Caught Up in the Drama (11 page)

“Oh, no, my friends aren't like that,” I countered.

All three of the girls exchanged knowing looks. “That's what we all used to think,” Shandy said.

“Was that one of your friends at the release party?” Keke asked. “The one whose brothers knocked over the buffet table and whose mama was acting all ghetto?”

I nodded. “That's my best friend, Jasmine. But we've . . . things . . . let's just say they aren't too good right now.”

They all groaned and rolled their eyes. “Gimme a break,” Shandy moaned.

“Truth be told, you need to be finding a new set of friends anyway,” Maya added.

“What?” I said. Yeah, I was mad at my girls, but I wasn't trying to get rid of them.

“Let me break it down to you,” Maya said, like she was really trying to school me. “Those girls are no longer in your league. You got that ol' homely-looking one with the long black hair.”

“Angel?” I asked.

“Whatever her name is.” Maya shrugged like she couldn't care less.

“Didn't I hear her say she had a kid? A two-year-old? Isn't she like fifteen?” Shandy added.

I was quick to defend her. “No, she's sixteen, almost seventeen.”

“So that means she had a kid at what, fourteen, fifteen? Please.” Shandy threw up her hands. “You have an image to think about now.”

“And don't even get me started on that other one, Jasmine. Talk about ghetto. As if you need that.” Maya dramatically rolled her eyes.

I was dumbfounded. I couldn't believe they were talking about my friends like that. They must've realized how I was feeling, because Shandy gently touched my arm and said, “Look, we're just keepin' it real with you. In this business, you are the company you keep.”

“That's right,” Maya echoed, “and if you want to get invited
to all the hottest parties, get hired for more videos and even get your own shot at the big time, it's all about being with the right people in the right place at the right time. Houston is about to become the new Hollywood. All the rappers and singers are coming here to shoot their videos, and if you want in, you gotta be in it to win it.”

I couldn't believe what they were saying. If I wanted to make it in this business, I had to abandon my friends? That was crazy.

“And don't even get me started on that boyfriend of yours,” Maya continued.

“Ex,” I said sadly.

“Y'all broke up?” Shandy asked.

I nodded.

“Good, you need to keep it that way,” Maya replied. “Because another thing you won't have a shortage of is cute boys tryin' to holla at you.”

I didn't know what to say. I knew this business was brutal, but now I was learning that if I wanted to truly be a star, it was going to come at a serious cost—my friendship with the Good Girlz. Was that really the price of fame? And was it a price I was willing to pay?

Alexis

“Ugggh!” I released a loud, frustrated groan. I already had my music as high up as it would go. The sounds of Lil' Wayne bounced off the walls of my oversized pink bedroom.

I knew this fight was serious. If Lil' Wayne wasn't enough to get my mom to come barreling into my room, ordering me to “turn that crap off,” something had to be really wrong.

But then again, who was I kidding? I knew something was wrong. It had been wrong for a while. All my parents ever did these days was argue. And that whole divorce thing my mom had been talking about was looking more and more like a reality.

I knocked my history book off my bed, grabbed the pillow and put it over my head. I had a geography test
tomorrow, and even if I hadn't had the music blaring, I wouldn't have been able to study anyway. My parents had been going at it for over an hour now. This was one of their worst fights ever. I so wished Sonja was here.

I picked up my phone to call Camille. She was the one person who could always make me feel better when my parents fought. I knew she'd been super busy, but I really needed her right now.

“Hello,” she said, answering on the first ring.

Before I could get a sound out, I started crying.

“Alexis?”

“Camille, I need to talk to you,” I said through my tears. “It's my parents. All the fighting, it's just getting to be too much, and I think it's just a matter of time before—”

“Alexis?” she repeated. “Is that you? I can't hear you. What's all that noise?”

I hadn't even paid attention to the fact that my iPod was still blasting Lil' Wayne.

“Oh, hold on a minute,” I began, but she cut me off again.

“If you can hear me, I'll call you back. I'm babysitting and these kids are out of control.”

“Wait, Camille, I really—” She hung up the phone before I could finish my sentence.

I was so upset that I just pushed the End button, then dialed Jasmine's number.

“Hello,” Jasmine said.

“Hey, Jasmine,” I said.

“Hel-lo!” Jasmine repeated. “Alexis, is that you?” she yelled. “Why is it so loud? Are you at the club or something?”

I groaned, reached over, grabbed the remote and hit the mute button on my iPod system.

“What's up, girl? And why you got the music blasting like that? Was that Lil' Wayne?”

“Yeah, it's his new album. The uncut version.”

“Ooooh, your parents must definitely not be at home.”

“Yeah, they are.” They were definitely making that clear. “But it's not like it matters. It's not like my parents will stop fighting long enough to even notice.”

Jasmine's tone softened. “Dang, they're fighting again?”

“Yes,” I said, fighting back tears. “And I don't understand. How do you go from being so in love to hating each other?”

“I'm sure they don't hate each other.”

I listened to yet another door slam. “That's sure not love.” I couldn't make out what my mom was saying, but she was being her usual dramatic self and screaming at the top of her lungs.

I imagined my father. He was usually calm and cool, but my mom must've been pushing his buttons, because he was yelling as well.

“I just wish . . .” I couldn't even finish my sentence before I was crying again.

“Awww, Alexis, don't cry,” Jasmine said. “Hold on, I'm going to call Angel and Camille so we can cheer you up.”

“I just called Camille. She's busy.”

Jasmine didn't sound surprised by that news. “Well, hang on while I call Angel.” I held the phone and tried to stop my tears while she clicked over.

“Hey, Angel,” I said, my voice wading in tears, when they both were on the line.

“Hey, Alexis, you okay?” Angel asked.

“No,” I whimpered.

“Awww, sweetie, I'm sorry,” Angel said. “You want us to come over? My mom's here, so she can watch Angelica. And we can call Camille and Tyeesha to meet us there. We can just have one big slumber party.”

“Alexis already talked to Camille. She's busy,” Jasmine said, not trying to hide her sarcasm.

“Oh, that's right,” Angel replied. “My sister said she saw her at the Galleria Mall for the
America's Next Top Model
auditions.”

“What?” Jasmine exclaimed. “When?”

“Probably about fifteen minutes ago,” Angel replied. “That's how long Rosario has been home. She said she saw her coming in the mall with some older girls as she was leaving. She said one of them had a number on her chest for the auditions. Why?”

A few beats of silence passed before Jasmine said, “Because Camille told Alexis she was babysitting.”

“For real?” Angel replied.

“Yeah, but maybe I misunderstood,” I said, even though I knew I had heard her loud and clear.

“Yeah, right,” Jasmine said. “Well, we'll just see about that. Hold on.” We all waited while Jasmine called Camille. Jasmine clicked back over once she had Camille on the line. “What's up, Jaz?” Camille said.

“Hey, where are you?” Jasmine asked.

“Why?”

“Because Alexis and Angel are on the phone. Alexis is going through it, and we need to go over there.”

Camille hesitated, then said, “Dang, um, I . . . I can't.”

“And why not?” Jasmine asked.

“I . . . I'm babysitting my neighbor's kids.”

We all were silent for a moment. Jasmine finally said, “You're babysitting?”

“Yeah, and girl, these kids are bad. I finally got them to sleep.”

“So, they're 'sleep now?” Jasmine slowly asked.

“Yeah. I've been here all day, and their mom won't be back until tonight.”

“Is that right?” Jasmine asked. I knew she was thinking the same thing I was. Why was Camille telling us a bold-faced lie?

“Yeah,” Camille replied. “So, let me get off this phone and go check on them.”

“Yeah, you do that,” Jasmine said.

Camille either didn't notice the sarcasm in Jasmine's voice or didn't care. All I could think about was the fact that she hadn't even bothered to ask me what was wrong.

“I can't believe she just straight-up lied,” Angel said once Camille hung up the phone.

“How long ago did your sister say she saw her at the mall?” Jasmine asked.

“Rosario just got home. She said she saw Camille going in the mall with a bunch of girls as she was coming out.”

“Maybe she only stayed a minute, then went to go babysit,” I said, not believing it myself.

“Maybe the kids are sleeping in the furniture section of Macy's,” Jasmine said dryly.

I was stunned. Camille had done some dirty things when she'd been trying out for this teen talk show on Channel 2 last year, but she'd apologized like crazy, and she'd changed.

But maybe, just maybe, this newfound stardom had caused her to change right back.

Alexis

I really did not have a good feeling about this, but Jasmine was adamant that we all go to the mall. She said she was fed up with Camille and her ways, and we had to call her on it.

“Jasmine, do you really think this is a good idea?” I said as we made our way into the Galleria Mall. Jasmine had been so pumped that she'd asked her older sister to drop her off, and she didn't ask her sister for anything. I'd swung by and picked up Angel, and now we were heading inside.

There had to be a thousand people here. Camille loved
America's Next Top Model
, so it didn't surprise me that she would be here trying out for it. Looking at all of the people, I wondered how Jasmine thought we were ever going to find Camille.

Surprisingly, we'd only been searching the crowd for a minute when Angel said, “There she is.”

Jasmine and I both looked to where Angel was pointing. Camille was sitting on the front row next to a girl I recognized from the video. I could not believe my eyes. I had been holding out hope that this was all a big misunderstanding.

“See, I told you,” Jasmine said, anger burning in her voice. “If it's one thing I can't stand, it's when somebody tries to play me. And I'm about to go tell Camille about herself.”

“No, wait,” I said, grabbing Jasmine's arm. “Do you really want to make a scene in front of all these people?”

“I don't care about these people,” Jasmine snorted.

“Come on, Jaz, chill,” Angel said. “Let's just hang back and wait for them to get up.”

I couldn't tell if they were auditioning until I saw another girl walk back over to them and rip a number from her chest. Judging from the furious look on her face, she hadn't been picked. She motioned for Camille and the other two girls to come on, and then she stomped ahead of them.

“Jasmine, I don't know about this. Maybe we should just talk to Camille later,” I said.

Jasmine didn't respond. She was already heading over to intercept Camille. She stopped just as Camille was turning the corner.

“Camille!” Jasmine called out.

Camille spun around, as did the other girls. Camille's mouth dropped open when she saw us.

“So, how are the kids?” Jasmine said sarcastically.

“Man, that's foul,” Angel said. “Now you're lying to us?”

I was still speechless.

“Hey, uh, uh . . . ,” Camille stammered.

“Uh, uh, what?” Jasmine said.

“Camille, is there a problem?” the girl from the video said.

“Naw, Maya, um, these are my fr—the girls I go to school with.”

We all looked at her, dumbfounded. Now we'd been downgraded to classmates?

“Yeah, there's a problem,” Jasmine said, eyeing Maya up and down. “You're in our conversation.”

“Excuse me?” Maya said.

“Yeah, excuse you,” Jasmine responded before turning back to Camille. “So, what's up?”

“Yeah, Camille, I thought you said you were babysitting?” Angel added.

Camille looked like she was searching for a lie. But she didn't get a chance to say anything, because the girl who'd ripped off the number stepped in. “She told us all about y'all and I told her you're crampin' her image. So maybe she lied because she was trying to spare your feelings. Maybe she doesn't like hanging around with wannabes,” she said, looking me up and down, “teenage baby mamas,” she said, looking at Angel, or “hood rats,” she said, turning back to Jasmine.

I cringed as I saw Jasmine's nostrils flare. I couldn't care less what she said about me, but she'd crossed the line talking about Jasmine and Angel. Maybe this was the new group of people Camille was hanging out with, but I could not believe that she would stand there and let them go off like that. I couldn't believe she had told them that stuff about us, because there was no other way they could've known. I was
tempted to let Jasmine do Jasmine, but since I wasn't in the mood for anyone to get arrested, I put my hand on Jasmine's arm.

“Unh-unh, let me go,” she said, snatching her arm away. “This chick got me messed up. I will yank that weave right out of your head.”