Secrets Untold

by Shelia M. Goss

  “And you thought I would, after you tried to push up on my boyfriend like you did?” I snapped back.

  “I can’t help it that your boyfriend wanted some of this.” Jasmine ran her hand up and down in front of her body.

  I put my hand on my hip. “He couldn’t want that, when he has all of this.”

  “I should have known you wouldn’t cooperate. That’s okay. I’ll get my own reality show another way.”

  “Snap. You leaked it, didn’t you? You’re the one who leaked it about me being Dion’s daughter. How could you?”

  Jasmine walked up near me and grabbed my arm, but I snatched it away from her.

  “Please. Let’s go in here and talk,” she said.

  I looked around as some other students gathered around us. They were already in my business too much, so I followed Jasmine into the vacant classroom.

  “I had to do something. The producer said my life was a little too boring for its own show. I didn’t think it would get out of hand like it did. I pitched an idea about two long-lost sisters.”

  “Jasmine, what were you thinking? You of all people should know how the media can be, but no, you wanted a reality show. You didn’t think about nobody but yourself. Wait until Dion finds out you’re the one who leaked this.” I rambled through my backpack in search of my phone.

  “No, you can’t tell Daddy. He’ll kill me. This wasn’t supposed to be negative publicity, just a way to secure me a reality show.”

  I laughed. “You’re pathetic. You want to be a star that much?”

  “I was going to bring you in on the show too. Did you listen to anything I said? A show about two sisters finding their way to each other.”

  “You’re a joke. We don’t even like each other, so what makes you think I would do a show with you?”

  “One point five million dollars,” she blurted.

  I stopped looking for my phone. “You got to be kidding me.”

  “I’m serious. We would get one point five million dollars apiece,” she said.

  “So when were you going to let me in on this?”

  “Well, I really wasn’t. I was going to be the star of the show, and you were just going to be a by-product.”

  I laughed. “You’re a piece of work. There’s no way in the world I will go along with your madness. As soon as I find my phone, I’m letting Dion know how the media knew about me.”

  “Please don’t tell Dad. I’ll do anything. Anything you want,” Jasmine pled.

  I tilted my head to the side. “Anything?”

  “Yes, anything.”

  “First, you need to back up off Cole, and I mean back, way back.”

  “But—”

  “No, buts.”

  “Okay. Fine. You can have Cole.”

  Before I could finish, the principal stuck his head in the room. “Ladies, come with me.”

  34

  This was my first time being summoned to the principal’s office. I walked behind him, while Jasmine mumbled something. I ignored her.

  Once behind closed doors, the principal sat down behind his desk. “I’ve called your parents to come get you because the media outlets are disrupting school. Until the media frenzy has died down, I’ve asked your teachers to e-mail you your assignments.”

  Jasmine smiled.

  I didn’t. “Can I come to the game on Friday, or am I suspended from that as well?” I asked.

  “For now it’s best that you and Jasmine stay clear of school and any of its activities.”

  I dropped my head down. “This is messed up.”

  “I’m just trying to do what’s best for the majority of the student body. Your parents understand,” the principal stated.

  “I sure don’t,” I responded.

  Jasmine whispered, “This could be a good thing.”

  “For you, maybe, but not me. I was scheduled to get my senior ring this Friday. Now I’m going to miss the ceremony.”

  “We’ll have your ring delivered to your house,” the principal assured me.

  I rolled my eyes. I looked at Jasmine. “Thanks to you, my life is screwed up.”

  One of the school secretaries knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” the principal responded.

  “Mrs. McNeil is here to pick up the girls.”

  “Where’s my mom?” I asked out loud.

  Kim walked from behind the secretary. “Porsha, I talked to your mom. I’m to drop you off at home.”

  “Thanks . . . I guess,” I mumbled.

  “We’ll see you on Monday,” the principal stood up to say.

  Jasmine followed Kim out the door. I lagged behind. I could feel my cell phone vibrating in my backpack. While walking, I retrieved it. It was a text from my mom. I didn’t respond to it until we were pulling away from the school’s campus.

  “Porsha, the best advice I can give you about dealing with reporters is to ignore them. Eventually, they will go away,” Kim said, as she drove me home. Kim went on and on about how to deal with the media. She was a drama queen.

  Now I could see where Jasmine got her actions from. If Jasmine hadn’t confessed to leaking the information, I would have thought Kim was behind it. I came very close to asking her if she knew about Jasmine’s role in it all.

  Jasmine remained quiet for most of the ride to my house. She turned around and handed me a piece of paper. “This is my number. Call me later.”

  It took me a few seconds to take it from her. Once I did, I placed the paper in my backpack. I leaned back in my seat and looked out of the window the remainder of the trip home.

  Of course, when we arrived home, several news media trucks were camped on the street in front of my house. Kim ignored them and drove up the driveway.

  “Tell your mom I will call her later,” Kim stated, as she parked the car.

  “Thanks, Mrs. McNeil,” I said, as I released my seatbelt.

  “Call me Ms. Kim,” she said.

  Jasmine said, “Don’t forget to call me.”

  I didn’t say a word. I saw cameras flashing as I walked up to the front door. My mom jerked the door open and pulled me inside. She slammed the door. “I should have listened to you. Let you stay at home today.”

  I dropped the backpack off my shoulder and grabbed the handle of it with my hand. I could have said I told you so, but refrained from doing so. “Why didn’t you come get me?” I asked, as we walked to the living room.

  “Dion and I talked. Kim happened to be there when the school called. Besides, I had to finalize my press statement with Leslie. She’s releasing my statement to the press as we speak.”

  “What’s it going to say?” I asked.

  “No need for you to worry. Just know your mama’s taken care of everything.”

  “You might as well tell me. It’ll be on one of the gossip sites later, and I’m only going to read it there,” I said.

  “Look, I don’t have time for this,” my mom snapped.

  “You’re the reason why this is going on.”

  “How long are you going to blame me?” she yelled.

  “Until I feel like stopping,” I yelled back.

  “What’s going on here? I can hear you two outside,” Dad said, catching us both off guard.

  “Daddy.” I ran up to him and hugged him.

  “Baby girl, it’s going to be all right.” He held me in his arms.

  I played the damsel-in-distress role to the hilt. “I hate I got pulled out of school for this.”

  “Me too. I will be talking to that principal later on about this. He should have better control over who he lets on campus?

  My mom said, “He can’t stop them from being on the streets.”

  “Well, I pay my taxes like everybody else, and my daughter shouldn’t have to stay at home because of some nosy reporters. Principal Jackson needs to realize that. You’ll be back in school on Monday. Believe that.”

  “It’s best that she stays here. I don’t like all of this attention.”

 
; “You should have thought of that before.” Dad looked at me. “Why don’t you go upstairs? I need to talk to your mom.”

  I grabbed my backpack and looked back at my mom, who looked upset. I didn’t care. She brought the drama on herself.

  35

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I got your number from our dad,” Jasmine said from the other end of the phone over an hour later.

  “I really do mind. I don’t feel like talking to you or anyone else,” I said.

  “Have you decided what you’re going to do?”

  “No, I haven’t.” I got out of bed and turned on my computer.

  “Whatever you want me to do, I will do it, as long as you don’t tell my dad what I did.”

  “You mean OUR dad, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Jasmine said barely above a whisper.

  “I didn’t hear you.”

  “Yes.” This time she said it louder.

  “Okay, we’ve already established that you will stop jumping up in Cole’s face. The other thing I want from you is to stop bad-mouthing me to our dad.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Don’t even say it. I know you do.”

  I put my mom’s name in one of the search engines and got a lot of hits.

  “Whatever. Either you’re going to tell or not. I’m not going to keep going back and forth with you on this.”

  “I’m telling.” I hung the phone up.

  Seconds later, Jasmine called me back.

  I answered, “What?!”

  “I’m sorry, okay. All of this stress is getting to me.”

  “Me telling Dion what you did won’t hurt me. It’ll hurt you.”

  “Please do this for me. We’re sisters, remember?”

  I could tell she was pouting. “Sisters in name only,” I reminded her.

  “I’ll treat you better,” she said.

  I laughed. “So if I don’t tell our dad about what you did, you promise to treat me better. Wow! You really don’t want me to tell now, do you?”

  “Promise you won’t tell,” she begged.

  “I’ll think about it.” Without saying another word, I hung up the phone.

  Jasmine called back, and I hit the ignore button. The articles coming up on the computer screen held my attention.

  I scrolled through the press release sent out by Leslie on behalf of my mom. My mom admitted that Dion and she shared a child, and asked that their privacy be respected. The comments on the blog pages however were nasty and mean, and some accused my mom of being a home-wrecker. I couldn’t understand why, because Dion and Kim had only recently divorced.

  It was okay for me to be mad at my mom, but I really didn’t like some of the comments I was reading about her. I created a log-in name and responded to some of the comments. I’m sure it didn’t make it any better, but at least they would know how I felt. I logged off and lay across my bed.

  The knock on the door brought me out of a soft nap.

  “Porsha, can we come in?” my dad asked from the other side of the door.

  “It’s unlocked,” I yelled.

  Mom and Dad entered, and stood on opposite sides of my bed.

  My dad said, “We just read the comment you left on one of the blog sites. Although we appreciate you taking up for Angie, we think it’s best that you keep quiet.”

  I didn’t say anything until I noticed my dad unplugging my laptop. “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “We’re taking your laptop until all of this calms down,” my mom said.

  “But you can’t. That’s all I have right now. How am I supposed to get and do my schoolwork?”

  “I didn’t think about that, dear,” Mom said, addressing my dad.

  “You can use the laptop in our room when we’re there.”

  I pouted. “Whatever. I was just trying to help.”

  Mom sat on the edge of my bed. “We know, dear, but we got this. You just worry about school.”

  I remained silent but was fuming inside. I wasn’t a little child, and they needed to stop treating me as such.

  Jasmine called me again, and this time I answered.

  “’Bout time you answered,” she said.

  “Look, you need to chill with the attitude.”

  “So, what do you say? Would you do the reality show with me? It’ll help squash all the rumors.”

  “E-mail me the information.” I forgot I didn’t have my computer. But, wait a minute, my phone had Internet access.

  “Give me a few minutes. Read over it and then call me back and let me know.”

  I hung up with her. I never thought I would be making a deal with my enemy. My folks had upset me. I had to show them I could make my own decisions. I clicked on the icon sent to me by Jasmine and opened the document. The money and the show became more interesting, the more I read.

  I called Jasmine back. “I’ll do it. First, I have to convince my mom to let me.”

  “I’m working on my mom too,” she confessed.

  I went directly to my parents’ room when I hung up with Jasmine.

  “Come in,” my dad yelled.

  “Can I talk to Mom by herself?” I asked.

  “I need to go pick up the boys anyway,” my dad said. He kissed my mom and hugged me before leaving.

  My mom patted for me to sit next to her on the bed. “So, what do you want to talk to me about?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry about making things worse by leaving comments.” I thought starting with an apology would soften what I was about to say.

  “It didn’t hurt. It’s just I don’t want you open for ridicule. It might make me go ghetto on some folks, you know.” She laughed.

  “Jasmine and I have been talking, and we think we have a solution.”

  “Say what? I thought you two couldn’t stand each other.” Mom leaned back to look at me.

  “We can’t, but we have a workable solution. We want to do a reality show together.”

  “Have you lost your mind?”

  My mother’s words rang in my ear as she ranted.

  36

  It took my mom a few minutes to calm down. “I bet you it was that drama princess idea to do this, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, ma’am. But I thought about it. It’s a good idea.”

  “We’ve been able to keep you sheltered from the media up until this point. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “Well, I’ll be sixteen next month, and I think I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”

  “As long as you stay in my house, you will do as I say.”

  “Maybe I should call Dion and see about moving in with him.” I knew I shouldn’t have said those words, but she’d made me mad.

  The anger on her face was gone. It was replaced with sadness. Tears streamed down my mom’s face.

  “All we’ve done for you is love you and gave you the best life we knew possible. Now you want to go live with a man you barely know. I can’t stand to look at you right now.” She stormed out of the room and headed directly to their master bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

  Her words cut me to the core. I sat on her bed waiting and waiting for her to return. Maybe I had gone too far. But I was tired of everyone else around me dictating my life. I eased off the bed, head bowed down, and went back to my room. I wanted to scream, but instead I lay my head on my pillow and cried.

  My mom entered the room and sat next to me. She rubbed the back of my head. “This is all my fault. I’m sorry, baby.”

  I remained quiet.

  She continued. “I’ll talk to Trey when he gets back, and we’ll decide what to do. I don’t think allowing you to do a reality show will fly well with him.”

  I turned over. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “If it’ll bring you and your sister closer, then maybe it is the right thing to do.”

  I wasn’t so sure about the closeness, but it could be interesting. Maybe Jasmine would stop acting so much like a jerk. Maybe we could get past our differences and bec
ome more like sisters than enemies.

  Once my mom left, I called Jasmine back. I told her, “If my dad approves, I will be able to do it.”

  “Which dad?” she asked.

  “My dad-dad.”

  “Oh, you mean Trey?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Well, I can tell you our dad is not going to like it, but since my mom has full-time custody, as long as I can get her to go for it, then he has nothing to say about it.”

  “So you would do it without his permission?” I asked.

  “Sure. I like being in the spotlight. I want to be an actress one day, you know, the next Halle Berry.” She went on to say. “He can be cool when he wants to be. One year, he got Trey Songz to sing at my birthday party.”

  “Really?” My ears perked up because I had a serious crush on Trey Songz.

  “I’m going to see him later on today and ask him about it,” Jasmine said.

  “Maybe you should wait until this mess calms down before approaching him.”

  “No. Got to do it now because those producers want an answer as soon as possible.”

  It seemed like Jasmine had all the answers. I had no aspirations of being in entertainment until now. The allure of fame was begging me to enter those doors. If only my dad would agree and be willing to sign on the dotted line so I could get my own slice of the reality pie.

  I sat in limbo for the rest of the day waiting for my dad’s answer to the reality TV offer. He didn’t respond during dinner, nor did he say anything to me later on that night. I was beginning to think that Mom hadn’t approached him with it. I flipped my light off and surfed the net on my iPhone. I got angrier and angrier as I read some of the message boards about Mom and Dion.

  I heard a light knock on my door. “Baby girl, you still up?” Dad opened the door and peeped in.

  I flipped my phone over real quick. “I’m up. Just listening to music.”

  He turned the lamp on near my bed and took a seat in the chair by my desk. “I understand you and your sister want to do a reality show.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Why do you think I should say yes?” he asked.

  “Because it’ll give me a chance to tell my side of the story. It’ll bring me and my sister closer, and I can make my own money to go toward my college fund,” I said with confidence.