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Theo’s gaze was drawn toward the club entrance.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” said Theo. “Amongus Sicario is back.”
“Who?”
“Amongus. Rhymes with ‘fungus.’”
“Who’s that?”
Theo told him as the rapper approached from across the room. He stopped at the table and, at Theo’s invitation, he pulled up a chair.
“Where’s Imani?” asked Amongus.
“She’s not here.”
“She said the three of us was meeting here.”
“News to me,” said Theo.
“There she is,” he said, pointing with a jerk of his head toward the entrance. A blonde woman entered in the company of two very muscular men and went straight to Theo’s table.
“Don’t mind the wig,” she said. “Sometimes it’s easier to be someone else when I go out in public.”
It seemed odd that she’d planned a meeting with Amongus without telling him. “The wig ain’t what’s got me confused,” he said.
“Sorry I didn’t loop you in, but until I walked through the doors, I wasn’t sure this meeting was going to happen. I wasn’t looking forward to more badgering about going pirate.”
Her words caught Cy’s attention. “Are you the singer in this article?” asked Cy, pointing to theTimes.
Theo introduced him to Imani and Amongus, hoping to change the subject, but it didn’t deter Cy. “That’syou, telling everyone to ‘go pirate’?”
“That’s me,” said Imani.
Cy shook his head with disapproval. “You’re playing with fire, telling your fans to ‘go pirate.’ Piracy almost killed our business. You need to stop this shit.”
Amongus seemed happy to have a new friend. “She knows all that. That’s why I asked her to come back to MAP and fight piracy.”
“MAP’s a good organization,” said Cy.
Theo made a face at his uncle. “What do you know about MAP?”
“I know enough to fight my enemies, not join ’em.”
“Amen to that,” said Amongus. “Traffic on piracy websites is up twenty-five percent since Imani started saying ‘go pirate.’ The message is going viral now. We’re getting close to the point where nothing can stop it.”
“All Shaky has to do is tear up the contract, and I’ll stop,” said Imani.
“He paid three hundred million dollars for your masters. He can’t just tear up the contract.”
“I’m not backing down,” said Imani. “You called and said you wanted to meet. I came. But unless you have something to say besides ‘give up,’ I’m leaving.”
“There’s a local chapter of MAP in London. Lots of musicians like me. Our fans don’t need much encouragement to steal. So when you and a hundred other big names say ‘go pirate’ and hit Shaky Nichols and all the other music executives where it hurts, our fans are all-in. We’re getting killed.”
“I’m sorry about that,” said Imani. “I never said anyone should stealyourmusic.”
“Saying ‘I’m sorry’ isn’t fucking good enough.”
“Then what do you want from me?”
