Love Like Sky

by Leslie C. Youngblood

  Daddy kissed Mama on the cheek. Peaches’s ponytail smooshed into Daddy’s shoulder. It was like that kiss he’d given her after the divorce was final and he came to dinner with us for the first time since he’d moved.

  “Things work themselves out, George,” she said.

  Mama waved to Millicent, who was talking to Sugar. When Millicent stepped over, Mama took Millicent’s hand in hers. “Thank you again for everything you did to take care of Peaches,” she said. “Didn’t mean those things I said before.”

  Millicent said, “Forgotten. Just grateful Peaches is back where she belongs.” Millicent pinched Peaches lightly on the cheek.

  “C’mon, now. This is a celebration. No time for all this mushiness,” Daddy said.

  “No mushiness,” Peaches repeated, and lifted her head from his shoulder.

  Daddy wiggled his fingers like he does when he’s revving up for a tickling frenzy. Peaches started giggling before his fingers touched her stomach. When they did, she reared her head back and laughed.

  “George, careful. That medicine she’s on upset her stomach.”

  “Medicine, schmedicine,” Daddy said, but immediately stopped tickling her.

  Over Peaches’s giggling, Daddy asked Mama, “Where’d your old man go?”

  “Where else? Out to the grill,” Mama said.

  Daddy kissed Peaches’s cheek and said, “Let’s book on out there and see if that cat’s got any skills on the grill.”

  I left Mama and Millicent chatting like they might even become good friends. Well, maybe that’s pushing it, but it was better than before. I spotted Tammy and walked toward her. My only hope now was that while I was with Mama and Daddy, that Nikki had her eyes on Tangie.

  “Sorry I’m just getting here,” Tammy said. “Cool party,” she added. She had on a regular T-shirt and jeans, but a bandanna was tied around her head that had a peace sign on it, and she was wearing earrings with dangling silver cubes. “I didn’t know Lucinda was coming.”

  “She’s brought my bike.” Nikki tried to sound happy about it.

  “Let’s talk about that after we find Tangie,” I said. “You didn’t see her when you came in, did you, Tammy?”

  “Nope,” she said, kicking her feet out like she was ready to Cupid Shuffle. I ran upstairs as fast as I could. When I didn’t see her in the living room, I ran outside where the DJ was playing “Do the hustle…. Do the hustle….” and everybody was dancing in line. If I didn’t think it would send everyone into a panic, I would’ve stood right in the middle of the yard and shouted Tangie’s name.

  The den…Forgot to check the den. I flew back into the house and rushed back down the stairs. Nikki and Tammy were waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. All I wanted to do was enjoy the party.

  “Any luck?” Nikki asked.

  “No, but Frank’s den is down here,” I said, and started off for the opposite end of the basement.

  In the den, Mama had a DVD of Soul Train playing, and a few grown-ups were dancing. Someone was even trying to get a Soul Train line going like they did in that Tyler Perry movie.

  “Let’s get back upstairs,” I said to Nikki and Tammy.

  “It’s almost eight, Georgie,” Nikki said.

  “She could be in her room,” I said.

  We snuck up to the second floor. My door was open, so was Peaches’s, but Tangie’s was closed tight.

  We all stood around in the hall. Nikki or Tammy couldn’t understand how nervous I was. My palms were sweating like I had on gloves. If we stepped in her room and she caught us, I’d be forever Snoop Tattler.

  “You think we missed her down there?” Nikki asked.

  “Maybe,” I said, but couldn’t help staring at her door.

  Tammy popped her gum. “What if she left earlier? She could be anywhere in Atlanta by now.”

  “What help are you?” Nikki said. “Anyway, we saw her not too long ago.”

  “Are you up there, G-baby?” Mama yelled. “Lucinda’s asking for you. Get back down here soon. If Tangie is up there, tell her Val is here.”

  “Okay! I’m coming, Mama,” I shouted. Then I whispered to Tammy, “Stand by the stairs and holler if you hear anybody coming up.”

  With Nikki behind me, I knocked on Tangie’s door and waited. There was no answer. Then I opened it.

  Tangie’s bed was made, but a pair of jeans and two T-shirts were in the middle of it.

  “At least it’s not what she had on,” Nikki said. I admitted that made me feel a little relieved. But her drawers were opened, and clothes jumbled about. She was looking for something in a hurry. Tangie’s room normally looked like one you’d see in a fancy hotel, with no wrinkles in her sheets, and no clothes tossed about.

  “Wow, you never told me she was like a real gymnast,” Nikki said, as she picked up one of Tangie’s trophies.

  “Did so. Told you she was a cheerleader, too. And put that down, please.”

  “Gotta check all of them, I guess,” Nikki said and opened the next two drawers, feeling underneath the clothing.

  “What are you feeling for?”

  “A diary. You sure don’t know anything about having a big sister. In every movie I’ve seen, they usually have diaries. Some call ’em ‘journals,’ but it’s the same thing. It’ll tell us exactly where to find her, I bet.”

  I didn’t stop Nikki from looking, but I was sorta hoping not to find one. “I just wanted her not to get hurt, not know all of her secrets.”

  Then I did it. I tapped on her computer, but it was locked.

  Just then we heard Tammy. “Someone’s coming! Someone’s coming!”

  Nikki and I shut the drawers, dashed out of the room, and closed the door, just in time. We rushed to the stairs as Grandma Sugar was walking up.

  “I want to take pictures of you and Peaches, G-baby,” she said. “Why are you little foxes hiding out up here?”

  “We’re on our way down,” I said.

  “And where is that Ms. Tangie? She looked put together enough to give a young Pam Grier a run for her money.”

  “Is Pam Grier like Foxy Brown?” I asked, trying to distract her.

  “She is Foxy Brown.” Sugar snapped her fingers like an exclamation point. “Put it like this. She was something like Ms. Beyoncé in the seventies. Always had the baddest outfits and a body you had to be born with. Still turning heads to this day. Anyway, none of y’all should be stuck up here when we’re celebrating Peaches. Is Tangie in her room?”

  “I saw her outside talking to one of her friends on the front porch,” Tammy said quickly.

  “Well, then, I’ll leave her be for now. Let me get you three while I gotcha.” Sugar whipped out the digital camera that Mama bought her for Christmas. Her phone could take pictures, too, but Sugar said, “I don’t like to depend on one thing for too much,” and never would use it for photos. She told me that when Grandpa Ike died, she didn’t even know how to balance a checkbook or drive a car.

  Nikki got in the middle, and Tammy and I turned to the side.

  “Ahh look out now…Here comes the newest Charlie’s Angels,” Grandma Sugar said.

  I hoped she couldn’t tell my smile was to hide that I was worried out of my mind.

  After she took a bunch of pictures, we made our way back down to the crowded living room.

  “I looked in the front yard and the back. She’s not here,” Nikki said.

  Valerie, I thought. Find Valerie. If anyone knew where Tangie went, she would.

  “You may have to tell your folks, Georgie, before it gets too late,” Nikki said, which made my stomach sink again. Nikki would rather wear the same outfit twice in one week than be a tattletale.

  But no sooner had I turned to leave than someone poked my shoulder.

  “You have the nerve to invite us to a real-life kiddie party, for a real-life kid, and then act like we’re not even here.”

  “She’s not a ‘real-life’ kid, that’s my sister.” I was off to a bad start. “And I didn’t
invite you.”

  The cousin eyed us. “And what are y’all anyway, Powderpuff Girls?”

  “And, uh, where are the boys?” Lucinda added; the gloss on her lips made her words slick. From the last time I saw her, she’d gotten her hair braided in thick box braids like that old picture of Janet Jackson from one of Mama’s favorite movies, Poetic Justice.

  “This is not that kinda party,” I said.

  “We got dropped off out here for this?” Lucinda said.

  “Some boys might come later,” Nikki added. I just wanted to pinch her.

  “Uggh. Stay if you wanna, go if you wanna,” I said. “But you only supposed to be here to bring Nikki’s bike back. So where is it?”

  “Oh, about that,” Lucinda said. “Mine still has a flat. Might need to keep that bike a little bit longer. I’m sure Nikki doesn’t mind. Right, Nik?” That made me steamed. Nikki only let Jevon call her “Nik.” She hated when anyone else used it.

  “You said you’d bring my bike today. You promised.” Nikki’s voice raised a bit, then cracked. I wanted her to leave before she went into a full-out cry in front of Lucinda. She’d be embarrassed for weeks.

  “I’m still thinking about my team. Might not need as many ‘extras’ as I thought,” Lucinda said.

  “That’s not fair. You said if I let you hold it that you’d put them on the team.”

  Lucinda smirked. “You told me that this was a real party. Trust me, we’re even.”

  “If you don’t give up that bike, that’s stealing,” I said. I thought about my conversation with Tangie and puffed my chest out a bit. “And, you’re not supposed to use the fact that you’re captain of the step team to get people to do what you want. It’s not right. It’s…It’s bullying.”

  “Stealing? Bullying? You’re so dramatic,” Lucinda said.

  “C’mon, Nikki…Tangie…remember?” We jetted off, and Tammy stayed behind with Lucinda and Rhonda. I looked back and Tammy’s face was frowning like Lucinda was on her nerves, finally.

  I scoured the upstairs as calmly as I could. No Tangie. I saw Nikki coming in from outside shaking her head. I regretted every word to Lucinda. Each one kept me from finding Tangie. The only good thing was Peaches seemed to be having fun, which kept me from straight-out crying. But I thought about the trouble Tangie was in and my entire body got jittery. What was even worse was Millicent was walking right toward me. Her gold dress flowed behind her like a flag.

  “I haven’t seen you much this evening,” Millicent said, smelling of coconut and holding a bottle of water in her hand.

  I sniffed a little and pressed my lips together but didn’t look at her. “Oh, I’ve been downstairs and upstairs,” I said.

  “Did you help your mama with all of this?” she asked.

  “Peaches and Tangie, too.” As soon as I said Tangie’s name, my lips quivered.

  “What’s wrong?” Millicent asked, and hurried me off to the hallway. She handed me the napkin that was under her bottle. I dabbed at my eyes and sucked in my breath.

  “I should check on Peaches.”

  “She’s fine. But you’re not. You know, you can talk to me about anything. I won’t try to take the place of your mom, but I’m here. Sit down on the stairs for a minute.”

  My heart was pumping faster than ever. I knew I had to make a decision. As soon as that idea started circling in my head, though, Valerie popped up. She was wearing a red jumper, a black cap, and wedged sandals that all looked old and brand-new at the same time.

  “Hey. Have you seen Tangie?” she asked.

  “Not in a while,” I muttered.

  “What’s wrong?” Valerie said.

  I glanced at Millicent.

  Millicent lowered her voice. “Is this about Tangie?”

  “What about Tangie?” Valerie asked. “How’s she going to invite me to a party and not be here?”

  “She was here, but…but…” And then my tears gushed.

  “Just take your time and tell us what’s going on.” Millicent rubbed the back of her hand against my cheek.

  Valerie wasn’t that patient. “Stop crying and tell us what’s wrong.”

  “Tangie is with Marshall. He’s planning to be part of a late-night protest. A kid at his school got hurt by the police. Tangie said that nobody is doing anything about it. Frank said she can’t go to any protests without him. And she and Marshall could go to jail!” All the facts were sorta scrambled.

  “What are you talking about? If she was going to get involved, she’d have told me. Marshall said a lot of hotheads might show up and make trouble. She wouldn’t have gone without telling me,” Valerie said, like it couldn’t be disputed.

  “I found out by accident. We have to find her. Frank’s gonna ground her for life. He told her she couldn’t do any protesting without him there.”

  “Have you told anyone else yet?” Millicent asked. Her earrings dangled like wind chimes.

  “Just my friends.”

  Valerie took out her phone. “This is crazy. I’ve called her twice. It went to voicemail both times. But I figured she was just getting ready and stuff. And you’re sure she’s not upstairs?”

  “I checked up there. I’m telling you, she’s gone. Think she’s just mad at her dad for making her go to Bogalusa. She doesn’t even care if she gets in trouble.”

  I twirled the fringe on my vest. “We have to find her.”

  “Georgie, stop crying, please. There’s got to be some misunderstanding. I was just with her today, remember? She would have said something.”

  “I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t read it.”

  “Well, this is the thing, Georgie,” Millicent said. “If I’m going to be of any help, we need to act fast. Frank is going to miss her soon.”

  “We need to get in a car and search for her, Millicent,” I said. “We can’t wait for her to come back on her own. We can’t.”

  If Nikki’s brother didn’t have a car, we wouldn’t have found Nikki. It was the same way now. We had to get wheels.

  “I agree with you, Georgie. Let me go get the keys from your daddy. I’ll tell him that I need to make a run to the drugstore. Trust me, as soon as you say that, men think ‘personal’ and don’t want details.”

  “We’ll be right here,” Valerie said, looking at her phone. As soon as Millicent walked away, Valerie said. “Georgie, I hope you’re right about this.”

  “Don’t you think I hope so, too? She was just starting not to hate me and I—”

  “She never hated you,” Valerie cut in.

  “Sure felt like it sometimes. I don’t want to go back there.”

  “Ready, ladies?” Millicent said.

  More than ever I wanted Tangie home. I’d been focusing so much on what Tangie could do for me as a big sister, I don’t think I thought too much about what I could do for her as a little sister. Well, the first thing I needed to do was make sure she was safe, even if it meant she didn’t speak to me for a long time. And I’d never thought Millicent would be the one to help me.

  “Told your daddy that if anyone was looking for you to tell them that you were with me,” Millicent said.

  “Okay.” We walked out the door together. The music was still going and laughter echoed throughout the house. Only a few weeks ago the thought of being with Millicent made my stomach hurt. I didn’t like her just because. Now I had to admit that when I gave her a chance she treated me like a grown-up and didn’t even care that I’d been mean to her. Maybe it wasn’t just bullies and people who didn’t like other people because of their skin color who could be unfair sometimes.

  Outside, the sun was setting, and the air was humid. My Afro puffed out like a Chia Pet, but I didn’t care. Even as we walked to the car, I prayed Tangie would come running up.

  There was a long row of cars along our street, and I didn’t know which one belonged to Daddy. He changed cars often, since he owned the dealership. When we went to Monster Golf, we were in an Escalade. This time, Daddy and Millicent were driving
a Chrysler 300. As soon as we got in, Millicent started it up and turned on the air. “Okay, Valerie, you know more about Marshall then any of us. Where does he go to school?”

  It wasn’t like when we were looking for Nikki. I didn’t have any suggestions about Tangie. If I’d thought I knew anything about her, I really didn’t. I realized I wouldn’t even know where to find her in the mall.

  “Clark,” Valerie said.

  “That’s our first stop,” Millicent said. “Have you ever been with her to his dorm?”

  Valerie was quiet, but Millicent looked at her from the rearview like Mama and Daddy would do Peaches and me. “It’s getting later and later,” she said.

  “He has his own apartment,” Valerie mumbled.

  “Oooh,” I said, though I didn’t mean to. That was probably another reason Frank didn’t like him. I couldn’t imagine living in a place where there weren’t any parents around, ever.

  “Just tell me how to get there,” Millicent said. “Better yet, do you know the address?”

  “But, Millicent, I don’t think they’re there. I think the protest is downtown, or on campus. I’m not for sure.”

  “It’s always best to start where he lives. I heard a blurb about a protest online, but that took place last night.”

  “This one is different. Don’t think they have a permit. That’s why she said she wasn’t going,” Valerie said.

  “If they’re doing something under the radar, that would be like finding a needle in a haystack.”

  I turned as far around in my seat as I could, as if that would make Valerie spit out the address. She scrolled through her texts, then she tried calling Tangie again.

  “Where does he live, Valerie? Tangie talks to you about him. You gotta know,” I said. She avoided my eyes.

  “Now her phone is going to voicemail. Not even ringing, just straight to voicemail. His address is nine-fourteen Howell Mill Road,” Valerie said.

  “Don’t even have to GPS it,” Millicent said. “Used to have a patient who lived in that area.”

  “Patient?” I repeated.

  “I was a home health-care nurse. It’s the kind of work you have to take a break from sometimes. While I’m working with your dad part-time, I’m getting another degree so I can go into nursing administration.”