“It doesn’t matter. I still own your ass, bitch. You want to get paid—you gotta go through me.”
Fine, I’ve been called that before. No big deal. “Yeah, right, whatever,” I say, and keep walking out.
When we get back to the main open area she pushes me in the back. I stumble forward, but keep my balance. I turn around just as she goes to push me again. I move to the side. She stumbles and I push her away from me and keep going. She grabs my arm and pulls me. “You ain’t going nowhere until I say so.” Bad idea, ’cause I turn around swinging. I barely clip her chin and she looks at me like I lost my mind. “What the hell is wrong with you, bitch? You hit me.”
“Then keep your hands off me,” I warn. I turn around to keep walking out. Everybody else is just staring, shocked at what’s happening. I hear her coming up behind me again. She’s yelling and calling me names. She pushes me once more. This time I fall to my hands and knees. For real, all bets are off now. She’s standing over me with her crew behind her. I have no idea what she’s thinking. I guess maybe she lost her mind or something because her stupid entourage is here to back her up. But at this point I really don’t care if I get jumped as long as I kick her ass first.
So she’s still talking bad. “Yeah, that’s right. I pushed your ass down. What you gonna do about it, bitch?” I stand up and she steps in my face and goes to push me again. As soon as she reaches her hands out I block her and slap her across her face just like my mom taught me. It was hard, solid and perfect. My hand stings, so I know her face must be on fire. Her jaw drops and she grabs the side of her face and screams.
The loud pop of my smack makes everybody gasp and cringe. I guess they didn’t think anybody would step up to the little bullying tyrant. Seriously, I wasn’t playing. I’d had enough of Taj and her stupid drama calling me out.
“Bitch,” she screams again.
I’m not walking away this time. I stand there waiting. If she wants to start something again I will seriously finish it. Pamela and Linda come to stand beside me. Devon and Magic Man try to calm Taj down again, but she’s over-the-top ballistic now. Her blond weave is all over her head and her makeup is smeared and just sad.
I start smiling, then laughing. All I can think of is my fight with Regan at Hazelhurst and how they still talk about me yanking her weave out. All of a sudden Pam and Linda start laughing, too. I guess they think I’m laughing because Taj looks like a complete fool. Well, I guess I’m laughing about that, too.
“So y’all stupid asses laughing and gonna take her side.”
“Taj, why do you have to do this drama every time? Just shut up and chill out,” Pamela says. Then one of Taj’s girls steps up to Pamela and gets all in her face. “You need to back your girl out of my face right now.”
“Or what?” the girl, says bumping into Pam.
“You’d better back the hell up,” she warns again.
I’m looking at Pamela and she’s not playing. It looks like she’s about to go off on the girl. She gets bumped again. Then she does. She swings and connects with the girl’s right eye. She goes down like a rock. One of the guys in Taj’s entourage jumps up in Linda’s face. She kicks him dead center, still wearing the hard army boots from the video shoot. He doubles over, holding his groin while screaming and cussing. The whole place is about to erupt.
Taj’s eyes widen to dinner plates. “Somebody call the police. I want to file assault charges on these bitches. Y’all saw what they did.”
Okay, now I know I gotta get out of here for real.
“Do you really think you’re gonna ever work in this business again, ever? I’m gonna make sure none of my friends hire you to dance.”
“You don’t have any friends,” Pam says.
“You got that right,” Linda adds.
“Yo, what up? What’s going on in here?” Everybody turns around. Money Train walks in, seeing us all gathered in the center of the room.
Taj starts yelling again about how we attacked her and her friends. “Yeah, bitches, that’s right. I got friends—deep-pocket friends—so don’t even think your asses are getting paid.”
I turn around to leave, then she starts getting personal. “So what you gonna do now, Kenisha? I know you need the money,” she taunts.
“Back off,” Money Train says.
“Kenisha.”
I turn around and see Terrence looking around for me. He pushes a couple of people out of the way and comes over to me.
“Go, and take your bitch-ass boy with you. I don’t need you and I don’t need him. You just like you was before, T, a punk-ass. I give you the opportunity of a lifetime to work with me and you turn me down for her. Fine, keep him. I got my man and he’s gonna kick his ass,” she says.
Money Train just looks at her and shakes his head. “Girl, this shit’s done. A’ight, listen up—if y’all want to get paid, y’all need to get the hell up out of here now.”
It was like someone yelled fire ’cause people started moving like the building was about to collapse. Devon, Magic Man, the film crew, were the first to leave. In, like, two minutes the place was cleared out. So we’re all just standing there again and now all I can think about is how Terrence was fighting before and lost a scholarship and almost had to quit college. I can’t let that happen again.
“Come on, let’s go,” I say, taking his hand. We start leaving.
“Go, bitch-asses,” Taj yells. Pamela and Linda turn to follow. “Yeah, y’all leave, too, ’cause y’all ain’t never working as dancers again. You won’t even be able to strip when I’m done with you.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Linda says.
“Where you think you’re going?” Taj asks.
I turn around and see Money Train is leaving with us—or more specifically, with Linda. He doesn’t answer. I look at Taj. Her mouth is wide open in shock. It’s obvious Money Train just took his side and it’s not hers.
So we get outside and we all just start laughing. It’s not that anything is funny. It’s just that we’re all kinda shocked by what just happened. Money Train introduces himself to Terrence and they start talking. Linda goes up and stands by his side. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” Money Train says, then turns to the shiny silver 2011 Maybach Guard parked directly in front of the studio.
We all climb in. I can’t believe his car. It’s gorgeous. It’s huge inside and I’ve never seen anything like it.
“Where to?” Money Train asks.
I give him my address and he drives off. Everybody’s talking and laughing and I’m just sitting here still in shock. So much for earning money dancing. I look down at the costume I never changed out of. Maybe I can sell the fake-fur jacket.
About fifteen minutes later the car pulls up in front of my house. I see Jade and Tyrece standing outside talking. Linda, Pamela and Money Train want to meet Tyrece, so everybody gets out of the car. I look up and see my grandmother sitting on the front porch with her two friends, Ms. Edith and Ms. Grace. I just shake my head and get out last. I know I have a lot of explaining to do.
We all start talking at once, explaining what just happened. Pamela basically takes the lead in telling the story and it comes out more funny and zany than anything. So there’s a lot of laughter and jokes. Except I know my grandmother isn’t really laughing. I know I need to tell her the for-real story.
Tyrece, Money Train, Terrence, Jade, Linda and Pamela stay outside talking. I go inside and sit in the kitchen with my grandmother. I know she’s waiting for me to say something. Even though she already knows what happened today she doesn’t really know why. I take a deep breath and shake my head. I’m not even sure where to start. So I just jump right in. “Today was a mess and I know I made it. I should never have lied and try to do this by myself and without telling anyone. I know I disappointed you.”
/> “Why’d you do it?”
“I was trying to get money to help.”
“Money to help with what?” my grandmother asks.
“The hospital bills,” I say.
“What?”
Jade walks into the kitchen. “Grandmom, we know about the hospital bills. Kenisha saw them. It’s a lot of money and you can’t pay something like that by yourself. We’re not gonna let you sacrifice the house. We want to help.”
“Oh, babies…” she begins slowly.
“Jade and I talked when you were in Georgia,” I say. “We’re selling some of the furniture from the Virginia house to help raise money, but I knew it wasn’t gonna be a lot so that’s when I agreed to dance in the video with Taj. Jade, you were right—she’s not gonna pay me.”
“That’s Taj,” she says, shaking her head.
“I worked so hard just to wind up with nothing.”
“You didn’t wind up with nothing. You tried to do something good and that’s always worth something. Now, do me a favor, both of you—let me take care of paying the hospital bills.”
We nod slowly.
“Now, who’s hungry?”
“I’m starved,” I say.
My grandmother cooks dinner while I tell her and Jade about the fight with Taj. Jade can’t stop laughing, and although my grandmother tries not to, she still chuckles and enjoys the stories. After dinner I go up to my room and hit up Jalisa and Diamond. We’re all on the phone and I’m telling them about what I was really doing and what happened today. At first they’re upset because I didn’t tell them before and then they’re okay. After I tell them about the fight they’re laughing hysterically. We hang up two hours later.
I can’t sleep so I grab my recipe book. Everything seems to begin and end with it. I open it to the last notation. It’s all about my download drama. The video went viral for a minute and just that quickly it was replaced with kittens playing in a box. So much for being a cyber celeb.
Twenty-Two
Still in Control-ish
kenishi_wa K Lewis
They always talk about finding your path. Well, what about if the path divides? Do you go right or do you go left or do you just stand still and wait for another path to come along? If there’s one thing I know—there’s always another path.
11 May * Like * Comment * Share
i wake up at four-thirty in the morning with tears in my eyes. For the first time in a long time they’re not for my mother. I dreamed about her but right now I’m crying for me. I stare up at the ceiling, thinking about everything that’s happened in the past few days. It seems like whatever I do it all comes back to the same thing. As a daughter I could have done better, been better, but it’s too late now.
I get up and take my usual seat at the window. It’s too dark to see anything outside, but I do see a blue glow next door, second floor. It’s Terrence’s bedroom window. He’s either watching television or playing a video game. I grab my cell off the charger and call him. He picks up on the third ring. “Yeah.”
“Hey, you up?” I ask.
“I am now. What’s going on?” he says sleepily.
“I can’t sleep.”
“What’s wrong—bad dreams?”
“No, actually,” I say, “good dreams.”
He pauses for a moment. “Want to run?”
“Nah.”
“Want to talk?” he asks.
“Yeah, meet me outside.”
“Okay. Ten minutes.”
I put on some sweatpants and a T-shirt, then tiptoe downstairs to the kitchen and turn the light on. I turn off the alarm and open the back door. Terrence is already sitting on the back steps waiting for me. He’s wearing a T-shirt and jeans and turns when I open the door. As soon as I sit down beside him he puts his arm around me and pulls me close. I rest my head on his shoulder and I’m immediately comforted. I take a deep breath and slowly exhale.
We don’t say anything right away. We just sit listening to the night sounds and feeling the cool breeze around us. This is what I love about hanging with my lawnmower guy. He knows just what I need when I need it. “How’d it go?” he asks.
I know exactly what he’s talking about—my conversation with my grandmother and Jade. “It was okay. I’m glad we talked. I think we all needed it, and they enjoyed my Taj stories.”
He chuckles.
All of the sudden tears start welling in my eyes. I can’t stop them. “I still can’t believe that I went through all that drama with Taj and I’m not even gonna get paid.”
“Actually, I think you are.” He pulls an envelope out of his pocket. “This is for you. Money Train gave it to me last night.”
I open the envelope and tears start flowing. It’s a check for three thousand dollars plus a five hundred bonus. “Are you kidding me?”
“What is it?” Terrence asks.
I give him the check. He smiles and nods. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
I hug him and kiss him and hug him some more. I can’t stop laughing and clapping my hands. This is the best ever. “I can’t believe he did this.”
“He’s a pretty good guy. He told me to give him a call this summer. He’s got a scholarship and a job waiting for me.”
“For real? That’s great!”
“What is all this noise out here? Do you realize it’s after five o’clock in the morning and good people are still trying to get some sleep?”
“Sorry. Good morning, Grandmom.”
“Good morning, Mrs. King,” Terrence says.
“Good morning. Now since you’re already up, anybody want some breakfast?”
“Oh, yeah, pancakes and sausage,” Terrence suggests.
“How about some grit, bacon and hash browns, too.”
He slaps his hands together. “Sounds good to me.”
“Grandmom, look. I got paid for dancing.” I stand up and show her the check excitedly.
“That’s wonderful.”
“I’ll sign it and you can give it to the hospital.”
She shakes her head. “No, that’s your money. The hospital bill is paid.”
“What? How? Who paid it?” I question.
“Your father did.”
“Dad paid it,” I say, unbelieving.
“I spoke with him last night after you went up to your room. We talked. I guess it was a long time coming,” she says, then pauses a few seconds. “By the way, you’re gonna have to tell him about your little escapade the past few weeks. I don’t think he’s going to be too happy. Consequences.”
I nod. “I know. I’ll call him after breakfast.”
“Good,” she says, then goes back inside to start cooking.
Terrence and I return to sitting on the back step. We’re talking and laughing about the drama with Taj, then I hear a beep.
“Is that your phone?”
“Yeah, it’s a missed text message,” I say, pulling my cell out of my pants pocket. “It’s probably Jalisa or Diamond.” I look at the text and then start laughing. “Oh, my God, you’re not gonna believe this.”
“What, who is it?”
“It’s Taj.”
He starts laughing, too. “Let me guess, she wants her costume back.”
“Nope.”
“Good, ’cause I kinda like you in all that white,” he says, licking his lips and pulling me close.
I laugh and push away. I know he’s joking. “You’re never gonna believe this. She says that the reality show people saw what she sent them. They like it. They want her to do a pilot.”
“Just what we need—another stupid reality show on TV.”
“But wait, that’s not the best part. T
hey want me to be in it, too. It seems Taj and I have good opposing energy.” I can barely say the words without laughing.
“Are you kidding me?”
“No, that’s what she says, see?” I give him my cell phone and he reads the message.
“You gonna do it?” he asks, giving me the phone back.
“Nah, this right here is reality enough for me.”
“Yeah, me, too,” he says.
“Come on, let’s go eat. We have the whole day ahead of us and you never know what kind of drama is gonna happen next.”
* * * * *
ISBN: 9781459227071
Copyright © 2012 by Celeste O. Norfleet
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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