Bust a Move (4 page)

Ill papi launched into a basic top rock, the footwork most b-boys used when they hit the floor, just to get going. Then he dropped to the ground and into a jackhammer.

Talk about your zero to sixty,
Devane thought. Hopping around in a circle on one hand in the hand glide position, where your body was pretty much parallel to the floor, wasn't easy. Devane had the hand glide, and she had the cricket, where you were in the jackhammer position but used your free hand and your legs to help you hop up and down. Hard as she worked, though, even she couldn't even make one full circle doing the jackhammer. And ill papi was still going. Dang.

Then ill papi went into a freeze. A planche. No. In a planche—basically a handstand with your body horizontal instead of vertical—you used both hands. And that was killa. Ill papi was using
one
hand. One. And holding it. And holding it. And holding it. Dang again.

A flick of movement caught Devane's eye, and she realized Gina was standing outside the classroom, looking in through the observation window.

Devane switched over to ankle circles.
Notice what I'm doing here, Gina.

Like Gina was going to notice anyone but ill papi.

Pathetic. Devane shouldn't be trying to get attention for warming up. Devane was the best dancer in the room. Best girl dancer, anyway. She shouldn't be
trying
to get attention at all. No one—including Gina—should be able to look away from Devane when she got krumpin'. She moved
that
fast. And she had a wall flip that was smokin'.

Not that anyone knew that. She'd never taken it out of the wrapper in class. Why? Because when you were a Hip Hop Kid, you had to follow Gina's choreography. Bustin' out her own moves during a performance was why Devane was on probation right now.

But Devane could follow ill papi's example. She could pull out her wall flip right now, before class. She pushed herself to her feet.

“Okay, let's start it up,” Gina called as she walked into the class followed by the rest of the kids.

Too late.

Gina hit a button on the CD player, and the beats and rhymes of Buckshot & 9th Wonder filled the room. “Top rock. Nice and easy. Just warming up,” Gina instructed. She got right down to work. And when Gina's dancers were working, no one was talking. That was one of G's rules. So even if Fridge wanted to ask her about the regionals—now was absolutely not the time.

The top rock was like breathing to Devane. But just because the footwork was basic didn't mean it couldn't have style—and that's what Devane gave it. She kept her head up and smiled like there was ten times the Disney World audience watching. Gina was more important than any size audience right now.

“Okay, now we're going to drop into a down rock,” Gina called out.

Just baby food,
Devane thought as she let herself fall into a push-up position, with her feet wide apart.
Gina's not going to remember how much she needs me onstage watching me do this.
Devane circled her legs around her body, lifting up each arm to let her legs pass by.

She kept her smile on her face and treated each move in the warm-up like it was part of a video that was going to be on
TRL
. “Nice job, everyone,” Gina said when the track ended. “Today I want to start teaching you a new routine. Same music you just heard.”

“Fridge like-y,” Fridge said.

“I'm happy you approve,” Gina told him, getting a tiny bit sarcastic. “Now let me break it down. I'm going to bring you onstage a couple at a time with some fast moves. First off, some forward handsprings. Chloe, I want you to start from upstage left and end up downstage right. And ill papi, I want you to do the opposite. We're going to have to position it really carefully so you don't hit each other in the center. To start out, just walk it, okay?”

Chloe and ill papi nodded.

“Then Adam and Allan, I want you guys to worm out to center stage. Adam, you start from the right. Allan, from the left. You're going to start the second Chloe and ill papi cross the center point.”

“Got it,” Adam and Allan said together.

Gina turned to Devane. “Can you do a backward handspring? We haven't worked on them since you new kids joined the group.”

Oh, yeah. Here it is. My chance to show Gina that Devane is key to Hip Hop Kidz. Wait till she sees this.
“I have a backward handspring. I also have one of these if you can use it.” Devane backed up. She gestured Emerson and Ky out of her path. Then, without hesitation, she ran full speed toward the wall across from her.

“Devane, no!” Gina cried.

But there was no stopping. She had too much momentum going. Devane hit the wall with her left foot. Her body stretched out almost horizontal. She hit the wall with her right foot. Climbing. Kicking out. Then flipping over. And she was on her feet. And everyone was giving it up for her.

Everyone except Gina, whose arms were folded across her chest.

“I don't want to see any of you do anything like that,” Gina ordered. Her words were as cold as icicles.

What? It was perfection!
But Devane clenched her teeth together.

“I want mats and spotters the first time you work on a flip,” Gina continued.

“It wasn't the first time—” Devane began.

“It was the first time in my classroom,” Gina said. “Please remember who's the teacher in here, Devane.”

“I will,” Devane promised.
How many points did I just lose?
she wondered.
How much time did I just add to my probation?

“Okay.” Gina went on laying out the moves. Devane did everything she could to be exactly the kind of student Gina wanted as the class continued. But she kept getting distracted by the same question:
How much time did I just add to my probation?
It kept repeating itself, no matter how hard she tried to stop it.
How much time did I just add to my probation? How much time did I just add to my probation?

Devane felt like she was being stung by a wasp each time the question buzzed through her brain. She was relieved when Gina called the group over to her for announcements at the end of the class, and usually Devane never wanted class to end.

“I just wanted to say again what a great job you did at the Disney World show,” Gina began.

Devane felt her face heat up. She was the only one in the group who hadn't been there.

“And you're going to get the chance to show your stuff again,” Gina continued.

Max covered her mouth, but a little squeal came out anyway.

Say it,
Devane silently pleaded.
Say the Kidz are going to the Southeast regionals.

“Because Maddy and I have signed up for the group to take part in the Southeast regionals,” Gina finished.

“Flippin' sweet!” M.J. yelled.

Max leapt onto Fridge's back and pounded him on the head with her fists. Sophie hugged Emerson.

Devane wanted to holler and screech and do her victory dance and hug every single person in the room. But she couldn't speak or move. This was beyond huge.

“If we're selected as one of the top three varsity crews—that's groups with members ages twelve to seventeen—we get to move on to the nationals. Six varsity crews from the nationals move on—”

“We're going to the World Hip-Hop Championship!” Becca shouted, doing a split-leg cheerleader-style jump. “Yay, us!”

“There's no guarantee we'll make it all the way to the championship,” Gina cautioned. “But if you keep working as hard as you have been, I think we have a real shot. Now, we're going to need to fit in some extra rehearsal time—because regionals are in just about two weeks!”

“Who are we competing against?” Emerson asked.

“She means who are we bringing down,” Ky added.

“You're going up against about sixty other hip-hop groups from all over our side of the South. That's Louisiana on over and up to Virginia,” Gina told them. “The judges will be Joe O'Neal—”

“He choreographed
Fly Girl,”
Becca exclaimed. “I saw that movie about a gazillion times.”

“Not to mention Miami's very own J-Bang,” Gina went on, smiling at ill papi. He didn't smile back.

“You mean ill papi's own J-Bang!” Max leapt off Fridge.

“Papi, your papi's one of the judges. We've got this thing locked,” M.J. said. He fist-bumped ill papi.

“Come on, now,” Gina said. “You know we can't expect any special treatment from J-Bang because he's ill papi's father.”

“Yeah, my dad doesn't play that way,” ill papi agreed.

“And we don't need it. We can win this thing on our own, right?” Gina cried.

“You know it!” Devane called, getting her voice back.

“Where's the championship going to be this year?” Chloe asked, smoothing down her “Pale Is the New Tan” T-shirt.

“You're gonna love this,” Gina told them. “Los Angeles. The nationals are there, and then the winners move right on into the world championship a couple of days later. And the whole thing is going to be televised.”

She began her victory dance. Hands high, hips rocking, feet flicking. Forget the three-year plan. She wasn't going to need much more than three
months
!

Her hands dropped to her sides. Her body went dead.

Unless she was still on probation.

She'd never even considered that as a possibility. But she'd just lost points with Gina today for pulling out her wall flip. Why couldn't she learn to just be patient? After today, she could still be on probation for the world championship.

Devane shook her head. Huh-uh. No. That would not happen to her. She hadn't done anything so bad in class. And she'd already been on probation for weeks.

She waited until the practice room emptied out, then she approached Gina. “I
will
be off probation by the nationals and the championship” is what she wanted to say. But she made it a question. “Gina, I'll be off probation by the nationals and the championship, won't I?”

Gina hesitated. “It's definitely a possibility.”

Devane wanted to walk. She wanted to walk out the door and slam it behind her. If they didn't want her in the group—as burnin' as she was—then fine. She would just find herself another—

Don't you go there again, fool,
she told herself. She took a long, slow breath. “Can you tell me what I have to do to get off probation? Is there a list of things?” Devane could work with a list. With a list and her calendar, she could have a plan tonight.

“Maddy and I just need to feel sure that there won't ever be a repeat of what happened at the Gulliver Academy show. We want to know that you're committed to being a team player,” Gina answered. “I've seen how hard you've been trying these last few weeks. I really appreciate it, Devane.”

Appreciation. Yeah. Appreciation wasn't going to get Devane and her mom and little brother out of Overtown and onto Hibiscus Island. It wouldn't even pay for the bus ride.

Devane needed to be discovered. She needed to be a star. That's when things would change.

She needed to be in that championship.

You can make it happen,
Devane thought.
You
will
make it happen.

“Cool beanz about the championship, right?” Sophie asked ill papi as they headed down the hall after class. He gave a kind of half grunt for an answer.

“I don't really get that expression—cool beanz—do you?” Sophie rambled, her heart doing this freaky skittering thing in her chest. Ever since she'd had that I-LIKE-him-like-him flash at Disney World, it had been hard to talk to ill papi. Maybe the words were the same. But she felt different saying them. Clumsy—but in her mouth.

“Cool beanz. What's cool about them?” she stumbled on. “They're beans. Even with the
z
on the end, they're just beans. Pinto, kidney, even garbanzo. I'm just not finding the coolness.”

Ill papi didn't answer. Or smile. Or tell her she was whack. It was like she wasn't even there.

He was treating her the way he treated Sammi. Not fun. Ill papi ducked into the boys' locker room without saying “bye” or “see ya” or even “never come near me again.”

“Bye, ills,” Sophie muttered. “Yeah, I agree. We've become great friends since I joined the group. Uh, well, love to chat, but I got to go.” She waved at the closed door of the boys' locker room and headed into the girls'.