Hip Hop Night's

By Brian Salkowski

Episode 4: “Not Tonight”

[Cold Open]

Streets Incorporated

737 7th Avenue

The camera slowly does a fly over of a bustling mid-Manhattan. People scurrying off to their jobs and errands. Cars and cabs beeping along. The camera does a wide shot of “Streets Incorporated” angle favoring up 22 floors to the window of Jay Z’s office. It has been 2 days since his announcement of the company, his meeting with Foxy and his attempted meeting with Lamar. The TV on the wall suddenly turned to the local news that Jay could see in the corner of his eye. It wasn't necessarily the news that caught his eye but more the names at the bottom of the screen. A female reporter began her reading:

"NYC RAP STAR DMX KILLED IN TRAGIC SHOOTING IN BROOKLYN. FAITH EVANS WAS ALSO INJURED IN THE SAME INCIDENT. THE R&B STAR WAS MUM WHEN ASKED FOR A COMMENT. DETAILS STILL SKETCHY. DOCTORS SAY FAITH IS BEING TREATED FOR SHOCK. MORE DETAILS AT THE 6PM NEWS."

He shut the TV off. He did not want to hear another word. Of course, this must happen just as he is launching a new record label and an album that the world has been waiting for over 20 years. All these colliding moments got the best of him, and he picks up some garish nick knack and throws it against the wall, smashing it to pieces.

“Son of a bitch!” he said with such fury. He looks over to a picture of him and Beyonce and the baby. He barely cracked a smile. He has not been home for 3 days because of the company and all the bullshit that comes with it. He cannot go home now, not with this new information. Information he learned third party, the news no less.

Did I authorize that shooting at that dive bar? Or was it “Lock”? My soldiers CANNOT be doing rogue assignments.

His secretary buzzed.

“Mr. Carter. Can I get you anything before my lunch?”

“Yes. A bottle of Absolut and get my man Lock on the phone. I want him here at 3pm. Also call my wife and give her the “script”. I won’t be home until later tonight, morning possibly.” The script being a rehearsed set of bullshit that his assistant tells Beyoncé every single time he is legitimately working late or up to something nefarious. Speaking into that conference buzzer anyway still made him think he was in some sci-fi movie.

In a catty tone, “It looks like someone's going to be in the doghouse. 3 days at the office and still not even stopping in?” Cathy, his assistant for close to 10 years now, was always on the nosy side but she knew his routine and was the only assistant who got his food right. She was referring to Beyonce of course.

“Mind your business bitch and do what I tell you.” The buzzer shut off instantly. He sat back in his leather chair, pondering. He always makes the best decisions by himself, thinking. Contemplating. Pondering. He looks down at the upcoming press release party details among a host of headshots of the new artists. He turned the chair around and looked out at New York City.

The Carter Estate

West Wing

Caldwell, NJ

As Jay was pondering and looking out at the city that never sleeps, back at the Carter estate, there were two individuals that hadn’t slept for the past two nights. As “Not Tonight” by Lil Kim served as soundtrack from the stereo, Beyonce was moaning in absolute rapture as she was about to orgasm. Lamar was under her, and he was filled with sweat; his muscular chocolate chest that was shining in tattoos, soaked. He was smiling as she rode his dick all the way home. An ear-piercing scream was let out as Lamar pushed himself one last time into her. She leaned down over him, licking the sweat off his lips.

“You are so fucking fine. I never felt this good by a man. Ever.” She then started to get up from the bed and put her robe on. She looked back and saw a nude Lamar, sprawled out on the bed. It looks like a man who just came home from a construction gig, hardly the appearance of a man who has been having the best sex with the best woman this side of the Hudson, for the past 2 nights. He enjoyed laying there naked, putting his arms behind his head staring at his beauty queen.

“Your incredible. You know that.” She could see his sexy silhouette in the reflection of the mirror as she was checking her phone. It was an unread message from Kathy saying that Jay wouldn’t be home until tomorrow morning. This made her smirk in the reflection.

“Yes, I know I am incredible. And so are you.” She turned around and let her robe fall to the floor. This robe has been taken off so many times now, why even wear it she briefly thought. Lamar knew what her phone said. It said the same thing the past 2 mornings around this time. Jay was going to be a no show again.

Beyonce, like a cat, crawls onto the bed and on top of Lamar. She grabbed his cock feeling it harden.

“Girl you are insatiable. You want this dick again?”

“No. I DEMAND that dick. Fuck me. Fuck me good. Fuck me like you been.” Lamar didn’t need permission. Before he could reply, she was deep throating his 10-inch dick so good that he for a minute thought he was going to bust but she eased up a little. It was like she sensed it. He loved it. He thinks that he may be falling for her. Yes, the past 2 days have been nothing but fine wine, good food and even better sex. But he could not fall for this woman.

Forbidden.

Jay’s loss seems to be my gain. For now, at least. No one can know about this.

Midway into the blow job of a lifetime, he turned her around, got on top of her and once again slipped himself inside her. They continued their illicit affair as the hidden camera, placed perfectly on top of the door disguised as a clothing hook, continued to view, and record.

[OPENING CREDITS]

Melody 🎶 Restaurant

Brooklyn, NY

The camera swings down angle favoring all the reporters outside a closed Melody. Faith thought it was the right thing to do with the recent events. She was pacing back and forth and what used to look like the dining area but now was blocked off with yellow police tape. Massive amounts of shell casings littered the floor, each one indicated by those little yellow blocks the police use. She was smoking a cigarette feverishly. She quit smoking a couple years back but between Whitney, the plan and now Earl- she needed that oral fixation. She walks through her restaurant, making a tally on what needs to be fixed. She is suddenly startled by a tap on the door. It was Lil Kim. The reporters, acting like animals, almost knocked Kim over as she tried to navigate through the circus to the restaurant entrance.

“Can you let me in Faith!!!”

[Faith and Kim had their obvious public contention. That has been over now for the past couple of years. They are not best friends, but they are not acquaintances either.]

Faith let her in, and Kim immediately hugged her. She whispered in her ear her earthside sympathy.

“I was so worried about you when I heard. Oh, and poor X. I know how much you and him cared for each other.” Faith looked at her with tears in her eyes.

“Thank you, Kim. Yes, it's a tragedy. But all I can do now is go forward and hopefully salvage this restaurant. How is the album going?” Faith did not really want to know about the album. She was desperately fetching for something to say back to the woman that did sleep with her husband all those years ago.

“Surprisingly on schedule and to be honest not as hard as I first expected. Like me and you, foxy and I just put it all to bed. We had to, too much is at stake.” At that moment, a building inspector came into the restaurant requesting Faith’s time. She gave Kim a hug and thanked her for coming by. Faith went on with the inspector looking at what exactly can be done with the establishment. As Kim was about to exit Melody her cell phone began to ring.

“Hello” she replied.

“Kim its Mary. Let’s meet at my estate in 2 hours. Ok?”

“Of course, girl. See you soon.” Kim and Mary are still close, and Kim had been so busy, she hadn’t seen her best friend since she got arrested. Kim managed to get out and through the army of media. The camera pulls out favoring a conflicted looking Faith looking out the window.

A rainstorm began across the city.

The Blige Estate

Elizabeth, NJ

The rain picked up with a damp feeling attached as Mary looked out the window in her great room. Mary’s assistant let Kim in and brought her to the great room. Kim and Mary hugged each other tightly.

“I cannot believe this.” Kim said.

“Well believe it. It’s a show, and shit is the only thing on.” She replied in a “over it” attitude. Mary pulled out a rectangular wooden tray that was underneath the coffee table. Once placed on the table you saw a multitude of self-destructive materials including vodka and an 8 ball of cocaine.

“Anyone who knows you knows that this is all bullshit. The cops screwed up and they must be looking for a fall guy. You are going to get through this.” She looked to see Mary sniffing a huge line of coke.

“I am the last person to judge but do you think that's smart?”

“Kim, I didn’t kill her. You know that right? I thought it was Earl at first.” She says as she downs a shot of Vodka.

“Well, it wasn’t him. He was murdered last night.” Kim said with the assumption that she already knew. Mary looks up to Kim and cannot stomach the news. She quickly runs to the waste bucket and out came her breakfast, cocaine and vodka. Kim knelt next to her and like any college dorm mate, lifted her hair back just in case any of the vomit got on her new weave.

“I am so sorry. I thought you knew. God things really are a mess right now.”

After she wiped her mouth with a cleannex she suddenly developed a feeling of absolute determination. If it wasn’t X, it would be Faith. Mary got up off the ground and looked at her friend.

“Kim your right. All that stuff is not smart, and it will only impede my ability to get to the bottom of this. As a friend I ask you now to not only be my witness but my accomplice.” Mary said with fervor. Kim looked a bit confused.

“What do you mean by accomplice? I am your best friend I am willing to do whatever I have to help you, but I don't know exactly what you mean.”

“Justice is what I mean. Sometimes justice truly is only in the eye of the beholder. I am not going to let the current justice system that we have sort all this out. Things can get ugly which is why I am saying or pleading for you to be not just my friend but….” She was cut off by another hug.

“Mary, you know you don't even have to ask.”

Camera favoring the estate suddenly pulls out showing the rainstorm increasing in intensity.

Queens, NY

Estate of Nasir Jones

“So, then him and the pussy’s in suits show up and do their fucking intimidation tactics. It was all for show because me and Jay just ended up talking about what producers I had in mind for the album.” Bone said to Nas. He has been going on for a minute now about the meeting with Jay and if his choice had anything to do with the drugs they are pushing in and out of New York via West Philly. He passes a lit blunt back to him, cautiously waiting for his response. Nas went to Bone, grabbed him by the throat and pushed him against the wall.

“HE WAS TESTING YOU ASSHOLE!!!!” Nas was gripping his friend hard. He let him go and knocked a picture off the table next to him making it shatter. Bone collected himself, straightening his shirt. “Bone I'm not saying that this is “hole in FUCKING one evidence” that Jay is anticipating a move but it’s the timing of it. I just can't get it out of my head. He unleashes the new company; hires you knowing our situation and then has a clandestine meeting with you?” Nas asked as he took a long draw from the blunt. His head was spinning with possibilities. He also was thinking about that bomb ass head he received from Nicki.

“Nas I don’t want to stand here and say anything definitive. Maybe he was just feeling me out and really interested in what producers I had in mind.” Nas looked at him with a cocky eye roll.

“Fuck that. That man does nothing just out of “curiosity”. Everything he does is for a reason and that reason is always three to four steps ahead, but he keeps forgetting that I'm five to six steps ahead of him.”

“OK So what do we do?”

“As of right now nothing. My sources just told me before you came that Faith Evans restaurant was shot the fuck up killing DMX. I'm just being careful. It's a precarious time to be an artist in this genre in this city right now.”

The rain was pelting hard against his window as he looked out it, Bone looking behind him waiting for a command like a lost dog. Nas methodically thought out everything. He always correctly anticipated people's moves both in and out of the industry but when it came to Jay, there was no secret solution. No expectations. Nas felt like war was coming, he felt it in his heart. Sure, there is no evidence of this feeling of impending doom, but he knows his former rival. He is on a power high right now after taking over def jam. When he is riding high on ego, unpredictability only increases. That made him uneasy to say the very least. Bone sat down on the couch putting the blunt out. He sighed. Nas turned around.

“Go get out of here. I'll be in touch.” Nas commanded.

“You sure?”

“100”

With that, Bone left the house. Nas went over to his phone and picked up to dial a number he didn’t think he needed to call ever.

“Inga, its Nasir. You busy?”

The camera pulls out favoring the house of Escobar then panning to the skyscrapers of the great City of New York.

A plan was starting to materialize.

The Carter Estate

West Wing Bathing Area

An Olympic size swimming pool sets the scene as the camera favoring the West side division of the Carter estate. The camera zooms in through the rain, in a plate glass ceiling that reveals the pool, a sauna & a personal water park for the kids. A special intimate sauna was off to the corner, where one naked Beyoncé and Lamar are drinking champagne. She finishes a sip as he kisses her neck making her laugh. He disappears under the bubbles obviously servicing her. She scratches his back in absolute Ecstasy. The rain was sliding down the walls of the glass bathing division of the estate. It made the moment very cinematic.

“I can do this forever with you Lamar. “ she said In a sultry tone.

Her look suddenly became somewhat despondent, the close friend to guilt. Lamar picked up on this immediately, after all he has been picking up on everything over the past 3 days.

Lamar looks her in the eyes. He knows that this gift from a faraway land where he had no right to residency, was something he was willing to go all the way for. A chance like this doesn't happen everyday.

She looks back at him with the forbidden lust and, at this point, the cliff of love. She turns around emerging from the steam and water walking up the steps. Her black, naked Royal silhouette reflects off the top of the heated water leaving a confused and sprung Lamar looking on as the possibility of all possibilities started to put her robe on.

“Where are you going. Why don't you come back in here and I'll finish what I can't stop doing.” Lamar Saw her walk to a chair to sit down. He then emerged from the sauna, his erect penis still visible and not budging to minimize.

Beyonce sat at the chair with her enormous glamorous breasts, hanging and exposed like a special piece of art just imported from Dubai. She began to feel not guilt anymore but fear. Not an irrational fear of a controlling husband. A fear of an uncontrollable hubris, a complete departure from her current reality into a real life love story of her choice. Oh it was a incredible possibility.

Possibility.

“Lamar you are what I always wanted. And needed. For three days I felt like 3 years went by And I can see myself…” She looked down in obvious deep thought. Lamar smoothly walked over to her, kneeling down. His ripped body was slowly drying.

“What is it? For 3 days we lost ourselves in each other. That's nothing to be afraid of. You can say it.” His hopeful demeanor was then cut short by her getting up. Quite harshly.

“Look what I want to say… “ she begins to tremble like a woman who is almost out the cage.

Possibility

“Lamar… I …. Just can’t right now. Eddie, our estate visitors manager, will have you ready, clothed and transported to your location of choice. I'm sorry I just got to go.” As she began to get up he grabs her with passionate force kissing her.

“You listen to me. I will fucking drop everything for what we have.” She looked at him with heaviness. The weight of her life pressing down.

“It was great. It really was. I got to go.” She begins to cry and in diva form runs out of the bathing area.

[The stage has been set for a budding super couple, Lamar and Beyoncé. As “Not Tonight” played quietly in the background, the camera favoring a dejected yet determined Lamar pans back up through the pane glass window of the bathing quarters showing full frame the rain stopping and the sun coming up.]