Rhyann and I get our stuff out of her brother’s car.
“I’ve never seen a house this huge before,” I whisper to Rhyann. “How many bedrooms does this place have?”
“I think around eight,” Rhyann answers.
I shake my head in disbelief as we walk up the circular driveway. Mimi runs out of the house to meet us.
“What took you two so long?” she asks.
“We had to wait on Brady to get off work,” Rhyann responds. “Are Divine and Alyssa already here?”
Mimi nods. “They got here not too long ago.”
We follow her into the house.
Mimi’s bedroom is the size of my apartment. Now I understand why she was so shocked at my place.
Her mother has lunch already prepared, so we head down to the kitchen after putting our stuff away. I’ve never seen such a beautiful room for cooking. It looks like the ones I’ve seen in the magazines.
Mimi’s brother comes down to the kitchen.
“Everybody, this is Chandler,” Mimi says.
He’s so cute that I find it hard not to stare. He picks a plate, piles it with a turkey sandwich, fruit, and chips, then comes to sit down beside me, which really makes me nervous.
“Chandler, what are you doing over here?” Mimi wants to know, wearing a look of irritation. “I already told you that my girls were going to be here this weekend. I thought you were going to kick it with your boy, Frankie.”
“I’m just eating,” he responds. “Frankie had to go out of town this weekend. His grandmother passed away.”
“Can’t you eat somewhere else?” she asks him pointedly.
Chandler eyes his sister hard. “I could, but I’m not going to,” is his firm response.
Concentrating on my sandwich, I try to pretend that I don’t notice him eyeballing me.
Rhyann apparently notices him watching me as well, because she keeps sending me secret smiles whenever I look at her.
“How do you like California?” Divine asks Chandler.
“It’s okay,” he responds. “I miss my friends back home, though.”
“You should see all the girls at school,” Mimi informs us. “They are all over him. I have no idea why.”
Chandler sends Mimi a sharp look, which makes her laugh.
He glances over at me, but I keep my head down, praying he won’t ask me anything about school.
When Chandler is finished eating, he excuses himself and leaves.
“Mimi, your brother is too cute,” Alyssa tells her.
“He sure is,” Rhyann says in agreement. “I think he’s interested in Kylie, too.”
“No, he’s not,” Mimi retorts quickly. “I don’t know where you came up with that, but it’s totally not true.”
Heat rises up to my cheeks. “That’s fine with me,” I respond without looking up. I guess Mimi thinks that her brother is too good for a girl like me. I’m fine to hang around with, but not good enough to date her brother.
Whatever.
After lunch, we go back up to Mimi’s room to change into swimsuits. This time they are all wearing different ones than the ones they wore to the beach. I slip on the only one that I own.
Mimi notices and says, “Would you like to wear one of my swimsuits, Kylie?”
I glance down at my body, then back up at her. “Why would I want to do that? The one I have on is clean, isn’t it?”
“I just thought I’d offer,” she responds.
“Do you have a problem with what I’m wearing?” I ask. Might as well mention the elephant in the room.
Mimi glances over at Divine before turning to me. “No, I just didn’t want you to feel bad. We’re all wearing different swimsuits.”
I soften my voice, seeing her point. “It doesn’t bother me, Mimi.”
“Okay, then . . .” She walks toward the door. “I can’t wait to get into the pool.”
Rhyann walks beside me. “You sure you’re okay, Kylie?”
“I’m fine,” I reply.
I sit on the edge of the pool while everyone else splashes around in the water. Rhyann swims over to me and climbs out. She takes a seat beside me. “Why won’t you get in?”
“I’m not in the mood for swimming right now,” I say. “Especially so soon after lunch.”
Rhyann doesn’t buy that excuse, though. “Mimi doesn’t mean any harm, Kylie. She’s a bit of an airhead. She says what comes to mind without thinking, but we love her.”
“I’m fine, really.”
“C’mon and get in the pool with us,” Divine calls out to me. “We’re here to have a good time.”
I jump into the pool but stay as far away from Mimi as possible. I’m not feeling her at all.
An hour later, we settle down in her bedroom.
“Chandler was watching you from his window,” Rhyann whispers to me while Mimi is on her cell phone talking to her boyfriend. “Did you see him?”
“He might have been looking at you, Divine, or Alyssa,” I respond.
“Nope, he was staring you down.”
I glance over my shoulder at Mimi, and then back at Rhyann. “Don’t say anything around Mimi. Okay? I don’t need her going cold on me.”
“She’ll be fine,” Rhyann says. “If Chandler likes you, then there’s nothing she can do about it.”
“He doesn’t like me, Rhyann,” I protest.
“Humph,” she responds. “I know what I’m talking about, Kylie. That dude is definitely into you.”
Her words make my stomach quiver in nervous energy. Chandler is cute and all, but just the thought that he might be interested in me . . . wow. I’m not real sure how I feel about it.
Mimi mellows out for the rest of the evening and we end up having a great time—that is, until Chandler makes an appearance. She quickly makes him leave when she catches him looking at me.
This time Divine notices it, too. “Meems, what’s up with you?” she asks. “Why are you tripping on your brother like that?”
“It’s our night and Chandler doesn’t need to be in our business,” she responds, pretending innocence. “This evening is all about us.” Yet Mimi is watching me the whole time.
She and I both know that despite what she is saying, there is a whole lot more going on. The truth is that she doesn’t want Chandler anywhere near me.
I’m an early riser. We didn’t fall asleep until well after three in the morning, but I wake up shortly after 6:00 a.m.
Being as quiet as I can, I shower and get dressed. I ease out of the room and head downstairs to the kitchen. I’m surprised to find Chandler in there cooking.
“What are you doing up?” he asks me. “I figured you all would be sleeping until at least noon.”
“I don’t need as much sleep,” I respond.
“I’m the same way,” Chandler tells me as he flips a pancake. “I thought I’d make you ladies some breakfast.”
“That’s really sweet.”
He glances over at me and says in mock seriousness, “Don’t tell anybody. I don’t want to ruin my rep.”
I chuckle. “Do you need any help?”
“That depends,” he responds. “Can you cook?”
“I’ve been cooking since I was nine years old.”
“Okay,” Chandler says, not convinced. “But can you cook?”
I hold up my hand like a Girl Scout. “Yeah, I can cook.”
While he works on the pancakes, I make bacon and sausages. When we’re done, Chandler says, “I don’t think we should wait on the others to eat. We’ll be starving if we do. Mimi will sleep until noon if nobody wakes her up.”
“So what are you suggesting?” I ask, my arms folded across my chest.
“Let’s have breakfast.”
Chandler and I fix our plates and take seats at the glass table near the French doors leading out to the patio.
“So, Kylie, where are you from?” Chandler asks me after we say grace.
“North Carolina,” I respond between bites.
“How are you liking it out here?”
I give a slight shrug. “It’s okay, I guess. How about you? Do you really like living in California?”
Chandler nods. “I like spending time with my dad. He’s always so busy, though.” He steals a peek over his shoulder before saying, “I’m not sure about Dean—sometimes I feel like she doesn’t really want me here.”
“She seems pretty nice to me.”
“That’s because you don’t live here. She doesn’t really talk to me much, and only when my dad is around. She ignores me the rest of the time.”
“Do you miss your mom?” I ask.
Chandler nods. “She sent me out here because I was tripping, you know. I was hanging with the wrong crowd and I wanted to be with my dad.”
“Do you want to go back home?”
“Not really,” he responds. “I like school and I do want to go to college out here, so I might as well stay around.”
Before I can respond, Mimi storms into the kitchen, saying, “Well, isn’t this cute? What are you two doing?”
Divine and Alyssa come in seconds later, followed by Rhyann.
“We’re having breakfast,” Chandler says dryly. “I thought you could’ve figured that much out, Mimi.”
She looks furious.
“Y’all were sleeping, so I came down here to keep from waking you up,” I explain. “Chandler was in here fixing breakfast, so I offered to help with the cooking.”
“I bet you did,” Mimi utters.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, offended.
“You couldn’t wait to be alone with my brother.”
I push away from the table and rise to my feet. “Mimi, he was making breakfast for us, so I thought I’d show my appreciation by helping out. I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m not going to stay here another minute. I’m out of here.”
“Kylie, don’t leave,” Divine interjects. “Mimi, maybe you need to go back to bed or something, because you really are in a foul mood.”
“Chandler, you need to stay away from my friends,” Mimi tells him.
“Why don’t you say what you really mean?” I say. “Chandler, she wants you to stay away from me because I used to be homeless.”
Rhyann eyed Mimi. “Tell Kylie that she’s wrong.”
The room is thick with a tense silence.
“I’m going to get my things and I’m out,” I say, heading toward the stairs.
Divine follows me.
“Kylie, I’m so sorry,” she tells me as we head up the stairs. “I don’t know what’s wrong with Mimi.”
“It’s fine,” I say, fighting back tears. “I just want to go home.”
Chandler comes into the room and says, “I’ll drive you.”
I shake my head. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to,” he counters, pretty annoyed himself. “I’m driving you home, Kylie. Right now I need to get out of here myself.”
As much as I don’t want to admit it, Mimi’s treatment of me really hurts. I pack up my backpack and rush downstairs.
Alyssa is standing near the front door. “Kylie, I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” I respond. “I hope to see you again, Alyssa.”
“You will,” Divine says from behind me. “We’re still friends, and we’re going to hang out this summer.”
Rhyann rushes over to me. “I’ll give you a call later. Girlfriend is seriously tripping this morning.”
Chandler and I walk outside to his car, a nice-looking Ford Mustang. Mimi drives a BMW convertible. “I don’t like foreign cars,” he tells me, as if sensing my thoughts. “I’ve always wanted a Mustang.”
“It’s very nice,” I say as I get in. “It still smells brand-new.”
He laughs. “I’ve had it for a week.”
“Chandler, I really appreciate you taking me home.”
“Hey, I’m sorry about my sister. She’s tripping.”
I agree. “All we were doing is talking.”
A look passes over his face that I can’t read. “Kylie, I like you and I don’t care what my sister thinks—I want to be your friend.”
I can sense trouble brewing, and I point out, “Chandler, I’m not trying to come between family. Mimi is your sister.”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” he scoffs. “I can handle Mimi. She can’t tell me who I can talk to or spend time with.”
I glance over at him and ask, “Why do you want to be my friend? You did hear what I said, didn’t you? I used to be homeless. I work at the hair salon where Mimi gets her hair done.”
“And?” Chandler responds.
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“Why should it?” Chandler turns and rests his hand on my headrest. “I’m not like my sister, Kylie. I grew up in a regular neighborhood and I went to public school until moving out here. My mom is a nurse and she works a full-time job. The money my dad sends is put into a trust for me and my college fund.”
I smile, touched that he would let me know. “So what you’re trying to say is that our lives are not that different.”
Chandler nods.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I tell him, waving at the magnificent house. “Our lives are very different, Chandler. More than you could ever imagine.”
Chapter 9
I can’t believe that girl would behave that way,” Miss Lucy comments.
“She did,” I say. “Mimi acted like I was nothing but trash. Her brother wanted our number, though, so I gave it to him. I like Chandler.”
The telephone rings.
I answer it. “Hello.”
“Kylie, it’s Divine. I wanted to make sure you made it home okay, and to apologize for Mimi’s attitude. We left right after you did, because she was wrong.”
“I don’t want to cause any friction between y’all,” I tell Divine. “I don’t have to be a part of your circle.”
“You’re not getting off that easy. We’ve decided you’re one of us, Kylie. Mimi just has to stop tripping, and we told her so.”
I feel like I’m causing a rift between the girls and Mimi, and that’s not what I set out to do. They have been friends a long time. “Divine, don’t worry about me. You and Mimi go way back. You haven’t known me very long.”
“It’s not about how long I’ve known you, Kylie. Mimi came off wrong with you and she needed to know it. Being friends is about being honest with each other.”
We talk for another twenty minutes. Before we hang up, Divine invites me over to her house to spend time with her and Alyssa.
“I’d like that,” I tell her. She really is nice.
“Cool. My mom is going to send a car for you.”
“That sounds deluxe.”
Divine laughs. “It’s just a car, Kylie. It beats public transportation any day, in my opinion. I’m not knocking the bus or anything,” she adds, “but car service is just the best, next to riding around in a limo.”
“I wouldn’t know,” I say, laughing.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I hang up the phone and announce, “Divine invited me over tomorrow after church.”
“I heard,” Miss Lucy responds. “I think it’s wonderful.”
The telephone rings again and I answer. This time it is Rhyann.
“I’m fine,” I tell her.
“I’m not,” she says. “I’m so pissed at Mimi. How could she treat you like that?”
“She’s your friend,” I remind her.
“Mimi won’t be, if she keeps this mess up,” Rhyann says. “She was wrong, and I’m not going to let her get away with it. Now I know how she really feels about me.”
I don’t believe that. “I think it’s just me,” I tell Rhyann.
“Nope. I’m sure if Chandler had shown any interest in me, she’d feel the same way. I’m disappointed in Mimi, because I thought she was different. I knew she was a little snobby by the things she said, but . . .
“An
yway, enough about Meems. Did Chandler get your phone number?”
A grin spreads across my face. “Yeah.”
“I knew it,” Rhyann shouts, forcing me to move the receiver from my ear. “I knew that Chandler was into you.”
“We’re just trying to be friends. That’s all.”
“Friendship is a good place to start, Kylie.”
Chandler and I spend two hours on the phone talking. A couple of times, Mimi enters his bedroom, trying to talk to him, but he always makes her leave.
I’m mildly surprised when Chandler tells me that he wants to take me to the movies one night next week. I promise to get back to him with an answer.
He seems really nice, and he feels almost the same way about his dad that I feel about my mom. Chandler resents his father for never spending time with him although he constantly promises to do better by him. Even now that Chandler’s here in California and in the same house with his father, he hardly sees him. His dad leaves early in the morning for the studio and doesn’t get home until late in the night. When he’s not at the studio, he’s traveling somewhere to do a movie.
“Chandler, I’m sure your father loves you,” I tell him. “He may work a lot, but your dad is making sure you have everything you need.”
“I don’t want all of this stuff,” he retorts. “Kylie, I want time with my dad. That’s all.”
I totally understand. I want my mama to spend time with me and forget about a man just for once.
After I hang up with Chandler, I settle down to watch some television with Miss Lucy.
“Have you talked with Mimi?” she asks me.
“No, ma’am. She kept trying to interrupt Chandler while he was on the phone with me. He told me that he finally locked her out of the room.” I glance over at Miss Lucy. “Mimi and I aren’t gonna be friends. I see that now.”
“It’s her loss, then.”
I smile. “Yeah, it sure is.”
My thoughts travel to Chandler, who is nothing like his sister. I like talking to him, but I’m pretty sure his family will put pressure on him to leave me alone. I silently vow to keep from getting involved with him so that I don’t end up hurt.
I’m also determined not to get too wrapped up in a boy. I need to focus on my future if I want to make something out of myself. I’m definitely going to prove to Mimi that I’m just as good as she is, even though I don’t have her family’s money.
Split Ends Page 8