“First, I’m going to find out if they knew anything about it. Then they’re going to get their fancy-pants lawyer to make YouTube take it down.”
“What if they put it up there?”
Alexis shook her head. “No way. They’re not like that.”
I shrugged. “I hope not.”
It took us almost twenty minutes to get to the twins’ house. Alexis stopped outside the wrought-iron gate that surrounded their home, punched a code into the keypad and slowly drove in after the gate opened. We’d barely pulled into the driveway before Alexis threw the car in park and went racing up the driveway.
“Mari! Marlee! Open the door!” Alexis screamed as she banged on their door.
I looked around the grand neighborhood. We’d been here once before, when we’d been looking for Alexis. She’d come here to hide out in her attempt to get her parents back together.
The door swung open. Two bubbly girls stood in the doorway. “Alexis? Are you crazy?” the first one said.
I couldn’t tell them apart, especially because they both wore matching tennis outfits. I shook my head. They were like nineteen and still dressing alike?
“I need to talk to you,” Alexis said, bogarding her way past them and into the gigantic foyer.
The second girl put her hands on her hips. “Umm, you can’t just come busting in here. You must’ve been hanging around in the ’hood too much, because we don’t do that around here!”
“Shut up, Mari,” Alexis snapped. Mari looked appalled, but Alexis didn’t care. “Why didn’t you return my calls?”
“You called us?” the other girl said.
“Only a hundred times.”
“Oh, sorry, something’s wrong with our phones.” Mari giggled.
“Both phones?” Alexis asked. Then she shook her head, as if to remind herself that wasn’t why she was here. “Look, I’ve been trying to get in touch with you because I need to know if you’re aware of that videotape we made being on YouTube?”
“Whatever are you talking about?” Marlee said, struggling to keep a straight face.
Both of them looked like they were struggling not to laugh.
Before I could stop her, Alexis had grabbed Mari by the shirt and pinned her against the wall. The sudden movement caused Mari to cry out as her sister stepped back in fear.
“Girl, I am not playing with you!” Alexis said. “This is my life we’re talking about.”
“Ohmigod!” Marlee said. “Alexis, what is wrong with you?”
Alexis finally noticed the fear in Mari’s eyes, and she slowly released her grip. “This is serious,” she said. “I’m hoping to be a politician one day. I can’t have this mess on the internet.”
That wiped the smile off both girls’ faces. “Well, don’t get mad at us,” Marlee said. “We didn’t put it out there.”
“Yeah, Jason did,” Mari added.
“Your ex-boyfriend, Jason?” Alexis asked.
Marlee nodded. “Yep, the jerk. He stole it from Mari’s drawer.”
Alexis looked back and forth between the two of them. “How long have you known about it?”
“About three weeks,” Marlee said.
“And you haven’t had it taken down?”
When she said that, both girls rolled their eyes.
“What is that look for?” Alexis asked.
“Don’t worry, it’s coming down,” Mari said.
“Great!” Alexis said. “And why don’t you seem happy about that? Did you have him put the tape on YouTube?”
Marlee waved her off. “Of course not,” she said.
“But is being a YouTube star really a bad thing?” Mari interjected. “I mean, think about it. How did Paris Hilton get popular? A tape. What about Kim Kardashian? A tape.”
“Yeah, so maybe someone will see our tape and we can get famous, too,” Marlee said.
Mari did a little wiggle dance. “Then we can start our own perfume line, or our own clothing line.”
Alexis stared at them in disbelief. “The sad part is, you guys are serious.”
Mari frowned like she couldn’t understand why Alexis was so angry. “Of course we are.”
Alexis was about to argue with them then decided against it. “How do you know it’s coming down?”
“Because Daddy demanded it,” Marlee said, pouting. She cut her eyes at her sister. “Somebody left it up on their laptop the day before yesterday. Daddy saw it and hit the roof. His lawyers are making YouTube remove it.”
“Don’t blame me. You were the last one looking at it,” Mari accused her twin.
“I was not!”
“You were, too.”
I couldn’t believe these girls were nineteen.
“Would you two shut up!” Alexis screamed. “So, when is it coming down?”
Both of them stared at her with wide doe eyes.
“You’re not going to answer me?” Alexis said.
Mari shrugged. “You told us to shut up.”
“Uggh!” Alexis said through gritted teeth. “You know what? Fine! If it’s not down in three days, I’ll get my own lawyers.” She looked at me. “Let’s go, Angel!”
Alexis stomped out of the house and toward her car. I didn’t know who this new Alexis was, but she was on fire. And I had no doubt that if they didn’t get the video taken down, we would be making a return trip to this nice house.
19
Angel
I could not believe my eyes. Standing on the front porch of my house, with a large bouquet of yellow carnations in his hand, was Rico.
“May I help you?” my mother said. It was getting late, and both me and my mom were surprised to hear the doorbell ring.
I stood in the doorway behind her, frozen in shock that Rico would show up uninvited at my house. He’d been asking to meet my mom since we returned from Dallas, but my mom would be nowhere as understanding as his. I thought he realized that, but obviously not.
“Hi, Mrs. Lopez,” he said.
My mother eyed him suspiciously.
“I’m Rico,” he said, extending his hand. “And these are for you.” He handed her the flowers.
She took the flowers but didn’t shake his hand. “Thank you.” He flashed a warm smile at me. I just stood there with my knees knocking.
My mom looked at me, then back at Rico. “And you would be?”
“I’m Rico. Angel’s boyfriend.”
“Excuse me?” my mother replied, her voice like ice.
“May I come in and talk?”
My mother looked to me for answers, but I was still frozen in place.
“Do you know him, mija?”
“Yes, she does,” he answered for me. “I’m sorry I just showed up here, but I don’t like hiding our relationship.”
“What relationship?” my mother asked.
“If I may please come in?” He motioned toward the living room. “Angel will tell you I don’t bite,” he tried to joke.
My mother was not amused. “Mija, I will ask you again, do you know him?”
I nodded.
She stepped aside to let him in, closed the door, then set the flowers down on the sofa table. “Okay, does someone want to tell me what’s going on here?”
Rico walked over and gently took my hand. Instinct made me ease it free. I know he’d told me during our last conversation that he was frustrated, but I never thought he was pushed to this point.
“Mrs. Lopez,” he began, ignoring the fact that I’d pulled my hand away, “your daughter and I are in love.”
My mother raised her eyebrows. “Come again?”
“My name is Rico LeDay, and I have been seeing Angel—”
“Seeing Angel? What does that mean?” she said, cutting him off. “Angel has not talked with me about seeing anyone.”
“She was afraid that you wouldn’t approve.”
My mother looked him up and down, not impressed. Cocking her head, she said, “She was right. I know nothing about you. Are you aware that Angel is a
young mother with responsibilities?”
“I understand that, and I want to help her with those responsibilities. I want to be a part of her and Angelica’s life.”
My mother spun her head sharply toward me. “He has met Angelica?”
“No, no,” I said, finally finding my voice.
“But I want to,” he interjected. “I want to be with Angel and her daughter. I want to take care of them.”
“What do you do?” she asked, exasperated.
“I’m a college student,” he replied.
She laughed, only it wasn’t a ha-ha laugh. More like a you-must-be-crazy laugh. “A college student? How do you think you could take care of my daughter and granddaughter?” Before he could answer, she waved off her question. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. You’re a college student, so that makes you what, nineteen, twenty?”
I stared at him, everything inside me willing him to lie.
“Twenty-five,” he finally said.
My mother gasped in horror. “Do you know how old my daughter is?”
Rico nodded. “Yes, I know how old she is. I also know that in Texas, seventeen is the age of consent.”
“Consent for what?” My mother was literally shaking now.
“To make her own decision about who she’d like to be with.” Rico was very patient and gentle in his tone, but it didn’t matter. His words were turning my mother’s olive-colored skin a deep red.
“She’s. In. High. School.” My mom was talking slow, like she was really trying to stay calm. A new thought came to her, and she leaned forward. “Why are you still in college at twenty-five?”
Rico shifted uncomfortably. “I’m on a six-year plan.”
“What is your major?” she demanded.
“Well, umm, I’m undeclared. Really, I’m trying to be a rapper.”
My mother threw up her hands. “Oh, my God. Mija, are you serious? Are you really, really serious? This is someone you want to be with?”
I was speechless. I really hadn’t given much thought to spending my life with anyone. I did love Rico, but I didn’t know what in the world he was thinking of by showing up at my house.
My mom started pacing back and forth, muttering curse words in Spanish. That meant she was beyond angry, because she didn’t curse, and she spoke in Spanish only when she was upset.
Rico looked at me confused. I had to step up and smooth this mess out. I laid my hand gently on her arm.
“Mami, calm down.”
She snatched her arm away from me. I looked at Rico, my expression asking him how could he do this.
“I’m sorry, Angel,” he said. “But we have nothing to hide.”
“Hide?” She glared at me. “Have you come here with any more babies?” She waggled her finger at me.
“Mami!” I said, horrified. “We’re not doing anything. I learned my lesson.”
“So, this—this grown man is just okay with holding your hand?”
“Please, calm down,” I said.
“Mrs. Lopez, I understand your concern about the age difference, but I love your daughter, and I’m willing to wait until whenever she’s ready.”
“She won’t be ready until she’s married!”
Rico stayed calm. “Then I will wait for that.”
“I’m so sure,” she spat before going back to mumbling curses in Spanish.
“Well, I came here to ask for your blessing on our relationship,” he said.
“You wasted a trip,” my mother coldly replied. It was strange to see my mother so angry. She was the nicest person on the face of the planet, so to see her being so mean and hostile freaked me out.
Rico was unsure of what to do next, and I pulled him to one side. “Rico, look, let me handle this. As you can see, my mother is upset. Please go, I will call you later.”
He looked over at my mom. “Okay, but call me later because I have something important I need to talk to you about,” he told me. “It’s the reason I could no longer wait to meet your mom.”
I eyed my mother standing in the corner, her arms folded across her chest, her foot tapping impatiently.
“Fine, I’ll call you later.”
“Mrs. Lopez, it was a pleasure meeting you,” Rico said. “Hopefully, you will come to see what I know—that me and Angel are right for each other.”
“I wouldn’t hold my breath,” she said.
He nodded and left without saying anything else. At least he didn’t try to kiss me good-bye.
As soon as the door closed, my mother began going off on me. “Angel, you have lost your last mind!”
“Mami—”
“Where did you meet this man? How long have you known him? What are you thinking?”
I held up my hand. “Can you give me a moment to answer one question?”
“Well, answer,” she demanded.
“I met him when we went to visit Prairie View.”
Her eyes grew wide. “That was two months ago.”
“I know.”
“And in two months you know that this man is the one? He knows that you are his soul mate. Ha!” My mother inhaled deeply, trying to get a grip. She lowered her voice. “Mija, I understand the strain of being a teenage mother has made you lonely. And so you listen to the first vato that comes along and whispers sweet nothings in your ear.”
“Mom, I love Rico,” I said.
“He’s twenty-five!”
“I mean, I know it seems like a lot, but really it’s not that big of an age difference.”
“Ay-yih-yih,” my mother said. She started to pace the floor, back and forth, working off her agitation. Finally, she stepped in front of me. “Okay, let’s talk reasonably. He claims he loves you. You claim you love him. Although you have no idea what love is, but let’s just say for argument’s sake that you do. How does a twenty-five-year-old, six-year college student who wants to be a rapper take care of you and my granddaughter?”
“Mami, I hadn’t thought about all that. But we’ll work it out.”
“Are you serious?” She had a look on her face like none of this was making sense to her. “You know nothing about him.”
“Yes, I do,” I protested. “His family is so totally cool. He—”
“His family?” She cut me off with a shriek. “You’ve met his family?”
I sighed, not believing I had said that. I had opened the door to a whole new set of problems.
“Where does his family live?” She marched over to grab her car keys. “We need to go talk to them right now!”
I cringed as the next words came out: “His family lives in Dallas.”
My mother stopped and spun around to stare at me. She asked slowly, “So, when did you meet them?”
I considered lying to my mother, but I had done enough of that already, and it had only led to disaster. “We went to Dallas a few weeks ago.”
My mother looked like she would faint as she clutched her chest. “You went to Dallas with this man?” She paused like she was thinking. “Is that when you told me you went on that Good Girlz retreat?”
I reluctantly nodded.
“So you lied?” Tears started to fill her eyes. “You lied to me? After everything I have sacrificed, you lied to me?” She had a stunned expression on her face. I felt awful.
“But, Mom, it’s not like that. It’s just that I knew you wouldn’t let me go.”
“You knew right! What business does a seventeen-year-old have taking a trip with a grown man?”
Just then Angelica appeared in the doorway, crying.
“My baby,” my mom said, running over to scoop her up. She laid my daughter’s head on her shoulder, patting her back. “You know nothing about this man, yet you would even think about exposing him to your daughter? It will not happen.”
The way she said that sent chills down my spine. With a snort, she spun around and left the room.
20
Jasmine
I had to stay focused. I had to put all the drama going on with Ale
xis, with Angel, in my own house—I had to put everything aside and focus on this paper.
Because of that stupid girl breaking the computer, I was going to handwrite my essay and tomorrow go over to Alexis’s house and type it up. I wish I had been thinking earlier, because I would have just borrowed Alexis’s laptop. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. Yet not taking it was probably for the best anyway, because my stupid brothers would have probably broken it, and Lord knows, there was no way I could have paid for a laptop.
My girls had been a big help already. They’d pulled more than enough research to help me out. Alexis had even highlighted some key points to make the outline easy for me. Unfortunately, I’d left the papers in the backseat of my mom’s car. But my grandmother said my mom had gone to pick Jaheim up from a basketball game and they should be back soon. In the meantime, I was just sitting here trying to figure out how I was going to start this stupid paper.
I was grateful when the phone rang.
“Hello,” I said, picking it up blind. Why were we the only family in Houston that didn’t have caller ID?
“Hey, Jasmine,” Tyeesha said. “I was just calling to check on you. How’s the paper coming?”
“It’s not,” I said firmly. “Let’s see, I need ten pages. I have half of a page.”
“Come on, Jasmine. You have only a few days left.”
“I know. I’m starting to think that I should’ve taken Cassandra up on her offer.”
“You know Dana did,” Tyeesha said.
“Dana Pitts? That’s in my class?”
“Yeah, I heard her talking to someone about it.”
“Cassandra did say someone had bought the paper, but she didn’t say who.”
She paused, like she had called meaning to talk about something else. “Well, I hate that the paper is giving you so much grief, but I guess you did the right thing. Yeah, you could’ve cheated, but who wants the grief of stressing over getting caught?”
“Cassandra said the papers were password protected, so they’re not gonna get caught,” I said.
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