Deal With It

by Monica McKayhan

  “How do you like it?” this woman asked, staring straight at me.

  “What did you do?” I asked.

  “I told you I was cutting it all off.”

  She really was my mother, only she’d lost her mind.

  “That is so cute,” said the skinny woman who’d just hopped from Cynthia’s chair. She grinned from ear to ear. “I want my hair just like that, Cyn.”

  All eyes were on Mom and her new short haircut. It was cute, but I couldn’t believe she’d just cut all her hair off, like a crazy woman. My daddy was going to flip out. The more I looked, though, the more I liked it.

  “Do you like it, Tameka?” my mother asked.

  “It’s cool,” I said. “Looks good on you.”

  My mother was a brand-new woman.

  It was well into the afternoon, and I still hadn’t heard from Vance. I opened my phone and stared at the blank screen. Decided to send him another text message.

  Where R U? I asked.

  No reply. Not right away.

  At da mall, was his response ten minutes later.

  Buyin me something? I teased.

  What U want? he asked.

  Pretzel & smoothie, I said.

  Those were our two favorite things at the mall—a hot pretzel dipped in mustard from the pretzel shop next to Dillard’s and a peach-mango smoothie, which we usually shared. Vance usually drank more than his share of the smoothie, leaving me with about one-fourth. But I didn’t care. It was our thing. The more I thought about it, the more I missed Vance. I had replayed the night before a million times in my head. What if I had given in to Vance? Maybe I wouldn’t feel so distant.

  Peach mango? he asked.

  Yep.

  You got it. I could almost hear his smile.

  We were okay. He wasn’t mad, after all, and that was enough for me.

  Cynthia styled my hair in a cute flat-ironed look. The usual. Unlike my mother, I was afraid to try new things. It was always safest to go with the usual. I wished I could be more like her—confident, self-assured. Instead, I questioned my every thought, and every decision was calculated. It was rare that I just did something out of the ordinary. I was too worried about what people would think if I failed.

  In the car, I tuned the radio to 107.9, and the voice of the Saturday-morning disc jockey Mizz Shyneka rang out across the airways. After she gave her little spiel, she spun a track, and Mommy and I bounced to the music. Hip-hop was something that we both had in common. We traded CDs like best friends did, and if I couldn’t find one of my CDs, she was usually the culprit. I’d usually find it in the CD player in her car, or in her bedroom.

  “You want a chicken sandwich from Chik-fil-A?” she asked. “I’m kinda hungry.”

  “I could use some chicken nuggets,” I told her.

  “Your hair looks fabulous.” She smiled as she pulled into Chik-fil-A’s drive-through.

  “Look at you, with a short haircut!” I laughed. “What is really going on? You got a new boyfriend or something?”

  “I just needed a change.” She ran her fingers through her short locks. “Maybe Daddy will pay more attention….”

  She seemed serious when she made that comment. I knew that my father’s absence from home and the fact that he was a workaholic bothered her more than she let on.

  “He does pay attention, Mommy.”

  “Yeah, when he’s home,” she said sarcastically. “I just wonder how much time he actually spends working.”

  “Are you serious?” I asked. She sounded insecure. “Do you think he’s doing something, you know, wrong?”

  “I just think he spends too much time away from home. That’s all.” She forced a smile and changed the subject. “What are you having with those nuggets, sweetie?”

  “Um, um, just some curly fries and a Coke.”

  I was thrown off by her comments. It almost sounded as if she thought he was having an affair. Suddenly it dawned on me. What if he was? Would he leave us for someone else? Would they get a divorce like my friend Jade’s parents had? She had talked about how terrible it was when her mother moved them to New Jersey after her parents were divorced. And even though they’d moved back to Atlanta, her parents never got back together. Instead, her father ended up marrying someone else. That would be a nightmare. I couldn’t think about that. Mommy was just being silly. Daddy would never leave us.

  Once in my room, I hit the play button on my stereo. Rihanna’s voice rang through the room. I fell backward onto my bed and listened to the music. Wished this were a different Saturday. On a different Saturday, Vance would’ve sent me a text as soon as his feet hit the floor. He would’ve invited me to the mall. It was then that it hit me—maybe he was at the mall with someone else, sharing a pretzel and a peach-mango smoothie with her. I needed to know for sure, and there was only one way to find out.

  “Mom,” I yelled as I rushed downstairs to the kitchen, where she was loading dishes into the dishwasher, “can you take me to the mall?”

  “I can drop you off and pick you up later on. I have a book-club meeting this afternoon,” she said. “Are you going by yourself?”

  “I think Indi and the other girls are already there. I wanna try and catch up with them,” I told her.

  “Are you ready now?” she asked.

  “Let me just grab my purse.”

  I rushed upstairs, grabbed my Coach purse and placed some eyeliner on my eyes and lip gloss on my lips. I checked my jeans out in the mirror and thought they looked okay. I slipped my Nike’s off and placed my Coach-designed Chuck Taylors on my feet. They were beige and brown and matched my Coach purse. I grabbed sixty dollars out of my stash from my jewelry box with the ballerina on top. The jewelry box had been a gift from Daddy when I was five years old. He knew even back then that I would be a dancer.

  Daddy had an eye for talent. As a music producer, he was in the business of deciding who had talent and who didn’t. And his job was an important one; Mommy and I had always known that. She had always been his biggest supporter, but our conversation at Chik-fil-A had me doubting the strength of that support. I needed to know what our future held.

  After dropping me off in front of Macy’s, I watched as Mommy drove away. I was glad she had her book-club sisters to keep her company while I hung out at the mall. I checked my purse to make sure my cell phone was inside, pulled it out and called Indigo. There was no answer. I could’ve sworn they’d said they were going to the mall. I sent her a text message and then stepped inside Macy’s.

  eight

  Vance

  I popped into Foot Locker, checked out the new Jordans. They were on sale, but not quite my price yet. I told the salesman to bring me a size eleven anyway. I slipped them onto my feet. Perfect fit. As I checked them out in the mirror, I decided that they were a must-have, regardless of the price.

  “I’ll take these, my man,” I said.

  As I approached the counter, I pulled my wallet out and checked my cash. I had about forty dollars. Not quite enough to cover the $149 price tag that the Jordans had on them. I pulled my credit card out of its little slot—the credit card that my parents had given me for emergencies.

  This is strictly for emergencies, Vance. I could hear my dad’s voice in my head. This is not to be used on foolishness.

  I hesitated for a moment. I knew that the card was only to be used in case I ran out of gas and was stranded on the side of the road, or if my tire had a blowout. I knew what my father meant by emergency. But in my opinion, this was an emergency, in every sense of the word. The price on these Jordans wouldn’t last forever. Not to mention, nobody—and I mean nobody—had a pair of shoes like this at my school.

  The price, including tax, flashed across the screen on the cash register in bright green digital numbers. I handed the salesman my Visa. He swiped it and handed it back. It was a done deal when he handed over my receipt. The transaction had been made, and the Jordans were mine, regardless of the consequences. There was a chance that my dad w
ould just pay the bill and not even look at the charges. It would be all right.

  “What you get?” Jaylen asked as I stepped out of the store.

  “Got the new Jordans.” I grinned, proud of my purchase. “Ain’t nobody got these.”

  “Let me see,” he insisted.

  “Naw, man, you’ll see when I bust out in them on Monday morning,” I said. “You’ll see ’em then.”

  “There’s some hotties hanging out over there by the movie theater. Let’s go holler at a few of them.” Jaylen changed the subject.

  “Man, I don’t feel like being bothered with chicken heads today,” I said. “Let’s go over to Dave & Buster’s and shoot some pool.”

  “You gotta pay at Dave and Buster’s and I only got, like, five bucks.”

  “Man, you always broke.” I laughed. “How you expect to holler at some hotties?”

  “Shut up, man.”

  We strolled through the mall, stopping to grab a burger at Wendy’s. While standing in the long line, I felt a light tap on my arm and turned to find the most beautiful pair of brown eyes looking at me.

  “Hey, Vance,” Darla purred.

  Two girls that I didn’t recognize stood beside her. One looked like she could’ve been her twin sister; she had the same sexy body and cute smile. The other one looked like she’d eaten one pork chop too many. The three of them stood there, with their hands on their hips.

  “What’s up?” I asked Darla.

  “What you doing here?” she asked.

  What did most people do at the mall? Shop!

  “Just hanging out,” I said.

  “You going to see that new Tyler Perry movie? It’s playing now.” She smiled. “That’s where we’re going.”

  “You should come,” Darla’s look-alike said.

  “Um…” Jaylen cleared his throat and reached his hand out to Darla’s look-alike. “I’m Jaylen. My boy here is rude.”

  “My bad,” I said. “Darla, this is Jaylen. Jaylen, Darla.”

  “This is my cousin, Alexis,” Darla said, introducing her look-alike.

  “What’s up?” I said to Alexis.

  “And this is my friend Nita.” Darla introduced the heavy girl, who was licking her lips at Jaylen.

  “You going to the movies?” Nita asked Jaylen. “I’ll buy you some popcorn.”

  Popcorn was the last thing she needed, I thought as I checked her out. She had a cute face, but her body didn’t seem to match.

  “I’m good. Thanks, though.” Jaylen smiled and then focused all of his attention on Alexis. Even with Jaylen’s six-foot frame and perfect haircut, Alexis seemed uninterested in him. But that didn’t stop him from trying to get her attention.

  Regardless of the fact that we both had girlfriends, we still found ourselves standing in the long, endless line at the movie theater. It wasn’t a date. That was what I told myself as we got closer to the box office to purchase tickets. It was just a group of friends checking out a movie together. That was it. A date was more a one-on-one thing. If I was on a date with Darla, I’d have my arm around her neck, and I would plant kisses on her forehead. If this were a date, I’d be buying her ticket to the movie. But I’d already decided that I was only buying mine. And maybe Jaylen’s, because he was broke as a joke.

  I slipped Jaylen one of the twenties from my wallet, just so he wouldn’t be embarrassed in front of the girls. There was nothing worse than standing in a long line at the movies and getting to the box office and not being able to pay for your own ticket. As Jaylen approached the ticket counter, he turned and smiled at Alexis.

  “Two student tickets,” he said to the pimple-faced girl behind the counter. “I got you, Lex.”

  I got you, Lex? What was he doing? Did he forget that he was spending my twenty?

  “Thank you,” Alexis said and smiled.

  Her whole attitude toward Jaylen changed after he spent some money on her. Girls.

  Darla’s beautiful brown eyes were staring straight at me. She didn’t say it, but I knew she expected me to spring for her ticket. Jaylen had me in a bind, and I would let him know it as soon as we were alone. I wanted to pop him upside his head, but instead, I gave Darla a smile and handed the cashier my last twenty-dollar bill.

  “Two students, please,” I told Pimple Face.

  I wasn’t paying for her fat friend, I thought as I handed over the twenty. She must’ve figured that out, because she pulled her wallet out of her purse and paid for her own ticket.

  As the five of us headed toward the concession stand, I spotted Tameka’s friend Indigo Summer. She was with Jade Morgan and two other girls from the dance team, Tymia and Asia. All I needed was for them to spot me. One of them would be on the phone with Tameka quicker than I could explain why I was standing next to a beautiful girl in the concession-stand line at the movie theater. Not to mention, a girl that Tameka had already had words with. I didn’t need that kind of drama.

  “Hey, I’m going to the bathroom,” I told them. I needed an exit strategy.

  As I headed toward the men’s room, Indigo spotted me.

  “Hey, Vance. Who you here with?” she asked. “Tameka with you?”

  “Nah, I’m here with that knuckleheaded Jaylen,” I explained. It wasn’t totally a lie. I was with Jaylen. “We’re going to see that action-packed, um, movie.”

  “Which one?” Jade asked, all up in a conversation that didn’t involve her.

  “Did y’all see Tyler Perry’s movie?” I asked, avoiding Jade’s question.

  “Yes, and it was so good,” Indigo said. “You’ll have to bring Tameka to see it. We invited her to come along, but she had to go get her hair done today. She will love this movie! It’s my second time seeing it. Marcus brought me the first time.”

  “Who’re those girls over there with Jaylen?” Jade interrupted again.

  “Pssst.” I blew air from my lips. “You know how Jaylen is. He’s a girl magnet. I can’t take him nowhere. I don’t even know who he’s over there talking to.”

  “Isn’t he dating Kendra Thompson?” Asia asked.

  “I’m not sure anymore,” I lied. “Last I heard, they were on the rocks.”

  “For real?” Tymia asked, her hands on her small hips. “Because she was just bragging about him, like, two days ago. Talking about how they were all in love. She would die if she saw him now, cheesing all up in that girl’s face like that.”

  “That looks like Darla Union over there,” Jade added. “She’s the new girl in my algebra class. I loaned her a pencil the other day.”

  “She’s also the one that Tameka almost beat down after practice the other day,” Asia said. “She got a smart mouth. That’s all I can say.”

  “Yeah, they got into it over something silly,” Indigo said. “She seems like a nice person, though. I think it was just a misunderstanding on Tameka’s part.”

  “She told me she was a cheerleader at her other school,” Tymia said.

  The conversation was becoming way too uncomfortable. Too much talk about this girl—Darla Union. It was making me nervous, and I needed to escape.

  “Hey, I gotta go to the restroom. I’ma holler at y’all.” I started dancing around like I really had to go.

  “Okay, Vance. We’ll talk to you later,” Indigo said.

  “We’ll tell Tameka that we saw you,” Jade added, with that look on her face. A look that said, I know what you’re up to.

  Before they could say another word, I disappeared into the restroom. It felt safe there. I wasn’t really cheating on Tameka, although it felt like I was. I just needed to make it through this movie, and the rest would be history.

  nine

  Tameka

  I filled my black shopping basket with three bottles of shower gel and three bottles of lotion. I grabbed four pairs of sexy underwear and a pair of sleep pants. I smelled the new fragrances as I waited for Indigo and the other girls to meet me at Victoria’s Secret. Indigo had finally replied to my text message and had said that they
were just leaving the movie theater. I was glad they were still at the mall when my mom dropped me off, because I’d needed to get out of the house something terrible.

  “Ooh, your hair is cute!” Indigo said as she stepped into Victoria’s Secret, wearing the leather jacket that her parents had bought her for Christmas.

  “What’s up, Tameka?” Tymia said.

  “You got all kinds of stuff in this bag. You look like you’re shopping for groceries.” Jade laughed.

  “It’s just a few things.” I smiled.

  “You missed the movie. It was so good.” Asia touched my hair and got a closer look at it. “Your hair looks so silky and shiny. What kinda relaxer does your stylist use?”

  “I’m not sure. I just sit in her chair and let her do her thing,” I said.

  “We saw Vance,” Jade announced. “He was at the movies.”

  “With who?” I asked, with attitude, my hands on my hips. I remembered I hadn’t heard from him all day.

  “With his bigheaded friend Jaylen,” Indigo said.

  “And some girls,” Jade added.

  “Those girls weren’t with them. Why you tryin’ to start something?” Indigo asked. “Jaylen was just standing in the concession-stand line, talking to some girls from school.”

  “What girls?” I asked. My heart was beating fast. I was afraid of what I might hear next, but I wanted all the details.

  “Darla Union,” Jade said. “You know, the one you were about to beat down the other day? She was with a few other girls. I don’t know if they were all together, though. But it looked like it.”

  “Personally, I don’t think they were together,” Indigo said.

  “Maybe you should just call and ask him,” Tymia suggested. “Or better yet, let’s just go see if the movie let out yet.”

  “Yeah, let’s do that,” I said.

  After paying for my loot, I followed as Jade led the way to the movie theater. Was Vance with another girl, or was I just feeling insecure all of a sudden? I pulled my cell phone out of my purse, dialed Vance’s phone number. It didn’t even ring before I heard his deep voice saying, “Sorry I can’t answer my phone right now, but leave me a message, and I’ll hit you back.” Lil Wayne’s voice sang in the background before I heard the beep. I didn’t leave a message but, instead, sent a text message.