Free BLACK to Reality by Russell Blake Page B

and ahhing as they petted Mugsy, posing as their bandmates took pictures with their phones. Mugsy’s purrs resembled a Peterbilt revving, and Black realized that perhaps the truculent cat might be a godsend after all – he was taking all the heat off Black to do much besides pose with him.
    Two youths strode through the pocket doors, dressed in full-blown gang attire straight out of South Central, and swaggered to where Black stood.
    “Yo, Holly, baby. How you doin’, sweetness? What up?” the taller of the pair said, clutching the crotch of his baggy jeans like he was trying to hold his water.
    Another blinding smile from Holly. “Good, Lavon. Black, this is Lavon and SnM. They’re BrandX.”
    “Yo, punkass, welcome to da crib. Sorry we gonna stomp yo ass in the contest, you know?”
    Black shrugged. “No hard feelings. I’m sure I’ll get over it.”
    “What the hell’s that? Look like one a dem koalas or something,” SnM said, managing to leer at all four of the Koreans as well as Holly with one glance.
    “That’s Mugsy. He’s the Biggie of cats. Straight up,” Black announced.
    “Whoa. He do like to eat, don’t he?” Lavon commented, hesitantly petting Mugsy’s belly.
    “Never saw a Twinkie he didn’t love,” Black said, and the young men laughed.
    “Yo, what he weigh?” SnM asked, peering at Mugsy’s bloated countenance.
    “About the same as a bag of cement right about now, I’d guess,” Black joked, earning a titter from Holly. He turned to her. “Nice to meet everyone, but I need to get settled in and tend to Mugsy here. He gets grouchy if he doesn’t get a T-bone every hour, on the hour.”
    More laughs and pictures and squeals, and then Holly escorted him upstairs. The camera crew remained below, the equipment off now that they’d gotten their arrival shot. Black followed her, noting that she must have spent a lot of time in the gym as she moved up the wide marble steps ahead of him, and felt a stab of guilt. He hadn’t even been away from Sylvia for half a day and he was already checking out the talent – not to mention being surrounded by Korean hotties who seemed more than friendly.
    They arrived at the second floor, which resembled more a resort hotel than a home, and she pointed out the various doors. “There are eight bedrooms in the house, each with its own full bathroom. Four bands, so two rooms for each. We’ve got you staying with your drummer, Ed.”
    “That’ll work. Which room?”
    “This way. Second from the end,” Holly said, leading him down the elaborate corridor.
    “This is quite a place. Who owns it?”
    “Both houses are leased from the same guy. Some bigwig in the car business. Italian name. I wasn’t really paying attention when they were talking about it. I’m just on-camera eye candy.”
    “I’d say you’re more than that if you’re a host,” Black said. “But I have a question. You said Nina was one of the judges?”
    Holly slowed and turned to face him. “Didn’t you know? I just assumed someone had told you…”
    “No, it never came up. They left that out of the briefing.”
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ambush you or anything,” Holly assured him, and he believed her – and not just because she had the bluest eyes he’d ever seen.
    “No problem. I’m a big boy. It just took me by surprise.”
    “I’ll bet.” She spun and continued down the hall until she stopped at an open doorway. “This is it. Ed’s at the pool, so you have it to yourself for now. Lou will be right up with your stuff. We’re not going to be shooting anything more until Monday, so you’re cool. Peter and Christina will be here this afternoon, and you’re slotted time in one of the rehearsal rooms at five, but until then, you’re on your own. They explained the rules to you on the way here?”
    “Yeah. Community kitchen, no leaving the grounds, no girl or boyfriends. All the food and booze I can drink. And Sarah said something about