Boy Trouble (6 page)

I
probably should've felt guilty, but I didn't. Any piece of guilt I felt had gone out the window when Mynique Foxx snapped on me when all I was trying to do was help. No, if she wouldn't take my help that way, I was about to help her another way—by letting her see what a fool she looked like getting beat up by somebody who claimed to be her man.

“Stand by, Maya. We're up in five, four, three . . .” My director, Manny, gave me the cue to begin.

I let the theme music come up and then taper off before I began talking. “What's up, everybody? It's your girl, Maya Morgan, the fantabulous host of
Rumor Central
, where we dish the dirt on the celebrities you love. Boy, have we got some goodies for you today. The Rumor Mill is on fire.” I turned to camera two, which I loved best because it had the best lighting. “Which D-list actress recently got publicly beat by her A-list boyfriend?” I paused for effect. “How about I can show you better than I can tell you?” I waited as the video came up. I could only shake my head as I once again watched Demond hit Mynique in the jaw like she was some dude off the street, then snatch her up by the hair and slam her against the wall.

“No, your eyes are not deceiving you,” I continued. “That is hot, young actor Demond Cash. Yes,
that
Demond Cash. The star of the new John Singleton sequel
Boyz Back In The Hood
, and he is definitely acting like he's from the hood,” I said. I fingered my platinum Tiffany necklace as I continued. “Word is that he's playing a thug in the upcoming flick and I guess he's getting his practice off screen as well, and his girlfriend, Mynique, is his punching bag. Don't recognize Mynique?” I laughed. “If you blinked, you missed her. She was a nineties sitcom star who had been looking to revitalize her career. Well, Mynique, girl, this ain't the way to do it,” I said, giving my full Wendy Williams flavor. “But a little birdie told me this isn't Mynique and Demond's first public feud. In fact, we hear he makes no secret about how much he puts them paws on women. Of course,
Rumor Central
is staying all over this story and will keep you updated as we get more info. When we know it, you'll know it, too.” I turned back to camera one. “More Bow Wow baby-mama drama. We'll have that story after the break.”

The music came up again as I tossed to the commercial break. I knew Demond was going to be pissed, but he'd lost all major cool points with me when he'd put his hands on Mynique, so I couldn't care less about him being mad. And the way she had just acted with me, I definitely didn't care if she was mad.

“Hey, good stuff, Maya,” Tamara called out, giving me the thumbs-up as she scurried across the studio. I used to really respect Tamara back when I worked for
Miami Divas.
Back then, she'd seemed like a serious journalist. Now, all she was was a Mona from
Love and Hip Hop
wannabe, constantly trying to chase her reality star, at anyone's expense. She had been getting on my nerves lately, but I was glad to expose Demond and his abusive ways.

Manny gave me the stand-by cue again and then, I came back and wrapped up the rest of the show, including my own personal two cents on why women shouldn't endure abuse. I closed with how women should love themselves enough to walk away and I gave the 800 domestic abuse hotline. I could only imagine Mynique sitting at home, fuming. She hated me with a passion as it was, so it's not like I had anything to lose, as if I cared about her anyway.

“Maya, absolutely loved it,” Dexter said, catching up with me as I left the set. “That's the Maya we all know and love.”

“Glad you liked it.”

“Yep, some of your best work. But um, kill the commentary,” he added.

I stopped and turned to face him. “Excuse me?”

“I'm just saying, we just want you to give us the dirt. Straight, no chaser.”

I had no idea what in the world that meant, but it didn't sound good.

“I'm sorry. I don't understand.”

He kept that stupid smile. “I'm saying, we love the dirt. Save the lectures for the other shows. All that ‘love yourself' crap. Nobody wants to hear it.”

“Maybe some people
need
to hear it,” I replied.

Ugh, Dexter made me sick. Was it so bad that I wanted to be more than just some sleazy gossip show? But Dexter was ten times worse than Tamara, so arguing with him would be pointless.

“Fine, Dexter,” I said, turning and continuing down the hallway. It wasn't like I had plans to be lecturing anybody, but if I felt like adding my two cents on a story, I should be able to.

I had just made it back into my office when my telephone rang. A few months ago, I'd had a stalker and then my fan base had gotten ridiculous, so I had made it a point to have all of my phone calls screened. That's why I was surprised when Sheryl, the front receptionist came on and said, “Hey, Maya, there's a girl on the phone and she really wants to talk to you.” I raised an eyebrow. Sheryl knew I didn't take random calls. She must've sensed my hesitation because she added, “She's crying and I don't know, but my gut tells me you should speak to her.”

I let out a heavy sigh. I was tired but decided to see what Sheryl was talking about.

“Hello,” I said, picking up the phone.

“Hi, Maya Morgan?” the voice softly said.

“Hi, this is she. How may I help you?”

“Um, you don't know me but I just . . .” The girl hesitated and sniffed like she had seriously been crying. “I just wanted to say thank you.”

“You're welcome, but thank you for what?” I asked, dropping down in my chair and removing my Chanel pumps.

“I think you may have just saved my life.”

Now that made me sit up. I'd gotten lots of calls since I had been doing
Rumor Central
, but never one claiming that I had saved someone's life.

“What do you mean?” I said, giving her my undivided attention now.

“Well, my boyfriend . . . I—I just . . .” She was stammering and I wanted to tell her to spit it out because I needed to go home.

“My boyfriend,” she finally continued. “He's really abusive and it wasn't until . . .” She inhaled sharply like it was taking all of her strength just to talk to me. “I really respect you a lot and it wasn't until seeing you on TV and how you told women to have more respect for themselves and seeing what Demond did to Mynique, that I saw myself. You're right, I deserve better. I had been all ready to give him a second chance and then I saw your show, and well, I'm not going to do it no matter how much he begs. And I just wanted to thank you for that. That's all I wanted.”

Wow,
I wanted to say. When I'd given my little spiel, I'd never had any idea it would actually reach someone. The power of TV.

“Thank you so much,” I said. “What's your na—” She hung up before I could finish my sentence. I was a little shocked because I'd never even remotely considered that my story, which I had just intended to be gossip, would help someone else. Even when I'd told Dexter that maybe someone needed to hear what I had to say, I hadn't actually believed it. I leaned back in my chair and smiled. I hadn't considered it, but I was definitely glad that it had.

D
inner with my parents sucks.
That's all I could think as I sat here, toying with my cedar planked salmon as my mother gushed about yet another shopping trip. This time she was heading to Paris. My mother needed to be inducted into the shopping hall of fame. My dad kept trying to rein in her spending, but it never seemed to work. I think now he just told himself that was something he'd have to deal with.

This dinner was his idea. He'd been complaining that we didn't spend enough family time together. But I was seventeen, going on eighteen. It was too late to play
Brady Bunch
family now. Since I was still trying to stay on my dad's good side so he'd keep paying my American Express bill, I kept my mouth closed.

“So, Maya, how's the show going?” he asked.

My dad had seen one, maybe two episodes. He said he couldn't take all the frivolous gossip. My mom watched, but sometimes, I felt like it was only to critique and make sure I was representing Liza Morgan well.

“It's going fine,” I said. “I'm still on top.”

My dad took a bite of his asparagus. “And I would expect nothing less. Nobody can hold a candle to Maya Morgan.”

That's why I would always be a daddy's girl, because he knew just what to say.

When we first sat down for dinner, I suddenly found myself wishing that Travis were here. But since he'd found out about Aunt Bev, he hadn't wanted to do much of anything. He just went to school and came home. He'd even left the girls alone, and believe me, they were not happy.

“So, are you ready for graduation?” my dad asked after a few more minutes. “Have you decided on a college?”

I would never tell my father, but I wanted to ditch college altogether. People went to college to get a good job, and make a lot of money. Well, I had a good job that paid a lot of money so I didn't see the purpose of college. But of course, my dad wasn't hearing that at all so I just said, “I'm waiting on my acceptance letter to the University of Miami.”

My father patted my hand. “Well, I have no doubt you'll get in. I'm really proud of you, Maya,” he said.

I glanced at my watch to try and see how much longer I was going to have to endure this dinner. My parents were cool, but who wanted to hang with their parents on a Saturday night?

My phone rang and my father gave a disapproving look. I knew he wanted my phone off during dinner, but he didn't turn his off and I was just as important.

“I have to go to the restroom,” I said, standing and grabbing my phone.

“Maya!” my father said.

“Oh, honey, relax.” My mother patted his hand. He called her his stress diffuser because outside of shopping, she had the awesome ability to calm him down. It worked once again, and that gave me the opportunity to escape.

“Be right back,” I said, scurrying off.

“Hey, Alvin.” I answered the phone right before it went to voice mail.

“Hey, beautiful,” he replied.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing, just wanted to see if you wanted to go catch a movie.”

“I'm at dinner with the folks,” I told him.

“Oh yeah, I forgot your once-a-month Saturday dinner.”

“And I'm counting down until it's time to go. They are driving me crazy.” Honestly, they hadn't really done anything other than ask a bunch of questions, but still, who wanted to do that?

“Well, I think it's cool that your dad insists that you guys have this dinner,” Alvin said.

“Yeah, whatever. What are you doing?” I leaned in the mirror to check and make sure my hair and makeup was on point.

“I was just chillin' and thought of you.”

That made me smile. “Where's your girlfriend, Pine-Sol?” I asked.

He laughed. “I keep telling you,
Marisol
is not my girlfriend. She's just a close friend.”

“Umph.”

Marisol—yes, I knew her name—had been hanging out with Alvin for the past few months. A pretty, olive-skinned Jennifer Lopez lookalike, she seemed to be really feeling Alvin. Personally, I think she was feeling Alvin's money, because he had a lot of it. But I did think Alvin liked her a lot more than he let on.

“I told you, all you have to do is say you'll be mine and you don't ever have to worry about me talking to her again,” Alvin said. I could feel his smile through the phone.

I couldn't help but smile, too, as I exited the bathroom. But that smile quickly faded when I saw the couple standing up to exit a booth in the back of the restaurant. They leaned in and kissed like they were in the middle of some stupid romance movie.

“Oh, my God,” I mumbled.

“What?” Alvin said. “Maya, what's wrong?” he repeated when I didn't answer.

“I just saw Sheridan's boyfriend.”

“Who?”

“Sheridan Matthews, my BFF. Her boyfriend, Javier, is here with another girl.”

I moved closer to their table. First, Kennedi's boyfriend was cheating, now Sheridan's?

“Un-unh. I don't think so,” I hissed as they got out of the booth. He took the girl's hand to lead her away. “They're leaving. Let me call you back,” I quickly said.

“Maya, what are you about to do?” Alvin said.

“Let me call you back,” I repeated. I hung up and raced to catch up with them just as they reached the door.

“Javier,” I called out to him. He ignored me as he quickly pushed his date out the door.

“No, he didn't,” I mumbled. I raced outside, trying to pull up my camera app at the same time. I was going to post pictures of his cheating behind on Instagram.

Just as I opened up the camera app, I noticed my battery was at one percent. “Come on, don't die,” I muttered as I held the camera up. He looked at me in shock, but it gave me the perfect angle and I managed to snap one good time, as he backed away and sped out of the parking lot.

I
couldn't get out of that dinner with my parents fast enough. When I got back to the table, I gulped down my food. I wanted to leave and go find someplace to charge my phone, but I knew my dad would have a stroke. When I got back to the table, he was already giving me the side eye.

“Can I use your phone real quick?” I asked him.

“Maya,” my mom said. “This is our time.”

“No, it's an emergency.” I needed to call Sheridan right away.

“No, you may not use my phone,” my father said, sliding his BlackBerry closer to him. “This is family time.”

I cut my eyes. “Then why is
your
phone out?”

“Maya Camille Simone Morgan, don't get sassy,” my mother said, using my full name, which she did whenever I was pushing her buttons.

I slunk back in my seat. “I'm sorry. It's just that it's an emergency.”

“Is someone dying?” my father asked.

“No, but—”

“Well, then there's no emergency. The only people that matter right now is our family,” he said, matter-of-factly.

“Well, why does Travis not have to be here?” I asked.

“You know why, Maya,” my mother said, her tone chastising. “Don't act like that.”

My father took a deep breath. “But I guess now's a good a time as any to tell you, we're going to send Travis back to Brooklyn.”

“What?” I exclaimed.

A sad expression crept up on my dad's face. “My sister is pretty sick, and although she doesn't want Travis there, it's killing him.”

I definitely agreed with that. It almost felt like my cousin was sinking into a depression.

“And we think if something happened to Bev and he wasn't there, he'd never forgive himself,” my mom added.

“So, you think something is going to happen to her?” I asked. “I thought she was out of danger? Is she going to die?”

“We hope not, but truthfully, it's not looking good,” my dad admitted.

I had no more words. I was sad for Aunt Bev, and also for Travis. And I was definitely going to miss him, because we'd had a great time even though he'd only been here a few months.

“I'll be going up there next week myself,” my dad added.

“Hopefully, Beverly will respond to this latest round of chemo.”

My mother smiled. “But we're going to think positive, send positive vibes up to New York.”

I nodded, but didn't say anything else as I went back to fumbling with my food.

My parents made some more small talk and I was so grateful when my father finally called for the bill. He paid it and we made our way back to his Bentley. As soon as we got into the car I plugged my phone in. I was wishing that I had one of those super-fast chargers but we were almost home by the time the little Apple sign finally came back on my phone. I immediately punched in Sheridan's number the minute I got enough bars on my phone.

“Hey, where are you?”

“I'm at home. Why?”

“I'm on my way over there.” I knew this was something I needed to tell Sheridan face-to-face. I would've texted her the picture, but I needed to show her in person. So, I didn't even go in the house. I just told my parents I'd be right back and jumped in my car. It took me fifteen minutes to get to Sheridan's house. I punched in the buttons on her security system and she immediately buzzed me in.

“Where's the fire?” she said, after I had parked and raced inside her mansion.

“No, the question you should be asking yourself is ‘where's your boyfriend?' ”

“Huh?” she said, looking confused. “He's at home sick.”

“Oh, is that what he told you?” I stopped in her foyer and turned to face her.

“Um”—she held up her phone—“I'm on the phone with him now.” She pushed the button and put him on speakerphone. “Javier?”

I heard a cough.
Really, dude?

“Yeah, babe. What's up?”

“Um, Maya just got here,” Sheridan said.

“Okay. Go hang out with your friend. I'm going to go lay back down. This flu is kicking my butt.” His voice was all husky like he was straining to talk.

“Get better soon, baby,” she said, smiling. “You want me to bring you something?”

“Nah,” he said, his voice sounding all weak. “My mom is here. She's supposed to be making me some soup or something.”

Was this dude for real?
That's all I could think as I stood there watching the phone with my mouth on the floor.

“All right, baby. Call me if you need anything.”

Sheridan hung the phone up and I looked at my friend in disbelief.

“He is straight playing you,” I said.

“What are you talking about, Maya?” Sheridan walked into her living room. “I just don't get your obsession with him.”

“I'm not obsessed with your man.”

“That's what he calls it,” she said.

I threw up my hands. “Oh, give me a freakin' break. I'm not obsessed with your man. I don't like him because he's disrespectful and abusive.”

“No, he is not,” she said, defending him.

I dug in my purse and pulled out my phone. “He's also a cheat.”

“What are you talking about, Maya?” She opened the refrigerator, pulled out a bottled water, opened it, and took a sip.

“I just saw Javier at dinner,” I said. “With another girl.”

She spun around to face me. “No, you didn't. He's at home sick.”

“No, he wants you to
believe
he's at home, but he just left Sullivan Steakhouse with another chick.”

“Maya, here we go again,” she huffed as she folded her arms, not taking the phone. “Is there any guy you like me with?”

“How 'bout you find one that's faithful,” I said.

“I really wish you'd stay out of my business,” Sheridan said.

We'd almost lost our friendship when she got with Travis against my advice, so fine. I was just going to leave it alone. If she wanted to be played by a guy
again,
then I was going to let her.

“Fine, Sheridan,” I said. “Since it's obvious you believe your
new
boyfriend over your
old
BFF.”

“Maya, don't even be like that,” she said, cutting me off. “I didn't say that I believe one over the other. I'm just saying you're mistaken. I've been on the phone with Javier for the last twenty minutes and he's sick. He was sick earlier today.”

“You just believe anything, don't you? He
lied
earlier today just like he was lying now.”

“You're being such a drama queen,” she said. “All I'm saying is that you're mistaken. You saw somebody else. Not him.”

I thrust my phone at her. “I'm not crazy. Look. I snapped a picture of him.”

She kept her eyes on me as she reluctantly took my phone. She looked at the picture, then back at me. “Just wow.”

“Yeah, I know, right. Just wow. He's a dog.”

“No, wow to you,” Sheridan said. “You're a trip.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked.

She all but threw my phone back at me. “That's not Javier, smart aleck. That's his twin brother, Jose.”

“What?” I said, stunned. “What do you mean twin? Javier has a twin?”

“Yes,” Sheridan replied, and I could tell she was getting really mad. “They don't mess with him because he's nothing but trouble, but if you look closer, he has streaks in his hair. Javier doesn't.”

I stared at the picture on my phone for a few minutes. He looked just like Javier! But there were streaks in his hair, and now that I was looking closer, I saw this guy was a little stockier than Javier. Oh, no. What had I done?

“Sheridan, I . . . I—”

She held up her hand. “Save it,” she replied. “You are trippin' for real and I don't get why. But I'm real sick and tired of it.” She headed to her front door, then swung it open. “And I'm sick and tired of you, so please exit to the left.” She motioned out her front door.

I didn't know what to say or do, so I did the only thing I could. I walked out.