A Girl Like Me (12 page)

Track 15

“E
lite and Naja,” Thelma said to us as she looked over the store's ledger, “I'm going to start to do the inventory.”

Instantly my heart dropped and I looked at Naja. I had so much stuff to return it was crazy.

“Why?” I hoped she couldn't sense the nervousness in my voice.

“Because some of our things have gone missing.”

“Missing?” Naja asked, surprised. “What?”

“Yeah, I'm hoping that it's misplaced or something.” I gave Naja an “I told you so look,” and then I said to Thelma, “Okay, if you want to do inventory, then no problem,” I smiled. “Less work for me.”

Thelma smiled back and then she walked into back of the store. “We gon' have to return that stuff,” I said to Naja.

“I know.”

I shook my head. “I hate I ever started doing that shit.”

“Me, too.”

“Are you closing this week?” Naja asked.

“No, but I hope to be soon.”

Track 16

I
t was spring break and school was closed all week because the teachers were having an in-service day. Which all added up to this: I could chill with Haneef extra hard!

And although I really couldn't afford it, I was still making payment arrangements with Ny'eem to pay him fifty dollars to see about the twins and Mica each time I hung with Haneef. I think my bill was reaching toward five hundred dollars. Whatever. Anyway, even though he kept the kids during the day, I came home at night. I didn't get it twisted.

However, early each day, I was always up, standing in front of Naja's house, and Haneef was always there to scoop me. We spent time at his apartment in the city, rode his boat, walked (with crazy security) through Central Park, and just straight chilled.

Often times I forgot he was a celebrity, until a screaming fan would come from nowhere and start crying his name, and then I would be like oh, yeah…I was walking with
the
Haneef.

We planned a real fly trip one day. Haneef chartered a small plane to fly us to Miami. I was thinking of palm trees, beach, and shopping! Scratched that, though. I wanted to say damnyummm…!

The only problem was I couldn't find Ny'eem that morning. I needed this li'l dude to bring his ass home. I'd deal with him later about where he'd gone and when he'd snuck out.

“What you gon' do?” Naja asked as I stood watching out the window and holding the telephone to my ear.

I hated stupid questions. If I knew what I was going to do, I would have been doing it. Right? “Naja,” I sighed, “don't ask me questions I can't answer.”

“I could always go in your place.”

“Don't play with me.”

She laughed. “Well you have to think of something.”

“I know…oh, and don't be telling my business to ya new homegirls, Samantha and Mecca, either.”

“What? Why you say that?”

“Because I don't like them being all in my business.”

“You think they're all in your business? I just thought they were in everybody else's business.”

“Naja, please.” My other line beeped. I looked at the caller ID and it was Ny'eem. “Hold on, this is Ny'eem.” I clicked over. “Where are you?!”

“I'm out making some moves.”

“Excuse me?” I said, taken aback. “Making moves doing what?”

“Minding my business,” he snapped. “Now look, I'ma be home later tonight.”

“Tonight! I need you home now. I need you to see about the kids.”

“Lately, I'm always with them kids. I swear, you and that li'l rap dude are taking advantage of me. Come on, give me a break!”

“I wanna go out for once and now you're complaining about you're always with them! Ny'eem, I oughta punch you in the face!”

“Man, please.”

“I'm always with those kids!” I screamed.

“Well, then it shouldn't be that hard for you to be with them today, because I'm not gon' be home.” And he clicked off.

I clicked back over and screamed at the top of my lungs! I could hear Naja scrambling with the phone. “What the hell was that?!” she spat. “I think you just broke my eardrum.”

“He said he's not coming home!”

“What?” she said. “He's moving out?”

“No, I mean today.”

“He's moving out for a day? Huh? I'm confused.”

I blew out a slow string of air. “Ahhhh!!!!!” I screamed again. “Dang, Naja, he can't babysit.”

“Well damn, you can calm down. That's all you had to say in the first place. All that other stuff was extra.”

“Anyway…”

“Yeah, anyway, what you gon' do?”

“Uhmmmm…” I shook my head. “Can you…?”

“Can I what?”

“Maybe, like baby—”

“Oh no, I'm sorry. I don't do kids.”

Before I could respond, my other line beeped. I looked at the caller ID and it was Haneef. “Hold on,” I sighed. “Hello.”

“Dang, Li'l Ma,” Haneef said. “Why you sound like somebody just robbed you?”

“Because they did.”

“Huh?” he said, put off.

“Look, Haneef…I can't go. My brother just said he can't keep the kids—”

“What kids? I thought you said you didn't have any children.”

“Children? I don't have any children. I mean my sisters and brother.”

“Where's your mother?”

“Uhm…working…yeah…at the…at the…bus station.”

“Bus station?” I could hear the confusion in his voice. “I thought she was a nurse?”

Damn, I forgot that lie. “Yeah, that's what I mean. And my dad—”

“Isn't he dead?”

Dang, how the heck did I forget that, too? This lying was a hot mess. “Look, the bottom line is I can't go because there's no one here to keep my sisters and brother, and I can't leave them home alone.”

“Bring them with you.”

“Excuse me?” I wasn't sure I'd heard him right. “Say that again.”

“Bring them with you. It'll be fun. Instead of flying to Miami, I'll tell the pilot that we'll go to Disney World.”

“Are you serious?”

“Elite,” he said, sounding sweet as ever, “it's cool. Bring them.”

“Oh…uhmmm…”

“I'm not taking no for an answer.”

“Haneef…”

“I'm serious. Just get them dressed.”

“Are you sure?”

“What did I just say?”

“Alright. How long before you come?”

“An hour—so hurry up.”

I wasn't sure if I said bye when I clicked off or not. And I was sure Naja had hung up, so I didn't even bother to call her back. Instead, I ran into the bedroom and screamed, “Get up!” The twins stirred and I pulled the covers off them. “Get up! We have somewhere to go.”

“Where?!”

“Disney World!”

They jumped out of bed and started screaming.

I ran in my mother's room that she never occupied and woke up Mica.

“Mica!”

He jumped up and the sheet he loved to hang on to wrapped around his body like a tape.

“Help me,” he mumbled.

I untangled him. “We're getting' ready to go.”

“Go where?”

“Disney World.”

“Hot damn!”

I balled up my fist. “What I tell you about cussin'?!”

“I'm sorry.”

“You better be. Now get up. We're going out.”

Forty-five minutes later the kids were in short sets and sweaters. I had on a pair of cargo capris and a matching tee.

By the time we walked to the entrance of the building, every crackhead who lined the hall looked at us like we'd lost our minds. “It's cold outside,” my mother said as she seemed to emerge from nowhere.

“I know,” I snapped, trying my best to move past her.

“We're going to Disney World,” Mica said.

Gary, who was standing beside my mother, fell out laughing. “You sure they ain't gettin' high?” And as usual, it was on.

“What I tell you about my kids?” my mother screamed. And we left them standing there.

It was cold outside and maybe we should've put on some jeans, but so what? We were going to Disney World, some place we'd only seen in magazines.

 

“Looka hear, my man.” Mica said, shivering cold, as Haneef's driver opened the back door to his Hummer. “Next time, come get us from the house. We shouldn't have to walk all the way down here. It's cold out here. Smell me?”

“Shut up!” I said tight-lipped, and mushed him slightly in the back of his head.

“You must be Mica,” Haneef smiled as Mica slid in the truck.

“Haneef!” Sydney jumped up and down. “Oh, my God!!!!! Wait 'til I call the girls in my class: Kennesha, Donnesha, Tamika, Theresa, Jona, Octavia—”

“See,” Aniyah did her best to whisper. “I told you she wasn't lying.”

“Funny,” I grimaced. “And I told you all that you better behave, and don't talk too much—”

“Chill,” Haneef laughed, seemingly getting a kick out of them. “They're alright.”

“Yeah,” Sydney snapped. “Didn't we leave Mommy in the hallway?”

Oh…kay. I saw I was gonna have to handle this crew. Maybe bringing them with me was a bad idea. “Be quiet,” I pointed. “Now look out the window.”

“Ill,” Sydney whispered loudly. “She actin' real stank.”

I looked at them and shot them such a serious evil eye, it's a wonder I didn't burn a hole through their chests.

“Okay,” Sydney said, waving her hands in defeat. “We get it, we get it.”

“Fa' real,” Aniyah added. “No need in being all extra.”

Once we were all in the car and on our way to the airport, Haneef asked, “So have you guys ever been on a plane before?” He slyly pulled me next to him by my belt loop and draped his arm over my shoulder. Oh…he felt so good.

After talking about how this was going to be our first plane ride, we laughed at some of Haneef's corny jokes, Sydney did what she could to secure herself a record deal, and I had to threaten Aniyah when she wanted to tell Haneef how much of a fan of his I really was.

Before we knew it, we were at a small airport in New York, ready to board the small chartered plane.

“Elite,” Mica whispered as he pulled the hem of my shirt. “I wanna ask you something.”

“What?”

“Sydney said that when it rains, that's people peein' outta airplanes. So you think we'll have time to change the weather from a bright sunny day to a stormy one?”

I did all could to not fall out laughing. “Mica, don't believe that.”

“It's not true?!” he said in disbelief.

“No.”

Tears filled his eyes. “So I drank all this water for nothing?” he said, exhausted. “I'm so tired of being lied to.”

 

When we boarded the plane, it resembled something out of a magazine, or better yet, something off
MTV Cribs
, just in the air and not on the ground.

There were about ten beige oversized leather recliners, and a glass bar stacked with juices, cakes, bagels, and donuts. There were two sixty-inch flat-screen TVs, a PlayStation, a Wii, at least a thousand games, and two DVD players with tons of movies. And the bathroom was bigger than the one we had at home. It even had a jacuzzi in it! A jacuzzi! On a plane! It was crazy.

“Dang!” Aniyah said in complete awe. “This cat must be pay'yaid!”

“Fa'sho,” Sydney said as she flopped back in the leather recliner and put her feet up. “You done good fa ya'self, Elite.” She animated her voice like an old country lady.

We all laughed and Haneef whispered, “Yeah Elite, you done real good.” He walked up behind me and kissed the back of my neck. Then he slid his left arm over my respective shoulder and slid his right hand in my side pocket, “You all wanna go and meet the pilot?” he asked my sisters and brother.

Their eyes popped open wide. “Yeah!”

“Ai'ight,” he said. “See that door?” he pointed. “His name is Pilot Mitchell and he's a real cool dude. We have a few minutes before takeoff, so he'll be happy to show you around.”

“Yay!” they cried as they skipped off. Once they were behind the pilot's door, I felt more like a mother watching her children than an older sister, especially knowing that the trip was something none of us would ever forget.

Once they disappeared from sight, Haneef turned toward me and held me by my waist. I slid my arms around his neck.

“You know, Mica reminds me of myself when I was his age,” he said.

“What? You walk around with a sheet, too?” I laughed.

“A sheet? What sheet?”

“Nothing, forget it. Finish telling me what you were saying.”

He kissed me lightly on the lips. “He reminds me of when I was a little boy and my brothers used to look out for me.”

“Really?” I kissed him back.

“Yeah, I used to go everywhere with my brothers, even when I didn't want to.” He kissed me again.

“Why?” I asked as our lip teasing turned into a passionate embrace.

“Ai'ight, ai'ight,” I said, breaking our lip lock and wiping my gloss from his mouth. “We need to stop.”

“Why?” he tried to kiss me again.