Real As It Gets

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  He didn’t look up, but I could tell by the way his body tensed up that he’d heard her.

  Moved on? Not quite. J. Love, the R & B singer who had just dropped yet another chart-topping hit, was still going after me hard. And I had been tempted to give him some play, but he’d dissed me, too. And although I may eventually give him a second chance, he was going to have to work hard for it, something he’d definitely been doing.

  I glanced down at my diamond tennis bracelet, which Sheridan quickly noticed. “Is that another gift from J. Love?” she asked.

  “Yep.” I held up my wrist, revealing my ruby watch. “And this is a gift from Alvin.”

  Sheridan was definitely impressed, but still she shook her head. “Nice. But I don’t know why you’re wasting your time with that nerd.”

  “Alvin is cool,” I said. Alvin had helped me do some computer stuff when I had been trying to track down this crazed fan who was stalking me a few weeks before. And although he’d ended up being a great guy, he was still too geeky for my taste. And Maya Morgan doesn’t do nerds. Yes, I’d taken him to our winter dance, but that was about the extent of it. We talked on the phone almost every day and joked all the time. I really liked having him as a friend, but I didn’t see it going any further than that.

  “Must be hard being you.” Sheridan laughed.

  I didn’t. “It is.”

  “Well, you can have your pick of guys. Alvin, J. Love, and I’m sure you could get Bryce back if you wanted.”

  “I don’t,” I said without hesitation. “That hoochie can have him.”

  “Well, I’m just saying. If you did want him, you could get him. J. Love wants you. Alvin wants you. Must be nice.” I knew Sheridan was stressing because her boyfriend, Reginald, had moved away, and although lots of guys tried to holler at her (since she was almost as cute as me), none of them were on her level, so she was single and hating it.

  “Nah, right now I’m just doing me,” I said.

  The show was keeping me busy. Digging up dirt and gossip on celebrities wasn’t easy, and since I no longer ratted out my friends, I had to work even harder to get the scoop.

  We stopped in front of my third-period classroom. “Well, let me get in this class and get ready for this stupid test. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Sheridan waved, then bounced on to her class down the hall.

  I walked in and slid in a desk near the back, where I usually sat. I looked at the empty seat in front of me, then leaned over to the girl who sat on the side of me.

  “Hey, where’s Lin?” I made it a point to sit behind Lin Vo because he was the smartest boy in the class and I might need to borrow some answers from him for today’s test.

  The girl—I didn’t even know her name because she was a scholarship student and didn’t run in my circle—replied, “Girl, you haven’t heard?”

  “Heard what?” I wanted to add, “Dumbo,” because if I’d heard where he was, I wouldn’t have asked her.

  “Lin got on some of that stuff.”

  “What stuff?”

  “He got some bad Kush, apparently some kind of intensified Kush, and they had to rush him to the hospital. His brain is all jacked up,” she said.

  “What?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Yeah, he ...” She stopped talking when the teacher walked in and shot us be-quiet warning looks.

  I was speechless anyway. Our celebrity circles were one thing. I knew sometimes things could get out of hand there, but if this drug was making its way to my classmates, it was a lot bigger than anyone might have ever thought!

  Chapter 3

  I was a little surprised to see my dad’s car in the driveway when I made it home after school. He usually didn’t get in until really late during the week. I knew my mom had her sorority executive board meeting and wouldn’t be bothering me. So, I’d actually been looking forward to a quiet evening at home. I still hadn’t caught up with Kirby, and wanted to try and do some digging myself to find out more about what had happened with Savannah.

  But just as I was about to complain, images of this new Christian Dior dress I wanted popped in my head. Even though I had my own money, I’d much rather spend my dad’s, so I’d been meaning to ask him to buy me the dress for this party I had coming up. Now would be the perfect time.

  “Dad,” I called out as I set my keys on the kitchen counter and dropped my messenger bag on the floor.

  “Miss Maya,” Sui said in a chastising tone. She gave me a stern look, then motioned toward the floor. I gave her a look right back.

  “I asked you not to leave your bag in the floor,” she said.

  “Isn’t that what we pay you for?” I glanced around the room. “Where’s my dad?”

  I could tell she wanted to say something, but she just gritted her teeth and said, “He’s in the living room,” as she bent down and picked my bag up off the floor.

  I walked through our spacious kitchen and into the front room. “Dad ...” I stopped in my tracks when I saw my dad—and the person standing in front of him. “Oh. My. God! Travis!” I raced over and threw my arms around my favorite cousin. “What are you doing here, boy?”

  “Can you at least say hello?” he asked after hugging me. Travis stepped back from me and gave me the once-over. “Let me get a good look at you, girl. You ain’t a little nerdy chick anymore,” he said, turning me around.

  I put my hand on my hip and cocked my head. “I was never a little nerdy chick, sweetie.”

  “My bad.” He laughed. “You’re right. You always were a diva.”

  “Hello, honey,” my dad said, coming over and kissing me on the forehead.

  “Hey, Dad.” I turned right back to Travis. “What’s going on? What are you doing here?”

  Travis lived in Brooklyn, New York. I hadn’t seen him since my grandfather’s funeral last year. But up until then, we used to be “thick as thieves,” as my grandfather used to like to say. We were close in age (he was only a few months older than me), and he was the brother I’d never had. Travis and I still talked via text, but I had always said that there was nothing like actually hanging out with him.

  Travis didn’t answer my question; instead, he just looked over at my dad.

  “Where’s Aunt Bev?” I asked. Aunt Bev was my dad’s older sister and his only sibling. They weren’t that close, but I just assumed it was because my dad was a workaholic and really didn’t have time for anything but work.

  “Well,” my dad began, “we wanted to surprise you.” My dad patted Travis on the back. “Travis here is going to come stay with us for a while.”

  “What?” I exclaimed. “What do you mean, coming to stay with us?” I didn’t know how I felt about that. Don’t get me wrong. I loved Travis. He was definitely cool, but I hadn’t shared my home—or my parents—with anyone, like ever.

  “Just what he said,” Travis replied. “I’m staying with you guys.”

  “Staying with us for what?”

  “Oh, so you don’t want me here?” he asked, a huge grin across his face. Travis had been a charmer for as long as I could remember, and it was that dimpled smile that usually did it.

  “I’m just trying to find out what’s going on,” I replied.

  “Oh, that’s right. You’re like a reporter. You go digging for answers.”

  “That’s right,” I replied. “And I’m not a reporter. I’m the star, baby.”

  Travis laughed as he plopped down on the sofa. “Yeah, I caught the show once or twice. I told everyone in Brooklyn you were my peeps. Nobody believed me though. I tried to call you, but your secretary wouldn’t let me through.”

  “Whatever. You didn’t try to call me,” I said.

  He smiled.

  “In fact, I haven’t heard from your janky behind except for your texts.”

  “Yeah, I just been a little busy.”

  My father cut his eyes at him. “Umm-hmmm, busy staying in trouble. But all that’s about to change, right, son?”

  “Yeah, Un
c. I’m gonna be a regular Boy Scout.” Travis held up his hand like he was taking some kind of oath.

  “What kind of trouble you been getting into?”

  “See, what had happened was ...” He laughed. “Seriously, it wasn’t even me. It was my boys. And Moms was tripping, talkin’ about she can’t handle me since my dad left.”

  “Yeah, but Uncle Myles can handle you. So don’t get out of line,” my dad said, pointing a warning finger at Travis.

  Travis saluted him. “Yes, sir.”

  “I’m going to get back to work. You get settled in. Sui will show you to your room and get you situated. I have a friend who’s giving me a great deal on a 2010 Camaro for you, so you’ll have your own transportation.”

  At the mention of a car, Travis beamed. I couldn’t help but frown. So, now we were buying him a car? But I decided not to trip. It wasn’t like it was some luxurious car anyway.

  “Who is Sui?” Travis asked.

  “The maid,” I replied. “Remember?”

  “Dang, I forgot y’all were rolling like that. So what time is the chef preparing dinner?” He stood and walked back over to me.

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” I said, laughing. “I’ve been trying to tell Dad that we need a personal chef.”

  “Sui cooks just fine,” my dad called out as he headed into his study.

  Travis stared at me a minute. I was used to that since I was all that, but it was creeping me out coming from a family member.

  “Would you stop looking at me like that?”

  “I’m just trippin’ off you. You look like a little woman now.”

  “Whatever, boy.”

  He walked around the living room. My mom had actually remodeled since the last time he had been here. It had already been nice then, but she had gotten bored of the place we’d lived in since I was two. She’d knocked out a wall in the living room. Now, when you entered the foyer, it opened into a big rotunda and the living room sat to the left in a large, spacious area. Travis used to always say our living room looked like one of those homes in the magazines his mom drooled over. Whenever Aunt Bev used to visit, I remember she would get all teary-eyed like she was sad. My mom had told me it was because she was envious of her brother. Envious, but not jealous, my mother stressed, because “envious just meant that she wished she had what her brother had with no evil intent.” Personally, both sounded like hatin’ to me, but whatever.

  “So, what’s going on, lil cuz? You all big-time now.” Travis beamed proudly. “I mean, you’re kickin’ butt and takin’ names. I see your picture everywhere!”

  “I’m just trying to do me.” I tossed my hair over my shoulders. “Since no one else can.”

  “And I heard you were dating the singer J. Love.”

  “You heard wrong,” I said, rolling my eyes and losing my smile.

  “Okay, whatever you say.” Travis grabbed his bag. “Show me to my portion of the castle.”

  I led the way upstairs and showed him to the guest room. He started unpacking. I looked at all his clothes, spread out on the bed. “Oooh, this is nice,” I said, picking up a gold, heavy-duty watch.

  He took the watch out of my hand. “Only thing I have worth something. And the only thing my dad ever gave me.”

  I didn’t remember much about Travis’s dad, except that he wasn’t around.

  “Oh, when did he give it to you?”

  Travis tossed it back in a duffel bag. “Right before he left. I guess you can call it a parting gift. It’s supposed to be worth a lot of money. I just been hanging on to it ...” He paused. “Well, ‘cause it’s all I got left.”

  I remembered that talking about his dad always made him uncomfortable, so I changed the subject. “So for real, what you been getting into?” I asked as he put his suitcase up on the bed.

  “Just trouble,” he replied as he unzipped his suitcase and started removing baseball caps and all kinds of hip gear. “But I left the trouble back in Brooklyn. I’m starting over. So what time do we leave for school in the morning?”

  “We?” I asked, sitting up straight. “What do you mean, ‘we’?”

  He flashed a big grin. “Yep. I’m the newest student at Miami High. You didn’t think I was going to come here and not finish school, did you?”

  “What? We’re in the middle of the school year.”

  “And? You must’ve forgotten, my uncle is Myles Morgan. He pulled some strings and got them to find a spot for me.” Travis walked over and started putting his stuff in the dresser drawers. He was setting up shop like he really was going to be here a while.

  I wanted to ask him who was paying for his school since Aunt Bev didn’t have the money, but of course, I knew the answer to that. My dad was footing that bill, which meant less money for me. I didn’t know why Travis couldn’t go to the public school down the street. All I knew was if my dad was shelling out money for Travis’s tuition, I didn’t want to hear anything when I asked for money.

  As if he was reading my mind, Travis said, “Don’t worry little cousin. I’m not going to be in the way. I’m just going to keep letting you do you.”

  I finally smiled. The more I thought about it, it might be nice to have my cousin around. I had my share of friends, but it would be nice to have some family around.

  “Cool. As long as you don’t forget it’s only one star in the Morgan household,” I said with my hands on my hips.

  Travis grinned. “Believe me, I’m low-key. And I got a feeling, even if I did forget, you wouldn’t hesitate to remind me.”

  “You got that right,” I said as I stood and made my way out and back down to my father’s study to convince him to give me money for my Christian Dior dress. So I readied my “I don’t want to lose your love, Daddy, now that you have a boy” act. If that didn’t get my four-thousand-dollar dress, nothing would.

  Chapter 4

  I was not ready for today. I loved my cousin, I really did, and I definitely loved kicking it with him. He was cool people. But too cool. Whenever Travis was around, he stole my shine. And I could tell today would be no exception.

  “What’s up?” he said, smiling at the two girls cheesing like he was some kind of superstar strutting across the parking lot. We had just arrived on campus and hadn’t even made it inside the building when the girls started gawking.

  “Heyyyy,” the girls sang, giggling like they had had some kind of laughing gas or something.

  I rolled my eyes. It was bad enough that I had to be up this early in order to get to school on time so we could get Travis settled in before first period; now I had to deal with all these thirsty chicks.

  We had just rounded the corner when my classmates Zenobia and Angel eased up on the side of me.

  “Well, hello, handsome,” Zenobia said.

  I knew this was going to be a problem. Travis was easily one of the hottest guys at Miami High now. He was Trey Songz fine, with smooth chocolate skin and a killer smile. Add to that the fact that he had a little bad-boy swag and a slamming personality, and I knew these chicks were going to be all over him.

  Travis licked his lips and flirtatiously said, “Hello, pretty ladies.”

  “Hey,” Angel said. I guess I was invisible or something.

  “Excuse me,” I said.

  Zenobia turned to me and said, “So, Maya, do tell. Is this your new man?”

  I turned up my lips. As if. “Number one,” I said, folding my arms across my chest, not bothering to hide my attitude, “if he was my man, he wouldn’t be licking his lips at you, flirting like some kind of hungry dog. This is my cousin, Travis. He just transferred here.”

  “Ooooh, cousin,” Zenobia sang. “So that means he’s family.”

  “And fair game,” Angel said, stepping closer to him. “Hi, Travis, I’m Angel.” She stuck her hand out for him to shake. I wanted to tell him if he knew like I knew, he wouldn’t touch her. Angel—with her oversized boobs and silicone-injected butt—was the biggest freak on campus. The only reason I even
spoke to them was because both of them were stupid rich, which put them in the in-crowd by default.

  Travis took Angel’s hand and kissed it like he was in a Brad Pitt movie. I wanted to throw up.

  “Angel? I can see why that’s your name because you look like you just floated straight down from Heaven.”

  Oh my God. Talk about whack. “Are you for real?” I said, staring at my cousin. “Like, seriously?” I guess he was serious because he was grinning at Angel like she was the last biscuit at Sunday breakfast. “Boy, can you bring your corny behind on?” I said, grabbing him and pulling him off. “He’ll see you around,” I told Zenobia and Angel. “Or not.”

  “Bye, Travis,” they sang.

  He blew them kisses as he followed me. “So, what, you’re my pimp now? You’re regulating who I get to holla at?” He laughed. I know he was just playing around, but I didn’t need any drama.

  “Can you just get situated first before you go start breaking hearts?” I snapped, not breaking my stride as I headed to the front office. “I have a rep at this school, and I don’t need these thirsty chicks mad because you’re playing games.”

  “Oh, yeah, I forgot. My cuz is big stuff around here.”

  I stopped and turned to face him. “Yes, she is! And I don’t need any unnecessary drama. Comprende?”

  “Yeah, from what I hear, you do good at creating that all on your own.” He giggled.

  “Look, boy ...” I waved a finger in his direction.

  “Come on, Maya. You know I’m just messing with you,” Travis said. He put his arm around my neck and pulled me into a hug.

  I wiggled away from him. “Stop, and don’t do that either.”

  “Oh, so now you got a problem with me hugging my little cousin?”

  “And stop calling me little. You’re only six months older than me,” I corrected him. Yes, he was eighteen, but I would be, too, in six months. “I just don’t need anyone thinking you’re my man.”

  “Whatever.” He looked around. “Where do I pick up my schedule?”

  I huffed, then stomped off. We walked away while more girls stared, and some guys even sized him up, obviously trying to figure out who he was. I wanted to hang a sign around my neck that said, THIS IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND, but I just kept it moving.