“You Will Always Be My Brother, Tommy”
Some memories don’t fade.
They don’t soften with time or lose their edge.
They live in you loud, vivid, and unshakable.
“You will always be my brother, Tommy.”
When I think back, I can pull from hundreds of moments tied to New Edition. I’ve been there since the beginning watching history unfold in real time, living stories most people only hear about.
But if you asked me to choose one single memory… just one…
It would be that weekend in Atlanta.
A Weekend That Changed Everything
I was checking out of the Ritz in Atlanta with Sean Levert after what had been a beautiful, peaceful weekend. Everything felt calm—easy.
Then my phone rang.
It was Katie (McCoy).
Panicked. Urgent. Shaken.
She told me Lisa had taken off—with her granddaughter, Kai—and she was terrified. She begged me to find them. Not later. Not eventually. Now.
And just like that, everything shifted.
The Search
It took about 30 minutes.
Thirty minutes of calling, asking, tracing steps… until I found her.
Lisa was staying with someone named Joe Peavy. He had invited her over, and from what I gathered, it wasn’t just a casual visit it was a full-on binge. And Kai was there with her.
Now, I knew Lisa.
I knew her sweet tooth not just for sweets, but for life. For excitement. For the night. For the spotlight.
So I went.
Protecting What Mattered
When I got there, things weren’t what they should’ve been.
I made a decision in that moment:
I would stay.
Not for the party.
Not for the drama.
But for Kai.
If Lisa was going to go out, then I was going to make sure her granddaughter was safe.
That same weekend, Bobby Brown was celebrating a birthday somewhere in Atlanta. And if you knew Lisa, you knew she wasn’t going to miss it.
She had to be there.
Had to be seen.
Had to be the moment.
And where Lisa went… trouble often followed.
When Things Turned
She went to the party with JoJo.
But JoJo wasn’t having it especially not while she was entertaining attention from another man. Tension built. Energy shifted.
And when they came back…
Everything exploded.
An argument broke out, and before it could spiral any further, JoJo pulled a gun.
In that moment, there was no time to think.
I stepped in.
Not because I wasn’t afraid but because I refused to let things go there.
The Call That Mattered
Once things settled enough for us to leave, I made one call.
Tommy.
I told him everything.
No hesitation. No questions.
He came.
That’s who he was.
A Safe Place
Tommy picked us up and drove us to 5300 Power Ferry Road.
To the Atlanta home of Whitney Houston and Bobby.
That night, we were safe.
And sometimes… that’s everything.
I Won’t Say It All…
There’s more to that story.
A lot more.
But some memories aren’t meant to be told all at once. Some are meant to be held close, protected, just like we protected each other back then.
For Tommy
You showed up when it mattered.
You didn’t ask questions you acted.
You made sure we were safe.
And that’s something I will never forget.
“You will always be my brother, Tommy.”
I’ll miss you, baby.
