Can't Stop the Shine (13 page)

By the time she got to the front door, Dewayne was down the steps and loping across the front yard. She'd wanted to apologize to him for looking at his sketchbook and for putting him in a situation where he'd see Kalia with Malcolm, but he was gone. She stood in the doorway for a long time looking out into the night, wondering how bad Dewayne was feeling and wishing just as much that she could make it go away.

 

“So how was it?” Mari asked her sister on the way to school Monday morning. “I waited all weekend for you to tell me about it. So, how was it?”

“How was what?” Kalia smirked.

“Okay, stop with the games, missy. How was it with Malcolm, a college man?”

“You say that like he's a hundred years old or something.”

“Well, he sure ain't no boy.”

“He sure ain't,” Kalia agreed.

“What does that mean?” Mari giggled, pulling down her visor to roll on some ChapStick.

“Nothing. Just that he's got plans for the future, you know? He's a grown-up.”

“Are you included in these future plans?”

“I don't know, Mari. Get out of my business.” Kalia was trying hard not to smile, but just the thought of Malcolm made her heart jump.

“Ooh wee, girl. You're in love,” Mari teased, tightening her ponytail.

“What? What are you talking about? How can I be in love after only one date? You're really exaggerating.”

“Umm, hmm, so why can't you stop smiling?”

“It's a lovely morning,” said Kalia. “Just look at the sun shining. Listen to the birds singing.”

“It could be a hurricane outside and you'd think it was a great day,” said Mari as they drove by a park where their parents used to take them to play when they were children. Mari remembered her parents sharing an ice cream as she and Kalia hung upside down on the monkey bars.

“Hey,” she said, “do you think that Ma and Daddy were giddy like you are after their first date?”

“I don't know. Probably not,” said Kalia. “Didn't Ma say that her brother had to go with them as a chaperone?”

“Oh yeah, I think she did. You're right. Grandma would have never let Ma go anywhere without Uncle Fred. I know we complain about them, but I sure am glad our parents aren't as strict as Grandma was. They couldn't go anywhere or do anything.”

“I know that's right.”

“Well, do you think they were happy when they first got married?”

Stopping at a light, Kalia turned and looked intently at her sister. “Why do you ask?”

“I really didn't want to tell you this,” started Mari, then she just turned and looked out of the window.

Kalia braced herself for the worse. She had no idea what her sister was going to say. “But?”

“K, the other night, I saw Daddy sleeping in the guest room.”

Kalia immediately turned back to the road, hoping Mari didn't see the worried look on her face.

“Maybe he was sick or something,” she said weakly. “It's getting chilly outside.”

“No. He wasn't sick. He had moved like his clothes and shoes in there and stuff. I think he's staying in there.”

“Umm, hmm.” Kalia had no idea what to say. She'd known her father was sleeping in the guest room for several weeks. Mari sat up in her seat and looked at Kalia.

“Did you know about this already?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Oh my God. Why didn't you tell me? How long has this been going on?” Mari's voice was raised.

“Just calm down, Mari. I don't really know. Maybe a couple of weeks or so.”

“A couple of weeks?” Mari screeched. “Oh my God. They're getting a divorce, aren't they?”

“I don't know,” Kalia shouted. “I don't know what's going on. I'm just as in the dark as you.”

Mari flopped back in her seat and looked back out the window. Neither said anything for several minutes.

“How come people don't stay together anymore?” asked Mari. “Everybody's parents are divorced or were never married or something.”

“I wish I could tell you.”

“Does it even make sense to like a guy? I mean what's the point?”

“I don't know, Mari, but you know, maybe they won't get a divorce. Maybe they're just going through something and it's gonna work out.”

“It didn't work out for anybody else's parents. I don't want to live with Ma and have to go and visit Daddy in some crummy apartment somewhere. I've seen too many people go through that.”

“Mari, just slow up. We don't really know what's going on,” said Kalia, pulling up to East Moreland.

“So, how do you suggest we find out? ‘Hey, Ma. Hey, Daddy. Are you guys splitting up? If so I wanna stay with you, Daddy, 'cause you always bring home the popcorn shrimp from the Fish Fry.'”

“Look, I don't know what we're going to do, but getting all mad at me isn't going to help.”

Mari threw an evil look at Kalia and got out of the car, slamming the door so hard Kalia was surprised the window didn't break. As she watched Mari jog up the steps and down a cobblestone path toward one of the massive buildings on East Moreland's campus, she hoped her sister's day got better. In her heart though, she knew it wouldn't, because the rest of her day was filled with thoughts of visiting her parents in two different households. Skipping her first period, she knew the only thing that would make her feel better was locking herself in one of the practice rooms and belting out whatever came to mind. By the time she made it to her second period, psychology, she thought she'd sang and played all of the emotion out of her, but when the class discussion turned to one of the most successful therapy practices, marriage counseling, she felt a tear roll down her cheek.

Kalia was worried about her sister. She'd been acting strange for several weeks, wearing more makeup and clothes that showed a bit more skin. One day she caught her in heels. Mari never wore heels. She'd peeked in her room late at night and a few times, Mari wasn't even there. She'd tried to ask her if everything was all right, but every time she did, Mari would brush her off with an “I'm fine, why don't you go somewhere and find Malcolm?” She was just impossible to talk to.

When Kalia was invited to Colby's surprise birthday party, which Shauntae was throwing, she was encouraged. At least maybe she could see what Mari was up to. As she and Malcolm drove into the mixed-income apartment complex where Shauntae lived, Kalia said a silent prayer that she would be able to get her sister to talk to her that night. They walked into the community center and surveyed the crowd. There were about a hundred teens, dancing and kicking it to hip-hop too loud to be heard over.

“I'm gonna hit the food,” Malcolm shouted. “You want something?”

“Uh, not right now. I'ma try to find Colby and Mari.”

“All right. I'll catch up to you,” he said, dipping off.

Kalia stood on the edge of the party, looking for her sister. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she turned to see a very mellow Shauntae.

“Happy birthday to Colby,” she sang, throwing her arms around Kalia's neck. Half holding her up, Kalia wondered what was up with Shauntae. Pulling back and looking at her bloodred eyes, she knew.

“Are you all right?” she asked Shauntae, leaning her back against a wall.

“I'm cool as polar bear's toenail,” slurred Shauntae, flinging one hand in the air.

“Umm, hmm. I think you need to sit down.”

“What I need is to get my sip on. Let me find my hookup,” said Shauntae, taking careful steps toward the dance floor.

“Hey, wait. Where's Colby? And have you seen my sister?”

“The birthday girl is probably getting her birthday present from Sean. I saw them in the car a few minutes ago and um, um, um.” Shauntae giggled uncontrollably.

“Okay,” said Kalia, “but where's Mari?”

“Where there's a Qwon, there's a Mari,” sang Shauntae and disappeared into the throng of sweating bodies.

Malcolm walked up, handing Kalia a soda. “It's a lot going on here at this party. Three dudes tried to sell me some smoke on the way back over here.”

“Yeah. Shauntae is high and probably drunk. I really want to find Mari,” said Kalia, looking around and dialing Mari's cell number, which went to voice mail. “I hate caller ID. She never answers when I call her.”

She and Malcolm went walking through the dance floor, looking at every couple, but were unable to locate her sister. He motioned for them to go out back. There was a haze of smoke behind the center. Kalia saw Qwon pushing up on a girl who had her back against the wall. The closer she got, the more she dreaded finding out the girl's identity, especially when she saw Qwon slide his hand underneath the girl's jacket. Sure enough, it was her sister.

“What should I do?” she asked Malcolm, her eyes fixed on Mari, who was locking lips with Qwon.

“I don't really know, babe. I mean she's just getting her kiss on.”

“Yeah, but it's behind a building at a smoked-out party. What if the police show up?”

“Good point. This isn't the best 'hood,” he said. “I think you've got yourself an excuse to break it up.”

Kalia walked slowly toward Qwon and Mari, hoping that her sister would see her before she had to say something. No such luck.

“Mari,” she whispered.

They kept kissing, and Qwon's hands were inching down Mari's back.

“Mari!”

Her sister broke from Qwon and looked around his shoulder. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Kalia was startled by red lipstick smeared all across Mari's face and chin. “Uh…I was invited,” she said sheepishly.

“Well, what do you want? Can't you see I'm busy here?” she said, rubbing Qwon's chest. Qwon had his face buried in Mari's neck.

“I think we need to get out of here.”

“Why? I'm chillin'. If you wanna leave, be out.” She turned back to Qwon.

“Mari, everybody's smoked out here. What if the police show up? You know they'll be over here.”

Mari stopped nuzzling Qwon and thought for a second.

“You wanna have to call Elaine and Ronald from a cell tonight?” asked Kalia.

“All right, all right,” Mari said, trying to disengage herself from Qwon, but he wasn't letting go.

“Aw, baby,” he said, “don't let your sister tell you what to do. Stay here with me.” He was kissing her on her neck and holding her tight.

“Naw, Qwon. I gotta jet,” said Mari, pushing against his chest.

“I ain't letting you go,” Qwon said, getting a firmer grip on her. He turned to Kalia with burning anger to go with his burning eyes. His face was covered in red lipstick, too. “You need to get the hell on. Me and your sister got some unfinished business.”

“I think you're done for the night,” said Malcolm, stepping to Qwon. “Let her go, man.”

“Who the fuck are you?” said Qwon, letting Mari go and eyeing Malcolm, who was a bit shorter than him, but much more built.

“You don't need to know all that. Come on, Mari,” said Malcolm, turning around and walking toward the community center.

All of the sudden Qwon ran up on Malcolm and grabbed him behind the neck.

“Oh my God,” yelled Kalia.

“Qwon, get off him,” screamed Mari.

Malcolm flipped Qwon over his shoulder from the back, and they both went tumbling down a grass hill behind the center. By the time Mari, Kalia and a dozen other people made it down the hill, Malcolm was on top of Qwon pummeling his face.

“Daamn,”
said one drunken girl, weaving back and forth. “Qwon gettin' hiss aaass whooped.” Oohs and cheers emanated from the growing crowd. People were grimacing, pointing and putting their fists to their mouths like they were watching a Mike Tyson fight.

“Malcolm, stop. Let's go,” Kalia said, trying to grab his arm midpunch. The next thing she knew, she was laying on her back in the grass and her head was throbbing.

“Kalia,” screamed Mari, running over to her sister.

“Aw shit,” said Malcolm, dropping a bloody, punch-drunk Qwon in a dirt patch and rushing to Kalia. He picked her up, started kissing her face and apologizing for hitting her.

“That's okay, baby. I know you didn't mean it,” said Kalia, putting one arm behind his neck and her other hand over her right eye.

“I'm so sorry, Kalia. I didn't mean for this to happen,” said Mari, even though she was looking back over her shoulder at Qwon.

“Let's just go home,” said Kalia.

“Okay. I'll let Colby know we're leaving,” she said, running up the hill.

By the time Malcolm got Kalia into the car, Mari was back, and Shauntae was following her. She leaned up to the passenger window making faces at Kalia.

“Your man knocked the shit out of you, huh?” She laughed. “That'll teach your prissy ass.”

“Mari, let's go,” said Malcolm, getting in the driver's seat.

“Shauntae, move out the way,” said Mari, opening the back door.

“Why you leaving, girl? It's 'bout to get good now. My boy is bringing the real fire.”

“I'm out,” said Mari, slamming the door and rolling down the window. “If you see Colby, tell her I said happy birthday.”

Dancing in the street by herself, Shauntae didn't even answer her. Her blue jean micro-miniskirt was twisted all the way around, and her tight green sweater was hanging off one shoulder. Watching Shauntae stumbling and dancing back toward the party as they drove off, Mari swore to herself that she'd never party so hard that she ended up looking that much of a mess.

 

It had been a few days since Kalia practiced what she was going to sing for the preliminary round of Who's Got That Fire? and she had a rehearsal that day. Her head had been hurting so bad since Malcolm had accidentally hit her that she'd been unable to study for her upcoming finals or sing, but she really wanted to that day. For the last couple of days, the twenty constants had been scheduled to rehearse with the stage band that was going to back them during their performance in a few weeks.

Arriving at Fire Records for her session, she said a silent prayer that God would free her from her headache, so she'd be able to rehearse. She signed in and was ushered into a waiting room. She'd just picked up an
Upscale
magazine when a striking woman floated into the room and sat down, gracefully crossing her legs. Holding up the magazine in front of her face, Kalia peeped over it to see the woman dialing a number on her cell phone. She had on an ocean-blue kimono-type top that split right above her navel and flowed to the floor. Her low-waisted, wide-legged jeans revealed a silver belly chain and black pointy-toe boots with stiletto silver heels. Chatting on the phone in low tones, she flipped her long jet-black, bone-straight hair out of her furry maroon scarf and fake-smiled at Kalia who smiled back and pretended to be all up in the
Upscale.

The woman hung up the phone, looked at her fingernails, brushed off her jeans and seemed annoyed that she had to wait. Without even a hello, she asked Kalia, “Have you been waiting long?”

“Uh, well, about twenty minutes,” she said, wondering if she was a stylist or a singer already signed to Fire.

“Well, they need to come on. I can't be here all day. My trainer's waiting,” the woman said to nobody in particular. She turned back to Kalia. “Are you here for the contest? Do you have your rehearsal session scheduled today?”

Kalia hoped the shock didn't register on her face. She couldn't believe this well-put-together woman was in high school. “Are you a contestant?” she asked.

“Yes, I am,” she said curtly. “Sooo…you're here for the rehearsal, right? What time was yours supposed to start?”

“I think five-thirty,” said Kalia, “but they did say they were running late. I guess that's the business, you know?”

“Umm, hmm,” said the girl, dialing her phone again. Kalia went back to pretend reading her
Upscale.
“Pierce, this is Asha. I'm going to be late,” she heard as she watched her competition get up and walk into the hallway.

Asha,
she thought.
That must be Mari's classmate Asha.
A strange resolve came over Kalia. Initially she'd felt outmatched when she first saw how together Asha's style was, but she also remembered that Mari had been bragging about beating her lately in cross-country.

When Asha came back in, Kalia struck up a conversation.

“So do you go to East Moreland?”

“Well, yes. How did you know that?” asked Asha.

“I heard you say your name on the phone, and my sister goes there.”

Asha looked at Kalia intently. “Oh, you're Mari's sister, huh?” She looked down her nose at Kalia again from head to toe.

Kalia didn't know how to take this immediate hostility. She hadn't done anything to this girl. She was just about to say something—she didn't know what—when her name was called from outside the door.

“Break a leg, puleeze,” she said on her way out the door.

“Not if you trip first,” said Asha, twisting her mouth and crossing her legs.

Walking down the hall behind yet another thin, but well-endowed video girl assistant, Kalia was determined not to let Asha throw her off her game. She strolled through the door and onto the stage like she owned it. Realizing her headache was gone, she made her rehearsal count.

 

Kalia was a nervous wreck. It was noon, and she was supposed to be at Fire at 6:30. For the rest of the day, she needed to concentrate on relaxing her mind, and she knew just who could help her get in the right mood. Kalia peered around the half-open door into her parents' room and saw her mother in the bed, her head half covered by the bedding. Hoping her mother was finished napping, she knocked softly.

“Come in,” said Elaine sleepily, stirring a bit.

“Are you sleeping?” Kalia asked quietly, crawling into bed next to her mother.

“Umm, not really.”

“So how are the plans for the yoga studio coming?”

“Fine,” said Elaine, pulling her head from under the covers to look at her daughter. “I've found a location, and I hope to be starting classes in the next few months. I've even come up with a name, the Studio of Love, Peace and Soul. What do you think?”

Kalia smiled at her mother. She loved seeing her in the creative mode.

“I love it, Ma,” she said, wrapping herself around the pillow she hadn't seen her daddy sleep on in weeks. “Speaking of peace, I need to relax.”