Getting Played

by Celeste O. Norfleet

  “You can’t change anyone else’s behavior, Kenisha. You know that. You can only change yourself.”

  “I know. It just makes me so mad that he lied to us all those years ago. And Mom never did anything about it. She never called him on his lies.”

  “Oh, she called him on it, all right.”

  “Then why didn’t she do anything?”

  “Like change him?”

  It hit me what she was getting at. It was exactly what she just told me. You can’t change other people, only yourself. “Why didn’t she leave him?”

  “She didn’t want to upset your world.”

  “You mean the world where we got kicked out of the house anyway and my mother died. That world,” I say sarcastically. She frowns at me for my disrespect. “Sorry,” I apologize.

  “We all try to do the best we can with what we have. If we succeed, wonderful. If not, we just keep trying. Remember that.”

  “I know. It just makes me sad sometimes.”

  “I know, sweetie, it makes me sad sometimes, too.” Neither of us says anything for a few minutes. Then my grandmother changes the subject. “So now you need a ride to Virginia, right?”

  “No, I’m gonna take the Metro and Diamond will pick me up. I’m all packed.”

  “Do you want a ride to the Metro stop?”

  “Okay,” I say. I hurry upstairs and grab my cell phone and bag. By the time I get downstairs, my grandmother is ready to leave and so am I.

  CHAPTER 13

  The Frenemy of My Enemy is My Friend

  “There are good ideas and there are bad ideas and then there are really, really bad ideas, but sometimes there are to-die-for brilliant ideas. This is that time.”

  —MySpace.com

  LaVon Oliver lives two blocks from my dad’s house. Jalisa lives around the corner and Diamond around the corner from her. So we are all pretty much in the same neighborhood. We’ve known each other since we were all kids together. We’ve fought together, played together, cried together, argued together, but most of all, we’ve laughed together. And that’s what we do tonight. We laugh.

  We get dressed at Jalisa’s house since both Diamond and I are spending the night there later on. I wear my Run-DMC T-shirt and jeans with my Nike sneakers. I have my hair down and straight. Diamond and I spent all afternoon doing it. It looks great, but there’s no way I’m keeping it like this. It’s way too much trouble to do it.

  “It looks great like that. You should just get a perm and straighten it for good,” Jalisa says.

  I look in the mirror and shake my head. My hair bounds long and straight down my back and over my shoulders. It looks nice, but definitely different. It doesn’t even look like me anymore. “Nah, I’m not going through all that. I like it curly.”

  “You know, of course, Chili is going to freak the hell out when she sees you walk in there tonight,” Diamond says.

  We laugh, knowing it was the only reason we were going to the party in the first place. Although we’d drop by LaVon’s house for his parties the last few years, we never stayed long. After a while, it always turned out to be the same thing. Some idiot would get into a fight with some other idiot and take it out in the street. It would get crazy loud and then the neighbors would call the police and all hell would break loose.

  “Chili freaking out, I can’t wait,” I say happily.

  “I just want to make sure I get her face on my cell phone so I can put it up on my Facebook page,” Jalisa adds.

  “Ooh, and I want a video, too. So, come on, we need to go. By the time we get there, everything will be over,” Diamond says, putting on her lip gloss and then stuffing the tiny tube into her purse.

  We hurry downstairs. Natalie, Jalisa’s older sister, is in the family room off the kitchen with her two kids. They are watching Monsters, Inc. for the hundredth time. “Ya’ll look really nice,” she says. Her two kids never turn around.

  “Thanks,” we all three say.

  “What time are you getting back?” Jalisa’s mother asks.

  “We’re not going be out too long. A couple of hours at LaVon’s parties are pretty much all anyone can take,” Jalisa says.

  “Are you going to take the car?” her mother asks.

  “No, we’re gonna walk. There’s probably no place to park anywhere near the house. We’re going now. See you later.”

  “Have fun,” Natalie and Jalisa’s mom says, just before we close the front door and scream, “Bye.”

  As soon as we get outside, we burst out laughing, then start walking down the driveway to the main street. On the way, we talk about school and hanging out like we used to. “I can’t believe you’re not going to be coming back to Hazelhurst,” Diamond says.

  “I know, right,” Jalisa agrees, “we were all supposed to graduate together and then go to college together.”

  “Well that’s still gonna happen. We’re going to college together,” I say.

  “What about the money? College is way more expensive than Hazelhurst Academy. But I guess you can get some scholarships or get a student loan or something like that, right?”

  “Nah, my mom left me money for college. Jade told me.”

  “For real?” Diamond says. I nod. “Good.”

  “Man, can you believe how old we’re gonna be when we get out of college?”

  “We’re not gonna be that old.”

  “Old enough,” I say.

  “Okay, we’ll get our undergraduate degree and then our graduate degrees. Then we’ll get married.”

  “No, wait, you forgot the traveling part. We’re supposed to travel first before getting married.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Okay, undergraduate degree, graduate degree, travel and then get married.”

  “And then have kids,” Diamond says.

  “But we have to time it right if they’re gonna all grow up together. Man, can you imagine us as parents, as moms?” We start laughing. The idea was so far-fetched. We had promised each other a long time ago that we’d chill and abstain from sex.

  We reaffirmed our pact to not start motherhood until we were at least twenty-five. That meant we’d be out of college for a few years and we’d be traveling on vacations together for another few years before we settled down. Twenty-five was the perfect age.

  “Deal,” we all say, agreeing.

  “Oh, my God, I forgot to tell ya’ll, I got a job,” I say.

  “What!” both Jalisa and Diamond say. “Get out. Where?”

  “You’ll never guess. I’m working at Giorgio’s Pizza Place.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “For really?”

  “Yeah, I started last Monday. I like it, but it’s so hard. I thought it was going to be easy, but it’s not.”

  “Do you make the pizzas?”

  “Nah, Giorgio has real cooks that make them. I’m usually on cash register or on the line.”

  “What’s the line?”

  “That means I’m putting the orders together.”

  “Wow, I can’t believe you’re there.”

  “And guess what? Terrence used to work there, too.”

  “Really?”

  I nod.

  “How are ya’ll doing?” Jalisa asks.

  “The same. He’s not talking and his old girlfriend, Gia, keeps hanging around. Ursula said Gia used to hang with Darien, too, back in the day. Now they both go to Howard and all of a sudden she’s trying to get around him again.”

  “What, she trying to get him back?”

  I shrug. “Truthfully, I really don’t know. It looks like it to me. Her great uncle died and I went to the funeral with my grandmother. Afterward at the house, Gia was all over Terrence, acting all sad and holding on to him all night.”

  “You know she was just wrong.”

  “For real, is he tryin’ to play you?” Jalisa asks.

  “Nah, but I don’t know. Gia told me that he got messed up, but she didn’t elaborate and he’s still not talking.”
/>   “That’s so weird. So what did she mean by ‘got messed up’?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You know who might know,” Jalisa says.

  As soon as she says that, we all know the answer. Li’l T.

  We turn the corner and see all the cars parked down the block. The houses are big with lots of land around them. You seldom see neighbors out ’cause everybody keeps to themselves. Music is pouring out of the house and lights are on in the backyard.

  “Are ya’ll ready for this?” Diamond asks, as we walk down the front path toward the house. We nod, laugh and walk inside.

  Okay, as soon as we walk in, you can tell the party is crazy. It is already jumping. I swear you can hear the music two blocks away. There are kids in the living room, dining room and just about all over the house. But mostly everybody is outside in the back. It looks like everybody in Virginia showed up. We head to the kitchen and family room area and then out back on the deck and by the pool.

  LaVon’s house is huge and his backyard looks like a city park. Even though it is kinda cool out, the pool is open and a lot of people are in bathing suits playing around. We are saying hi to some of the kids we know as we walk through the house. Of course, we find out by the time we get there we’ve already missed two fights.

  LaVon is there as soon as we step outside. “Hey,” he yells and points at us from the other side of the deck. “You came.”

  Some kids turn around to see who he’s talking to, but mostly everybody just keeps on having fun. We wave and he waves back. A few minutes later, he comes over to Diamond and Jalisa. I have my back to him. “So where’s your girl?” he says. “What, she couldn’t make it?”

  Both Jalisa and Diamond look at me, puzzled. I turn around and I look at him like he’s nuts. “Hey, LaVon,” I say.

  He looks down at me and I swear his eyes bulge out and his tongue hits the ground. He does a double take. “Damn, girl, look at you. What happened?”

  “What do you mean what happened?” I ask.

  He keeps staring at my face like he doesn’t know me. “You look great, girl. What did you do to yourself? You look like a damn model or something.”

  I roll my eyes. This is so typical LaVon. “Yeah, thanks,” I say.

  “No, for real, you look really, really nice.”

  “Yeah, thanks,” I repeat.

  One of the girls Chili hangs with sees us talking and quickly walks away. We know what she’s gonna do. Both Jalisa and Diamond pull out their cell phones.

  “So what you been up to?” LaVon asks, still staring at my hair and face like he doesn’t know me.

  “School and work, that’s about it.”

  “Oh, check, you working now?” he asks.

  “Yeah, at Giorgio’s in D.C.,” I say.

  “So you’re really staying there for good now, huh?”

  “Yeah, I am. It’s my home and I like living in the city. Everything is right there for you and there are a million things to do.” I did like the city, but definitely not the school.

  “Yeah, like get murdered or carjacked,” he says laughing. Several kids standing near us had started paying attention to our conversation and laughed along with him. Then a few other kids start doggin’ D.C. and talking about how dirty and corrupt it is. I’m not saying they’re all wrong. There are some pretty uncool places in D.C., just like every other city in the world. But D.C., for better or for worse, is my home, so I speak up.

  “Well, I don’t know about all that. I’ve never had any problem there that I didn’t have here, too. Yeah, they have drugs, but hell I’ve seen more drugs right here in the schools. It’s not just the city and ya’ll know it.” They start laughing and agreeing with me.

  “Anyway, I really like the city. I’m even gonna apply to be a congressional page next semester.” I didn’t exactly lie. Ms. Grayson did say she wanted to submit my name for consideration. And it did sound kinda interesting.

  LaVon stares with his mouth open, and both Jalisa and Diamond look at me surprised. I didn’t tell them I was thinking about it, ’cause I wasn’t at first. Not until this exact minute. But when LaVon and the others were doggin’ the city, I had to say something to impress them, and since Ms. Grayson did mention it, why not? “Oh, my God, for real?” Jalisa says.

  “That is so cool,” Diamond adds. “How old do you have to be to do that?”

  “You have to be at least sixteen years old and get good grades.”

  “How do you get to do it?”

  “Basically you have to know somebody and my grand mother knows tons of people. But my history teacher is the one who suggested it. I think she has some kind of pull on the Hill.”

  “Do you have to live in the city to apply?”

  “No, but it looks good if you do.” I lie this time ’cause I have no idea if you do or not. “I’m sure if you live in the DMV it’s all right.”

  “The DMV,” some idiot says, laughing hard. “The Department of Motor Vehicles, what the hell is that?”

  I look at him, giving him my snootiest expression. I shake my head and sigh. “The DMV is an acronym for D.C., Maryland, Virginia. I thought everybody knew that.”

  The guy looks at me hard. I know he must be feeling like a fool. I smile. “I know you were just playing around,” I say laughing. He laughs, too, knowing I just saved his butt from looking like a complete jackass.

  So now everybody is looking at me like I know some thing. The fact is, everybody who lives in the DMV knows having an “in” in D.C. politics is primary when living in the D.C. area. It isn’t what you know, or really how much money you have. In D.C. it is all about connection and who you know and how close they are to power. Suddenly, looking at their faces, I am the “it” girl, the closest one there to power.

  We start talking again about politics and living in D.C. This time people are seriously giving D.C. the props it deserves. We are all laughing and joking, then out of the corner of my eye I see somebody I didn’t expect to see walk over. He is smiling as he approaches. I guess he just got here, ’cause he is shaking people’s hands as he walks through.

  When he gets to our group, he shakes LaVon’s hand and they bump shoulders.

  “Yo, it’s Kenishiwa. I almost didn’t recognize you, girl, looking all glam and shit,” Troy says. “How come you don’t do that at The Penn?”

  “You just answered your question. It’s The Penn,” I say.

  He nods, agreeing. “Yeah, you right, you right.”

  He has two of his boys with him, including Barron James. He introduces them, and LaVon introduces Diamond and Jalisa. Barron used to talk to Diamond for about a minute. But then she backed off for some reason. I notice Troy immediately locks on Jalisa. “So, what are you doing on this side of the Potomac?”

  “Yo, my boy LaVon told me about his little soirée, so I thought I’d check it out for a minute.”

  Just then, a pushing scuffle breaks out inside, and we all turn around to see what’s going on. “Damn, I hate these stupid ass fools. Always gotta break something up in somebody else’s place. I’m not having this shit. Here, hold my soda,” LaVon says, giving me his can. Then he hurries inside to break up the fight.

  We all watch, trying to figure out what is happening. It looks like they were arguing over playing the video game, Need For Speed. We all start laughing as LaVon pushes them apart, and they are still arguing over who rammed the other into a barricade. They settle down when LaVon takes the Need For Speed game disc out and puts in Super Mario Brothers. He comes back over, laughing, and a few minutes later Chili shows up with two of her girls. She looks at Diamond and Jalisa. “What ya’ll doing here?” she asks. I am guessing she doesn’t recognize me ’cause she seemed to only be talking to Jalisa and Diamond and I had my back to her.

  “Here’s your soda, LaVon,” I say, handing him the can. I turn around right after Jalisa and Diamond get ready.

  “We’re hanging out chillin’ like everybody else,” I say. “Hi, Chili. How you doing?
” I toss my long straight hair over my shoulder like she always does.

  “You remember my girl, Kenisha, don’t you?” Jalisa says.

  Chili finally sees I am standing there next to LaVon. Then just like LaVon, her jaw drops and she does a double take when she recognizes me. Her mouth never closes. I smile. Jalisa takes her picture while Diamond has already started her video of the whole thing on her cell phone. All in all, it’s the perfect reaction. Then it gets even better.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” she asks. Then she looks at LaVon and starts yelling. “What the hell is this bitch doing here? You said she wasn’t coming. What the hell is she doing here?” She keeps asking him louder and louder and everybody around us starts turning around and laughing.

  Now LaVon is starting to get pissed. Girlfriend or no girlfriend, he hates to be embarrassed. Chili is all up in his face, pointing her skinny fake-nail-wearing finger in his chest. She is screaming at him now, and she starts pushing at him. Even her girls are trying to get her to calm down. She is making such a commotion that LaVon’s dad comes outside to see what is going on. He tells Chili she is going to have to leave.

  She really gets pissed then, ’cause everybody is laughing at her. So now she is cussing LaVon and his dad out. “Oh, my God, no, she didn’t just do that,” I say quietly, still crackin’ up.

  “Oh, yes, she did,” Jalisa mutters right next to my ear.

  She is still going off and in LaVon’s face when his mom comes outside. The music instantly stops. Chili pushes LaVon, and he bumps back into his dad. “What the hell is this?” his mom says. Chili pushes LaVon again. This time he doesn’t budge. “Oh, no, no, no, you need to get this little girl out of my house now, this minute,” LaVon’s mother says, then grabs Chili back, stepping in her face.

  Chili shrugs away forcefully. “Get off me,” she yells.

  “Look, you. I don’t care if you think this baby is my son’s or not, you need to get up out of my house now. And I don’t ever want to see your face around here again, understand? Out! Now!”

  Chili calms down enough to realize it is LaVon’s mother she is arguing with now. “But I didn’t do nothing,” she starts screaming and crying. “It was her, she started it.” She points to me.