“I had a great time tonight,” I told Elliott through the car window after Ray dropped him off at his house. I tried to get out of the car, but Ray locked me inside to keep me from hugging Elliott.

“I did too,” Elliott said, shifting around on the sidewalk with his hands stuffed in his pants. “Th-thanks, Ray, for driving us.”

“Elliott, no need to be so informal—go ahead and call me Mr. Gable,” Ray joked, making me roll my eyes. “Say good night, Snow White.”

“Night, Eli. I’ll see you at school on Monday.”

“Night, Jazz.”

As Ray pulled away from the curb, he smiled over at me. “He’s a good kid. I hate him because he likes you, but he’s a good kid.”

I nodded. “He asked me to perform with him when he does his Saturday shows on Frenchmen Street.”

“Pop music or soul?”

“Soul.”

“Well, shit, Snow White.” Ray pinched the bridge of his nose. “Now we’re gonna have to keep lying to your mom and setting up meetings for her to go to.”

My smile spread wide. “You’d do that for me?”

“Does soul music make you happy?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s your duty to share that happiness with the world.”

“Mama might be really mad at you if she finds out the truth.”

He huffed. “Yeah, well, when isn’t your mother mad at me nowadays? Besides, I think once she sees how good you are and how happy it makes you, she’ll be happy too.”

Ray picked Elliott and me up each Saturday, and he always stayed to watch our performances. He recorded every single one, too. I’d never seen him look excited when I sang pop songs, but when it came to the soul music, he always praised me. He didn’t know how much it meant to me, him showing up to watch me perform.

It was as if he was looking at me and saying I was good enough, no matter what.

“I’ve never seen you like this before, ya know.” Ray nudged me one night as we were driving home.

“Like what?”

“Happy.”

Ray and I made sure to make it home each night in time for dinner with Mama. She’d tell me how she was making connections with the most important players in the industry, going on and on about how I’d be discovered in no time, all thanks to her hard work.

“This could’ve happened sooner if you weren’t so selfish with your contacts, Ray. Luckily, I found my own.”

“My apologies,” Ray replied, and he gave me a smile. “Snow White has been amazing in the studio. I think you’d be proud of her.”

Mama scrolled through her emails on her cell phone. “Yes, well, I’ll hear soon enough.”

“I actually have some video of her,” he replied, taking out his cell phone.

“I don’t need to see it,” Mama said, cutting into her chicken. “I was there.”

“What?” I asked.

She stabbed the meat with her fork and placed it in her mouth. “I said I saw it. I had a feeling you two were lying, so I followed you this afternoon. I saw Jasmine performing on the corner with that strange boy.”

“He’s not strange,” I whispered.

She raised an eyebrow before cutting more chicken. “He’s strange.”

“Okay, so…” Ray sat up straight and cleared his throat. “I know you’re probably upset, but…you saw her. Her music is amazing, Heather. She was meant to perform soul music, ya know? And I think—”

“Nothing,” she cut in.

“Huh?”

“You think nothing,” she told him. She placed her silverware down on the plate and gave Ray a cold stare. “You had no right to take her there, to get her hopes up on this silly music. She’s nowhere near as good as she is with her pop music.”

“That’s a lie,” Ray argued.

“It’s not, and anyway, you have no right to decide what’s best for her. You are not her father.”

“Mama!” I cried. “Stop it.”

“I really wish you would stop that,” Ray said, his hands forming fists. “I’ve been by both of your sides for fifteen years, Heather. I watched that little girl grow up from a toddler to the teenager she is today. I gave my all to make a life for you both, so will you stop with that bullshit? Yeah, I might not be her biological father, but I am her dad, and I’m tired of you trying to take that away from me. She’s my daughter—our daughter—and maybe you’d realize she’s been so damn unhappy with the life you’re trying to force her into if you thought about someone other than yourself for one minute.”

“Force her into? She loves her life!”

“She hates it!” Ray barked. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “She hates it all, and admit it—you saw her on that corner performing, saw that for the first time in a long time, she’s actually happy, and it kills you inside that you had nothing to do with that success. It drives you insane that you couldn’t control this aspect of her life.”

“Go to hell,” Mama hissed.

“I’m already there!” he fired right back.

Mama pushed herself away from the dining room table and stood up. “You’re not welcome here anymore. You need to leave.”

“What?” I asked, bewildered. “Mama, this is his apartment.”

“Not anymore.” She crossed her arms. “Go, Ray.”

“I’m not leaving. We aren’t going to sit here and have you act dramatically and—”

“I slept with someone else,” Mama said, so matter-of-fact.

My mouth dropped open, as did Ray’s, and we just stared at her, stunned.

His voice dropped low. “Excuse me?”

“It doesn’t matter. I just, I don’t want to be with you anymore. You’re weak.”

Ray took a deep inhale. “Who was it?”

“It doesn’t—”

“Who?” he shouted. I’d never seen him look so angered and heartbroken in all my life. Sure, Mama wasn’t the easiest person to love, but still, Ray was Ray. He was a good man, and good men always hurt a little more than others.

“Trevor,” she answered softly. “I’ve spent over fifteen years with you, and you’ve never done anything for me. Trevor is different. He’s promised me so many great things.”

“Trevor Su?” he asked.

“Yes, Trevor Su. You know—the one you refused to have meet with me.”

“Because he’s a snake!”

“He’s a mogul!” She stood tall, proud. “And he’s going to change our lives.”

“You can’t work with him, Heather. You can’t have Jasmine around that asshole.”

“I can, and I will.”

“I’m serious. He’s dangerous. He’s a wildfire, and I swear to God he’ll burn you.”

Mama pursed her lips together and shrugged her shoulders. “I’d rather play with a wildfire than a weak spark like you.”

Ray’s eyes grew heavy as sadness hit him hard. It was as if the ultimate betrayal destroyed his heart. Sure, he wasn’t madly in love with Mama, but he’d never step out on their relationship. He was loyal to a fault. He rubbed his hands against his face and then blinked hard. “Fine. You win. I’m leaving.” He pushed himself away from the table. His hands clenched and his face was red from anger, but he didn’t say another word.

He just stood up and left, gently closing the door behind him.

I hadn’t known how painful a broken heart could look until I stared into Ray’s eyes that night. I hadn’t known how quickly my heart could shatter until I watched the closest thing I had to a father walk out the front door.

“How could you, Mama?” I asked, in shock. “How could you do that to him?” To me…

“He was nothing, a wannabe star who was holding you down. So, I found new opportunities. Life is about opportunities that move you forward, and Ray was getting us nowhere.” She went back to eating her chicken, and I couldn’t let go of the confusion in my chest. I knew Mama was hard sometimes, but I didn’t know she was heartless.

“But he loved you.”

“Love?” Mama asked. “Love doesn’t get you anywhere in this world, child. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You didn’t love him?”

“I loved what he could’ve done for this family, but he didn’t follow through. Like I said, love makes people weak, and I have no time for weakness.”

“Do you love me?” I asked, terrified to hear her answer.

Her brows knitted together, and she placed her fork down. “I’ll love you the day you stop letting me down.”

I’d never known true loneliness until that very moment.