Can't Stop the Shine

  “What do you mean if? You don’t think I can do it?”

  “I do, but you know you gotta do something about that stage presence. I mean the dead fish act ain’t gon’ work.”

  “Shut up, Malcolm. When I tried to talk to you, get your advice about this weeks ago, you were too busy. Now you wanna give me some advice ’cause you think you know so much from being signed for a few weeks? Please.”

  “Go on then. Be a fool,” he said. “Don’t listen to me. I bet I know one thing. I know what a true artist is, and I know what it takes to go eight times platinum like Nelly, and that’s where I’m going. Not back to Morris Brown, not back to deejaying in those hole-in-the-wall spots. I’m ’bout to release some albums and blow up.”

  “Right, right,” said Kalia sarcastically. “You’ve really got the big head now.”

  “I know what I’m talking about. And you can roll with all that ‘I’m talented’ crap all you want. But that ain’t gonna get you far ’cause it’s a lot of talented people out there who never get past their church choir. It’s the game you play that gets you in the right circle to meet the right people to get you to the next circle, and you gotta look the part,” he said, pulling his earlobe, which she just noticed had a small stud in it. She wondered if what looked like diamonds in it were real.

  “You’re certainly not the same guy I met months ago,” said Kalia, pushing her plate away, her appetite gone.

  “Why do you keep saying that? I know that, and I’m happy about it. You should be, too. Hold up, is that?…That is Keith,” said Malcolm, getting up from the table. “I’ll be right back, baby.”

  Kalia sat at the table, cursing herself out. Feeling around in her purse for her cell phone, her hand brushed against the condom. I must be an idiot, she thought, scrolling through her cell phone book, wondering who she could call. There’s no way in the world Malcolm will ever get in these pants. How could he treat me like this on Valentine’s Day of all days? Emotionally overloaded, she needed to talk to somebody, was ready to get out of there and felt as though she was going to burst into tears any minute. She needed a friend. She needed Dewayne.

  Dialing his cell, Kalia prayed he answered. It had been weeks since they’d had a nice long chat. He’s probably not doing anything anyway, she thought, just working on those silly comic book drawings. She was surprised when he didn’t answer. She didn’t bother leaving a message and dialed his home number as she saw Malcolm slide into a booth already filled with four women. Dewayne’s home number was ringing, Malcolm was leaning into the ear of one of the women, and Kalia’s anger and frustration were escalating toward uncontrollable.

  Where the hell is he? she wondered, slamming her phone shut. She looked around the restaurant and realized no one was paying her one bit of attention, not Malcolm, not other diners—the waitress hadn’t even bothered to come back to check and see if she needed something. Kalia threw her phone in her purse, got up from the table and walked quickly out the front door. Thank God she’d taken her mother’s advice and always traveled with twenty dollars just in case she needed to catch a cab home. She walked to the hotel across the street and jumped in a taxi. It was her first time in one by herself, so she was a little nervous, but she told the driver her home address and gave him specific directions in the most authoritative voice she could muster.

  “Isn’t that your phone ringing?” Mari asked Dewayne.

  “Yeah, it’s just Kalia. I’ll call her back later. Do you wanna finish watching this movie or what?” He leaned back on the sofa. They’d been watching Drumline at his house, which she wasn’t really that excited about, since she’d seen it at least a dozen times.

  “I guess,” she said, getting up and walking around the living room, looking at pictures of his family. “Y’all look so much alike.”

  “Who?”

  “Everybody in your family,” she said, picking up a photo of Dewayne, his parents and his brother, Spencer, and sitting back down on the sofa. Dewayne took the picture from her and stared at it intently.

  “Wow. I haven’t really looked at this picture in a long time. It’s gotta be about ten years old. See that scar on Spence’s chin?” he asked, pointing to his deceased brother. “About two weeks before this was taken, he’d gotten in this big fight at school, really because of me and this kid named Victor.”

  “What happened?” Mari asked, curling up in the corner of the sofa.

  “Okay, now, you can’t laugh if I tell you,” Dewayne said, putting the picture on the low table in front of them.

  “I promise. I won’t.” She grinned.

  Dewayne told her how much he loved Halloween as a kid because he was able to dress up like his favorite superhero, Blade. When he was in second grade, he won his classroom contest for best costume, and he thought that because all the kids loved him so much as Blade that he should be Blade every day, so the next day, he stuffed his costume in his book bag and changed into it in the school bathroom. The kids in his class were so excited about his costume that he lied to his teacher, telling her he didn’t have any more clothes into which to change. Everything was going great until lunchtime. When he strutted into the lunch line in his tight black polyester shirt and faux leather pants, with the tails of his pleather trench coat flapping behind him, the older kids on the other side of the lunchroom burst into laughter. His brother, a sixth grader at the time, took him to his teacher and made him change his clothes, which were stuffed in the bottom of his book bag. The trouble came after school when all the kids were waiting for the bus and Victor, a classmate of Spence’s, spotted Dewayne and started clowning him.

  “I kept sticking my tongue out at him and of course Spence stood up for me,” said Dewayne, smiling. “He probably wouldn’t have gotten into a fight at all if I hadn’t called Vic’s mama an ugly crackhead.”

  “Woo-wee, no you didn’t.”

  “I didn’t even really know what a crackhead was. I’m sure it was just something I’d heard on In Living Color or something. You remember that show?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” said Mari, barely able to stifle her laughter.

  “But he was really mad because his mama really was a crackhead. How was I supposed to know that?”

  Mari laughed so hard she fell off the sofa and rolled on the floor.

  “You said you weren’t going to laugh.” Dewayne chuckled, helping her up off the floor.

  “Okay, now you know that was funny. You called somebody’s mama a crackhead and she really was. How could I not laugh? Ooh, I’m sorry,” said Mari, cracking up again. “So how did he get Spence into it?”

  “Oh, Vic called me a faggot after I talked about his mama and Spence ran over and just jumped on him. That scar he got is nothing compared to how bad he beat up Vic. They both got suspended for like a week, but nobody ever messed with me again.”

  “How you gonna get your brother suspended like that? Over a Blade costume? So you’ve always been really into this comic book stuff, huh?” Mari asked.

  “Yeah, I really have,” said Dewayne. “I guess I’ve always kind of liked fantasy and mystery. Hey, you wanna see something?’

  “Sure.”

  “Okay, well, you gotta come upstairs.”

  Stepping into Dewayne’s room was like entering an alternative universe where all things fantastical and tech-oriented ruled. His space was harried. Clothes were just slung into the closet any kind of way; video games, CDs and comic books were heaped in towering stacks in several corners. His bed was unmade, and he had a bunch of computer, video game and gadget equipment with a million different wires and cords in a huge snaky mass on top of and around his twenty-seven-inch television.

  Dewayne started picking up clothes, CDs and comic books as soon as he walked in the room, throwing everything in the closet and straightening up the bed as Mari surveyed the room with her hands on her hips.

  “You need to get Mr. Clean up in here. This place is a mess,” she said, sitting in the chair at his desk.

  “I don’
t think you’re going to win any awards for the most spotless room in America,” said Dewayne, straining to close the door of his overstuffed closet. “Don’t look at me like that. I’ve seen you do this a million times.”

  “Ah, shut up,” she said, walking over to the window. “Let me see what kind of view you’ve got here. Hey, there’s my mother.” Mari watched her mother walk carefully down the front steps in a red dress coat and red heels.

  “I wonder where she’s going in all that red,” she said. “Her hair’s all done and she’s got lipstick on.”

  “It is Valentine’s Day, dummy,” said Dewayne, turning on his computer.

  “Yeah, but she and my daddy haven’t been getting along too well for the last few months. As a matter of fact, he’s at work right now.”

  “Well, maybe he called her and told her to meet him someplace, like a surprise or something.”

  “That would be great,” Mari mumbled dreamily, watching her mother drive up the street. She turned back toward Dewayne, who was busy typing away on his computer. “I know you didn’t bring me up here to ignore me.”

  “No, no, this is what I wanted to show you. Come here.” He motioned her over, got up and let her sit at the computer as he sat on the floor. He spent the next half hour explaining how he wanted to develop his character the Chosen One into an online comic strip and possibly an animated film one day. Mari found herself strangely interested in his ideas and the Web sites he showed her and the entire complex life he’d created for his main character.

  “It’s like Batman and Gotham, but darker,” she surmised, getting up to stretch her legs. “I’m really feeling this, Dewayne. I’m so proud of you for not listening to Kalia. You’re really good. I can see this on the big screen.”

  “That’s probably a long time away, if ever.”

  “What are you talking about?” she said, thumping Dewayne in the head. “Between my sister, who’s going to be a famous singer, and you, a wealthy animation film producer, I’m gonna be set. I’ll be kicking it in Hollywood with Jamie Foxx and Vivica Fox.”

  “Slow down, slow down. Before you trip on the red carpet, I need to get the animation down first. That’s why I think I might want to go to film school.”

  “That’s a cool idea. You’ve really got a plan. Where did you come up with the name the Chosen One, anyway?”

  “Oh, that’s kinda from my brother,” he said, shutting down the computer. “You know, since he’s not around, I’m literally the chosen one—the one chosen to remain here in this universe.”

  Mari walked over to a bulletin board that had several sketchings pinned to it. “You really miss him, huh?”

  “Think about this,” Dewayne said, lying back on his bed with his hands behind his head. “Imagine if all of the sudden Kalia were gone. You were never going to see her again. You’d never argue with her about whose turn it is in the bathroom, who gets the car, anything. She’d just be gone.”

  Mari sat next to Dewayne on the bed. “I’ve never even considered that, but I guess I’d miss her, even though she gets on my last nerve most of the time.”

  “I’m telling you, you would,” he said, looking up at her.

  Suddenly Mari felt warm. Dewayne’s gaze and his closeness made her nervous. She got up quickly and walked back to the bulletin board and looked closely at one of the sketches. It looked familiar.

  “Who’s this? It looks kinda like Kalia, except I’ve never seen her in a ponytail,” she said.

  Dewayne bounced up off the bed and snatched the drawing down. “Oh, it’s nuthin’,” he said, trying to stuff it under his bed.

  “Wait, let me see it.” Mari giggled, grabbing it back. She huddled in a corner with it in front of her while he tried to tickle her.

  “Give it to me,” he said, spinning her around.

  “This is me, isn’t it?” She laughed and squirmed in his grasp. He stopped tickling her and rested his hands on her waist.

  “Yes, it’s you,” he said. “I drew that the other night, you know when we were at your house.”

  “For real?” Mari was not used to feeling weak. She hoped her knees wouldn’t give out as she stared at the drawing of herself, purposely avoiding looking up at Dewayne.

  “For real,” he said, lifting her chin with one of his fingers. Mari closed her eyes and accepted the sweetness of a first kiss. All of the blood rushed to her head as Dewayne pulled her closer into his chest and wrapped his arms around her. He picked her up and sat her on the desk as the kiss deepened. Mari wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back just as urgently as he was kissing her. When she felt his hands move down her sides, seemingly searching for somewhere else to go, her nerves got the best of her, and she broke his embrace and pushed him back away from her.

  “What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?” Dewayne panted, wiping his hand down the full length of his face.

  “No, no…it’s just that…that,” Mari stuttered, getting down off the desk and walking toward the window. “That was a lot…I didn’t really expect…”

  “Me neither, but…I’m glad it happened,” Dewayne said, leaning on the desk.

  Mari looked at the unmade bed and the image of the condom falling from Kalia’s papers popped into her mind. “Hey, let’s go back downstairs, okay?” she said, moving toward the door. “I want to see the end of Drumline. It’s the best part.”

  “Cool, but come here. I want to tell you something,” said Dewayne.

  “Can’t you tell me from where we are? I’m cool over here,” said Mari, gripping the doorknob.

  “Come here, girl. I ain’t gonna do nuthin’ to you.”

  Mari walked over to Dewayne. He took her hand and said, “Look, I want you to know that I really like you, and I respect you, so I’m not trying to do anything that you’re uncomfortable with.”

  Those words and the peck he placed on her forehead were the best Valentine’s Day Mari’d had since she’d gotten the most Valentine’s Day cards in her second-grade class.

  On the way to school the next morning, she chatted about everything in the world except Dewayne to Kalia, even though she was dying to tell her about their kiss. She had no idea what her sister’s reaction was going to be, so instead she asked her about how her date went with Malcolm. That ended any conversation for the rest of the trip, so she guessed Kalia didn’t have the best Valentine’s Day. After school, she and Colby spent hours in her room, analyzing every detail of her night with Dewayne. Colby had a great Valentine’s Day, too. Sean had come over with a basket of baby gifts and a big box of chocolates for her.

  They were so caught up in their great dates that they didn’t even hear Kalia sobbing in her pillow across the hall. Kalia walked around like a zombie for most of the week. She didn’t sing or play one note. When her parents or Mari asked her what was wrong, she told them she’d caught a cold and just wanted to be left alone. What she really wanted was to talk to Dewayne about Malcolm. Dewayne came to the house a couple of times, but he and Mari were always watching movies or talking about some animation project. She sat stewing in her room, wondering why he was spending so much time with Mari—after all, he was her best friend.

  One day she heard them laughing across the hall, and she couldn’t take it anymore, so she marched right over to Mari’s room and burst through the door.

  “Not that we were in here doing anything, but you could have knocked,” said Mari from the floor where she was sorting CDs.

  “What’s up, K? Is something wrong?” Dewayne asked.

  Now that she’d made such a production of her entrance, Kalia was unsure of what to do next. “Uh no…well, I just wanted to talk to Dewayne for a minute,” she said, fidgeting with the doorknob.

  “There he is, the Great Chosen One. Speak your mind,” said Mari with a grand sweeping gesture.

  “Dewayne, can I talk to you in private?” Going back to her room and sitting on her bed waiting, Kalia heard her sister say, “You better go. It seems you’ve been summoned.”<
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  Dewayne answered, “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.” He loped through the door, sat down at her desk and gave her his undivided attention. “So what’s the deal? What’s wrong with you?”

  “Oh, nothing really,” she said, trying to play it off. Now that she had Dewayne all to herself, she wondered why she wasn’t getting that same feel from him—like he really wanted to hear what she had to say, whatever it was.

  “Then why did you want to talk to me? The only time you ever do is if something is wrong with you. So what’s the deal? You can’t figure out what you want to sing for the Fire show? You haven’t told your parents you want to go to Juilliard? Malcolm did something? What is it?”

  “Why are you talking to me like that? All hard,” she asked, getting up and rearranging the makeup on her vanity.

  “Look, I’m not trying to be hard.” Dewayne softened. “What’s up? Really? I really wanna know.”

  Kalia started tearing up. She spilled her whole Valentine’s Day story to Dewayne, who patiently sat and listened. When she was done, he told her that he thought Malcolm was disrespecting her, but even worse, that she was disrespecting herself by staying with him.

  “I know, I know, but he was so sweet when we met, and after he got his deal he just started trippin’.”

  “So you gotta let this punk go. You’re about to do your thing in the contest, too, then you’re going off to college somewhere. You really don’t need to be thinking about some cat who’s not treating you right,” said Dewayne, standing up. “There’s plenty of dudes out there who’ll wanna get with you. You know love is in the air.”

  “Wait, where are you going, and what are you talking about love is in the air? For who?”

  “Oh, I’m just talking,” he said, smiling.

  “Why are you so smiley? What do you have to be so happy about?”

  “You don’t really want to know ’cause it has to do with the Chosen One and how I hooked up with this guy who’s a professional animator at this gallery I went to the other day.”

  “Oh, that’s nice, but can we talk about that after we figure out what to do about Malcolm?” Kalia asked.