“She’s not proud of me,” I said, making the moment about me when it shouldn’t be.
My dad could tell that I needed him to prove to me that he was okay. He sipped on some water while helping me pack up. I felt it was too soon, but he had already put me in my place once. I wasn’t going to push him. He knew his limits, and, hopefully, he was just tired from all the running he’d been doing.
I was glad I was going with him to this event because I was going to see to it that he spoke, and then we got right home. When we relaxed in the limousine, he had his eyes closed, but he still had an uncomfortable look on his face. I placed my head down and started praying he was okay. The last I needed or wanted was for something to be physically wrong with my father. He was right. He’d come through so much. He had to just be tired.
We pulled up to the homeless shelter. My dad had the driver wait around on the side. We went inside. He was greeted by many cheers.
He took to the podium and said, “I would not be mayor-elect today if it had not been for you guys spreading the word to the people you know in Charlotte and actually getting out and voting yourselves. I stood before you and told you that I planned to make a difference for all citizens in this great city. While we won the first battle of getting elected, I am not going to defer from that goal. I’d like to set up a time to come back and hear your concerns, your dreams, and your stories. We can collectively figure out a way to get you back on your feet. I’ll be sending some people through here with resources, jobs, and more food to show you that you’re not alone. Tonight I actually plan to start with my daughter Yuri. She’s a baker. Though her cupcakes have been through a lot this evening, I promise you when you eat one, you’ll be fighting for another one. Yuri, why don’t you—” before he could say “come up here,” my dad completely fell down.
The director of the shelter and I ran to the stage. No way was this happening again. He had to get up.
“Is something wrong with your father?” the director asked me. “Is he sick?”
“He was bobbling earlier, but he said he was fine.”
“No, he’s not fine.”
My dad came to and said, “Just get me to a chair. I’m fine.”
“Dad, you’re not okay!”
He was taken to the director’s office, and he sat on the couch for a while. There was a doctor on staff at the homeless center that just happened to be there finishing up checking on some of the residents. My dad didn’t allow me to come in and hear all that was going on, but when the director came out, I grilled him.
“Is my dad okay? What’s wrong with him? Do we need to call an ambulance? Is he going to be fine?” I asked the doctor.
The doctor patted me on the head and said, “Yes, yes. You breathe before we have to take you to the emergency room. Your father’s going to be okay. He does need to go and see his regular physician. He promised me he was going to do that, but he’ll be okay. He’s just dealing with a lot.”
My dad came out of the office looking exasperated. He smiled my way. Naturally, I smiled back, so thankful he was okay. The director and a couple of the men who lived at the shelter helped my father out.
When we got to the car, my dad said, “I know this seems scary–you not knowing what’s going on with your father–but this has gotta be our secret.”
“Secret? No way, Dad.”
He gripped my hand and said, “Listen, you’re my baby girl. You and I have always kept sweet secrets.”
I laughed, “Yeah that you ate more dessert when Mom told you not to have anymore.”
“And you ate dessert when Mom told you not to have anymore,” he said.
“Dad, that’s harmless stuff. How can I keep this away from Mom? Obviously something’s wrong. You heard the doctor.”
“I’m fine. Don’t get me all worked up. I just need some rest. I’m going to go see my doctor. Everything is going to be fine. You’ve gotta promise me you’re not going to say anything. Too much is on the line. Okay?”
I was my dad’s baby. There was no way I could go against his wishes. Certainly, he knew his own body. So I told him, “Okay, I won’t say anything,” knowing that I had partnered up with him in his lie. It just didn’t feel right. It felt so wrong.
The next morning, I rushed down for breakfast, after waking from a nightmare that my dad was gone. Reaching the bottom stair, I was thrilled to hear his voice. He was talking to my mom. Still I had to see with my own two eyes that he was okay. There he was smiling at me with an apron around him, fixing pancakes.
“You want some, baby girl?” he asked, giving me a nervous look.
To ease his mind, I went over to hug him. He was okay. I had proof in my arms.
“You’re acting like you haven’t seen your dad in forever. I don’t get a hug like that?” my mom said as she extended her arms.
I went over and hugged her too. My dad eyed me and made sure I said nothing about his condition the night before. I winked his way, reassuring him again, though I felt uneasy about it.
“The rest of your sisters are sleeping. I did not want Slade to have that performance on a school night. I knew they were going to be too tired. They better get on up,” my mom said.
“She said she got it cheaper on a school night. That’s our business women. The girl is taking after her mother,” my dad teased before he looked at my mom. “Honey, you better go and get them up.”
“You’re right,” she said, knowing she could make us move like no other.
As soon as the coast was clear, I said, “Dad, are you going to see your doctor today?”
“Listen baby girl, I don’t want you bringing anything up about that. You see, I’m fine. I just needed some rest.”
“But you’re not answering me, Dad.”
He kissed me on the forehead, handed me a plate of pancakes, and started whistling. Darn, I was mad at him. I huffed, sat down, and started gobbling the food.
My mom was the best at getting us up. She didn’t come downstairs alone. All four of my sisters were with her, and they were fully dressed.
Shelby, Ansli, and Sloan were playing around. Slade wanted to get to school. She was actually the last person I wanted to ride with because I was still upset that she had Ms. Pinky cater her event, but I wasn’t trying to be tardy either. I had a test in chemistry, and getting to school early to study was just what I needed.
As Slade and I rode in the car, she played her song over and over. I mean I could understand that it was brand new. It hadn’t even hit the airways, and she wanted to make sure it was on point. It actually worked out pretty well because she had it on, so we didn’t have to carry on a conversation.
When it ended the fourth time, she finally turned it off and looked my way. “Last night was hot, huh?”
I looked out the window, gave her no energy, and uttered, “Yeah.”
“What’s up your butt?”
She did not want to go there with me. It had always been that Shelby, Slade and Sloan had more attitude than Ansli and me. We were real quiet girls compared to the three of them. But at this point, if Slade took me there, she was going to see a side of me that she’d never seen.
Slade thought on it and said, “Oh, so cat’s got your tongue? I know you were not thinking that I was going to have somebody else with food there. Like I told you when you first got there yesterday, it wasn’t my intent, but you know, it worked out anyway. Everybody loved her stuff. And plus, you were all cute back there, and Dad says you’re going to be working with her.”
“When’d you talk to Dad?”
“Before the event was over last night, we took a break.”
“How’d he seem to you?” I asked, wondering what she thought of his condition.
Had she noticed that he was weak? Had he shown any health issues in front of her? If so, I knew Slade wasn’t going to be able to keep it. I truly hoped she noticed something.
“He seemed fine to me!” she yelled like I was a lunatic for probing.
“You don�
�t have to raise your voice, Slade.”
“Well, you don’t have to seem ungrateful, Yuri.”
“You didn’t even tell me that the lady was coming. We talked about cupcakes. You didn’t tell me she was baking everything else.”
“What else can you bake?” Slade sarcastically said as we pulled into the parking lot.
“I don’t know, but I could have tried.”
“Exactly, you could’ve tried. I needed a professional. I mean you still had a lot of cupcakes back there. Ansli felt so sorry for you. She told dad to have you take it to the homeless shelter, but I think you were throwing it out or something, huh?”
“No, we took it to the homeless shelter,” I said, feeling really low and now understanding where my dad got the idea.
Slade parked and stared my way. “Look, it’s taken me years to get a record company interested in my work, and while my new label is just distributing my songs, I’ve realized that I’ve still not arrived. I’m closer than I’ve ever been. I wasn’t upset with those who did have a deal. Instead, I gave them my full support, bought their albums, downloaded their songs, and watched their videos over and over because I’m studying them, trying to figure out how I could step up my own game. So whatever issues you have with Charlotte’s aunt, you need to get over them. She’s the best at what she does for a reason. Maybe you spending time with her can help you find out why and help you be better too. That’s all I’m saying. I gave you a chance, and you got the nerve to be mad at me. Whatever. We’re at the school. Get out.”
“You’re not gonna drop me off at the front?”
Slade huffed, “No. Walk like I have to. Ungrateful self.”
We both slammed both doors. I was trying to hold back the tears. My sister and I were at odds.
Before I went to my class, I went to the girls bathroom to fix my makeup. It was still early. I was shocked when I heard crying coming from the stall. The crying was getting louder and wouldn’t go away, so I knocked on the door.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Go away.” I could tell it was Logan’s voice.
“Logan, it’s Yuri. Please come out. Talk to me. You can come out, please.” When she did, I was surprised to see blood by her nose. “What in the world! We gotta go and take you to the office. This is horrible! Let’s get help.”
She grabbed my arm. “No, no, no. I just need your help cleaning it up.”
“Is your nose broken?”
“No, it’s just blood.”
“How’d this happen?”
“Don’t ask. Did you see anybody by the door when you came in? Are they gone?”
“I wasn’t even paying attention. I was a little upset myself.”
“Oh my gosh! They could still be out there. Oh my gosh!”
“Those Onyx people? What do they want from you?”
She shouted, “To join. I said no, and it’s the worst mistake I’ve ever made in my entire life. They’ve been torturing me ever since. This morning I was a part of the knockout game.”
“What!”
“I told you too much already. Please just leave me alone.” Without even wiping her nose, she grabbed her stuff and ran out of the bathroom.
As soon as I went out of the bathroom, I saw the same three jerks who had been around before. One male, two females, but thankfully Logan was far down the hall. She didn’t need anymore drama.
One girl with short hair that made her seem like a boy, pushed me hard. “You got something to say?”
“If I had something to say, I would say it,” I said back, knowing that I did have something to say because they shouldn’t have been punching on Logan, but I wasn’t going to say that.
“Oooh, she’s getting all smart.”
When I saw Slade, I rushed over to her. “Oh, so you wanna walk with me in the halls now?”
“There’re those people I was telling you about,” I mumbled under my breath, alluding to the Oynx members.
Slade put her arm around me. “They’re the leaders of the gang. Let’s walk fast.”
My sister made sure I was calm and secure in my class, before she took off. Mr. Newton, my chemistry teacher was helping a few others. So I sat and studied on my own.
Sitting in chemistry class twelve minute later, I could’ve choked. The two girls, the one who pushed me and the other one, were in my class. It was time for our test, and the two chumps were sitting right behind me. I had studied, but the essay questions were giving me pause. I had answered to the best of my ability and looked back over my test. I turned mine in first, and the two girls from Onyx turned theirs in right behind me. I don’t know, I guess I thought all gang people were stupid, but for them to finish so fast and appear so confident, maybe I had underestimated them. I wished that I could talk to them and tell them that there had to be a better way.
But before everyone was finished taking the test, Mr. Newton called us out into the hallway. “You all have the same answers.”
My eyes bucked wide. I hadn’t copied off of anybody’s paper. But there was no way I could accuse the two of them for cheating off of mine. If their gang was as dangerous as everyone was telling me they were, that was the last move I wanted to make.
“So nobody is going to tell me anything?” he said. “Alright. Let Dr. Garner handle it.”
About twenty minutes later, I was pacing back and forth in Dr. Garner’s office. When he opened the door, I rushed to him and said, “Sir, I did not cheat off anybody’s paper. It’s those girls. They cheated off of mine, but I can’t—”
“I know, I know, I know. I believe you,” he said.
“So you know they’re dangerous?”
“I’m looking into all of that. I don’t want you to go and say anything you can’t take back. But let’s just say, I want you to stay far, far away from them. There’s some stuff going on here that’s really disturbing, and that crew is a crew with whom you do not need to be yoked.
CHAPTER THREE
YES
“Dr. Garner, I understand I’m not supposed to be around these gang kids, but what am I supposed to do if I see them beating up on somebody innocent? My parents didn’t raise me to turn away when somebody is in trouble,” I said to the principal.
“Well, then you need to scream out for help. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t want you to leave somebody who’s in need of assistance stranded. But this Onyx group is around here wearing their pants ultra-low, with these black bandanas draped across every piece of their bodies … they’re ruthless. I’ve already had two of my tires slashed this year.”
“Are the police involved?” I asked.
“Absolutely, and some might be involved the wrong way.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I don’t want to explain anymore. I can’t be so scared of this group that I don’t do my job. I’m the principal here. That’s what I get paid for. You’re the student. You need to stay out of it and for sure away from this group. You understand?” I nodded while he wrote me a pass. “Here. Get on to class.”
As soon as I stepped out of Dr. Garner’s office and into the office waiting room area to cross through to exit, the two Onyx gang members stepped up to me and locked the door. One girl had a tattoo I’d never seen before on her cheek that said Lady G, so I assumed that was her name. She was real feminine looking, but still looked sort of tough. The other girl almost looked like a boy, with cornrows going straight back, with a build like a linebacker and a look on her face like she wanted to devour me.
“Tell me what you think, Tiny,” Lady G said, revealing the bigger girl’s name. “She rat us out or what?”
“I don’t know,” Tiny said, whose name certainly didn’t fit her body type. “But if she snitched, that pretty little face she got is going to be real messed up.”
“Hey! What y’all doing?” Dr. Garner yelled out and the two of them stepped aside. I was able to unlock the office door and rush out of the office.
The period was about to be
over, so I went to Sloan’s class to catch her as soon as the bell rang. When she came out, I grabbed her. I was shaking.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“It’s that Onyx gang. I’m in trouble! Tell me you’ll help me! Tell me you’ll stay with me and fight with me if they mess with me! Please, Sloan! Say you’ll help me.”
My sister put her arms around me and said, “Of course I will. Why you think they gon’ jump you?”
As soon as she asked the question, a couple of other suspect members of Onyx walked by and gave me the evil eye. Scaring me further, one guy was pumping his fist into his palm over and over and over again. That confirmed that I was in trouble.
Sloan pushed me to a corner. “What is going on? What happened? I thought you got the message to leave them alone?”
I wanted to say it was a long story, that I wished I could go back and figure out what I did wrong, but I worked on instinct. I was there for Logan. I simply went to class and some people cheated off my paper. Why was I now in trouble? I truly didn’t understand. So I probably looked real shell shocked.
“Well, we are going to need back up. You just lay low the rest of the day. Don’t egg them on, and don’t leave out of the school building by yourself. You don’t have to worry,” Sloan said, making me relax.
“I won’t. Thank you, Sloan.”
“Hey, Yuri, wait up!” I heard a familiar voice call out to me.
I turned and saw that it was Paris. I turned back and kept walking. I had too much stressing me out as it was.
“Wait up!” he said, jogging to catch up with me. “You gon’ do a brother like that?”
“You’re not a brother,” I said to him. “And trust me you don’t want to be around me right now.”
“Why?” he asked.
Showing little interest, I said, “Well, it’s not because you’re not looking good and smelling good. That’s for sure.”
“So then what?” he questioned.
“Seriously. I’ve got a mark on my head. You don’t want to be around me.”
With all seriousness, he tugged on my arm, stopped us from walking, stared at me, and asked, “What are you talking about? So the Onyx people are messing with you too? I’m sick of them, man!”
#5 Icing on the Cake Page 3