was calling me.
“Hello.”
“Have you checked iTunes and Amazon Music today?” she asked.
I squealed. “Yes, I have.”
“Well, how are you feeling?”