Strategic Moves

The ink on Sony's initial paperwork hadn't dried when I started phase two. Rico drove us from the studio in his beat-up Civic, contract copies secure in my backpack. This time, I wouldn't let the momentum slip away.

"We need our own space," I told him, watching his reaction carefully. "Something we can build from. That warehouse from the battle – what's the story with that building?"

Rico glanced at me sideways. "Abandoned for years. Owner's underwater on it. Why?"

In my original timeline, we'd discovered that warehouse's potential too late. Someone else had snatched it up, turned it into luxury condos. This time would be different.

"What if we could get it cheap? Convert it into a real studio. Not just for us – rent out space to other producers, create a hub." I laid out the vision I'd already lived once, but streamlined now, optimized by hindsight.

"With what money?" Rico laughed, but I caught the interest in his voice. "Sony advance ain't gonna cover that."

"I've got some ideas." I pulled out my phone, started texting Derek. "First, we need to talk to your cousin at the bank. The one who handles small business loans."

Rico's eyebrows shot up. "Man, you different today. Yesterday you was just another kid with an MPC. Now you talking business plans?"

I had to be careful here. Couldn't move too fast, couldn't seem too sure. "Winning that battle got me thinking. Why build someone else's dream when we could build our own?"

"Our own?" Rico repeated.

"Partners," I said. "Equal stake. You handle the connections, I handle the sound. We both handle the business." In my other timeline, this conversation had happened five years too late, after missed opportunities and fractured trust.

Rico pulled over, killed the engine. "You serious about this?"

"Dead serious." I met his gaze. "That warehouse is just the beginning. We're gonna change the whole game."

He studied me for a long moment. In my future memories, Rico became the strategic mastermind behind our global expansion. But right now, he was just a street-smart promoter trying to decide if a seventeen-year-old kid was crazy or brilliant.

"Your moms know about this?"

I smiled. "She's gonna be part of it. Trust me – she's got business skills nobody knows about yet."

That was technically true. Mom's talent for finance wouldn't emerge until our empire gave her the chance. This time, I'd fast-track that opportunity.

"A'ight," Rico said finally. "Let's say I'm interested. What's the first real move?"

I pulled out my notebook – the one filled with carefully crafted plans that looked like teenage dreams instead of future certainties. "First, we secure that warehouse. Then we build the kind of studio that doesn't exist yet. Something that'll make Sony realize they didn't just sign a producer – they signed a revolution."

Rico shook his head, grinning. "You got some big dreams, kid."

"Dreams?" I thought about the empire we'd build, the industry we'd reshape, the future I was carefully reconstructing. "Rico, I'm just getting started."