Rumor Central

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  She shrugged like it was no big deal. “Please, that’s par for the course. But don’t worry, I’ll alert security.”

  I sighed. I’d decided not to tell anyone about the attack at the mall because I didn’t want people thinking I couldn’t handle this job. But I no longer had a choice.

  “I was attacked the other day. Two guys roughed me up and told me to shut up and stop digging into other people’s business.”

  Tamara folded her arms on her desk. “I’m sure they were just trying to scare you.”

  The way she was just blowing me off was making me so mad. “They warned me to stop with the show. It’s just too much. I want out.”

  She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. “So the money, the fame. You just want to walk away from it all?”

  Of course, I didn’t want to walk away from that. But at the same time, I simply didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t scare easily, but between those thugs at the mall and the constant drama, I was fed up.

  “Look, I understand your concern,” she continued. “And I know you wanted us to beef up security, and we actually have a bodyguard for you starting next week.”

  Oh, so now they got the bodyguard.

  “We’ll have your mail filtered,” she continued.

  “Tamara, I’m just tired of all the drama,” I replied.

  “Look,” Tamara said, sitting up. “You’re in the big leagues now so I’m gonna need you to be a big girl. Do you know how much hate mail Oprah has gotten in her lifetime? What is it you and your friends say? If you don’t have people hating on you, you’re not doing your job.”

  “But this is more than that,” I protested. “I don’t want to do this anymore. I quit.”

  She stood up and started gathering papers on her desk. “I would love to sit and discuss this with you, but I have an executive meeting I need to get to and you need to get in with Ken and talk about next week’s show.”

  I hated that she was just blowing me off. “What if I just quit?”

  She stopped, stood and stared at me for a minute, then without saying a word reached into her file cabinet. She pulled out a stack of legal-sized papers and handed it to me. I took it and looked at it.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “That is your contract,” she replied.

  “Oh.”

  “And what does the duration of that contract say?” She tapped the paper.

  I read the spot she pointed to. “Two years.”

  “And how far are we into that contract?”

  “Two months, but . . .”

  “But that means, for the next twenty-two months, you’re not going anywhere unless I say you’re going somewhere. You signed off, your attorney signed off, your parents signed off. So as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing to discuss.”

  Was she for real trying to get tough with me?

  “Oh, I can pay your little funky money back,” I quickly said, reaching for my purse.

  “Oh, the money isn’t the issue,” she replied. “Not only would we sue for breach of contract, but I will have you and your family tied up in court for so long your little trust fund will be gone.”

  I just stared at her in disbelief.

  “But, since I’m sure you’ll make the right decision, we won’t have to worry about that, now will we?” She didn’t wait for me to reply. “Ken’s waiting on you,” she said over her shoulder as she walked out the room.

  Chapter 41

  I didn’t even want to get out of bed. It wasn’t that I was that distraught over having to continue the show; it was that I couldn’t stand people trying to boss me around. And yes, Tamara was my boss, but I still wasn’t having it. I’d made up my mind that I was going to talk to my dad when he got home. He was going to have to help me figure a way out of this job.

  I was waiting on him when he got in that evening. He looked at me and could immediately tell something was wrong. “Hey, sweet pea,” he said. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” I said, meekly. I hadn’t figured out yet how exactly to present my case.

  He removed his jacket. “Now, you know I know better. What’s wrong?” he repeated.

  “I’m tired. It’s like everybody at school hates me.” I decided to start there, then ease into the stalking part because he would be furious that I was just now saying something.

  “Since when do you care about someone hating?” he said, smiling.

  “I don’t, really.” I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “I think you’re a little frustrated right now. And while I don’t exactly approve of all the gossip, you’re making a name for yourself. Some of the interns at the office were talking about you at the water cooler yesterday.”

  I cocked my head. My dad’s office was definitely upscale. “Really? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  My dad shrugged. “I’m telling you now.” He grabbed his briefcase, opened it, and started ruffling through some papers. “But I support whatever you want to do. Although I don’t believe in quitting. Morgans aren’t quitters. We see things through to the end, no matter how difficult.”

  I sighed. That was my dad’s motto for everything. When I wanted to quit ballet, he wouldn’t let me. The same went for violin, French lessons, and every other thing I’d ever done.

  I heard my cell phone ring and used that as my excuse to bail. “Let me get that.” I quickly left the room and raced into the den, where my cell phone was.

  I groaned when I saw Tamara’s cell phone number, but went ahead and pressed ANSWER anyway.

  “Hey, how are you?” she asked.

  “Fine,” I said, curtly.

  “Look,” Tamara said, “Maya, you know how much I like you and I apologize for being so blunt earlier. But you caught me at a bad time. I’d been putting out fires all day and just was in a foul mood. You don’t know how much I had to fight to get you all the perks you wanted, then you wanted to turn and bail on me.”

  “I didn’t want to bail on you,” I said, falling back on our leather sofa. “I just . . . I don’t know, all of this is just getting to me.”

  “Why? You said yourself you aren’t friends with these people anymore. You’re on the verge of superstardom and the show has done so well in the ratings there are talks of taking it syndicated.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “That means we’d take it national,” Tamara said.

  This was my first time hearing this. “You mean I would air in more than Miami?”

  “Yes,ma’am, you’d be airing all over the country. Maybe the world. It’s not a done deal yet, but it’s looking real good.”

  I hoped she wasn’t just saying something to keep me from being mad. But then, Tamara had always been about the business. “Wow,” I said, as visions of Emmys, Grammys, and MTV Awards flashed through my mind.

  “But that good news isn’t actually why I was calling. I was actually calling to tell you . . . are you ready for this?”

  “What?”

  “You know all the drama Usher was going through in his custody battle? He wants to talk to you about it.”

  “Are you freakin’ kidding me? How does Usher even know about me?”

  “I told you, Maya. You may be local, but your name is already spreading across the country. He rarely does interviews. His audience is young women and he wanted a platform that he knew wouldn’t bombard him. And he’s here filming a movie. Our people got with his people and they want you to come on set to film him. That is, of course, if you still work for us.”

  Me. And Usher? Oh my, God! Sheridan absolutely loved Usher. She would die a slow death at the thought of me getting to interview him.

  Forget everything I’d been feeling earlier. “Oh, I definitely still work for you.”

  “So you’re no longer bummed about the job.”

  “Yeah, I’ll get over it,” I said, laughing.“Usher can make a girl get over anything.”

  Tamara laughed with me. “That’s my May
a. Oh, and just so you know, everything is set for the Drake concert at your school. Just another reason you can’t go anywhere.”

  “And on that note, I gotta go. I got to call Davion, the girl who does my eyebrows, and my stylist. I have to be on point for this interview.”

  “Well, Maya that won’t be hard because you’re always on point.”

  “Thanks, Tamara.”

  I hung up the phone. My attitude had done a one-eighty and I was excited beyond belief.

  Chapter 42

  I leaned in and checked my appearance in the bathroom mirror. My eyes were puffy and red. I guessed that’s what a late night of partying with celebrities would get you.

  After my interview with Usher, he’d invited me to a private party and I’d kicked it all night long. I hadn’t gotten home until almost three in the morning. Good thing my parents were sound sleepers and they hadn’t heard me come in. It was difficult because this balancing both worlds was kicking my butt. I’d actually started counting down the months until graduation, and trying to figure out how I was going to break it to my parents that that whole college thing they’d been planning for me wasn’t going to happen. Everything was on hold for Rumor Central. I knew they were going to trip, but I really didn’t see what the big deal was, especially since the whole reason people went to college was so that they could make money, and I was definitely making money.

  I looked at my watch. Valerie was running late. She was supposed to meet me in here five minutes ago. She’d been acting funky ever since my story. She really needed to get over it or I was going to have to look at replacing her.

  I was just about to text Valerie when the door swung open. “Here you go,” she said, handing me my English homework.

  “Thanks for doing this,” I said, deciding not to fuss about her being late. “There’s no way I could’ve gotten this done without you.”

  “How was the party?”

  “It was awesome.” I was just about to go into all the fabulous details when I noticed the look on her face. She’d actually come to the interview, but she hadn’t been invited to the after-party. I hadn’t really thought it was a big deal because she’s not about that life, but she still didn’t seem her usual self.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  I hoped she wasn’t about to tell me that she was upset about the party.

  “Oh, just the same drama,” she said.

  I suppose at that point I probably should’ve asked her more details, but I really didn’t care. I just needed this homework.

  “So, are you sure everything on here is right?” I asked.

  “Yeah, the stuff is a breeze.”

  “See, that’s why I had you do it. I probably would still be working on it,” I said.

  “So, any updates on the Sheridan story?” Valerie asked.

  “Still working on it,” I said with a smile. “I’m going to find that kid if it’s the last thing I do.”

  “How do you even know Glenda’s child is even alive?” Her question caught me off-guard. This was the first real conversation she’d had with me in a while.

  “Maybe she’s not, but I at least want to get a picture.” I tucked my homework in my bag.

  “Why are you so gung ho on this?”

  I turned to face her. “Because I need to knock little Sheridan and her mom off their high horses.”

  “Maybe you should just leave it alone.” I know she wanted to say something about the trouble she was getting into behind the story. But shoot, the damage had already been done. There was no sense in me bailing on the story now.

  “Maybe you should just stick to English homework,” I replied. Debbie Downer needed to go somewhere with all that negativity.

  “I’m just saying, this isn’t about me. I mean, Glenda Matthews is pretty powerful.”

  “And yeah, so is Maya Morgan,” I reminded her. “And whose side are you on anyway?”

  “All I was trying to say is that you said yourself that you were getting tired of all the dirt and gossip.”

  “I was, but I’ve suddenly been rejuvenated.”

  I was tired of talking to her. For a minute, I’d found myself really liking her. But now, Valerie was really starting to work my nerves.

  Chapter 43

  This should be one of the biggest days of my high school career. I mean, all that hate was gone out the window. Well, except for my former crew. My classmates were jocking me like the superstar that I was and I was about to go on stage to introduce Drake. I’d taken pictures, done interviews, and everything, and now I was about to go on and introduce him. But I was so nervous, I could barely think straight.

  One text had ruined all of my excitement.

  U think ur cute. We’ll see how u look w/blood splattered all over that peach jumpsuit. #udietoday

  The fact that I was wearing a peach jumpsuit meant the stalker was right here. But in a sea of people I had no idea who it could be.

  All of this had me completely shook up. This wasn’t a game anymore. I’d made the wrong people mad. It had to be Evian and her people, or I wouldn’t put it past Sheridan’s mom to hire someone. But then again, Chenoa and Blake were pretty mad.

  “Uggh,” I muttered. I used to think it was cute being hated, but now I didn’t even know where to zero in to find out who it was that was making my life a living nightmare.

  Pow!

  I screamed as I dropped the mic and dove to the floor. “Dang, you a’ight?” one of the stagehands asked.

  I looked up nervously, my eyes darting around as I wondered why no one else was taking cover.

  “Get down, get down,” I hissed. “Someone’s shooting.”

  He looked at me like I was crazy. “Ugh, no. A light bulb burst,” he said, pointing up to one of the lights on the ceiling.

  Several of the technical people started laughing as I tried to regain my composure and stand up.

  “Sorry, I—I guess I’m a little nervous.”

  “My grandmother used to always say if you scare easily, you ain’t living right.” He laughed.

  I wanted to tell him nobody asked him about his stupid grandmother. My look must’ve told him I didn’t see anything funny because he turned and scurried away.

  “Maya?” Tamara said, putting her hand on my shoulder, causing me to jump again. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, looking at me strangely.

  “All this noise and people sneaking up on me. It’s just too much,” I snapped before I knew it.

  “Whoa. Take a deep breath, chill out.”

  I inhaled, then exhaled. “Sorry. Just a little stressed.” I wanted to tell her about the text, but my mom was standing right behind her and if I uttered a word about a stalker, my mom would march me right up out of there and not let me continue. And since that wasn’t an option, I just remained quiet.

  “So, what’s going on? Are you ready?”

  “Yes,” I said, looking out over the audience. “Let’s just get this over with.”

  Chapter 44

  Okay, enough was enough. I’d gone from thinking there was something wrong with Valerie to having no doubt.

  This chick had just rolled her eyes at me.

  I turned my back on her, but suddenly whipped around and I could’ve sworn she was mocking me with her hands behind my back.

  I was mortified and hot at the same time. I frowned and my eyes narrowed. It was obvious I must’ve been boring her. We had only been talking about an idea for the show. And it was her job to listen to me and take part in our brainstorming session. But she had an attitude and this time, wasn’t trying to hide it.

  “You done yet?” she asked dryly. She even twisted her neck when she asked the question. And to think, I’d just got through defending this trick. Word about her parents tripping had gotten back to Tamara, who’d asked me about it. After I’d come to Valerie’s defense, Tamara had said, “You sound like you’re best friends with the girl, the way you’re taking up for her.”

  “Never that,” I repl
ied. “I just feel sorry for her sometimes. She’s such an outcast and I know she just wants to be me. But overall, she’s all right, especially because she does my homework without complaining.”

  Valerie had popped up in my dressing room just moments after that conversation. Maybe she’d overheard me. Maybe that was why she was standing here giving me bonafide attitude. Seriously, she acted like she could’ve been doing anything else in the world but working with me.

  It wasn’t that I needed her to hang on my every word, but she made me feel like I was wasting her time.

  “What’s going on with you?” I asked.

  My tone softened and I even adjusted my thoughts about the attitude she had been dishing my way. Maybe she was worked up about something else, something entirely unrelated to me and the job we had to do.

  “What are you talking about?” she snapped.

  It wasn’t the question she asked, but how she asked it that really rubbed me the wrong way again. She had more attitude than I had seen in quite a while, and I couldn’t remember a time when I’d seen it coming from her of all people. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

  “Do you have something else you need to be doing right now?” I asked. This time though, I threw just as much attitude back as she had thrown to me.

  Her hands went to her hips, her face twisted, and I could’ve sworn she sucked her teeth.

  “What’s that supposed to mean, Maya?”

  Even the way she said my name sounded like I’d stolen her boyfriend (as if her lame behind could even get one).This was ridiculous. It seemed like every day the number of people who were mad at me, didn’t like me, or tried to kill me with their eyes, grew.

  The last thing I needed was Valerie of all people jumping on that bandwagon, too. The rest of the entire student body had that covered. But, Valerie and I had to work very closely together. If drama jumped off between us, I’d really have issues. Without her, I’d really be struggling. I could admit that.