Bertelsmann Music Group Studio No. 6
"Haha, 280,000 sales, y'all heard that? 280,000!" Lil Tjay screamed at the top of his lungs as he stood on top of the table and howled like a wolf.
Ajay, who was among the people looking at the sales, laughed happily as he clenched his fist and punched the air.
Bryce, Reggie E, and the others were equally overjoyed and immediately popped champagne one after another.
Ajay was immediately drenched in alcohol, but he did not care. He laughed to his heart's content and joined the others in celebrating.
Even the people in suits from BMG quietly left the room, letting them enjoy themselves.
Suddenly, Thrift Shop started playing within the studio, and the ruckus became louder.
An arm suddenly locked around his neck. It was Tjay.
"It's a hit, you son of a bitch. The song is a big hit."
"Ahhh."
Ajay was infected by Tjay's enthusiasm and joined in as everyone sang the song. No one cared about key, pitch, or note accuracy. It was just pure enjoyment.
"HEY!" Reggie suddenly yelled, his deep voice reverberating throughout the studio, catching everyone's attention.
Momentarily, everyone stopped dancing and looked at Reggie with a curious gaze, but the next moment, Reggie smiled with all 32 teeth and declared,
"I'm throwing a party, the guys from the block hit me up. Come over."
"Yeahhhh!"
Everyone immediately cheered, including Ajay, but unfortunately, he didn't know what he was getting into.
Ajay got down from the truck, still uncertain as to what to expect. But the very first sight he saw left him dumbfounded. There were people in the backyard carrying firearms openly as if it were nobody's business, and they were not even pistols or small firearms. They were motherfucking automatic rifles and SMGs.
They swung those things all over the place as they danced to the bass-heavy rap music.
He took a big gulp and immediately felt that he had made a big mistake, but right at that moment Lil Tjay came from behind and put his hand around his shoulder and pushed him forward.
"Don't just stand there. Move, n*gga."
In such a way, he somehow ended up at a barbecue party.
Throughout the party, he was on edge because he actually saw people snorting white lines and smoking leaf, and on top of all that, he also saw some tough-looking black men whom even Reggie paid respect to.
Ajay felt like a sheep between a pack of wolves.
In this life, he was a retard till 16, and his life actually began only at 16. Most of his value systems and opinions are still those of his old life, so he felt like an imposter, being something he is not.
He felt extremely uncomfortable when people started doing their own thing, be it reaching for a plate and food or socialising with other men; it was natural, but he was stuck there, scared for his life amidst so many guns and not knowing what to do.
In the end, he settled on sitting in a corner and eating some pork ribs.
Unfortunately, just because he wanted to be quiet doesn't mean no one would notice him.
A young black man with a light brown complexion and cornrows sat next to him, his jewellery making a clinking sound as he did so.
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"I ain't never seen you before. Who you with?" the man asked.
Ajay almost choked at the sudden appearance of the man. "Tjay," he said after catching his breath.
"Oh, for real?"
"Yeah," Ajay replied.
"Hmm, I don't see you enjoying much. Never been to a BBQ party?"
"Ah, this is my first one."
The man's eyebrows raised, and then he suddenly burst out laughing. "Chance, Chance!" he called out to another guy.
This time, a lean black guy with a wide face came over, a red cup in his hand.
"Hey bro, get this. This n*gga never been to a BBQ party. You believe this shit?"
Chance looked at Ajay with a shocked expression. "How could a N*gga not have been to a barbecue?"
Ajay felt embarrassed but told the truth. "I was raised by my mum. She's Indian."
The young man suddenly looked enlightened. "That makes sense. Your dad left after you were born, too?"
Ajay nodded.
In response, the guy patted his knee. "My mum raised me as well. I didn't have a father growing up," he replied, his tone softening.
Ajay continued eating, thinking the conversation was over, but the guy suddenly looked at him again and asked, "Hey bro, you're with Lil Tjay, right? Apparently, 'Thrift Shop' was written by someone else. Do you know who that is?"
"Pfff."
As soon as he heard the question, Ajay sprayed all the food he had eaten.
"N*gga chill. No one's gonna steal your shit," the young black man commented angrily and took a bite of the ribs.
"It's, it's me."
This time it was the man's turn to spray all the food.
"What did you say?"
Ajay responded once again, "I wrote Thrift Shop."
The black man's eyes widened, and the way he looked at Ajay completely changed.
If before he was simply treating Ajay like a normal hype man, now he was looking at him with respect and even some expectation.
"Damn, bro. You could have told me earlier."
"Anyway, my name's Dion James, but I go by James Diesel. I'm an up-and-coming singer. I already released my mixtape and am preparing to release my first album. Here, this is my agent's number. If you have a song, hit me up, will you?"
Ajay absentmindedly took the card and nodded, still surprised by how quickly the expression of the guy changed.
After that James guy left, Ajay thought that he would be left alone, but unfortunately, it seems that it was just not his day. Lil Tjay actually pulled him towards Reggie E and his group and introduced him to all of them one by one.
Ajay was screaming in his heart with fear as he dodged the people because he had just learned that they were actually real gang members, members of the Crips. He then understood why they all wore blue-accented clothes with a blue bandana tied to various parts of their bodies.
Fortunately, after interacting with them for a bit, he understood that they were not as scary as they were portrayed to be on social media in his last life.
However, what he didn't expect was that, because Lil Tjay revealed that he was the songwriter for Thrift Shop, many small artists like James Diesel actually came forward to exchange information with him, asking him to consider them if there was another song.
And not only them, but the girls began to swarm him.
He was consciously or unconsciously ignoring them since the time he entered the backyard. He was quite successful at it, as he still looked at everyone around him carrying guns with fear. But now, after calming down and getting used to it, he could no longer ignore the thinly clad women with big butts and boobs, especially not when two of them were sticking side by side.
His heart was beating like a runaway horse, and his face had turned bright red with embarrassment. In both his childhood and adult life, he had never really interacted with a girl his own age. He had grown up in a traditional family where contact with women was strictly limited until marriage, but now his arms were actually between two large soft mountains, sending an electric shock throughout his spine.
Unfortunately, things only became more unfavourable for him as, with the sunlight getting dimmer and the night getting deeper, the women around him got more brazen and started to dance right on his lap rhythmically to the music.
Some obscene things started to happen around him. He even saw Tjay pulling two girls into a room while Reggie had started right behind a bunch of bushes.
Damn it!
He could not hold back anymore and directly pulled the two seductresses with him into the empty room and shut the door.
Fuck marriage, fuck fiancé, fuck traditional. When in Rome, do as Romans do, and now I'm not Ajay Shetty, I'm Ajay Williamson, a biracial African Indian in America.
From now on, I'll do whatever the fuck I want.
He decided in his mind and jumped into the bed, his eyes gleaming with a brilliant lustre.
By the time he was dropped off at his apartment, it was already 11:00 the next day.
He had not eaten breakfast yet, but he didn't feel hungry. He felt extremely tired instead, so without even taking off his clothes, he collapsed into the bed.
Ajay didn't know how many hours had passed, but he was woken up by a loud banging at the door.
He was still feeling a little lightheaded from last night, so being woken up so abruptly made him extremely irritated, but after recognising the voice which belonged to Bryce, he quickly calmed down and opened the door.
Bryce was taken aback by the appearance of Ajay. He showed a knowing smile, but remembering the important matter, he became serious and directly informed the reason why he was here.
"Tjay asked you to come over to the studio."
"What's up?" Ajay asked, rubbing his eyes.
"The higher-ups in BMG want to make a music video for Thrift Shop."
"Tjay asked me to bring you so that you can tell your idea to those guys."
Ajay's eyes lit up, and he acted the very next moment.
He removed his shirt and pants, not caring if Bryce was right there. He hung on another set of casual clothes, directly dunked his head into the faucet filled with water, put a brush filled with toothpaste into his mouth, and directly set off with Bryce.