They all sat stunned for a moment. No one knew Regina could sing. Her voice was so powerful, so painful, so full of emotion and range and quality, they didn’t know what to call it. It was simply amazing.

She took off the headphones and stepped out of the booth.

“So? What you think?” she asked looking around the room.

“Uh, wow, Regina, really,” Dre sputtered.

“Yeah, really,” Proof stuttered. “What about you baby boy?” Regina asked tugging on Marshall’s shirt playfully.

“Great Lyric, just great,” he nodded, not knowing what to say.

“So what needs to be fixed?” she asked.

“Um, I think you’re good on this one,” Dre replied.

“You sure?” Regina asked.

“Uh huh, yeah,” Dre nodded.

“All right, hey guys, look, theres something I want to show you,” Regina said as she took her pile of lyrics over to the couch.

“This, is my little girl Maria when she was born,” Regina said as she held up a picture. Bizarre took it in his hand and looked at it, his heart breaking.

“Yeah, here she is with me, she was a couple days old here, she was beautiful though,” Regina sighed with a smiled as she passed around some more pictures.

The guys looked at each one, silence weighing heavily on the room. Regina did nothing but smile.

“I’ve avoided looking at these pictures for five years. Just because she died doesn’t mean she’s not still a big part of me. I’ll miss her till the day I die, and until now, I haven’t had the will power to look at these again, to allow anyone to look at these. That song, I sang at the end, that was her song, each line is sang in a different language, either Spanish or Italian. I wrote it for her.” No one knew what to say until Marshall sat down beside her and took one of the pictures with Regina holding Maria gently while the baby slept.

“See, you were a great mother, Sangio doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” he gave her a smile and looked over at her.

“She’s beautiful Regina, she looks just like you,” Bizarre said with a smile at her.

“Thanks. And now, I think it’s time I move on. I love her, and will always miss her, but I can’t bring her back, and I shouldn’t have to hide her. I’m ready for whatever they throw at me. Those reporters can’t bring me down.” Regina said nodding.

“Damn straight,” Kuniva nodded.

“You get em girl,” Swifty agreed.

“So what can you tell us about your husband?” the interviewer asked.

“I don’t have a husband,” Regina replied.

“Of course, your ex-husband.”

“I have one. That’s what I can tell you,” Regina replied finally.

“Well what about your daughter?”

“Yes, I had a daughter, she died when she was three months old. But that’s all I’m going to say on that matter. I do not want to discuss her,” Regina replied calmly.

“The world has seen your life story, through a, literally, illegal newspaper article. Don’t you have anything to say about it?”

“If the world has seen my life story, why do I need to add anything to it? Needless to say my daughter is a sensitive subject, and when I feel the need to speak to the public about her, I will. But until that time, you’ll just have to deal with what you know.”

“Were you trying to hide your past about your family and your father?”

“No, it just hadn’t come up. I’ve been out in the media circus for about a month, I mean it’s not like I’ve had that much of an opportunity. But like I said, it’s my life and I should be allowed to decide what I want out there and when.”

“The article mentioned that you were abused by your father, could you tell us a little about that?”

“No.”

“No?”

“No. I do not plan to say anything to discredit Sangio Contini.”

“Not your father?”

“I’ll repeat, I do not plan to say anything to discredit Sangio Contini. Are we finished here?” Regina asked in a huff.

“I suppose so. Thank you for talking with us, it was,” Regina didn’t wait and got up off the couch. Marshall hastened after her, confused as hell.

“How come you didn’t tell the truth about him? What’s this no comment crap?” he asked.

“I do not want my father to have any reason to not let me see my sister and my brother. Knowing him, that’s what he’ll do. I’m not risking it.” Regina said sharply.

“You’re afraid he’ll sue you, that’s what this is about, isn’t it?” Marshall asked.

“No, I could give a crap less about money. He could take every dime I had, but I won’t give him anything to keep me from seeing Catalina and Ricky. They are my family and I won’t do anything to jeopardize that.” Regina replied as she continued walking. They got out front of the building and as usual the reporters swarmed her and Marshall as they slid into the car.

“How’d it go?” Dre asked.

“Not too bad. They know when I’m not going to answer things,” Regina replied when Marshall cut in.

“Or just plain lie about them,” Marshall added with a snort.

“I didn’t lie about anything,” Regina retorted annoyed.

“No? Then what was that, ‘I will not say anything to discredit Sangio Contini’, give me a break,” Marshall snapped.

“What are you two bitching about?” Dre asked finally.

“They wanted to know about her father, and she spit out that lie, like he was some prize or something.”

“I don’t want to stir up anything with him, all right? Let it go!”

“Telling the truth is not stirring up anything Regina, it is the truth, and you should be able to talk about your life and not be ashamed of it, you did nothing wrong!” Marshall shouted.

“Em, lay off of her, she’ll say what she wants when she wants to say it,” Dre remarked.

“And let him get away with it again and again, more like,” Marshall’s face was red and angry.

“I will fucking tell people when I’m fucking ready!” Regina roared.

“Yeah, and let him win all over again!”

“I say one word against him, and then my brother and sister are gone, you understand that?” Regina asked annoyed.

“Then you could fight for custody of them,” Marshall said as if it were obvious.

“For custody? Right. You think I haven’t spoken to lawyers, researched it and tried to find any way possible to get those kids away from that bastard? It’s not possible,” Regina replied shaking her head.

“What do you mean? He beat you Regina, you said so yourself!”

“There is no evidence Marshall. I was an incorrigible teenager, I ran away, got in trouble at school, did drugs, stupid shit. You think that a judge, would turn over a nine year old and a sixteen year old to my care?”

“Reggie you can’t cover for him forever,” Marshall tried.

“I’m not covering for any one. I’m just protecting my ability to see my sister and my brother. I care more about them than I do about setting the record straight,” Regina replied, finally calming down a little. Dre sat back and watched her carefully.

“You shouldn’t have to lie about it though, you should tell the fucking truth about him,” Marshall snapped.

“You want the truth Marshall? You want to know, what it was fucking like, growing up in that house with him? Every fucking morning, waking up to him slapping me in the goddamn face with his fist. Being happy as hell that I could go to school for eight hours a day so I could get away from him. Then, as soon as I got in the damn door, slammed up against the wall, for what, I don’t know, breathing? Beating me with a fucking belt, the broom, his fist, even a table leg one time. The times he would just wail on me for the fun of it. Throwing dishes or books at me as I tried to get away. Marshall you may be okay, with telling the world your life and your problems when you were growing up, but I’m not. I will talk about it when I’m ready. I just had to relive my daughter’s birth, her short three-month life, and her death all over again. Not to mention every hideous detail of my life that I haven’t wanted to think about and haven’t had to think about in five goddamn years. But look, you wanted the truth, and you got it. The same way my father did, by force, maybe not by your fists, but it was the same any way.” As the limo stopped Regina jumped out, dodging photographers and dashed into the hotel.

“That was bright man, really, smart move,” Dre snapped.

“She shouldn’t have to hide,” Marshall mumbled.

“She’s not you Em. Let her alone for a while. If she wants to hide from the world for a few days, let her. She may or may not be as strong as you, but I tell you one thing, you got to stop fucking with her head. Let her do what the fuck she wants to do,” Dre got up out of the car and closed the door behind him.

“Are you getting out too sir? Or would you like to go somewhere else?” the driver asked through the intercom.

“Just drive,” Marshall replied shaking his head.

“Yes sir.”