Hotlanta (13 page)

“I need to get home,” Lauren said, adjusting her shirt and tugging at her jeans. “Is that your brother out there?”

“Yeah,” Jermaine said quietly. “Don't worry about him. Let's get your coat—I'm going to take you home.”

“If you could just drop me off at the train station, I can get home from there. There's no way you'll be able to pull up into the driveway anyway,” Lauren said. “The car will set off the sensors and Keisha will be all up in the monitors and dialing the police all in the same motion.”

“Come on, now—this ain't the time or the neighborhood to be outside at this time of night. I'm going to drive you and drop you off at the end of your block and you can call my cell when you get inside. And don't bother saying no—I'm not having it any other way.”

Lauren laughed. “Fine,” she said. “But how are we going to get out of your house with your brother in the next room?”

“Who, Rodney? Please, that ain't nothing. He don't have nothing to do with me and how I handle mine,” Jermaine said, sounding agitated.

“Okay,” Lauren hesitated, clearly taken aback by Jermaine's sudden change in tone. “Well, um, let's get going,” she said, looking at her watch nervously.

“Yeah, let's bounce.”

Jermaine flung the door open, gave his brother a stare-down worthy of a scene in
The Wire,
and brushed past the chair he was sitting in. Lauren followed close behind, trying not to look too hard at Rodney.

“Well, well, baby brother, nice midnight snack,” he said. “You sharing?”

Jermaine laughed, but clearly, his chuckle was not one meant to show he was humored. He started grinding his teeth; his temples bounced in circles. “Rodney, Lauren. Lauren, Rodney. She was just leaving,” Jermaine said as he practically pushed Lauren toward the front door.

“What's the rush, baby brother?” Rodney asked, turning in his chair to face the couple. “Why don't you both stay and chat?”

Jermaine rolled his eyes and took Lauren's hand into his. He didn't say another word, just walked out into the autumn chill, Lauren in tow.

“Y'all come back now, ya hear?” Rodney called out as Lauren and Jermaine pushed through the door. “Maybe we can talk about getting me one of them Duke rides.”

The door slammed.

Lauren wasn't sure if she heard it right, but it sounded like Rodney said her last name.
How does he know me,
she asked herself. She looked at Jermaine, but he didn't say anything. She wasn't even sure if he heard it.

But Lauren wasn't about to push the issue. Something about Rodney didn't set right with her. She wasn't about to start asking Jermaine questions about his brother, though; she didn't know him like that and was almost afraid of what he might say. Besides, Lauren just wanted to get back to Buckhead and pretend like this day never happened.

“Actually, Caesar, you can just drop me off right here,” Sydney requested in her sweetest voice as the car service pulled up at the bottom of her driveway.

“I would love to, miss, but my company has strict orders from your father to drop you off directly at the front door. No exceptions,” Caesar explained apologetically as the black Cadillac Escalade continued up the long stretch to the main entrance of the Duke estate.

“Fine,” Sydney huffed as she flopped back into her seat feeling more like a prisoner headed to the guillotine than the princess headed to her storybook castle.

In the seventy-two hours since Lauren dropped the bomb about Sydney's secret relationship with Dice, Altimus had literally snatched Sydney's life away. Her driving
privileges, iPod, flat screen, and all phones were immediately confiscated. Weekly appointments at the spa, with the trainer, and her hairdresser were canceled indefinitely. The only thing Sydney was still allowed to do was eat, sleep, go to school, participate in after-school activities, and come straight home.

When Carmen and Rhea noticed Sydney getting dropped off by a car service on Monday morning, they were dying to know what was up. But honesty required spilling the beans about Dice. What would Rhea and Carmen, the daughters of two prominent lawyers, a psychologist, and a housewife, respectively, know about having a parent on lockdown? Instead, Sydney created a story about car issues and played it off as if she had requested the driver to avoid dealing with the responsibility of a loaner from her dad's dealership on the days that Marcus couldn't drive her. Luckily, the girls were too busy buzzing about Dara's “crazy” Boobgate rumors to bother prying any further.

“All right, miss, I'll see you tomorrow morning at seven-thirty sharp,” Caesar announced as the SUV came to a stop.

“Mmm-hmm,” Sydney replied as she hopped out and slammed the door shut. Even though she understood it wasn't Caesar's fault, his refusal to let her out before the Dukes' state-of-the-art surveillance camera caught her arrival still annoyed the hell out of her. Caesar waited patiently until
Sydney pulled out her keys and opened the front door before he drove off slowly.

Sydney stepped inside the foyer and closed the front door. “Hey, I'm home,” she said to no one in particular as she dropped her bag and started taking off her gray Miu Miu ankle boots.

“Welcome home, Ms. Sydney,” Edwina answered as she came around the corner.

“Hey, Edwina,” Sydney replied halfheartedly as she noticed her car keys sitting in the bowl of keys on the foyer table. “Why's it so quiet around here?” At 4:45
P.M.
on a Tuesday, the sound of her mom blasting
Access Hollywood
from the den was noticeably absent.

“Oh, Dr. Chin was a guest on the
Oprah
show this morning and his flight back from Chicago was delayed, so your mom's acupuncture appointment got pushed back,” Edwina explained. “She probably won't be home for another two hours.”

Sydney immediately straightened up. “Two hours?” she asked as if she didn't quite hear the elderly woman correctly the first time.

“Yes, miss, at least two hours.”

Sydney started putting her boots back on as fast as she could. With her mom at the acupuncturist, Altimus working, and Lauren probably at practice, Edwina had just waved the green flag in Sydney's face. “Edwina, do me a favor? Can you please go upstairs and close my bedroom door?”

“Sure, no problem, miss…”

“Thanks. I'll be right back, I'm just gonna step out for a second, okay?” Sydney continued as she turned to grab the keys to her car. “But if anyone asks, the last thing you saw was me go up to my room. Okay?”

Edwina didn't even blink. “Of course, miss.” She hadn't managed to keep her job at the Duke family estate for the past twelve years by not knowing when to mind her business.

“You're the best,” Sydney thanked her as she hurried out the door. She had two unsupervised hours and she wasn't about to waste a minute. The front door barely closed before the sound of Sydney's car engine roared to life.

After forty minutes of aimless driving, Sydney pulled up to the back parking lot of Brookhaven. Ironically, of all the places she could be, this was the only one where she still felt like she still had some semblance of control over her life. She turned off the car, rested her head back against the headrest, and closed her eyes. She considered swinging by her Aunt Lorraine's or even the Boys Club, where Marcus was supposed to be volunteering until at least nine o'clock, but she quickly decided against it. A surprise visit was how she had gotten into this mess to begin with.

As the sound of Gwen Stefani's yodeling filled the car, Sydney felt the overwhelming sensation of despair pressing against her chest. She had nowhere to go and no one to turn to. Once again, Lauren had sold her down the river. Sydney
thought about how angry Altimus and her mom were with her. She could still see the rage as it filled Altimus's face. In that moment, he had looked like a complete stranger to Sydney. She just couldn't understand why her parents were so hell-bent on keeping her from her father. She inhaled deeply to relieve the increasing pressure.

Just then a crowd of varsity football players spilled out of the gymnasium doors. Play fighting and yelling back and forth among themselves like a pack of frisky puppies, they headed toward the group of cars parked a few rows in front of Sydney.

“Aye, dog, I'm telling you. That little redbone from the skating rink is on it,” asserted loudmouth Terrance.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Blue answered sarcastically. “Ain't that the same thing you said ‘bout Trina before she played you short at the Fall Festival?”

“Yes, indeed, yes, indeed,” laughed the group. As the boys drew closer, Sydney recognized Jason bringing up the rear of the crew. Unconsciously, she started tugging the gold hoop in her right earlobe.

“Say what you want, when I walk into the Homecoming dance with li'l mama on my arm, don't say shiiiiit!” Terrance countered with confidence as he clicked the car remote to his white BMW with ridiculous-looking rims. Three fellow players quickly pulled open the passenger doors and crowded in.

“We shall see, my man,” laughed Shaun as he gave Jason a farewell handshake, opened the door to his Dodge Charger with the purple bowling ball paint, and motioned for Big Mo and Blue to join him.

“All right y'all, get home safe. Don't forget, extended practice tomorrow night. We got to get right for Homecoming,” Jason reminded the remainder of the group as they all hopped in their respective vehicles. As team co-captain, he always chose to wait until everyone was situated with a ride before he headed out.

Sydney watched as Jason turned back and headed toward his truck. She hesitated as she weighed the pros and cons of getting his attention. It's not like she had anything important or specific to say. Truth be told, Sydney simply didn't feel like being alone. She took a quick peek in the vanity mirror. Once she verified that her makeup still looked fresh and her hair wasn't a complete wreck, Sydney made the sign of the cross and jumped out of her car. “Hey, Jason!” she called out brightly as he was getting into his truck. Jason stopped and turned at the sound of his name.

“What up, Syd?” he asked as a huge grin spread across his face.

“Nothing much,” she replied as she headed over toward him. “Seems like I can't stop running into you these days, huh?”

“Yeah, you're right,” he agreed as he closed his door and
leaned his back against the truck. He looked over at her Saab. “Funny, I don't remember seeing your car earlier today. I normally look for it when I get here in the morning.”

“And why in the world would you be looking for my car? Jason Danden, you're not stalking me, are you?” Sydney teased as she finally reached his truck. She put her hand on her hip and tilted her head mischievously.

“Not at all. It's just that, normally, you and I are the first people to arrive . So I'm accustomed to seeing your Saab when I pull in,” he replied easily and then paused to look Sydney in the eyes. “But if I was, would you be mad at me?”

Sydney hesitated at the loaded question. “Whatever, silly. So where are you headed in such a rush?”

“No rush, I'm just headed home. What about you? I didn't think there were any committee meetings this afternoon.”

“Oh, no, I was out driving to kinda clear my head and ended up here. Weird right? You'd think I'd want to get as far away from this place as possible and instead…”

“Naw, I get it. It's like second nature,” he said patting one of Sydney's flyaway curls back into place. The sensation from his touch made Sydney shiver. “You cold?”

“The temperature feels like it might be dropping,” she said, trying to play off the goose bumps.

“You might be right,” Jason said, although he looked like
he didn't believe her for one second. “Well, you want to sit in my truck? It's def warmer inside there.”

“Um.” Sydney looked around. At almost six o'clock, the place was pretty deserted. “Yeah, sure, why not.”

Jason simply smiled and walked around to the passenger side to open the door for her to get inside. As he was closing her door, Sydney leaned over and returned the favor by opening the driver side door for him.

“I knew you were one of the great ones,” he quipped as he got into the truck.

“Ah,
A Bronx Tale,
” Sydney said softly, suddenly very aware that once again she was sitting in the star of the football team's truck.

“Don't laugh, but I love that movie,” Jason admitted bashfully.

“No, I totally get you. I like the old movies, too.
Love Jones, The Best Man, Pretty Woman, Poetic Justice
…”

“…
Set It Off, The Godfather, Boyz n the Hood, Dead Presidents,
” he continued with a smile.

“I don't know about no
Boyz n the Hood,
” Sydney said with a laugh. Once again, she was surprised at how easily they were able to talk and find things in common.

“Gotta say, I'm glad to see you laugh,” Jason admitted. “You weren't really looking like yourself when I asked you what you were still doing here.”

“Let's just say,” Sydney said as she fidgeted with her Gucci horsebit ring, “it's been a long week.”

“Dang, it's only Tuesday, Syd.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes it's like that,” she said softly as she thought about all the chaos swirling around her.

“Wanna talk about it? I mean you don't have to, but sometimes it helps,” he offered sweetly as he gently placed a hand on top of Sydney's.

For the third time that day, Jason made Sydney hesitate. There was something about the gentleness of his voice, the warm pressure of his hand, and what felt like an honest interest in what was happening in her life that made her warm to him. She couldn't remember the last time Marcus had taken a genuine interest in what was happening to her if it didn't directly involve him or improve the status of their public profile as a couple. Not that Sydney wasn't guilty of her share of shadiness when it came to maintaining the perfect image. She just wished that sometimes he'd remember that there was an actual relationship that needed to be attended to beneath the facade. Sighing, Sydney slowly pulled her hand away. “It's okay. I think I'll figure it out.”

Sensing the awkwardness of the moment, Jason straightened up. “Okay, well, my friends tell me I'm a good listener. If you ever need an ear, I'm here.” He turned away and started up the truck. “Besides, the last time I checked, you still owed
me a call,” he joked as he put the truck in reverse and brought it up alongside Sydney's car with ease.

“Very nice.” Sydney opted to compliment his driving skills instead of answering his question. “The last time Lauren threw her car into reverse, she almost backed into a tree.”

“Yeah, no offense, but I heard your sister goes through cars like underwear,” he replied good-naturedly.

Sydney snorted. “Please, no offense taken. If you knew what I've been through with my sister, you'd know that calling her a bad driver is the least.”

Jason chuckled. “Yeah, seems like siblings can be a trip. All my boys who have brothers and sisters stay bellyaching about them.”

“Is that so?” Sydney asked sarcastically. She couldn't imagine anyone dealing with as much grief as Lauren constantly caused.

“Yep, yep. But take it from an only child, when push comes to shove, no one gets down for the get-down like family.”

Sydney briefly considered his words. “I guess,” she said quietly.

Jason reached out and softly touched Sydney's face. “Don't guess, know.”