Caught Up in the Drama (2 page)

After security pushed everyone back and got the crowd to calm down, Sisco continued. “Dang, y'all, chill.” He laughed. “We still gotta announce the winner.” He gave the crowd a minute to settle down. “I know some of you are wondering why I'm here,” he said when it was quiet enough for him to continue.

“We don't care why you're here, we're just glad you are!” someone screamed.

“I love you, Sisco!” someone else yelled.

“I love you back!” Sisco said. “But I'm here tonight to help announce the winner of tonight's talent show and tell her, or him, that in addition to the money, they are going to get to perform a cameo in my video that we're shooting in two weeks right here in H-town.”

Once again the crowd broke out in a frenzy, and Angel, Jasmine and I were screaming right along with them. Camille stood there frozen, too stunned to speak. She loved Sisco, knew every song he'd ever written, so I could only imagine what must've been going through her head.

“I know you guys are tired of waiting, so let's get to it.” He took the envelope from Nnete. “The winner of tonight's talent show, and the person who will be appearing with yo' boy in my next video, is”—he read the paper—“Camille Harris!”

We jumped up and down, screaming and hugging each
other. I had to quickly catch myself when I noticed Sisco looking around like he was searching for Camille. “Girl, go,” I said, pushing her toward the stage.

Camille didn't need much prompting. She ran onto the stage and dang near jumped into Sisco's arms. If I hadn't been so happy, I probably would've been embarrassed that my girl was acting a fool like that. But under the circumstances, I was going to give her a pass on that one.

As Camille posed for photos with Sisco and the other winners, we couldn't contain our excitement. I don't know how long we'd been going crazy, but I finally looked over at Xavier, who was standing off to the side of the stage by himself. He was the only person not smiling. As he carefully watched Sisco's every move, I could tell that he wasn't too happy about Camille's win.

Camille

I could not believe my boo was standing here acting all stank. It was his idea that I enter this contest. Now he had his lip stuck out like he was mad.

“Xavier, what is the problem?” I asked. “You act like you're upset about me winning.” Dang, he was killing my joy. My girls were excitedly waiting in the car for me. We were going over to my house to talk to my mom. I knew I needed to at least try to see what put Xavier in such a foul mood. Right about now, though, I wanted nothing more than to throw him the peace sign and jet over to my friends.

“Camille, I don't have a problem with you winning. I have a problem with that fool grinning all up in your face. Every picture he took, he had his arm around you.”

I took a deep breath. I had been so excited about the chance to work with Sisco that I hadn't even thought about Xavier. “But you like Sisco. He's one of your favorite rappers.”

Xavier ran his hand over his closely cropped fade. “I know. I mean, shoot . . .” He frowned. “Why you gotta be all up in his video?”

That had to be the dumbest thing I'd ever heard Xavier say. Who wouldn't want to be in Sisco's video? This was
the chance of a lifetime, and I wasn't about to spoil it because my boyfriend was all insecure. I looked over at Jasmine, Alexis and Angel laughing about something as the music thumped in Alexis's BMW. That's where I needed to be—celebrating my win with my girls, not over here trying to pacify Xavier.

“Look, babe, it's no big deal,” I said, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. “I'll call you later, okay? Jasmine has to be home by eleven and we still have to go by my house.”

“But . . .”

I didn't give him time to respond as I waved 'bye and bounced toward the car.

He stood there looking pitiful, but I would have to deal with him later. Right now it was time to celebrate.

“Dang, I must really be hot stuff. Y'all left the front seat for me,” I said after sliding into the passenger seat.

Jasmine reached up from the back and playfully pushed my head. “Don't get beside yourself, though.”

I giggled as I leaned back against the headrest. It had been a long night, but I wouldn't change one thing.

“So, what was Xavier trippin' about?” Alexis asked as she carefully pulled out into traffic.

“Yeah,” Jasmine said, leaning forward. “At first he seemed happy about you winning, but when Sisco came onstage, his whole attitude changed.”

I rolled my eyes. I had been so caught up in the excitement of meeting Sisco that I hadn't even thought about Xavier trippin'—it had caught me totally by surprise.

“Yeah, he doesn't like the idea of me doing the video with Sisco,” I moaned. “But whatever. I'll deal with him later. For now, I've got to get my mom to sign this.”

I held up the permission slip Sisco's producer had given me. Because I was underage—only seventeen—Sisco's record label said I had to get my parents' permission. They didn't want any problems. My dad died when I was fourteen, so it was just me and my mom. Although we'd gotten a lot closer over the last year or so, I didn't know how she'd feel about me being in a video, even if Sisco was the hottest rapper in the country. But if she wouldn't agree to it, I would just have to convince her. No way could I pass up an opportunity like this.

I said a little prayer all the way home.

When Alexis pulled up into the driveway of my small brick house, everyone turned to me.

When I didn't move, Alexis asked, “What are you waiting for?”

“I'm not ready for this,” I replied.

“Girl, please. Your mom is cool.” Alexis started climbing out of the car. “Besides, even if she wanted to go off, she's not going to do it with us here.”

“Yeah,” Jasmine echoed as she climbed out of the backseat, “unlike my mom, who would just cuss all us out.”

Thinking of Jasmine's mom brought a small smile to my face. “Okay, let's go.”

I led the way to my front door. After letting myself in, I found my mom sitting in the living room in her favorite spot—her old rocking chair. Her Bible was spread out on her lap. I smiled as I noticed her sleeping soundly. She must've really been tired if she didn't wake up when the door opened. I swear, sometimes I felt my mom had supersonic hearing.

“Hey, Ma,” I said, gently shaking her shoulder.

I had played down the talent show because I hadn't wanted my mom fawning all over me and embarrassing me. Besides, I'd known she'd have had to take off from work, something we couldn't afford for her to do.

“Hey, baby,” my mom said as her eyes fluttered open. “Hey, girls,” she added when she saw everyone else standing behind me.

“Hi, Mrs. Harris,” they all said in unison.

“How did the talent show go?” she asked, closing her Bible.

“I won, Mama.”

“That's wonderful,” she replied as she stood up and hugged me.

“Yeah, Ma, can you believe it?”

“Of course I can,” she said lovingly.

“Camille was so off the chain,” Alexis chimed in.

“For sheezy,” my mother joked.

I groaned in horror, the smile leaving my face. “Mother, please. Don't ever, ever say that again.”

My mom laughed. “I heard someone say that when I was flipping through the channels earlier. I thought that was the hip stuff all you teens like. Anyway, are you guys hungry?”

“No, Mom. Can you sit back down?” I said as I glanced nervously at my girls. They gave me supportive looks, so I continued before I lost my nerve. “Okay, so you know I get the thousand dollars for winning, right?” I said when she didn't bother to sit back down.

“Yes, and we're putting that up for college. You can take a hundred and buy you something, and we have to put some in church, but the rest is going for college.” She put her hands on her hips like she was readying for an argument.

“Yeah, yeah. That's cool,” I quickly replied.

My mom's left eyebrow immediately went up. “Okay, what's going on? Because there is no way that you agreed so easily to only get a hundred dollars. What do you want?” My mom knew me so well.

I flashed a bright smile. “Okay, well, there was a surprise guest at the talent show, and he announced that not only was the winner gonna get the money but they would get the chance to appear in his video.”

“What kind of video?” my mom said, instantly apprehensive. “And who was this surprise guest?”

“Sisco. And it's his new rap video. He's shooting it in two weeks.”

My mother cocked her head and gave me a look. “I'm sorry. I thought you just said you want to be in a rap video.”

“She did,” Angel piped in.

I looked at Angel to tell her to shut up. I just needed them here for moral support and so my mom would maintain her cool in front of company. I didn't need them adding to the conversation.

“And this Sisco fella,” she asked slowly, “is he one of them gangsta rappers?”

“No!” I exclaimed. “He raps and sings. Kinda like Nas.”

“Like I know who that is. Well, the bottom line is, I'm sure you told them you wouldn't be able to do that. Because there's no way my daughter is going to be in some gangsta rap video, where they're bragging about shooting police, forty- inch rims and calling women derogatory names.”

Jasmine giggled at my mom's reference to forty-inch rims, but I wasn't in a laughing mood. “Mama, it's not like that. There is some clean rap out there, and Sisco is one of those clean rappers.” That was true for the most part. With the exception of a song called “The Freaks Are Out,” Sisco stayed pretty clean.

My mom wasn't convinced. “Doesn't he have a tattoo?”

I rolled my eyes in frustration. “That doesn't mean anything,” I whined. “He's the biggest rapper in the country, and I have a chance to be in his video with him.”

“That would've been nice . . . if you were someone else's child.” My mom waved me off as if to say the discussion was over. “But congratulations on winning.” She patted my cheek as she headed into the kitchen.

Alexis shot me a look and whispered, “Go after her.”

I motioned for them to follow me. “Mom, listen,” I said as we all followed her into the kitchen. “Seriously, Sisco doesn't curse in his raps. That's why he's so popular.”

My mom turned toward me and wagged her finger. “If you think that I'm goin' to be okay with my only child being a video vixen, you got another think coming.”

My mom really needed to turn off the TV. How did she know about video vixens? “I would be singing, not just some dancer,” I protested.

She stopped for a moment, like she was thinking. “You'd be singing?”

“That's what I'm trying to tell you. I would be singing a duet with Sisco.” I stepped closer. With the best puppy dog look I could muster, I continued, “Mama, this is a once-in-a- lifetime chance.”

“Mrs. Harris,” Jasmine said, stepping up next to me, “Camille can blow. For real. I mean, she shocked all of us.”

“And I have all of Sisco's songs on my iPod,” Alexis said. “I could let you hear them so you could see that Sisco really is one of the good guys.”

“And I'm sure they're not going to have her in any skimpy clothes or anything,” Angel said.

My mother sighed like she knew she was going to have to at least hear me out. “Well, exactly what would you be singing?”

“One of his songs,” I said, guessing, because what else would I be singing? “Please, please, please, Mom. Say yes. Because I'm under eighteen, they won't let me do it without your permission.”

My mother looked like she was thinking about it. Finally, she said, “Now, how am I supposed to look Reverend Williams in the face with him knowing my daughter is in a rap video?”

That was an easy question. “He'll be proud that I'm not out in the streets robbing and killing people,” I said with a wide grin.

“You wouldn't be doing that regardless of whether you were in a video or not.” I stuck out my lip in a playful pout, but she scoffed. “That's not working. Do I have to give you an answer tonight?”

“I told the producer I would call her tonight and tell her.” I'd met with Sisco's manager for a few minutes after the show, along with two of his producers. They'd all seemed nice, although one of them, a young woman named Taraji, had seemed irritated the whole time.

“Well, can't that producer wait until tomorrow?” my mom asked. “It's already late.”

“I can't wait!” I cried. “I'm gonna go crazy if I have to wonder all night long whether all my dreams are going to go up in smoke.” Okay, so I was being a little dramatic, but whatever worked, worked.

My mother, who knew me all too well, smiled slyly. “Okay, Miss Drama Queen.” She blew a defeated breath. “Fine, you can do it, but only after I hear some of the songs he sings on Alexis's me-Pod.”

I groaned at my mother's corny attempt at humor.

“I'll bring it by in the morning on the way to school,” Alexis quickly interjected.

“Okay. I can't stand the idea of listening to that rap crap, but I just want to make sure he's not one of those gangsta rappers.”

“He's not,” Angel said again.

“We'll see.”

“Yes!” I squealed, jumping up and hugging her. “Thank you so much, Mom!” Jasmine, Angel and Alexis jumped up and down with me.

“But there will be no rump shaking in this video,” my mother warned.

“I don't even know what a rump is,” I replied playfully.

“Okay, play dumb if you want to,” she said, “but if this
isn't tastefully done, it won't be done at all, understand?” She gave me the look to let me know she meant business.