Can't Stop the Shine (25 page)

Kalia played as if she were possessed, pounding the keys. She didn't even hear her father walk in. He'd been standing in the doorway for several minutes before she saw him and stopped midrun.

“Feeling dramatic, sweetie?” he asked, walking over to the piano and sitting down beside his daughter.

“Daddy,” she whimpered, burying her face in his shoulder.

After a good hug, he lifted her tear-stained face. “What's got my baby so upset?”

“Daddy, why are guys such idiots?”

“At your age, it's usually because we don't know a good thing until it's gone.”

“Do you ever grow out of it?”

“I'd like to hope we do, but if we don't, you can always live here forever. You can take care of me and your mother in our old age,” he said, standing. “So what's this about? That deejay guy you're seeing?”

“Yeah, well he got a deal with Fire Records and now he's acting like a complete jerk,” said Kalia, wiping her eyes. “I mean he goes for days without calling me, then he's always on his Blackberry or meeting with some lawyers or other people. I never get a chance to see him.”

“Sounds like that brother needs some space, baby. It might not be the right time for you and him.”

“What are you, on Dewayne's side now?” she shouted.

“Dewayne? I thought this was about what's his name? Martin, Melvin—”

“Malcolm, Daddy. Malcolm. And Dewayne, he thinks…oh, just forget it. Forget everybody and everything.” Kalia ran through the kitchen and upstairs to her room. She slammed her door and did what she'd done many nights since Valentine's Day—cried herself to sleep.

Snatching the note from Coach Little off her locker, Mari wasn't ready for her lazy break to be over. Not only was track starting, but she was going to have to be outside running in the cold. Of course Coach Little wouldn't let them run inside because he wanted to toughen them up—they had to do the mile warm-up and warm-downs outside in the freezing temperatures. She shivered, thinking of the cutting wind she knew would be blowing across her face every afternoon until March.

“I got a note, too,” said Asha, sauntering by. “You ready, scrub?” Mari watched Asha stroll off, arrogantly flipping her hair, and immediately got annoyed.

“The question is,” she shouted after Asha, “are you ready for me—and my sister? You're gonna be really shamed when we both beat you down.”

Asha stopped in her tracks, turned around and walked pointedly back to Mari, her plaid pleated miniskirt flapping around her thin legs.

“I'm gonna wear you
and
your sister out,” she said, pointing a finger in Mari's face.

“You better get that finger out of my face before I break it,” said Mari, rolling her neck, something she made a practice never to do at East Moreland. Another black girl, who'd “acted black” and held her open hand up in the face of another black girl when they were in the sixth grade was still getting made fun of by the white students even though she was in the tenth grade now. She knew she was repressing part of herself, but it was worth it just to be left alone about all things black.

“Whatever,” said Asha, turning back around and walking off. “You'll see. You and your little scary sister. She'll be easy to beat 'cause she'll probably freeze up again.”

Mari was fuming, wishing she had something smart to say back to Asha. She didn't calm down until she was accompanying Colby to her doctor's appointment after school and could spill her guts to her friend about how she was really beginning to hate Asha. With that off her chest, Mari was totally relaxed by the time she and Colby walked into the Studio of Peace, Love and Soul expecting to see the same half-empty place they'd been coming to for the last couple of months. To their surprise, the lobby was full. A class was going on in the lavender room and about a dozen people were milling around in the mint-green room waiting for one to begin. Mari was happy to see Kalia at the front welcoming people and taking payment for the classes. It had been several days since she'd had a real conversation with her sister, and she was sick of catching attitude from Kalia. She walked up to the counter, hoping she'd get a nice reception.

“Can I help you?” Kalia smirked, tapping her pencil on the counter.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” said Mari, walking behind the counter as Kalia and Colby exchanged hellos. “So what's going on in here? Is Ma giving away money?”

“No. She put this ad in the paper with a coupon, and those flyers we posted and passed out in those apartment buildings are working.”

“There's a lot of people here,” said Colby. “That's really good for your mom.”

“Thank you very much,” said Elaine, walking up, wiping her brow with a towel. “Hi, girls. How's it going?”

“It's going good for you, I see, Ma,” said Mari.

“It is, it is. And it's all because of you guys' genius. Thanks so much for suggesting that coupon idea. As you ladies would say, it's off the chain up in here.”

“Oh no, Mrs. Jefferson's gettin' crunk up in here,” said Colby, pumping her hands in the air. Her sweater slid up exposing a small round belly.

“So how are you feeling, Colby?” Elaine asked. “You know yoga is good for pregnant women. I could show you some things sometime if you'd like.”

“That would be great, Mrs. Jefferson. I'd really love to, but I'm really on kind of a budget these days.”

Elaine grabbed Colby's hand. “Sweetie, you don't have to worry about that. Just let me know when you're ready and you come on in. Don't sweat the money.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Jefferson,” said Colby.

“Yeah, that's so sweet, Ma. Thank you,” said Mari, kissing her mother on the cheek.

“Of course, darlings…listen, I want you guys to meet the new yoga instructor I hired to help out,” said Elaine, looking around the corner toward the mint-green room. “His name is Peter, and he's about to teach his first class. Let me grab him before it starts.” Elaine did a little pirouette as she flitted away.

“Your mom seems really happy,” said Colby.

“She is,” said Kalia. “And it's good, but weird good. We haven't seen her this happy in so long. It's kinda strange.”

“Yeah, it is a little strange, isn't it?” said Mari, nodding with Kalia.

Elaine came trotting back, pulling Peter by the hand. Mari, Colby and Kalia looked at the rippling muscles of the attractive, tall, dark-skinned man in front of them, then looked at one another and burst out giggling.

“What's so funny, ladies?”

The girls tried to smother their chuckles to no avail.

“Peter, two of these silly girls are my daughters. That's Kalia and Mari. And this is their friend Colby,” said Elaine, frowning at them. “I wish somebody would let me in on the joke.”

“Nice to meet you, ladies,” said Peter, gripping each one of their hands firmly. “Is everything all right?”

The girls looked at one another and then at Peter and nodded. Not one of them said anything. Elaine shook her head.

“Okay, Peter, I just wanted you to meet them. I don't want you to be late for your class. Let's talk about schedules later.”

“Okay. Nice meeting you, ladies,” he said, waving as he rounded the corner.

“Byyyyyeeee,” Mari, Colby and Kalia sang in unison, craning their necks to catch a last glimpse of Peter's well-defined legs.

“Oh,” said Elaine. “No wonder you guys couldn't speak.”

“Ma, he is
so
hot,” said Mari. “How can you hire a hot guy like that to teach yoga?”

“What do you mean?” Elaine asked.

“Nobody's gonna try to become one with themselves when he's in the room,” said Kalia.

“They're gonna be trying to become one with him.” Colby snickered.

“All right, ladies, as long as I don't see one of you in here trying to become one with him. You feel me?” said Elaine sternly. “That's a grown man and even more importantly, he's my employee, and this is a place of business. Let's keep it professional.”

“Yes, ma'am” filled the air just as Ronald stepped through the glass door.

Kalia and Mari greeted their father while their mother fiddled with the bulletin board above the counter.

“I see things are going well down here,” said Ronald, walking up to Elaine.

“Yes, they are,” said Elaine coolly. “Did you happen to bring those check registers with you? I really need them.”

“Damn, woman, can I get in the door good before you ask me for something? I mean if you can't remember something as simple as a check register, you may not need to be running a business. I never had to ask anybody to remember to bring me my check registers.”

Fumbling, Elaine dropped all the papers she had in her hand. When Kalia, Mari and Colby bent down to help her, Mari saw the look of hurt and embarrassment on her mother's face. An awkward silence followed.

“How'd you get all these people in here?” Ronald asked.

“It was the girls' idea. We've been distributing flyers, and I put an ad in the paper with a coupon, and it's really paying off,” Elaine said in a strained voice.

“That was a good idea. I see I've taught my girls well,” he said, walking behind the counter. Elaine pursed her lips, seemingly stifling some remark.

Just then Peter came jogging around the corner. “Laine, where are the extra mats?” he asked before he was even visible.

When Peter came into the room, it was like everything started moving in slow motion to Mari and Kalia. Peter had started his class and had his shirt off, exposing a six-pack of tight abs. They watched their father turn around to see Peter. They saw his face register surprise then slight disdain when Elaine introduced the two men. As Peter heartily shook his hand, Ronald looked Peter up and down and said to Elaine, “I see how you've been getting all these people in here now, especially the ladies.”

“Excuse me?” said Peter, a look of bewilderment crossing his face.

“I'm just saying, man. You walking around here looking like LL Cool J or something,” Ronald said, huffing.

“Oh, I usually have a shirt on, but I was showing this one student how the vertebrae in the back should be, and I was just using myself as an example. You know,” explained Peter.

“Yeah, I know, buddy,” said Ronald, turning to leave. “Looks like you've got everything you need here, so I'm going to work.” He smirked at Elaine then at Peter and back to Elaine.

Peter furrowed his brows, grabbed some extra mats from the side closet and went back to his class. Kalia, Mari and Colby said their goodbyes, and Elaine followed her husband out the door. When she came back in, the girls saw the forced smile on her face and wished for the earlier genuine happiness that had Elaine dancing in her Studio of Peace, Love and Soul.

After Mari and Colby left, Kalia stayed around to help, and it became a little part-time job for her in a few days when Elaine realized she really needed another trusted employee. When she wasn't taking payment for classes, doing her homework or straightening up one of the rooms, Kalia observed the classes. The participants looked so at peace that she seriously considered taking yoga regularly. She felt like her mother had suggested it to her hundreds of times, telling her that it would help her relax into her performances if she was able to connect with her center.

One evening Kalia was waiting in the car for her mother, who was in the studio locking up, when she decided she was going to take her mother's advice and take a class. She went back in the studio to get the new schedule and was rummaging through the flyers on the counter when she heard voices in the back.

“I've got to go. My daughter's waiting for me in the car.”

“Don't go yet, Laine. We need to talk about this.”

“No, we don't. I don't have anything else to say.”

The voices started coming toward her, so Kalia edged toward the door, but her curiosity wouldn't let her leave. It was like watching a train wreck. She knew she was witnessing something terrible, but she couldn't turn away. The voices got fainter, so she moved closer to the counter.

“Please, baby. I think we could have something here.”

“I've got something, okay? A family. And I'm trying to keep it.”

“But you can't deny what's going on with us. You can't deny this.”

Kalia didn't hear anything for several seconds.

“Okay, you're right.” She heard her mother breathing hard. “Let me think about it, Pete.”

“I can make you happy, Laine. I'll do whatever I need to make sure you're happy.”

“It's just not a good time. My daughters are about to go to college. I just…why didn't I meet you earlier?”

“Sometimes love doesn't show up when you want it to. Come here, baby.”

Kalia inched around the corner and saw her mother and Peter kissing. She put her hand over her mouth, holding in some sort of sound she knew she would have made and tiptoed out the door and back to the car. The ride home was excruciating, even though feigning sleep kept her mother from talking to her. As soon as she got to her room she picked up the phone, but she put it down immediately. She didn't know who to call. She wanted to talk to Dewayne, but she wasn't sure where they stood. She couldn't tell Mari, so in a moment of weakness, she dialed the digits of someone she hoped would be sympathetic and want to listen.

“What's up, baby?” said Malcolm. “I just knew I was never going to talk to you again.”

“Are you busy?” Kalia asked, sniffling.

“Kinda, but what's the deal? You sick or something?”

“No.”

“So what's going on?”

“Malcolm…” Kalia hesitated, fingering the name chain he'd given her.

“Yes…hold up. Man, let me get a Rainbow Roll and some extra wasabi and uh, some sweet tea…okay, so talk. Go 'head tell me your problems.”

Kalia couldn't believe this was the same Malcolm who left her sitting by herself at the table on Valentine's Day. Maybe not calling him had made him think twice about his behavior. Feeling he was in full-on listen mode, she told him all about Peter and her mother.

“Well, what did you think was gonna happen?” he said through a mouthful of sushi. “Your parents are separated.”

“What?” said Kalia. She didn't expect him to say that.

“Your mother is a woman in the prime of her life. She's gotta get it where she can, especially if your father isn't laying it down like she needs it.”