by Paula Chase
Jacinta knew JZ was a player. And she was way savvier about guys and relationships than Mina would ever be. But whenever they got too cozy, alarms rang in Mina’s head.
Jacinta’s ex was one of JZ’s chief rivals on the hardwood and in football. Mina knew the last thing JZ would ever do is give an opponent fuel in the game, especially not over a girl. Still she wondered if JZ saw flirting with Jacinta as another competition with Raheem. That’s what worried her.
Nothing good could come of JZ and Jacinta’s increasingly affectionate“playing.”
After carefully positioning herself for what seemed to Mina a good five minutes, confirming for Mina that Cinny knew JZ was watching her (and liking it), Jacinta’s stick still scratched more table than it did ball. JZ sucked his teeth. But even from across the room, Mina knew he wasn’t nearly as annoyed as he was making out.
“Seriously?” JZ exclaimed as the ball Jacinta was aiming for stood stock still. She hadn’t even come close enough to stir up a breeze near it. “Raheem never showed you how to play pool?” He raised his voice loud enough to be heard on the other side of the room. “You’re as bad as Mina.”
“Whatev, Jay,” Mina hollered back.
JZ stood behind Jacinta, positioning her arms. “Look, I’m down with winning, but you’re not even competition. Come on, girl.” He bent over Jacinta, imitating the proper stance, forcing her body to mock his. “You’re not putting enough force on the right end of the stick.”
The two of them stood locked in the pose until Jacinta hit the ball to his satisfaction. JZ lingered—a second too long—as they watched the stick connect with the green ball, sending it rolling slowly a few inches away.
Okay, playtime over, Mina thought.
Just as Michael asked, “What do you think, Diva?” she left the conversation abruptly and strode over to the pool table.
“Umm ... what’s all this?” Mina gestured grandly to JZ and Jacintabefore folding her arms in mock disapproval.
“What?” JZ said, but his smile was crooked and pooched at the same time, in that “caught” kind of way. “Why you rummin’?”
Mina squinted. “Why am I what?”
“Oh, y’all don’t know nothing ’bout that,” JZ yelled, teasing. “That’s that new hotness I just made up. Rummin’, it means tripping.”
“That word is not hot,” Mina snorted.
“Alright, don’t let me find out later that you jocked my word,” JZ said.
“Yeah, whatever.” Mina nodded her head toward Jacinta. “What’s going on with y’all, all buddy-buddy?”
Jacinta laughed. “Uh-oh, the Princess is suspicious.”
“Man, I’m just trying get a real game going on here,” JZ said. Reluctantly,he put more distance between him and Jacinta. He and Mina had an unspoken thing about him scoping out her girlfriends. She hated when he did it—so he tried not to do it in front of her.
“What’s the rule, Princess? JZ not allowed to mack on anyone in the ...” Jacinta took an exaggerated bow, her hands together. “Inner circle.”
Mina pointed at JZ, a silent “you know better” passing between them.
A huge grin spread over JZ’s face as he yelled, “Ay! Man, I’m glad you’re here.”
He laughed, loud and hard, at Mina’s confused look.
Brian came up behind Mina and wrapped his arms around her, teasing. “You stirring up trouble, toughie?” He threw up a fist in a “what’s up” in Michael’s direction.
There were murmurs of “hey” and “what’s up” from Kelly, Lizzie and Michael.
As if Brian’s voice and touch flicked a No Nagging switch in her head, Mina immediately went soft and flirty.
“Hey.” She giggled. “Now when do I ever cause trouble?”
That set the whole clique laughing.
“Y’all are so wrong,” Mina said, a small grin dancing at the cornerof her mouth.
JZ took a quick shot at the striped yellow ball, barely taking aim, and sent it flying to the corner pocket as he tattled, “Your girl all up in my bidness.”
“No, that’s you and Cinny all up in each other’s business,” Mina said, enjoying the way she and Brian rocked slowly back and forth in his strong warm bear hug. She never tired of him holding her like that.
“You gotta give it to him, Mi. He did wait till she was boyfriend-less,”Michael quipped. He stood upright, finally finished hemming one of Lizzie’s pants legs, and surveyed his work.
“That’s right, boyfriend LESS,” Jacinta chirped.
Mina listened for any sadness in the proclamation. For weeks Jacintahad been in a bad way about her and Raheem’s breakup. But just recently, around the same time she and JZ’s flirting was on the up tick, she seemed to really be over Raheem. If there was such a thing.
Mina had a feeling Cinny simply had good and bad days. Today must have been a good one because there was nothing but happiness in her voice.
Mina was glad. A little wary maybe, that a little canoodling masked as a pool lesson was a classic JZ mack move ... but Brian smelled good (sporty rustic) and felt good (strong, athletic arms). She had better things to do than fuss with JZ.
Still, she couldn’t resist one last parting shot. “You go ahead messingwith Cinny.” Mina stuck her leg out and took a swipe with her foot at JZ’s ankle, as far as she could without leaving the comfort of Brian’s arms. “You’re gonna be hurting when she goes running back to Raheem.”
“Man, she can run, walk or sprint, that’s her business,” JZ bragged.
Jacinta snorted. “Who? How about none of the above?” She arched her right eyebrow and shot Mina a look. “Me and Raheem are finished. O-V-E-R.”
“Uhh ... that doesn’t spell finished,” Lizzie pointed out from across the room. Michael gave Lizzie’s pants a light tug, dismissing her from the stand.
She stepped down and went behind a large rice-paper screen to change back into her regular clothes. Michael busied himself tidying up the corner of pins, swatches and miscellaneous costuming tools, only partially tuned in to the conversation as the clique did what they did best, give one another a hard time in the name of friendship.
Jacinta turned back to the pool table. Sizing up a ball, she bent over, fixed her body the way JZ had shown her, and tapped the ball just enough for it to rock.
She took a silly curtsy as JZ clapped daintily, his kudos small like her accomplishment. Grinning, she picked up where she left off in the conversation. “Naw, me and Raheem are done like the ThanksgivingDay turkey.”
“Um-huh,” Mina said, openly skeptical. “Like I said, JZ, don’t come crying to me when your flirt buddy all hugged up with her man.”
JZ made a face like “as if,” then took one last shot. He sat down on the corner of the pool table, his long legs splayed in front of him, the game forgotten. “So we’re still on for the Extreme, right?” he asked Brian, rubbing his hands together at the thought of the road trip. “Your moms still cool letting us stay at y’all condo?”
“Yeah.” Brian tickled Mina’s side, then walked to the corner to get a pool stick. “Everybody knows they’re on their own with grub though, right? I’m not gonna be cooking for a bunch of hard heads. And respect my crib or else my people’s gonna be all over me about responsibility blah, blah, blah.”
He nudged Jacinta out of the way gently and racked up the balls.
She took a seat next to JZ on the pool table. Her feet, dangling two feet from the floor, kicked lightly.
“Man, as long the honeys in full effect, I’ll eat project noodles everyday,” JZ said. “I’ll pack a few extra packets and bring my secret ingredient.”
Lizzie made her way over and pulled up a stool next to where Mina stood. “Jay, you’re such a gourmet,” she snickered.
Kelly brought over a bar stool for herself and one for Mina. The three of them stationed themselves just far enough from the pool table so they wouldn’t be knocked out with a pool stick.
“Yeah, grated parmesan cheese and ramen noodles is so
five star,” Mina said, hopping onto the stool. She nearly fell off, kicking at JZ’s stick poking at her feet.
“Whatever,” JZ said. “I don’t care what we eat as long as we rolling with some shorties.”
Mina was constantly perplexed by her male friends’ endless freedom.For the millionth time she griped aloud about it. “Why do boys always get to do whatever they want?”
“Brian, your mom isn’t worried about you being on your own for two days?” Kelly asked.
“Well I’m potty trained and my address is sewn into all my shirts, in case I get lost,” Brian said, leaning into his shot.
The clique’s laughter was a motley chorus of the boys’ choppy, coarse guffaws and the girls’ musical giggling.
Kelly ignored his sarcasm. “I just meant ... your parents really trust you. We have a condo in O.C. too. But I can’t see my grandmotherletting me go down there solo before I’m eighteen.”
Mina chimed in, agreeing. “My parents have rules from here to L.A. The only way they’d let me stay somewhere with no chaperones is if there were nanny cams hidden in the condo everywhere.”
“That’s y’all little boogee, sheltered girls,” Jacinta said. She crossed her legs primly as she boasted, “My father not that strict.”
“But would he let you go to O.C. and stay with the guys?” Kelly challenged.
The girls stared her down. Jacinta had more freedom than any of them, but none of them believed she had that much.
Jacinta’s eyebrows worked, rising and falling as she thought about it. Finally she answered, “Yeah, I think he would.”
There was a collective, “yeah, right” eye roll from Mina, Lizzie and Kelly.
“That’s my kind of pops,” JZ said. He and Brian exchanged a pound and a boys’ locker room snicker.
“Cinny, I don’t believe that,” Mina said.
“Maybe not with JZ and Brian, because he doesn’t know them,” Jacinta said. “But I think he’d let me go with Raheem and Angel.”
“Your dad is way more liberal than my parents, then,” Lizzie said.
“No, that’s not it,” Jacinta said. She schooled the girls in her worldly, I’ve-seen-things-you’ll-never-experience voice, a mix of genuine sharing and light superiority. “My father already knows me and Raheem have sex. So, what’s the point of him not letting me go? The ship has sailed.”
The girls were quiet as they considered this. But the guys had a field day with it.
“Like I said, my kind of pops,” JZ crowed again. He and Brian went for the double fist pound and handshake on that one.
Still skeptical, Mina shook her head in disbelief. “Wait ... Cinny, just because he knows y’all get down like that doesn’t mean he’s gonna send you off for a whole weekend to do what you want.”
“Alright, I’m not saying he gonna be like ‘yeah whatever,’” Jacintaadmitted. She spoke matter-of-factly.“Real talk, the only reason your parents have all those rules is to prevent the inevitable.”
Lizzie scowled. “Having sex isn’t inevitable.”
Jacinta laughed. “Lizzie, you’re like the poster child for innocence.Not everybody is into your fifteenth-century dating method, where you hold hands at the six month mark and kiss for the first time at a year.”
“First of all, it’s seventeenth century,” Lizzie said, taking the teasingin stride. It was no secret she believed in taking things slow. She wasn’t embarrassed by it and proved it by poking fun at herself. “And second of all, hand holding is allowed at the two month mark.”
Kelly and Mina laughed. But Mina’s laugh was hollow. She and Brian were stuck somewhere between Lizzie’s slow burn relationshipstyle and Mina’s own desire to let the relationship go at its own pace. They were well past hand-holding and pecking on the lips, but nowhere near the “inevitable.”
It wasn’t something she and Brian had discussed and she wasn’t about to have their first conversation about it be in a group. She steered the conversation back to Jacinta’s theory. “Alright, so you’re saying that once your father found out about you and Raheem he let you do what you wanted? No curfew? Nothing like that?”
“No. I still have a curfew when I’m home but he stopped trying to plan every second of my day. Because he knew ...” Jacinta paused for a second then shrugged. “All the rules in the world not gonna stop it, if it’s gonna happen.” She chuckled dryly. “And once it does, what are the rules stopping?”
Mina considered that. She wanted to ask Jacinta how her dad had found out. What had happened? What did he say?
The thought of having that kind of conversation with her father made her queasy. Her father was generally the good cop, compared to Mina’s mom’s hardnose inquisitions. But talking about sex with him? No thanks.
“All I know is, it sucks that you guys can go and we can’t,” Lizzie said.
“And all I know is, it’s gon’ be wi-iild,” JZ hooted. “All those cheer shorties running around in their teeny skirts.” A tiny smile on his face, he shook his head like someone who’d just had a very pleasantvision of the future. He called over to Michael, “Son, we gon’ have a blast.”
Michael took his time putting away the last of his pins before walking over to the pool table. “Ay, kid, I may not go,” he said finally, nonchalant.
JZ frowned. He and Mina both sang, “Why?”
“Okay wait,” Lizzie said. Her face took on a chiseled frown as if she were trying to solve a complex equation. “So me, Kelly and Jacinta want to go and can’t ... and Michael, you’re not going now? Did I hear you right?”
Michael shrugged it off. All eyes were on him but he pretended to be engrossed in some fuzz on the pool table. He picked at it as he spoke. “Ms. Jessamay doing some costume work for The Players and asked if I would help out.”
“For real?” JZ asked, in a strange high-pitched voice, as if Michael had just said he was heading to Mars for spring break.
Mina picked up on the flicker of frustration in JZ’s face. Michael’s costume work was still an awkward topic for him. Michael’s drawing skills had always been fire. But once Michael had begun using those skills to draw outfits, JZ hadn’t figured out how to take all the costumesketches, fittings and talk of how an outfit “fell” on somebody. He blocked it out anytime the conversation turned to it. And normallyanytime the clique got together, he always piped in first, volunteeringhis house—Mina assumed, to avoid coming to Michael’s, since half of what used to be Michael’s basement bedroom manpart-mentwas now what JZ called a dress shop.
“The only thing Michael missing in that corner of the room is one of those fashion dummies,” he’d told Mina, his mouth upturned.
Mina hadn’t bothered to lecture him on how foul his attitude was. She and JZ sparred about it constantly but his stance on the topic hadn’t changed for the better yet.
JZ regained his air of playful dissing. “I mean ... I’m not knockingyour hustle, playah. That’s more shorties for me.”
The answer seemed to relieve Michael because he came over, his fist out for a pound.
“Yeah, I figured that,” Michael said as he and JZ banged fists.
“So what are we supposed to do over break?” Lizzie asked glumly.
“I say you, Kelly and Cinny cool out together,” Mina said. She saw Lizzie’s green eyes deaden to a dull jade at the suggestion and quickly tried to help them plan a grand spring break. “Do a spa day on Thursday. And then Friday, go to the movies.You know that one with Nick Cannon comes out that day.” She huffed a little. “I really wanted to see it too.”
Lizzie huffed, “Oh my God. Do not act like your missing some Nick Cannon movie is the same as us having to stay home like the ugly stepsisters from the ball.”
“Who?” Jacinta scowled. She put her hands on her hips. “Maybe you and Kelly are ugly stepsisters, but not me.”
“Hey, me either,” Kelly said.
The girls joked back and forth about who got to be Cinderella.
With the tension eased some, Mina brought
up the Extreme again.
“Jay, don’t go thinking just because Brian is driving you’re gonna have him all over O.C. cruising for chicken heads.”
JZ palmed her face. “Yeah, yeah.”
Mina pushed his hand away, lecturing on. “I’m serious. Y’all are planning to be at the competition ...” She arched an eyebrow, high. “Right, Brian?”
“Yes, dear,” Brian joked, never looking up from the pool table.
“Aw dag, he yes-deared you,” JZ howled. “You know that’s code word for, girl please, I’m gonna do what I want when I get there.”
“It better not be,” Mina said, giving Brian a look.
He looked up from the table and winked at her, dissolving her scowl into a smile. She stuck her tongue out at JZ.
“See, that’s why I was hoping Money Mike was going.” JZ sucked his teeth. “Todd and Brian ain’t gonna be no fun since they have girlfriends.”
He said it like it was a four-letter word.
At the mention of Todd’s name connected with the word “girlfriend,”Lizzie grinned but quickly hid it when Mina looked her way.
“What?” she asked, at Mina’s wide, cat-ate-the-canary smile.
Mina shook her head and went back to her ground rules for the Extreme. “Friday night is the Individuals and partner stunt event. So y’all meet me there at the convention center.”
JZ scowled. “Wait. Why do we need to sit at the events you’re not even in?”
Michael laughed. “Sure you don’t want stay home with me, kid?”
“Man, for real.” JZ rolled his eyes.
“Jay, come on,” Mina pleaded. “How else you gonna meet girls if you’re not at the events?”
JZ thought about it for a second but didn’t get a chance to answer.
“Exactly. So okay, Individuals on Friday,” Mina said.
She rattled on, laying out the entire weekend, letting them know when and what time the guys could hook up with her or with her and the Blue Devils squad, ignoring the clique as they teased JZ.
The look of irritation on JZ’s face as his entire spring break was planned to the second was a mild victory for the ones being left behind.