Deal With It

by Monica McKayhan

  Where R U?

  No reply.

  I stepped up to the box office at the movie theater.

  “Which movie did they see?” I asked the girls.

  “Some action-packed flick,” Jade said. “I don’t know the name of it.”

  I searched the movie board, looking for an action-packed movie that might have interested Vance. There weren’t any, except for some Bruce Willis film, and the last showtime was at noon. Everybody who was anybody was seeing Tyler Perry’s new movie, and according to the girl behind the counter, the previous showing had already ended.

  “It was over twenty minutes ago,” she said. “You wanna buy tickets for the next one?”

  “No, thank you,” I said and then joined my friends as they relaxed on a wooden bench outside of the theater.

  “What you wanna do?” Indigo asked. “We were thinking about going over to Applebee’s for some hot wings.”

  “That sounds good to me. Let’s go.” I tried to put a little enthusiasm in my voice. I didn’t need to be stressing over Vance. Instead, I was going to enjoy my Saturday, with or without him.

  At Applebee’s we took the large corner booth, and each of us ordered iced teas with wedges of lemon in them. After our server placed our drinks on the table, we ordered three sampler platters filled with potato skins, quesadillas and hot wings.

  The restaurant was full. Loud conversations and laughter filled the air. Our server was full of energy as she bounced from table to table, taking and filling orders. She wiped sweat from her forehead as she placed another glass of iced tea in front of me.

  “Thanks,” I said, and then she disappeared somewhere.

  “Guess who tried to talk to me after the game on Friday night.” Jade giggled.

  “Who?” Tymia asked, crunching on the ice left over in her glass.

  “Chocolate Boy?” Indigo asked teasingly, referring to Jade’s ex-boyfriend, Terrence Hill.

  “No! He’s history.” Jade frowned.

  “Y’all didn’t look like history at the party the other night,” Indigo said.

  “Whatever, Indi. I’m talking about Kendall Keller,” Jade said.

  “Kendall Keller, with the thick, pop-bottle glasses?” I had to ask.

  “They’re not that thick,” Jade announced.

  “What about the corny clothes and the ugly haircut?” Asia asked.

  Jade was silent for a moment, and then stated, “He plays varsity,” as if none of those other things mattered because of it. As long as he played varsity, it didn’t matter if he looked like the bottom of my shoe.

  “He plays varsity, but he rides the bench.” Indigo dipped her quesadilla into a small dish of guacamole and stuffed it into her mouth.

  “So what? I think he’s nice.” Jade smiled. “He has potential.”

  “He has a car,” Tymia stated matter-of-factly. “That’s a plus. And he’s a senior.”

  “And he just walked in,” Asia announced, and we all looked toward the door.

  “Ooh!” Jade hid behind a menu.

  “Why’re you hiding?” Indigo asked. “I thought he was nice.”

  “Don’t look now, but he’s coming this way,” I said.

  As Kendall moved our way, he was followed by two other boys from the basketball team—both of whom were professional bench riders. They were on the basketball team, but never got any playing time. They weren’t officially a part of the uncool crowd, but they weren’t anything worth looking at a second time.

  “Hey, Jade. How you doing?” Kendall asked as he stood next to our table. “You mind if we join you and your friends?”

  Jade looked at our faces, her eyebrows raised and with a look on her face that said, Is it okay?

  Before we could respond, the boys were pulling up chairs. Kendall squeezed in next to Jade. Lawrence Bell scooted way too close to me—I could actually smell his breath. Xavier Thomas wormed his way in between Indigo and Tymia.

  “I couldn’t remember if you said Applebee’s or TGI Friday’s,” Kendall said and grinned at Jade.

  It was obvious that the two of them had been talking. I’d never noticed, but Kendall had a nice smile, and his haircut wasn’t really that bad. It actually looked freshly cut. And he wore jeans that sagged, with a colorful Sean John shirt. The glasses were pretty thick, though.

  “Did y’all see Tyler Perry’s movie yet?” Xavier asked.

  “Saw it today,” Tymia responded. “What about y’all?”

  “I saw it on opening night,” Lawrence said. “It was good.”

  “It is my favorite Tyler Perry movie yet,” Xavier announced.

  “Mine is Why Did I Get Married? That one has lots of drama,” Asia said.

  “No, the best one is Daddy’s Little Girls. I wanted to kill those girls’ mama and their drug-dealing stepdaddy!” Indigo said.

  “Yep, that is my favorite, too,” I said, agreeing with Indigo. I owned all of Tyler Perry’s movies and plays and had seen Daddy’s Little Girls at least five times.

  “What is your favorite part?” Lawrence asked, his bright eyes looking right at me.

  I’d never noticed Lawrence before—never even looked at him for any length of time. We’d had freshman literature together, but he never said anything in class. He would just make his way to the back of the classroom, place the hood of his jacket over his head and fall asleep every single day. I wondered if he’d even completed enough class work to make a passing grade. Here he was, asking me a question, when I’d never even heard his voice before.

  “My favorite part is when Idris Elba takes Gabrielle Union to that club on Auburn Avenue….”

  “And she gets so drunk,” Lawrence added. “That was funny.”

  “Idris Elba is so fine!” Tymia exclaimed. “He could take me out any day of the week.”

  “What’s so special about him?” Xavier asked.

  “First of all,” I began, “he’s fine, tall, dark and handsome. And he has this sexy British accent…”

  “All you looking for is a British accent?” Lawrence laughed and then changed his voice to sound British. “I got a British accent!”

  We all laughed. Long and hard. As strange as it was for Kendall and his boys to join our table, we all had a good time. After they ordered another round of quesadillas and hot wings, we sat there for at least another hour, talking about school, movies and everything else that came to mind. We were so wrapped up in the conversation, I didn’t even see Vance and Jaylen walk into the restaurant.

  Vance looked good in his jeans and Grambling sweatshirt. His hair was perfectly trimmed, as usual. The way he licked his lips always reminded me of the way LL Cool J licked his. Vance’s eyes met mine, and I gave him a half smile. He didn’t smile back. Instead, he gave me a strange look. I waved, and he nodded his head.

  “Isn’t that Vance?” Asia asked.

  “Yep, and Jaylen,” Jade said.

  Vance and Jaylen followed their hostess to a table on the other side of the restaurant. Vance didn’t even come my way.

  “I’ll be right back,” I said and stood. Made my way over to Vance’s table.

  “What’s up?” he asked when I approached.

  “What’s up with you?” I asked, my hands on my hips. “Weren’t you even gonna say something?”

  “You looked busy,” he said and picked up a menu.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “You with Lawrence Bell now?” he replied.

  “Excuse me?” I leaned back. “No, I’m here with my girls. They just made themselves at home at our table. Nobody invited them.”

  “Looks like they were invited,” said Vance.

  I decided to change the subject. Switch the conversation to him. “So what movie did you see today?”

  “Tyler Perry’s new movie. Why?” he said.

  “Just you and Jaylen?” I asked.

  “Hey, I’m going to the restroom,” Jaylen announced and then got up from his chair. “Can you order me a Coke?”

&
nbsp; “Yeah, man,” Vance said.

  “Just you and Jaylen?” I asked again.

  “Just me and Jaylen what?” Vance asked as if he’d forgotten what we were talking about.

  “The movies. You and Jaylen went to see Tyler Perry’s new movie together.”

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  I shrugged. I couldn’t find a thing wrong with that. And suddenly, I couldn’t understand why I was standing at his table, questioning him, questioning us.

  “I sent you text messages. And I’ve been calling you all day.”

  “My battery went dead, and I haven’t been able to charge my phone.”

  “Somebody said they saw you and Jaylen at the movies with some other girls,” I told him.

  “Who said that?” he asked. “Jade, with her no-boyfriend-having self?”

  “How did you know it was Jade?”

  “Because I saw your posse over there at the movies earlier today, and Jade saw Jaylen talking to some girls from school,” Vance said. “Jade should mind her own business.”

  I sighed with relief. Jade had misjudged what she thought she’d seen, after all.

  “Did something change between us the other night?” I had to ask.

  Friday night had weighed heavily on my mind since the moment Vance had dropped me off in front of my house. Everything seemed different now. Our relationship, our conversation. I needed to know that sex, or the lack of sex, hadn’t driven a wedge between us.

  “Can I get you guys something to drink?” the server asked as she approached the table, the name Jennifer plastered across her name tag.

  “Two Cokes,” Vance answered.

  “Make mine a Sprite,” Jaylen said as he came back from the restroom, smiled at Jennifer. “Trying to watch my caffeine intake.”

  “I’ll talk to you about it later,” Vance said to me. “I’ll call you when I get home.”

  “Okay,” I said reluctantly.

  I wanted to finish our conversation, but it wasn’t the right place or the right time. Not to mention, as I glanced out the window, I saw my mom’s car pull up. I’d forgotten that I’d sent her a text and asked her to pick me and my friends up at Applebee’s.

  There was no doubt that Vance and I would resume this conversation later. I wouldn’t be able to sleep until we did.

  ten

  Tameka

  I picked over my grits and eggs, on the verge of tears. Boy problems were never easy to deal with, especially when you really cared about the boy. My eyes were bloodshot from staying up almost the entire night, waiting for Vance to call or text. When I received neither one, my heart began to ache. I had blown it. He had moved on to someone else, someone else who was more willing to give it up.

  “What’s wrong, Tameka? Why aren’t you eating?” my mother asked, pulling up a chair next to mine and putting her plate filled with bacon, eggs and grits on the table.

  I played with my scrambled eggs. “Just not that hungry.”

  “Today is Lifetime movie Sunday.” She smiled. “You ready?”

  “Not today, Mom. I’m not really feeling Lifetime today.”

  “You look tired. Were you up late again?”

  “A little.”

  “This is about a boy, isn’t it?” she asked. She knew me too well. “Tell me what’s going on. I can probably help.”

  “It’s Vance.” I was no good at hiding things from my mother. She was my best friend. “I think he’s messing around with another girl.”

  “And what makes you think that?”

  “Well, Jade and Indigo said they saw him and Jaylen at the movies with some girls. Well, not Indigo. Jade said this.”

  “It sounds like a case of that he said, she said stuff. What did I tell you about that?” she asked, not really expecting an answer. She went to the refrigerator and reached for the orange juice. “Did you ask Vance if he was at the movies with another girl?”

  “Yes. And he denied it,” I said.

  “Well, give him the benefit of the doubt,” Mom said matter-of-factly.

  “He was supposed to call me last night, and I didn’t hear from him. No phone call, no text message. Nothing.”

  “That’s why your eyes are red and you look like you’re sleepy. This boy is under your skin.” Mom plopped back down at the breakfast table. “Has he been in your pocketbook, Tameka?”

  “No! Why would you ask me that?”

  “Just checking. I told you about letting boys into your pocketbook before you or he is ready for it.”

  “He hasn’t been.” I stuffed eggs into my mouth.

  “Okay, okay. I’m done asking,” she said, “but don’t forget what I said about it.”

  “I won’t,” I said. It was a conversation that was burned in my memory. How would I forget it?

  The conversation stopped as my father stepped into the room.

  “Good morning,” he said. “How’re my favorite two girls?”

  “Good morning, sweetie,” Mom said and locked lips with Daddy right in front of me.

  I observed how they interacted with each other. Wanted to see if there was some tension between them. Everything seemed good on the surface, but I never knew what they talked about behind their bedroom door. Were they talking about splitting up? Did he know that Mommy was starting to resent him for being gone too much? Did he even care about her feelings?

  “Morning, Daddy.” My lips brushed against his rugged cheek. “Ooh, need a shave, don’t we?”

  “I’m letting it grow,” Daddy said and ran his hand over his five o’clock shadow. He pulled the carton of milk out of the refrigerator. Poured a glass.

  “How you like Mom’s hair?” I asked.

  “I, um, it’s nice,” he stuttered a little.

  “It’s very short, huh?” I asked.

  “It’s shorter than it usually is, but it’s nice,” my daddy said, carefully choosing his words.

  That wasn’t the response I’d been expecting.

  Mom stuck her tongue out, and then pointed her French-manicured nail toward me. “Stop trying to start stuff, Tameka. And mind your own business.”

  “I was just asking if Daddy liked your hair.” I smiled. “That’s all.”

  The cordless phone vibrated on the countertop, and Daddy quickly grabbed it.

  “Hello, uh. Yes, just a moment. It’s for you, baby.” He handed me the phone and headed out of the room. “And tell that boy not to call during breakfast anymore.”

  Boy? What boy would be calling me on the house phone?

  “Hello,” I answered.

  “Good morning.” Vance’s voice rang through the phone and was like music to my ears. “So you’re eating breakfast?”

  “Yes.”

  “Want me to call you back?”

  “No!” I exclaimed. “I was just finishing up.”

  I quickly took my plate to the sink, scraped the eggs and grits into the garbage disposal. I glanced over at my mom. At first, she gave me a cockeyed look, with raised eyebrows, but then she smiled.

  “Is it Vance?” she whispered.

  I nodded a yes and then headed out of the room, took the stairs two at a time to my bedroom.

  “I thought you were gonna call me last night,” I said. “What happened to that?”

  “Well, I tried to call your phone all night, but I couldn’t get through,” he said. “That’s why I finally called your house phone this morning.”

  “For real? You called my cell phone?” I searched for my phone, and once I found it, I flipped it open. The screen was completely black. I hit the power button. Nothing.

  “I thought you were avoiding me,” Vance teased.

  Avoiding him? Not.

  “No, my phone is dead. I need to charge it.” I giggled and plugged my charger in. Relieved.

  “I was thinking about going skating today. You wanna go?”

  “Yeah. That sounds like fun.” I accepted the invitation without even asking for permission from my parents, without giving any thought
to what plans Mommy had for me.

  “Can you meet me at Skate Towne later on, say, around three o’clock?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I can do that,” I said.

  “See you then.” He sealed the deal. “I’ll holler at you later.”

  “Okay.”

  I pressed the power button on our cordless phone, held it to my chest.

  No matter what had happened to us on Friday night, Skate Towne would make it all better.

  eleven

  Indigo

  I bent over, panting; my hands touched my knees as I tried to catch my breath. I caught a glance at the muscles in my legs. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t worked for them; I’d done fifty sprints up and down the gymnasium floor each day before dance-team practice. With all our push-ups, sit-ups and crunches, we were in better shape than the boys’ basketball team. Miss Martin insisted that there was more to dancing than just shaking our booties to music. Dancing was a sport, she’d explained, which meant that we had to stay in shape. It required exercise. She even encouraged us to maintain a healthy diet.

  “Stop eating all those greasy foods, like fried chicken and pork chops. Grab yourselves a turkey sandwich, and ask your mamas to buy you some yogurt to bring for lunch,” she’d smile and say. “And every now and then, you should consider a salad for dinner.”

  She must’ve forgotten who she was talking to. Fried chicken was a staple in most of our homes, and it was a crime if we didn’t have chocolate cake or sweet-potato pie for dessert. Miss Martin knew that. She was just as black as the rest of us. I admired her for trying, though. But, honestly, I couldn’t remember a time that my mother bought sliced turkey or those small cups of yogurt, which smelled like spoiled milk. The only time I was able to make a turkey sandwich was when we had turkey and dressing for Thanksgiving dinner, and Mama sliced the leftover turkey the next day and made sandwiches out of it.

  I stood straight up as the cramp in my side started to ease up. I wiped sweat from my face and glanced over at Jade. She was breathing just as hard. Tameka pulled her hair into a ponytail and wrapped a scrunchie around it.