That's What's Up!

by Paula Chase

  “I already said it’s not like that,” JZ said gruffly.

  “Like what?” Kelly asked, confused.

  “Cinny was sitting on JZ’s lap when Raheem came in,” Lizzie explained.

  Kelly’s face went “oh” again as the realization hit her. “Why didn’t you text me to tell me you were coming?” Kelly asked.

  Angel picked up the accusation in her voice and shot back, “I was trying to surprise you. I didn’t think no stupid shit was gonna jump off.”

  “I think we should make sure Cinny is alright,” Mina said, gazing in the direction the two had gone.

  “Mina, we need to get back to the squad soon,” Sara said. “It’s only like three more teams left.”

  “Heem ain’t gonna do nothing stupid,” Angel said. But he wasn’t too convinced because he looked up quickly to the corner to check on things. Assured it was still cool he reassured them, “He just want talk to her.”

  “He’s pissed,” Todd said.

  Mina rolled her eyes. “Gee, you think?”

  Todd threw his hands up, as if Mina were about to strike him. “Woah, don’t get mad at me.”

  “T, I’m sorry. I just think we should be closer, in case ...” Mina stopped herself from outright accusing Raheem of anything.

  She looked to Brian, but knew what he was going to say before he said it in a calm, reasonable voice. “That’s their business.”

  “But she’s our friend,” Lizzie said.

  Lizzie’s backup put Mina into action. “Come on ... we’ll just stand off to the side.”

  The girls, with Sara reluctantly following—one eye on the stage—headed to the darkened corner where Raheem’s long-sleeved white tee beckoned like a signal. They could see his arms gesturing and as they got closer could see his face, angrier than before, looking down at Jacinta, shaking as he fussed.

  They stood close in a classic lover’s-quarrel stance.

  Jacinta’s arms were still folded, her head cocked upward, looking into Raheem’s tight-jawed face.

  Mina was glad to see Jacinta didn’t seem nervous anymore.

  Just as the girls got to the corner of the bleachers, leaving about ten feet between them and the couple, Raheem’s arm came up and smacked Jacinta in the face. There was a collective gasp from the group and everyone but Mina froze.

  She ran over to Jacinta, her body shaking from fear and anger. “What is wrong with you?” she hollered into his face before turning to Jacinta. “Are you okay, Cinny?”

  Jacinta nodded. Tears brimmed in her eyes. Miraculously they pooled in her eyes for the longest time before ever spilling.

  When Mina turned back to Raheem the rest of the clique was there beside her, even the guys, who had obviously seen the slap too.

  “You guys aren’t even a couple anymore,” Mina fussed. “Just leave her alone.”

  “This not your business, Mina,” Raheem warned. His eyes were mean slits. “Cinny always said you were nosy. But this time you need step.”

  “Yeah, I’ll step, but I’m taking Cinny with me,” Mina said, her voice shaky. She grabbed Jacinta’s hand and turned.

  Raheem grabbed Jacinta’s other arm. “I didn’t mean to hit you, Cinny.You got me all ...”

  Jacinta reared her hand back and smacked him in the face. “Don’t you ever hit me again.”

  She let herself be led off by Mina.

  Raheem snatched away as Angel pulled his arm. “Man, look, let’s just ...” Angel head-checked, making sure securityor any other adults weren’t about to intervene. But the music was loud, the crowd was thick and no one seemed to even know their drama was unfolding. He wanted to keep it that way. He elbowedRaheem, lightly, in the back. “Walk outside with me for a hot minute, son.”

  Raheem backed away, never taking his eyes off the girls huddled around Jacinta.

  “Cinny, look ... let me holler for a minute. Come outside with me and Angel,” he called, his eyes more hurt than angry now as he pleaded. “Just for a minute, damn.”

  Jacinta never looked up.

  Brian, JZ and Todd stood off to the side of the huddle, their faces tight, ready to protect the girls if it came to that. But Raheem and Angel walked off, quickly lost in the mass of people as they neared the doors.

  “He’s a real jerk,” Sara said.

  Mina shook her head at Sara. Sara didn’t know, of course, but even if Raheem was acting like a complete ass tonight, this wasn’t the end of their chapter, more like the beginning of another one. That’s one thing Mina had learned over the last few months. She didn’t completely understand it. But she knew one thing, calling Raheem names wasn’t going to help anything.

  Sara got the message and nodded. Apologetically, she reminded Mina, “Ummm ... Mi, we’ve got to get back.”

  “Cinny, I’m sorry but me and Sara have to go.”

  Jacinta wiped her eyes quickly and sniffed. “Naw, it’s cool. I didn’t mean to ruin y’all competition.”

  “Girl, please,” Mina said, not knowing what else to say. “Tonight at the beach party we’ll make Raheem voodoo dolls and stick pins in them.”

  Jacinta chuckled as she wiped a few stray tears and the girls gigglednervously.

  Just then, a voice they all recognized killed the laughter immediately.

  “Cinny? Lizzie? Kelly? What are you girls doing here?”

  “Shit, Mi, it’s your moms,” JZ whispered, as if the girls didn’t know that.

  And the Winner Is ...

  “I am number one. No matter if you like it.”

  —Nelly, “Number One”

  Mina felt like she was underwater. Everything around her was happening slower. Even the cacophony of music, people cheering, talking, laughing and screaming seemed dulled. Since her mother had unceremoniously sent her and Sara back to the front of the arena with a simple, teeth-clenched “Go sit with your squad, girls,” Mina had been hopelessly trying to tread to the surface.

  She risked a glance back and to her right, where her parents sat in the second row. Lizzie, Jacinta and Kelly now shared the two seats her parents had occupied, while Jackson and Mariah Mooney stood guard at the end of the row. Mariah’s eyes bore laser beams in the girls’ general direction as she spoke to her husband, no doubt bringinghim up to speed. Jackson Mooney nodded along, his brown face looking weary.

  Mina’s shoulders sagged. She didn’t have to know what her mom was saying to know it was all bad. She and Sara had been sent away before her mom broke into a lecture, but as they walked off Mina could hear Mariah going totally parental on each and every one of her friends.

  Sara gave Mina’s knee a reassuring pat. But her eyes drooped with sadness that said both “I feel for you,” and “Better you than me.”

  Around them the squad buzzed excitedly.

  The final squad ended their performance and the house lights went up, washing the arena in bright, fluorescent lighting. The DJ, on cue, switched to line-dance music and the obedient mob of cheerleaders rushed the open floor in front of the stage and began the cha-cha slide.

  Kim pulled at Mina. “Let’s go try our new moves.”

  Mina reluctantly followed along. Her squad mates giggled and bumbled their way through a version of the dance they’d made up just last night. Every squad added their own touch to the line dances and the Blue Devil squad had chosen an ambitious drop-it-like-it’shotsquat and turn, in place of the usual step.

  “Mina, if you guys are gonna get in trouble, you worrying won’t change that,” Sara said in her ear as they cha-cha’d to the right. “May as well have some fun.”

  Sara linked arms with her and they cha-cha’d left before doing the squat and falling on their butts. Laughing maniacally, they scrambledup to avoid being trampled by the squad.

  “Just consider it like your last meal before the sentencing,” Sara chuckled dryly.

  Mina groaned. Sara’s description was way closer than she knew.

  After two more line dances and a random free-style to “Cotton-EyedJoe,” the MC p
opped from behind the curtain and teased the crowd, asking if they were ready to hear the winners. Despite the crowd’s roar, it wasn’t enough. The MC pretended to step back offstageuntil the noise was deafening.

  The Blue Devil squad sat on the floor, cross-legged, knee-to-knee,holding hands. Sara and Kim had a death grip on Mina’s hands. The slight pain forced her attention away from the MC’s rambling about winners of the Jump and Tumble event.

  She’d worked hard to get here. Sara was right, she needed to savor this moment. Later would be another story.

  As the MC moved closer and closer to her team’s division, Mina felt the adrenaline kick in again. Her blood seemed to sprint through her veins as she hoped against hope to hear their names called for the top spot.

  “Ladies,” Coach Em’s voice came from beside them. “Good sportsmanship, remember?”

  The girls nodded absently, focused on the stage.

  “And in the medium Varsity division ...” the MC said.

  It was Mina’s turn to squeeze hands as she prayed their names would be nowhere near the honorable mention spots. She gripped Kim and Sara’s hands until the announcement of the four hon men spots, places eight through five, were finished.

  Kim squeezed back insanely hard until the fourth place was mentioned.

  They smiled at one another when their name wasn’t called.

  Third would be respectable based on the tough competition, Mina told herself. But she wasn’t kidding anyone. They’d already beaten out five teams. She didn’t want third.

  “God, please, please not third,” Sara chanted under her breath, echoing Mina’s sentiments.

  “And in third, those sassy ladies ...” The MC, an obvious expert in torture, held the answer to herself just a beat before announcing gleefully, “The Oliver Whelan Wahoos!”

  Mina and Sara both let out a huge breath, then laughed at their twin reactions. They shushed themselves before Coach Em caught wind of their celebration. It was unsportsmanlike to celebrate avoidingbeing placed lower in the ranks.

  “We might do this, guys. We might take first,” Kim whispered, awestruck by the possibility.

  Mina couldn’t stand it anymore. Her hands gripped tight with her squad mates’, she took a deep breath and lowered her head, hopingthey’d dodge one last bullet and avoid being called second.

  It didn’t matter that second for them would be a huge victory.

  When you’ve come this far, you can’t help it—you want first, Mina thought.

  “Alright,” the MC said, frustratingly teasing. “Who’s our second place winners? Who do you guys think?”

  The crowd’s answers were unintelligible. The MC smiled anyway,as if they’d just shared a secret with her. “Well, let’s see.” She peeked down at the five-by-six index card in her hand. “In second place ... the feisty Blue Devils of Del Rio Bay High!”

  Instant emotions of joy and slight disappointment slammed Mina’s head up. She was pulled standing by the force of the squad. They jumped up squealing and hugging.

  Kim and Sara had her in a bear hug. They all jumped up and down in sync until Renee, the co-captain, pulled Kim away. They ran up to the stage to collect the huge silver trophy.

  Coach Em hugged the huddle. She praised the girls, openly relievedand clearly ecstatic with second.

  “Oh my God we did it!” Sara yelled, embracing Mina tight.

  “I can’t believe it. We beat six teams,” Mina said, dazed.

  “And three of them are Extreme vets,” Joss said.

  “And there was no way we could have beat the Hornets,” Cassidysaid. “They were the grand champs last year.”

  “Oh my God, we almost beat the grand champs,” Joss squealed, sending off a new round of hugs and jumping.

  During their celebration the girls missed the Hornets being called first. Coach Em would probably reprimand them a bit about that later. It was disrespectful to celebrate so long. But it felt so good.

  The girls flocked to the trophy, like bees to honey, when Kim and Renee returned.

  Soon they were surrounded by parents taking photos of them beside it, cheesing.

  Somehow Coach Em shooed them away from their floor spot and back toward the walls, far away from the stage where the Large division announcements rang out. The picture-taking and mugging went on for another ten minutes.

  Parents and classmates hugged, congratulated the girls and squeezed into a couple photos with the four-foot-tall trophy.

  Every now and then Mina randomly hugged a squad mate. Funny how seconds ago she’d hoped against second place. Now, she and everyone else were already bragging. After all, six other teams were going away with nothing more than a memory and a certificate. They were second place National champs.

  “So we’ll catch up at the beach later, right?” Kim said.

  The question shoved Mina back into the present.

  Before she could answer, her parents, with Lizzie, Kelly and Jacintain tow, were in front of her. It was like the question had brought them there.

  The anger in their eyes from earlier was replaced with smiles.

  Mina squeezed in, cheesing, as her mom waved some of the girls standing by in for a photo with the trophy.

  “We’re so proud of you, boo,” her mom said.

  Jackson hugged Mina tight. “Good job, baby girl.”

  “Tonight, okay,” Kim whispered before being pulled off into anotherphoto.

  Mina nodded.

  Tonight.

  Right.

  Are You Stupid or Just Dumb?

  “What don’t kill me, makes me stronger than be-fo’.”

  —Jay-Z, “American Gangster”

  Once Jackson Mooney had gotten them out of the arena’s snarled parking lot, it was smooth sailing. He rolled his Navigator along O.C.’s four-lane strip. The car was dead silent. He looked into his rearview mirror at the pensive girls in the backseat.

  Mina and Lizzie sat in the second row, faces somber. Lizzie’s was pale except for two splotches of color on her cheeks. Mina met his gaze then quickly looked straight ahead.

  Jacinta and Kelly were in the third seat, shadows to him from the front.

  There was more than enough room for three girls to sit in the second row, but they were taking the safety in numbers approach, coupling off for support.

  Smart girls, he thought.

  They were going to need one another’s support. His wife was on fire tonight. She broke his thoughts, her clipped voice penetrating the silent car.

  “Let me ask you girls something,” Mariah said. She flipped open her passenger-side mirror and gazed into it, making eye contact with Mina and Lizzie. “Are you stupid or just dumb?”

  She paused. But the girls weren’t that stupid. They knew it was a rhetorical question. Mariah proved them right by jumping feet-first into her lecture. Her eyes blazed. “What in the world was going through your minds to come all the way down here with the boys like that?”

  She looked directly at Lizzie, this time expecting an answer.

  The splotches on Lizzie’s face went from dull crimson to bright red. She cleared her throat. “We ...” She turned, hoping Jacinta would jump in. But Jacinta remained, smartly, quiet. “We didn’t feel like sitting home,” Lizzie finished lamely.

  Mariah’s voice was shrill. “And so you drove two hours away from home with not one single adult knowing where you were going?” She shook her head. “What if something had happened to you? Where in the world do Marybeth and Patrick think you are, Lizzie?”

  “At Cinny’s,” Lizzie whispered.

  Mariah turned in her seat and looked at what she knew was Jacinta’sshadow. “And where does Jacqi think you are?”

  “Home,” Jacinta said, equally meek.

  “Home?” Jackson asked, confused. “How can she think you’re home?”

  “She’s in New York,” Jacinta said.

  Mariah threw her hands in the air. When they came down and smacked her thighs, Mina flinched. “What? She’s not even ho
me? Does your father know?”

  Jacinta shook her head, then, realizing Mrs. Mooney couldn’t see that, said quietly, “No. I mean he knows Aunt Jacqi is gone ... but ...”

  “Kelly, I suppose your grandmother also thinks you’re over at Jacinta’s?”Mariah’s voice was weary. Her head tick tocked back and forth, incredulous, with each new detail.

  “Yes ... yes, ma’am,” Kelly said.

  “I would ask you girls what you would have done if there had been a car accident, but I know you have no idea how to answer,” Jackson said. “It’s obvious you weren’t thinking at all to pull a stunt like this.”

  “Mina, did you know they were going to do this?” Mariah asked, her voice sharp.

  Mina wanted to lie so badly.

  Lizzie reached for her hand and squeezed softly.

  Save yourself, the squeeze said. Just say no.

  But Mina couldn’t lie.

  “Yes,” she said softly. “I found out yesterday. They were at Individualslast night.”

  “Did you know they were planning this?” Jackson asked. He took his eyes off the road long enough to watch for Mina’s response.

  Relief was in her eyes as she answered no.

  She didn’t know why she felt relief. The hole was dug and it was mad deep. Still, the fact that she wasn’t a part of the original planningwas the only pro in a long list of cons and she held on to it for dear life.

  There was sweet relief from the inquisition as Jackson pulled the car into the hotel parking garage. The girls filed out of the truck, silently. The truck doors echoed loudly in the empty garage. They were among the first people back from the competition, adding to the desolation closing in around the girls.

  No one spoke a word as they rode the elevator to the fifth floor room.

  The girls walked the hall, littered with blue and gold streamers, posters and other Blue Devil paraphernalia, reminded of the fun they’d be missing out on.

  Her father stuck his plastic key into the door’s lock. The light click of the lock, the sound of the girls’ freedom dissolving, roared in Mina’s ears.

  They filed into the room and bunched into a corner, unsure what to do.