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Chapter 12: The Album Cover
🕑 Added 2024-09-07 19:22:21 +0000 UTCIn fact, the picture Ethan finally received wasn't anything to get overly excited about.
The quality of the phone's camera was poor, and coupled with the dim lighting, Scarlett hadn't exactly taken a thrilling shot. She had simply captured an image of her collarbone.
But even so, Ethan found himself feeling a bit parched.
The crystal-clear water droplets slowly slid down her pale collarbone, as if they were about to slip into the valley below.
Ethan didn't even know how he eventually fell asleep, and he somewhat regretted locking the door.
However, when he walked out of his room the next morning, he felt that locking the door had been a wise decision.
The men and women were sprawled out all over the floor or on the couches, looking like they'd passed out from overindulging. Some were missing their clothes entirely, their bare behinds exposed to the cold breeze drifting through the living room.
Ethan smirked, feeling like he had stumbled upon a crime scene.
Fortunately, the only familiar face remaining was Dudley; Jimmy and Apollyon were likely still snoring away in their rooms. As for that girl, Katie, she had left early last night. She probably realized she couldn't get anywhere with Ethan and, unwilling to settle for someone else, simply gave up.
Tiptoeing past the slumbering group, Ethan pushed open the door and stepped out into the yard, where he was greeted by a sight: a "lingerie tree."
"Quite the party," he muttered, as he steered clear of the tree branches decorated with brightly colored undergarments, resembling some bizarre Christmas tree. While texting Jimmy, Ethan left Apollyon's villa.
By the time he got home, he received a call from Jimmy.
His voice was a bit groggy, probably from overexertion the night before, but he still sounded cheerful as they made plans to collect their wages from Apollyon in a few days.
After all, the payment for the Domino's ad had been sent directly to Apollyon's company.
After sending Jimmy back to sleep, Ethan's mother, Carmella, came through the door, carrying groceries from the supermarket.
"Ethan, guess who I saw?"
"Who? Carmella," Ethan replied, putting a kettle on the stove to boil water. Even after all this time, he still wasn't used to drinking cold water or straight from the tap.
Even his two younger brothers had adopted the habit of drinking hot water, thanks to his insistence.
He owed that habit to his late father, who had a similar practice, so it wasn't hard for the family to get on board.
But really, it was because Ethan knew that New York's underground water pipes contained a significant amount of lead, especially in poorer neighborhoods.
The old lead pipes, corroded over the years, would release large amounts of lead into the water. If his brothers, Louis and Regius, drank it directly, their brains might be affected.
That's why, wherever Ethan went, he carried his own water or just drank alcohol.
Living in New York taught you one thing: this wasn't a paradise for the poor; it was a garden of Eden for the rich.
Here, money bought health, money called the ambulance, money provided access to the best medical care.
Money bought fine food, allowing you to avoid the cheap, fattening creams.
For ordinary people, once they were brainwashed by consumerism and began overspending, they'd live trapped in a web of debt from which there was no escape.
Much like the person Carmella had just mentioned.
"Tom, Tom Brown."
Ethan frowned. "He's back? Out of prison?"
This Tom was once a neighbor of the Nortons, the same man who had nearly been driven mad by prison debt.
"I don't know. I only caught a glimpse from afar," Carmella said, not elaborating. Ethan didn't dwell on it either, figuring Tom might have returned to reminisce about his old home.
Of course, that house now belonged to someone else.
Just then, Ethan's phone rang. He picked it up, and a rough voice greeted him, "Hey, bro!"
"Hey, Raymond!" Ethan was immediately reminded of their conversation a few days ago. He knew this was his old buddy calling to talk about the album cover.
"Man, my manager just arrived in New York, and we're hanging out. Want to join us?"
"Where at?" Ethan figured it would be a good opportunity to meet with them, as it could open doors. Many directors had started their careers by shooting music videos.
Take Zack Snyder, for instance.
"At a pizza joint…" Raymond rattled off an address, and Ethan recognized it as being in a Black neighborhood, a place where white people generally didn't venture.
But with Raymond there, it shouldn't be a problem, and Ethan's appearance didn't scream "pure white," so he likely wouldn't face any hostility.
After telling Carmella where he was heading, Ethan grabbed his bike and pedaled off to the pizza place Raymond had mentioned.
Along the way, he passed several overweight white men on the streets or outside supermarkets, each looking like a small mountain. Two hundred pounds seemed to be the norm.
In stark contrast, the people in the Black neighborhood were lean and fit.
"Hey, over here!" Raymond's booming voice greeted him as soon as Ethan stepped through the door of the pizza place.
The Black patrons who had been eyeing him immediately relaxed and turned back to their meals.
Ethan walked over, fist-bumped Raymond, mimicking the gestures he had picked up from his Black friends.
Raymond, noticing that Ethan had mastered the entire routine, beamed with pride. He laughed and gave Ethan a hug. "That's it, bro! Now you're one of us, a true homie. Come on, let me introduce you."
As Ethan took his seat, he recognized most of the faces: Davis, Arcadi, and the two guys who usually trailed behind Raymond.
Except for the older Black man in the middle, who had a more mature look, with a shaved head and dressed in a suit, white shirt, and suspenders. He had a bit of an African vibe to him.
"This here's my manager, yesan," Raymond introduced him, clearing up Ethan's confusion.
"I've heard a lot about you from Raymond, how your filming skills are... *hard-hitting*," yesan said with a humorous yet straightforward tone, making him seem like a down-to-earth guy.
After a fist bump, Raymond introduced the others. "This is Lil B, and that's Big M."
"Hey, bro," greeted Lil B, sporting dreadlocks, while Big M had an afro.
After some quick small talk, they got down to business.
"Our album is completely recorded, and it's being pressed at the factory. But before we officially drop it, we're releasing a single to build some hype!" Raymond couldn't hide his excitement, as if he was already imagining a bright future ahead.
Yesan,however, took over, "So what we need now is a killer album cover! It's not like the old days when you could rely on DJs talking you up on the radio and sell hundreds of thousands of copies, shooting up the Billboard charts. People are sharp now, and with so many rappers in the game, we need something that grabs attention if we want to succeed."
Yesan's words revealed his underlying anxiety, clearly understanding the current state of the music industry. Ethan could sense his lack of confidence.
Looking at Raymond, it seemed he was aware of this too, which explained why he was putting so much stock into the album cover.
Ethan shrugged and said, "Leave it to me. I think I can come up with a cover that'll turn heads."
