fairytale

Afracella

Once upon a time in a land far far away, also known as Boz Angeles, a little girl known as Afracella Smalls contemplates the difference between pop culture and real hip hop. This rap princess grew up in a whirlwind of famous music artists such as Salt N Peppa, Easy E, TuPac Shakur, and her very own big poppa, Biggie Smalls. Her life was seemingly flawless. She attended the finest schools, shopped at the most exclusive boutiques, and spent her spare time with her father’s homies at the recording studio. One dark afternoon however, an unfortunate event shattered poor Afracella’s lovely surroundings. Behind the scenes of the hip hop game a major feud had been brewing for numerous years. This rivalry finally exploded when Biggie was capped in a drive by shooting.

Afracella was left in the care of her under dressed and ill prepared stepmother, Lil Kim, who once thought the star shaped stickers on her breast were fashionable. No more snazzy Nike sneakers and afternoons of hop scotch for our leading lady, because alas she was put to work at her stepmother’s local barber shop braiding hair and shaving dollar signs onto the heads of thuggish customers. Afracella escaped her bland new existence by day dreaming of the handsome king of pop, Usher. Now Usher wasn’t just another boy from the hood. After being raised in the ghetto by a single mother with thirteen other siblings Usher proved the stereotype given to most in his situation incorrect. With his undeniable good looks, lovable charm, and irresistible dance moves Usher quickly rose to the top of the pop music scene.

As the sun rose another ordinary day in the ghetto was just beginning. Afracella opened her eyes, yawned, stretched, and finished off this routine with a deep sigh of frustration. She pulled herself from her stained mattress and reluctantly slipped into a hand-me-down Baby Phat jumper that one of her promiscuous step sisters forced her to sport. She lowered herself down the ladder from the dingy attic and rushed into the kitchen to grab some left over greens from the fridge. Seated at the table were her two revolting stepsisters who, combined with her stepmother, were quite the gold digger package. They were fixated on the VH1 special “Top 10 Hottest Singers.” Kanye West had already been listed as number three, Lil Bow Wow as number two, and the TV program annoyingly procrastinated the announcement of the winner. As Afracella closed the fridge door she wasn’t surprised to see that Usher had been crowned VH1’s sexiest artist because in her opinion he was damn fine. The unproductive sisters were eyeing the TV similar to how hungry dogs might eye a juicy steak. They both had saliva forming in the corners of their mouths and drool was starting to slowly descend down their double chins. Lil Kim strutted into the room with three blinged out tickets to a concert that evening headlined by non other than Usher himself. She handed two of the tickets to her drooling daughters and taunted Afracella with the third. Seeing Afracella’s excitement Lil Kim felt satisfied with her trick and proceeded to slip the third ticket into her shirt. With a scowl she quickly ordered her stepdaughter to watch over the barber shop while she and her girls went to watch Usher perform.

Disheartened, Afracella exited the house. She laughed to herself though, and almost felt bad for her stepfamily because she knew they would never know what it felt like to do something meaningful with their lives. She walked with a beat in her stride thanks to the funky Ipod selection pumping through her headphones. Afracella loved listening to her father’s music, but it was hard for her to be reminded of his unexpected death. She passed girls that resembled her former self - jump roping in the streets, and playing basketball on courts decorated in graffiti. Arriving at the barber shop Afracella unlocked the door and flicked the light switch hoping that the day was brewing some sort of excitement. The last few weeks had been miserably slow and the days were dragging by. As she watched the clock on the wall she slowly drifted into a daze - only to be brought back to reality when the front door bell rang. She quickly turned around and could not believe her eyes. At the desk stood and unforeseen customer. Missy Elliot, the queen of hip hop was at the front desk, and she was not looking for a perm. Missy had one main objective, and that was to get Afracella ready for Usher’s concert. She pranced toward a bewildered Afracella who had already begun to stutter. Missy placed her right index finger over Afracella’s lips in a motion to quiet her. She then began waving her platinum walking cane. Afracella watched in disbelief as a DJ appeared in the corner, and Missy began a freestyle rap that caused a black escalade to roll up out front, and transformed Afracella’s jumper into a slamming black Gucci dress. Her worn out Nikes were replaced with glass Manolos, and she was outfitted in diamonds from head to toe. Missy Elliott, obviously the most banging god mother in the world, had been sent by Biggie to make over daughter for Usher’s show. Missy’s spell, however, had some very strict stipulations. Missy made it clear to Afracella that in order to avoid a catastrophe she would have to return to the barber shop no later than two in the morning. With that said she raised her platinum cane, and Afracella was wisped away to the performance.

Once at the concert Afracella was surprised to find her name on the VIP list. She was escorted into a private section of the auditorium where she could see the sweat trickle down Usher’s face. She was instantly in love, and it took only a matter of moments before Usher noticed Afracella. He locked eyes with her and almost forgot to sing. He was enamored with her beauty. Usher knew he had to meet this mystery girl. Afracella danced and sang along for hours. She was so caught up in the moment she nearly forgot Missy’s instructions to be back by two. She looked down at her watch which read one forty-five, and made a mad dash for valet. Usher saw his lady leaving suddenly and made a rash decision to follow her. Thousands of shocked fans turned their heads and watched as Usher left amidst his last song. Afracella sprinted down the red carpet only to trip over her glass slippers. She had no time to waste, and hastily left one shoe behind. Usher was not far behind her, and when he came across the slipper there was no sign of his anonymous love. He sulked all the way back to his dressing room wondering if he would ever find her again.

Months and months went by. Usher searched from ghetto to ghetto in Boz Angeles for the perfect match to the glass Manolo. Local tabloids had printed headlines starting rumors about the slipper. Usher had five extra body guards to protect him from the flocks of girls claiming they were the owner of the shoe. None of them fit her description, or the glass slipper for that matter. Usher had given up almost all hope in his quest and decided to do a farewell concert on his last night before his European Tour began. The morning of his farewell show things went terribly wrong. Usher’s top of the line hairdresser had broken his arm in a game of street ball, and was unable to steeze out his man. Usher, was in a frantic state. He called all the local barber shops in the yellow pages. As his chauffer made his way down Main Street Usher noticed Lil Kim’s barber shop. His Mercedes came to a screeching halt and he rushed though the front door of the parlor. Afracella astonished that someone would so rudely barge in, suddenly realized that it was Usher. Neither could believe their eyes. Usher pulled the glass slipper from his man purse and Afracella slipped her foot into the Manolo. It was then that they both realized that they would live rappily every after.