Little Divas (15 page)

sixteen

It was the
Saturday before Labor Day, the last weekend before school started, and Rikki was still on punishment. Aunt Honey agreed to let Golden and me stay the night, but only because we told her that we wanted to get up extra early and go to Sunday school. Daddy was taking me and Golden to the Labor Day weekend fireworks, and would drop us off at Rikki’s afterward.

We both rode downtown in the backseat. Golden reached into the back pocket of her jean shorts and handed me an envelope. It was blue, and I immediately recognized all the stamps.

I held it close and smelled. “Mmm…”

“Isn’t it cool?” Golden asked. “It reminds me of rain.”

I sniffed again. “In a way it does,” I said, and handed it back to her. “That’s nice.”

“I told Isabella about you,” Golden said as she put the envelope back in her pocket. “She says she’s got a friend that you can write to if you’d like.”

“Really?”

“Yup. She just turned thirteen, our age.”

“Okay, sure,” I said. But I was still twelve, and I couldn’t forget it.

Golden and I sat on a blanket, with Daddy in a folding chair behind us. The fireworks hadn’t begun yet, and we were chatting away while Daddy read from one of his computer manuals. Things had really changed between Daddy and me since the pool party. He was more serious about being a better father than I’d ever imagined he was going to be. I was still sore at him, but deep down inside I also knew that it must be hard for him to have me stay so angry at him. That bothered me.

“Ray,” we heard a female voice call. “Is that you?”

One look at her standing beside Daddy’s chair, and instantly I knew who she was.

Tall. Model thin. Long, black spiral curls. Red lipstick. A cute little black dress. Who in their right mind wears high heels to see fireworks? Toni was absolutely disgusting.

Daddy chuckled, and I could tell that he was nervous.

“Well, well, well,” he said. “Lookie here.”

With her head titled to the side, the oogly woman grinned, and then she winked. She eyed me before she looked back at Daddy. “And
this
must be your little girl. Cassidy, right?”

I snapped my eyes back to Daddy.

He scratched his eyebrow and laughed. Then he folded his hands across his chest and leaned back in his chair. “Yes, as a matter of fact. And, uh, also my neighbor’s little girl, Golden.”

“My,” Toni said, batting her eyes. “They’re adorable.”

I folded
my
arms across
my
chest, too. “And who’s this?” I asked.

Daddy twisted his neck and stretched until it made a popping sound. He started to say something, but a laugh came out instead.

Toni smiled a little too. “Protective, I see.”

“Yeah,” Daddy agreed. “That’s my pumpkin.”

Toni bent down and extended her hand for me to shake. A beautiful diamond bracelet was dangling from her wrist.

“Well,” she said to me as if I was a four-year-old, “I’m Toni. And I’m a friend of your father’s.”

I let my hand go limp as she shook it, and I could tell by the expression on her face that she noticed.

Golden extended her hand next. “And I’m Golden. The neighbor’s kid.”

The way Golden rolled her eyes at me, I knew she didn’t like Toni either.

Toni stood up again. “You ladies enjoy the show, okay?”

Daddy spoke on our behalf. “They will. Right, girls?”

Neither of us said a word.

Toni looked at Daddy. “They must be shy?”

He did that stupid chuckle that was starting to get on my nerves. “Uh, not really,” he said.

“Oh.” Toni sounded dry. Then she put her hand on her hip and tried to sound all energized again, all playful and friendly. “Well then, maybe they’re just sizing me up? Is that what it is, girls? Maybe you’d like to see my resume, huh?”

I looked her up and down, and I could sense Golden doing the same.

Toni burst out laughing. “Ray, this is hilarious,” she said. “They’re too grown up for me.”

Daddy did one of his dorky chuckles again.

“Well then.” Toni winked. “Not to worry, girls. I just wanted to say hello. Good to see you, Ray,” she added.

“Same here,” Daddy replied.

’“Bye,”
I broke in.

I felt a little guilty about calling Ms. Carol’s niece a chickenhead without really knowing her, but now, in a way, I was glad that Daddy
hadn’t
mentioned her to me. I guess if he ever does mention a new lady friend, that’ll mean that things are pretty serious. Thank goodness they’re not, now that I’ve met Toni. Eeewwww.

“Ouch!” Golden yelped as Rikki finished French braiding her hair.

“Sorry,” Rikki said. “Next time don’t use any spritz before you come over.”

Now Golden moaned as if she was disgusted. She continued talking about the subject at hand. “My first stepdad was the worst. Well, they were both half-wits, but he used to smoke these awful cigars. Freddy’s got asthma real bad, but he didn’t care.”

I grabbed a magazine and swung my legs over the arm of the La-Z-Boy.

Rikki held up a mirror so Golden could see how neat and pretty the braid going down her back was.

Golden stretched and craned her neck to see the reflection and smiled. “Cool,” she said.

Rikki went over to the washing machine and reached behind it. When she came back, she put the box in the middle of the floor, and we gathered around and folded our legs.

“So,” Rikki said. “What’d you bring?”

Golden reached over and grabbed her backpack off the couch. From it she pulled out a fancy gold box. Very carefully, she worked the red velvet bow off. And then she sat the box on the floor.

I read the script across the top. “Godiva,” it said.

“Chocolate heaven in a box,” Golden said. “But my mother says it’s
full
of sinful calories.”

“Good. Then it’s definitely contraband,” Rikki said.

Golden ran her fingers along the letters, her pink fingernail polish now old and chipped. “Guh-die-vuh,” she pronounced the name.

Rikki laughed a little. “Looks more like ‘go diva’ to me.”

Golden giggled too. “Hey, we could call it that,” she said.

Rikki nudged me, “What do you think, Cass?”

I couldn’t believe it. Rikki had finally used my nickname.

I nodded. “Right,” I said. “I like that.”

“Diva,” Golden said. “It’s kinda like saying you’re cool, huh?”

“And that you’re not gonna let anyone push you around,” I said.

“Divas never do,” Rikki said.

“And it’s saying we’re clever.”

“And we’ve got style.”

“And we’re not nerdy.”

“And the boys like us.”

“The cute ones.”

“The ones who are going places.”

“Right.”

“Right.”

“Right.”

We all laughed.

I thought for a second. “But that doesn’t mean we’re stuck-up, does it?”

Golden took a piece of candy out of the box. “Nope.”

Rikki added, “Mary says there’s a fine line between thinking highly of yourself and thinking you’re all that.”

“We must never cross that line,” I said.

“Never.”

“Never.”

We all clinked pieces of chocolate together in the air.

I noticed Golden’s hands again and said, “I could do your nails if you want.”

Golden looked down at her nails, and I could tell that she hadn’t realized how ragged they looked.

“Yes, please,” Rikki said to Golden. “Let her.”

“Okay.”

The candy was so smooth, and the caramel in the middle was impossibly creamy. I couldn’t
believe
how delicious it was. It was so good that I hummed as I chewed.

Tap. Tap.

Rikki groaned, got up, and ran over to the window. After Mary had pushed it open, she threw her sandals in first so as not to get mud on the table, and Rikki held her hands to help her in. The late night air came in with her, and Rikki hurried to close and re-lock the window. Soon it would be autumn.

Mary was smiling.
“¡Hola,
ladies!”

“¡Hola!”
we replied.

“Whatever,” Rikki snapped. “What took you so long?”

Mary took a deep breath as she went into the laundry room to change.

Rikki gave Golden a look as she joined us back in the circle. She whispered, “Watch when she comes back out—she’s gonna try to act all romantic.” Rikki called out to Mary, “This ain’t
The Young and the Restless,
you know. You ain’t Drucilla.”

When Mary came back, now in her flowered pajamas and looking like she’d been in the basement the entire evening, she stood in front of our special box and let out a long sigh.

“Cassidy,” Mary said with a soft smile, “I heard the news. Look at it this way, at least you’re gonna get to write poems every day at school.”

Golden and Rikki were looking at me sympathetically. We’d been avoiding the subject of school all evening.

Mary continued, “You should be happy that you’re getting to go to one of the finest schools in the state. You’ll get to study some of the finest poets that ever lived. Langston Hughes. Rita Dove. Walt Whitman. Jessica Care Moore. Emily Dickinson…”

“Good,” I said. “Hopefully I’ll have plenty of homework to keep me busy, since I’ll probably never have fun again.”

“Have you talked to Travis?” Mary wanted to know.

“No,” I said. “I’ve had
nothing
all week. Today is my first day out of the house.”

Mary fluttered her eyes and shook her head, “You’ll see Travis again. Trust me, kiddo. When people care about each other, they find a way to stay in touch. You’ll see.”

Was that a tear in Mary’s eye? I couldn’t tell for sure.

“Yeah, Cass,” Golden said. “Even friends.”

“That’s right,” Rikki agreed. “Going to different schools will
never
keep us apart.”

And still, Mary looked sad. Not caring what Rikki had to say or how she felt, I went ahead and said what I’d been wanting to say for a very long time. “Mary, you’re my favorite poet.”

Mary just laughed a little. “Yeah, well.” She shook her head. “That’s real sweet of you to say, Cassidy. You’re gonna do great at Clara Ellis.”

I watched Mary as she meticulously wiped off her lip gloss with a Kleenex. And then, with a fat pink brush, she slowly wrapped her hair around her head. She tied it up with a silk scarf, looking so mellow and relaxed. Where in the
world
had she and Archie gone? What had they done?

Mary laughed. “Why are you guys looking at me like that?”

Rikki’s nostrils were flared. “What happened tonight?” she demanded.

“Archie,” Mary told us, “is such a gentleman.”

Rikki gasped and acted like she was suffocating. “I’m gonna choke if you don’t stop with the soap opera!”

Mary ignored her and said, “Listen to what I’m getting ready to tell you, okay, ladies?”

“We’ve been
listening,”
Rikki interjected, “all the while since you got here. You ain’t said nothing yet.”

As usual Mary was not at all affected by Rikki’s attitude. “Young ladies,” she said, “have to be prepared. You never know. Just be ready, okay?”

With that, Mary dropped something inside the contraband box that landed with a soft thud. Rikki, Golden, and I peered over. Together we stared down into the land of smuggled goods, and then back at one another.

Both of my friends’ eyes confirmed just what I was feeling. Complete and unimaginable shock. It was the kind of amazement that grabs you around the throat and makes it hard to swallow, makes you even forget how to do so, or even that you should.

Mary said, “Nobody ever did this for me, okay?”

In gym class Mrs. Watson had given us all pamphlets on sex and made us watch long movies about protection, but this was real life, not some woman in a polyester suit using big boring words. Touching one of those things would be a sin in itself. They were the ultimate contraband.

Surely Uncle Lance, who was upstairs sleeping, would awaken and beckon us to his throne a few miles down the road. We would kneel at the pulpit and repent for having thought of, looked at, and most definitely
touched
such a thing.

I sat motionless, ready to hear the sounds of Uncle Lance stirring upstairs.
Please don’t let him wake,
I prayed.

Rikki said, “Times are different now. Hardly no one waits until marriage anymore.”

Mary smiled. “It’s okay to wait,” she assured us. “Just, if you’re ever ready, and you’re
sure
you’re ready, be
ready,
you know what I mean? Maybe you’ll be someone who will wait until you get married. Good for you if you do.”

Mary’s words always had a way of making me feel better.

Then she ruined it. She started going on and on about diseases and getting pregnant, and all kinds of gross things. I just wanted her to stop, to shut up. I could not
believe
what she was saying. I was hoping, praying, that what Mary was talking about was not why she had snuck out tonight.

And whatever happened to Paul Bunyan?

“It’s exactly what Daddy always preaches about.” Mary sat down on the couch and clasped her hands together. “Our bodies are our temples, and we have to treat them with love and respect.”