Week Four

Old Joe had been tempted, but he'd lived long enough to have some self-control. In the end, he hadn't been as shameless as Song Ya and climbed aboard Daniel's ship right then and there.

But Daniel didn't have to wait long.

On Sunday morning, Old Joe visited a well-known Hollywood PR firm. Their quote was far beyond what he'd expected, so they failed to reach an agreement.

That afternoon, Pablo also arrived in Los Angeles. Along with a Warner Records negotiator, he formally laid things on the table with Old Joe.

That move thoroughly enraged Old Joe.

What's more, the negotiator was only a mid-level producer at Warner Records, and he'd been rather arrogant. By contrast, Old Joe had made up his mind that very evening. He contacted Daniel himself and agreed to work with SBK Records.

Old Joe revised the promotional schedule for the fourth week and sent Little Lowry and the others away. He stayed in Chicago to focus on negotiations with SBK Records. It would probably take another week to nail down the contract details.

When Pablo learned that he'd given them a "godsend," he nearly went mad. Like a headless fly, he began trying to turn things around with various "underhanded tactics": contacting the Hell Bobcat big shots again to ask them to intervene, using shady tricks to "warn" the SBK Records staff who'd come to Chicago to negotiate, and refusing to give up hope with Warner Records. But aside from giving the SBK staff a bit of a scare, all his efforts failed. The big shots were focused on their mob business and didn't have that kind of time to spare. Warner, after learning that SBK had snatched the deal from under their noses, also kept its composure. After all, SBK belonged to EMI, and this kind of competition was all too common in the record industry.

Luckily, he had no idea what role Song Ya had played in all this. At that point, Song Ya was returning from Los Angeles with a ten-thousand-dollar check in his pocket and at least a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in guaranteed projected earnings from the bet.

At school, he had plenty of things of his own to take care of.

After BMI received protests from civil rights organizations and an "inquiry" from Congressman Underwood, it sped things up just as Daniel had predicted. Song Ya's membership was approved soon afterward.

But by then, simply mailing him a membership certificate wouldn't be enough.

The principal's office.

A Black female aide from Congressman Underwood's office came by. She needed to discuss with Song Ya the details of Friday night's "ceremony."

"BMI's people are definitely coming, right?"

The aide was extremely thorough, confirming each item in turn. "So first, the principal gives a speech, then BMI presents Mr. Song with..."

"Just call me Ya Li or APLUS."

"Understood. After APLUS accepts the membership award from BMI, there's also..."

"And one small award. My manager..." Song Ya now blamed everything on Hayden. If BMI came after him later, he'd throw Hayden under the bus too. It was all a misunderstanding—don't come after me. "He arranged it through some PR work. It'll probably come after BMI. The person presenting it, uh... will actually be my manager, because nobody knows him, so..."

"So your manager will pretend to represent the award-giving organization?" The aide had caught the key point in Song Ya's hesitant explanation.

"Yeah, yeah."

"That shouldn't be a problem. Next, APLUS, you'll give some remarks. Have you written your speech?"

"Uh, not yet."

"How about an outline?"

"Here, I brought it." Song Ya handed her the speech draft.

"Hmm..." The aide carefully reviewed the draft, going through it point by point. "Thanks to BMI... thanks to the magazine presenting the award... thanks to my music teacher... thanks to my math teacher... thanks to the principal... thanks to... thanks to... These are all fine, but you need to move the part thanking the congressman to the emotional climax of the speech. That way..." She used a mark to switch the order, moving the thanks to Congressman Underwood to the spot she wanted. "You must let me review that section once you've written it, and I must review the whole speech when it's finished."

Song Ya looked at the principal, who smiled and nodded. "No problem," he said. "Uh... why don't you give me a sample thank-you to the congressman? I can just copy it."

The aide pulled a sheet of paper from her bag and handed it over. "The congressman's office will deny having provided this."

"So there really is one..." Song Ya muttered to himself. "I understand, I understand." He took the paper and put it away.

"The congressman will speak last, then stay at your school for thirty to forty-five minutes. The whole visit will be filmed, and some media reporters will be following him. Please make sure everyone cooperates," the aide told the principal.

"I understand, I understand." The principal continued nodding.

"Good. Let's confirm the schedule. After the congressman's speech, he'll shake hands with you first. Your school staff should line up, and the camera will come in from the side like this..."

According to the principal, Illinois Congressman Underwood was preparing to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. As a white man, he was weak with Black voters, and the "BMI discrimination incident" Song Ya had stirred up was an excellent opportunity for him to get some publicity.

Song Ya felt that the principal and the congressman must have some kind of private arrangement, but it wasn't something he could know about.

The congressman's ambitions kept Song Ya very busy that week, so he had to leave Allie on the sidelines for a while.

But Allie was hardly idle. Not only did she brag to her classmates about being taken by Song Ya to record a song in the studio (which hadn't actually happened), she also talked indiscreetly with her best friend about the details of what the two of them had done...

Points off, more points off! When the rumors reached Song Ya, he was extremely unhappy. But he didn't have the time to deal with it yet. After all, having a real girlfriend saved him a lot of trouble at school.

As he kept busy, preparations gradually wound down, and Friday drew near.

That was when Eric showed up at his house.

"The boss wants to send you to talk things over with Pablo, to make peace," Eric relayed Old Joe's message. "The deal with SBK is settled. Pablo stirring up trouble like this isn't good for anyone."

"Why me?" Song Ya didn't want to get involved.

"The boss says you're good with words. Besides, isn't Tony with Little Lowry?" Eric said. "How about I have him explain everything to you on the phone?"

"No, forget it. I'll go talk to Pablo, but I can't promise it'll work!"

Song Ya had no choice but to call Pablo's cell phone.

He'd meant to call Tony first, but the last time they'd spoken, Tony had kept the whereabouts of Little Lowry and Pablo secret out of loyalty. Song Ya decided to let him keep his word and avoid putting him in a difficult position.

Pablo answered quickly.

"Mr. Pablo, I'd like to come talk to you. Is now a good time?" Song Ya asked after a brief exchange of greetings.

"Old Joe sent you to see me?" Pablo asked.

"Yes. The boss said he wants to make peace."

"Fine, then let's make peace."

"?" Song Ya was taken aback. "Uh... did you just agree?"

"I lost. I lost completely."

Pablo's tone was calm. "At the edge of the cliff, the victor extends a merciful hand. You either accept it or fall into the abyss."