Just like that, it was Minni’s turn. No way through it except to do it.
Keira ran up, breathing hard. “I love you.” The words spilled from her mouth. “Just…the…way…you are.”
Minni took another deep breath. Someone shoved a cordless microphone into her hand.
“And now,” the emcee announced, “Minerva Lunette King will perform ‘His Eye Is on the Sparrow’!”
It felt as if someone were using Minni’s stomach as a trampoline. She shuffled to center stage and waited for the recorded music. Her head floated a few inches above her neck. Dizziness caused her to sway. Would she topple in front of everyone?
She glanced at the judges. Miss Laverna winked again. Her parting words from last night came back: If you think your skin is going to keep you from belonging, it will. But it doesn’t have to.
Minni inhaled and exhaled. Keira knows who I am.
I contain multitudes…
She heard the soft static that signaled that the tape was rolling.
Minni swallowed, trying to moisten her dry tongue. She clutched the microphone, waiting for the piano intro, but instead of Grandmother Johnson’s so-so playing, an awful grating sound filled the room—a loud, low rumble followed by a high-pitched whistle. Waves of cold dread washed over her.
Grandmother Johnson’s snoring.
Minni had recorded over Grandmother Johnson’s accompaniment! She had never gone back to take the tape out of the machine.
People shifted in their seats, glancing around. The snoring went on and on, and then stopped suddenly. The room was dead silent.
Minni stood frozen, nervous laughter welling at the base of her throat. Someone coughed. What was Grandmother Johnson doing? Had she fainted in her seat? Or rushed to the sound guy and ripped the tape from the deck? Whatever she was doing, she would be livid.
Keira stood offstage with her hands clamped over her mouth. She waved frantically and whispered, “Sing! Sing!”
Minni wanted to flee, but something deep inside wouldn’t let her. She had to do this and she knew it. She took a breath. “Why should I feel discouraged?” Her voice shook, soft and airy. “Why should the shadows come?”
Her eyes slid to Keira, who gave her a thumbs-up. Minni closed her eyes and imagined she was on the beach, singing to the ocean and the sky…to the sun and the moon. No one was there except her and her sister.
That was when it happened. Someone yelled out. “Go on, girl!”
If she hadn’t been to Grandmother Johnson’s church, she might have thought the person was impatiently telling her to get on with it already. But she’d heard people shouting things like this all over the church that day, and it clearly meant one thing: We like what we’re hearing. Give us some more!
She took a deeper breath and let her voice ring. More people called out encouragement. She even heard a woman who sounded like Mama. She smiled.
“I sing because I’m happy. I sing because I’m free!” Her voice soared and floated like the sparrow she sang about. “His eye is on the sparrow. And I know…” She made her voice loop up and down and around, just like that girl at the church.
Sort of.
“I know…”
Not as confidently or as beautifully, but she tried. “I know…he watches…me.” She held out the last note as long as she could, just like the choir had done.
For a moment, the room was silent again. And then…applause! And it was loud! Not as thunderous as Keira’s had been, but it was loud. They thought she’d done a good job. More importantly, she realized, she thought she’d done a good job.
She rushed offstage and into Keira’s arms.
Chapter Thirty-one
Keira and Minni helped each other into their gowns, giggling hysterically about the tape snafu.
“Do you think she left the building in humiliation?” Minni asked.
“Never. She’ll blame it on the sound guy or the tape player or something.”
Donyelle, who hadn’t performed a talent, came up and told them how much she liked their performances. Alisha, who had twirled a baton—quite well, Minni had to admit—stood at a distance and scowled.
Keira decorated her side bun with the roses. Then she touched up their lip gloss, and it was time to get in line.
Minni was feeling good, in spite of how uncomfortable she was in her long dress. She’d done the hardest part. She’d sung in front of a whole crowd of strangers! They’d even shouted for her!
“Remember, chin up and shoulders back,” Keira said as the girl ahead of them walked around the stage to the emcee’s reciting of her awards, activities and achievements. “But don’t let your chest protrude!”
Minni stifled a giggle with her hand.
Alisha sauntered over. “Good luck, Keira. May the most deserving girl win.” A huge grin spread across her face as she held out her hand.
Keira shook Alisha’s hand just as the emcee called her name—her cue to start walking. “Keira Sol King is the daughter of Gordon and Lizette King…”
Keira turned and stepped, but her foot caught on something. Minni sucked in her breath as Keira lurched onto the stage and tumbled to the ground. She lay spread-eagled, just past the curtain. The audience gasped as if they were one giant person. The emcee stood by dumbly.
Minni rushed to her sister’s side and helped her to her feet, brushing dust from her bright yellow dress. “Chin up, Keira,” she whispered. The audience applauded and Keira started again. Just like that, she was floating around the stage, as beautiful and graceful as ever. Her smile looked a little more forced than usual, but in a way that only a twin sister could tell.
Minni stood in the wings, fuming. That brat, Alisha! She had tripped Keira, no doubt about it. No way would Keira trip on her own. That was Minni’s department. Minni wanted to go find the cheater and tell her she knew what she’d done, but it was her turn next. She had to stay put—for now.
Keira’s list of activities and awards was impressive, even to Minni, who already knew them all so well. The national fashion design contest. All her gymnastics awards. Her Girl Scout badges. Volunteering at the senior citizens’ center. Her plan to own her own fashion design business. Her desire to start a foundation to assist AIDS orphans in Africa and to bring attention to the struggles of kids with learning disabilities.
“Keira Sol King, ladies and gentlemen,” the emcee finished. Keira exited on the other side.
“Minerva Lunette King…”
Minni stepped back onstage, still distracted by what had happened to her sister. She wound around on her way to the other side, barely paying attention to what the emcee was saying. She was walking faster than Miss Jackie wanted them to, but she didn’t care. She needed to find Keira and make sure she was okay.
Finally done with her turn, Minni rushed toward the dressing room. Alisha was in the wings again, waiting to be called. She should shove the girl onto the stage—give her a dose of her own medicine. No, she wouldn’t sink to her level. Instead she walked straight up and stomped on her foot.
“Ow!” Alisha screeched. “How dare you!”
“No, how dare you!” Minni growled, and kept walking. She pushed through the dressing room door. Keira wasn’t there.
“Have you seen my sister?” she asked Donyelle.
Donyelle shook her head. “Is she going to be okay? What happened?”
Minni didn’t stop to answer. She clutched the skirt of her dress and hurried from the room.
After checking the hallway bathroom and the lobby, she decided to try outside. Keira sat on a bench, watching the spraying fountain in the turnaround. The setting sun still lit the night air. The almost perfectly round moon shone opposite in the sky, making its way up.
Minni sat next to her sister. “Are you all right?”
Keira nodded, gazing at the sky.
“She tripped you, didn’t she?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters! That’s cheating! She should be disqualified.�
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“I feel sorry for her—all the pressure she must be under. If she has to win that badly, let her have it. There’s always next year.” Keira smiled.
“But Grandmother Johnson said there might not be a competition next year.”
“You know she only said that to get Mom to go along. You’ve seen the way she and Alisha’s grandmother look at each other. She wants to show that woman up. That’s probably why she insisted we had to come this summer instead of waiting until next.”
“You could still win.”
Keira shrugged. “I’ve realized there are more important things.”
Minni looked into her sister’s eyes. “Like not letting anything come between us?”
Keira grabbed Minni’s hand and held it tight. “Or anyone.”
Minni looked at the sun and moon hanging in the summer sky. They had always been together. They would always be together. “Whatever happens, I’m with you.”
Finally it was time to return to the stage. Standing next to Alisha on the risers, Minni wanted to throw up. Not just a little pea-sized throw-up. Buckets. Gallons. Bushels.
She wasn’t nervous for herself anymore. She was nervous for Keira. She so badly wanted her to win, or at least for Alisha not to.
The emcee came to the podium. “All of our girls are winners already—” The crowd applauded, with a few whistles and hoots thrown in. “But now it is time to acknowledge a handful of them for their outstanding merit in particular areas. First, because achievement and success mean little without a kind heart and a friendly spirit, the Miss Congeniality award goes to Donyelle Dyer!”
With a rush of excitement, Minni threw her hands together and clapped long and hard. Donyelle, grinning from ear to ear, stepped away from the first row to receive her trophy. She jiggled with excitement as she posed for a photo with last year’s Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America, her dimples deeper than ever. Minni waved at her and gave her a big thumbs-up. Donyelle totally deserved that award. She had made Minni feel welcomed from the very start.
The category awards continued, with girls receiving trophies for school activities, leadership, athletics and the arts. Minni was not disappointed a bit when her name wasn’t called for academic excellence, although she was sort of surprised Keira didn’t win the arts award.
“The humanitarian award goes to a girl who has exhibited an exceptional commitment to making our world a better place. For her work in her school library helping children to read, her environmental cleanup efforts, her involvement with Girl Scouts and her volunteer service with a local animal shelter, this year’s award goes to Minerva King!”
A tremor ran through Minni’s body. Her face turned hot.
Alisha leaned over. “Are you just going to stand there with your mouth open?”
Minni took a breath, then gathered her dress in her hands and descended the risers carefully. Other girls’ hands patted her back and arms as she passed. At the bottom, Keira rushed over and hugged her neck.
Minni received the trophy from last year’s Miss Black Pearl Preteen, thanked her and posed for the photo. The bright flash made her see stars, but she still managed to locate Miss Laverna at the judges’ table and give her a little wave. She went back to her place next to Alisha, who stood straight and tall, looking smug. “Congratulations.”
Somehow Minni didn’t think she meant it.
“The talent award will be next,” Alisha said.
“Now on to the talent award,” the emcee announced.
“See?” Alisha said, never once losing her pasted-on smile. “In most pageants, the girl who wins talent wins the title.” She couldn’t seem to help herself. She just had to be a show-off.
“This isn’t a pageant. It’s a program,” Minni said dryly.
Alisha sneered, then quickly put on her smile again.
“The judges had a very difficult time with this one, as there were so many fine performances.”
Alisha’s smile held steady.
“And so, for the first time in the history of Miss Black Pearl Preteen, we have a tie for talent. The co-winners are Miss Alisha Walker”—Alisha squealed and started for the stage—“and Miss Keira King!”
Alisha stopped in her tracks. Minni didn’t need to see the girl’s face to know the smile had been knocked clean off.
Minni cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Yeah, Keira!” Then she clapped as hard as she could for her sister, who posed for a photo along with the clearly still-in-shock Alisha.
The emcee waited for the girls to return to their spots. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment we’ve all been waiting for…”
The crowd was completely silent, but the room was not quiet. It crackled with the excitement of everyone waiting to hear who would be crowned the next Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America.
Last year’s first and second runners-up joined Miss Black Pearl Preteen onstage, waiting to give this year’s court their crowns, sashes and large pretend checks representing the U.S. savings bonds that the winners received.
“The second runner-up, and first princess in the Black Pearl court, is Miss Shauntay Daniels!” The audience erupted in shouts and applause. Shauntay put her hands over her mouth when she heard her name and then hugged the girls next to her. She lifted the hem of her dress and hurried to receive her regalia and check.
“The first runner-up, and second princess in the Black Pearl court, is…Miss Alisha Walker!”
Minni bit the side of her mouth to keep from smiling and turned toward Alisha. She could at least give the girl a pat on the back.
Alisha stood with her arms straight down, her fists and jaw clenched. She wasn’t even trying to fake looking happy. She stalked to the front of the stage and forced a smile for the camera. She looked as if someone were pulling her fingernails off one by one.
“And now, to the winner.” The emcee held up a card. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the ninth Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America is…”
Minni smiled, knowing what was coming.
“Miss KEIRA KING!”
The audience roared. Minni’s heart soared. There were cheers, whistles and the most applause of the whole program. People rose to their feet.
Some cheesy instrumental music started to play. Keira hugged the girls around her, then walked forward proudly to receive her foam-board check for one thousand dollars in U.S. savings bonds and stand next to the huge trophy, which was almost as tall as she was.
Minni beamed as last year’s Miss Black Pearl Preteen put a crown on Keira’s head and a sash around her middle. Then she handed Keira some flowers and kissed her cheek.
Keira walked across the stage, waving at the audience, her eyes shining brightly. Flashing cameras lit up the room.
Minni smiled so hard her cheeks ached. She looked out at the audience again. Grandmother Johnson plowed down the aisle, leading the charge on her way to the stage.
She wasn’t alone.
Mama, Daddy and Gigi were with her!
Chapter Thirty-two
Daddy blew kisses. Gigi snapped pictures. Mama beamed at Keira, then at Minni. She gave Minni a big thumbs-up.
Grandmother Johnson had apparently forgotten about decorum. She cheered wildly, bouncing up and down. Hopefully, in her ecstatic state, she had also forgotten about the earlier broadcasting of her “heavy breathing” habit.
When all official photo-taking was over, Miss Jackie signaled to the girls that they were free to leave their places and mingle with each other and family members waiting to greet them. Alisha fled from the stage, wailing.
Donyelle grabbed Minni before she could reach Keira, who was surrounded by a hundred people anyway. It would be a while before Minni had her sister to herself again.
“Congratulations on your award!” Donyelle said.
“You too! You totally deserved it.”
“Thanks. Hey, you wanna trade e-mails?” Donyelle held out a pen and a piece of paper with her address already written on it: Iluvbarb
[email protected].
“Sure,” Minni said, grinning. She ripped the paper in half, wrote down her address and handed it back to Donyelle. They hugged.
“It was fun to meet you,” Donyelle said.
“You too.”
“Don’t forget to write.”
“I won’t.”
“I’ll send you a picture of my Barbie collection.”
“Okay. I’ll send you a picture of me and Bessie Coleman.”
“Great!” Donyelle headed off to exchange addresses with someone else.
Minni scanned the judges’ area, looking for Miss Laverna, but all the judges were gone. She headed for the stairs at the end of the stage and made her way to her family.
She sank into Mama’s embrace, breathing in her lovely scent. She was home again.
It turned out Daddy had flown Mama and Gigi out in one of his friend’s charter planes in exchange for a favor. They had decided to keep it a surprise and had actually called that morning from Raleigh. Grandmother Johnson had known all about it. “I’m an excellent secret keeper,” she said with a grin when the truth came out. They stood around Keira in the emptying ballroom, admiring her gargantuan trophy, the bouquet of stargazer lilies and the big check.
Minni and Keira retrieved their things from the dressing room—Alisha was nowhere to be seen—received a final word of congratulation from Dr. Hogg-Graff, and then joined their family in the lobby. They begged to go with Mama and Daddy in the rental car.
“I’ll keep you company, Minerva,” Gigi said. Her dangling earrings and dental-strip-whitened teeth sparkled in the lobby’s light. “How is it that in all these years, we’ve never had any one-on-one time?” She tweaked Grandmother Johnson’s arm. Grandmother Johnson looked at her sharply, but Gigi didn’t seem to notice. “On our way, you can point out places to go for a hot night out on the town. I wouldn’t mind meeting myself a good old-fashioned Southern gentleman while I’m here.”
Daddy rolled his eyes. He put his arms around Minni and Keira, and they all went out into the warm evening air.
The Other Half of My Heart Page 20