Can't Stop the Shine (24 page)

“Oh, Vic called me a faggot after I talked about his mama and Spence ran over and just jumped on him. That scar he got is nothing compared to how bad he beat up Vic. They both got suspended for like a week, but nobody ever messed with me again.”

“How you gonna get your brother suspended like that? Over a Blade costume? So you've always been really into this comic book stuff, huh?” Mari asked.

“Yeah, I really have,” said Dewayne. “I guess I've always kind of liked fantasy and mystery. Hey, you wanna see something?'

“Sure.”

“Okay, well, you gotta come upstairs.”

Stepping into Dewayne's room was like entering an alternative universe where all things fantastical and tech-oriented ruled. His space was harried. Clothes were just slung into the closet any kind of way; video games, CDs and comic books were heaped in towering stacks in several corners. His bed was unmade, and he had a bunch of computer, video game and gadget equipment with a million different wires and cords in a huge snaky mass on top of and around his twenty-seven-inch television.

Dewayne started picking up clothes, CDs and comic books as soon as he walked in the room, throwing everything in the closet and straightening up the bed as Mari surveyed the room with her hands on her hips.

“You need to get Mr. Clean up in here. This place is a mess,” she said, sitting in the chair at his desk.

“I don't think you're going to win any awards for the most spotless room in America,” said Dewayne, straining to close the door of his overstuffed closet. “Don't look at me like that. I've seen you do this a million times.”

“Ah, shut up,” she said, walking over to the window. “Let me see what kind of view you've got here. Hey, there's my mother.” Mari watched her mother walk carefully down the front steps in a red dress coat and red heels.

“I wonder where she's going in all that red,” she said. “Her hair's all done and she's got lipstick on.”

“It
is
Valentine's Day, dummy,” said Dewayne, turning on his computer.

“Yeah, but she and my daddy haven't been getting along too well for the last few months. As a matter of fact, he's at work right now.”

“Well, maybe he called her and told her to meet him someplace, like a surprise or something.”

“That would be great,” Mari mumbled dreamily, watching her mother drive up the street. She turned back toward Dewayne, who was busy typing away on his computer. “I know you didn't bring me up here to ignore me.”

“No, no, this is what I wanted to show you. Come here.” He motioned her over, got up and let her sit at the computer as he sat on the floor. He spent the next half hour explaining how he wanted to develop his character the Chosen One into an online comic strip and possibly an animated film one day. Mari found herself strangely interested in his ideas and the Web sites he showed her and the entire complex life he'd created for his main character.

“It's like Batman and Gotham, but darker,” she surmised, getting up to stretch her legs. “I'm really feeling this, Dewayne. I'm so proud of you for not listening to Kalia. You're really good. I can see this on the big screen.”

“That's probably a long time away, if ever.”

“What are you talking about?” she said, thumping Dewayne in the head. “Between my sister, who's going to be a famous singer, and you, a wealthy animation film producer, I'm gonna be set. I'll be kicking it in Hollywood with Jamie Foxx
and
Vivica Fox.”

“Slow down, slow down. Before you trip on the red carpet, I need to get the animation down first. That's why I think I might want to go to film school.”

“That's a cool idea. You've really got a plan. Where did you come up with the name the Chosen One, anyway?”

“Oh, that's kinda from my brother,” he said, shutting down the computer. “You know, since he's not around, I'm literally the chosen one—the one chosen to remain here in this universe.”

Mari walked over to a bulletin board that had several sketchings pinned to it. “You really miss him, huh?”

“Think about this,” Dewayne said, lying back on his bed with his hands behind his head. “Imagine if all of the sudden Kalia were gone. You were never going to see her again. You'd never argue with her about whose turn it is in the bathroom, who gets the car, anything. She'd just be gone.”

Mari sat next to Dewayne on the bed. “I've never even considered that, but I guess I'd miss her, even though she gets on my last nerve most of the time.”

“I'm telling you, you would,” he said, looking up at her.

Suddenly Mari felt warm. Dewayne's gaze and his closeness made her nervous. She got up quickly and walked back to the bulletin board and looked closely at one of the sketches. It looked familiar.

“Who's this? It looks kinda like Kalia, except I've never seen her in a ponytail,” she said.

Dewayne bounced up off the bed and snatched the drawing down. “Oh, it's nuthin',” he said, trying to stuff it under his bed.

“Wait, let me see it.” Mari giggled, grabbing it back. She huddled in a corner with it in front of her while he tried to tickle her.

“Give it to me,” he said, spinning her around.

“This is me, isn't it?” She laughed and squirmed in his grasp. He stopped tickling her and rested his hands on her waist.

“Yes, it's you,” he said. “I drew that the other night, you know when we were at your house.”

“For real?” Mari was not used to feeling weak. She hoped her knees wouldn't give out as she stared at the drawing of herself, purposely avoiding looking up at Dewayne.

“For real,” he said, lifting her chin with one of his fingers. Mari closed her eyes and accepted the sweetness of a first kiss. All of the blood rushed to her head as Dewayne pulled her closer into his chest and wrapped his arms around her. He picked her up and sat her on the desk as the kiss deepened. Mari wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back just as urgently as he was kissing her. When she felt his hands move down her sides, seemingly searching for somewhere else to go, her nerves got the best of her, and she broke his embrace and pushed him back away from her.

“What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?” Dewayne panted, wiping his hand down the full length of his face.

“No, no…it's just that…that,” Mari stuttered, getting down off the desk and walking toward the window. “That was a lot…I didn't really expect…”

“Me neither, but…I'm glad it happened,” Dewayne said, leaning on the desk.

Mari looked at the unmade bed and the image of the condom falling from Kalia's papers popped into her mind. “Hey, let's go back downstairs, okay?” she said, moving toward the door. “I want to see the end of
Drumline.
It's the best part.”

“Cool, but come here. I want to tell you something,” said Dewayne.

“Can't you tell me from where we are? I'm cool over here,” said Mari, gripping the doorknob.

“Come here, girl. I ain't gonna do nuthin' to you.”

Mari walked over to Dewayne. He took her hand and said, “Look, I want you to know that I really like you, and I respect you, so I'm not trying to do anything that you're uncomfortable with.”

Those words and the peck he placed on her forehead were the best Valentine's Day Mari'd had since she'd gotten the most Valentine's Day cards in her second-grade class.

On the way to school the next morning, she chatted about everything in the world except Dewayne to Kalia, even though she was dying to tell her about their kiss. She had no idea what her sister's reaction was going to be, so instead she asked her about how her date went with Malcolm. That ended any conversation for the rest of the trip, so she guessed Kalia didn't have the best Valentine's Day. After school, she and Colby spent hours in her room, analyzing every detail of her night with Dewayne. Colby had a great Valentine's Day, too. Sean had come over with a basket of baby gifts and a big box of chocolates for her.

They were so caught up in their great dates that they didn't even hear Kalia sobbing in her pillow across the hall. Kalia walked around like a zombie for most of the week. She didn't sing or play one note. When her parents or Mari asked her what was wrong, she told them she'd caught a cold and just wanted to be left alone. What she really wanted was to talk to Dewayne about Malcolm. Dewayne came to the house a couple of times, but he and Mari were always watching movies or talking about some animation project. She sat stewing in her room, wondering why he was spending so much time with Mari—after all, he was her best friend.

One day she heard them laughing across the hall, and she couldn't take it anymore, so she marched right over to Mari's room and burst through the door.

“Not that we were in here doing anything, but you could have knocked,” said Mari from the floor where she was sorting CDs.

“What's up, K? Is something wrong?” Dewayne asked.

Now that she'd made such a production of her entrance, Kalia was unsure of what to do next. “Uh no…well, I just wanted to talk to Dewayne for a minute,” she said, fidgeting with the doorknob.

“There he is, the Great Chosen One. Speak your mind,” said Mari with a grand sweeping gesture.

“Dewayne, can I talk to you in private?” Going back to her room and sitting on her bed waiting, Kalia heard her sister say, “You better go. It seems you've been summoned.”

Dewayne answered, “I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere.” He loped through the door, sat down at her desk and gave her his undivided attention. “So what's the deal? What's wrong with you?”

“Oh, nothing really,” she said, trying to play it off. Now that she had Dewayne all to herself, she wondered why she wasn't getting that same feel from him—like he really wanted to hear what she had to say, whatever it was.

“Then why did you want to talk to me? The only time you ever do is if something is wrong with you. So what's the deal? You can't figure out what you want to sing for the Fire show? You haven't told your parents you want to go to Juilliard? Malcolm did something? What is it?”

“Why are you talking to me like that? All hard,” she asked, getting up and rearranging the makeup on her vanity.

“Look, I'm not trying to be hard.” Dewayne softened. “What's up? Really? I really wanna know.”

Kalia started tearing up. She spilled her whole Valentine's Day story to Dewayne, who patiently sat and listened. When she was done, he told her that he thought Malcolm was disrespecting her, but even worse, that she was disrespecting herself by staying with him.

“I know, I know, but he was so sweet when we met, and after he got his deal he just started trippin'.”

“So you gotta let this punk go. You're about to do your thing in the contest, too, then you're going off to college somewhere. You really don't need to be thinking about some cat who's not treating you right,” said Dewayne, standing up. “There's plenty of dudes out there who'll wanna get with you. You know love is in the air.”

“Wait, where are you going, and what are you talking about love is in the air? For who?”

“Oh, I'm just talking,” he said, smiling.

“Why are you so smiley? What do you have to be so happy about?”

“You don't really want to know 'cause it has to do with the Chosen One and how I hooked up with this guy who's a professional animator at this gallery I went to the other day.”

“Oh, that's nice, but can we talk about that after we figure out what to do about Malcolm?” Kalia asked.

“See, it's always about you. Can't you ever ask anybody about what's going on with them? I'm going back to Mari's room. It's more fun over there, and she wants to hear about my stuff.”

“Okay, okay, I'm sorry,” Kalia said, patting the bed. “I wanna hear about this guy and your comic strip. Sit down. You don't want to hang out with me anymore?”

“That's not it, really,” said Dewayne. “I just…well…Mari and I, we're kinda kicking it.”

“So?” said Kalia, twisting up her face. “Y'all can kick it anytime. I really need you to help me figure this one out.”

Dewayne walked toward the door. “Same old Kalia,” he said, shaking his head. “There's nothing to figure out. Your man just got signed. He's probably 'bout to get buck wild. You need to make a clean break before he embarrasses you or you embarrass yourself. I'm out.”

Kalia was stunned. She couldn't believe Dewayne, who she knew had been secretly in love with her since they were kids, just left her to go and hang out with Mari. And what did he mean they were kicking it? She shook her head at the thought of her sister and her best friend dating. The way her life was going she couldn't take anything else. She ran down the steps and sat at the piano. Throwing herself into practicing always made her feel better. She let her fingers glide over the keys as she launched into a session of Bach's darker pieces.