A Star is Born
Authors: Walter Dean Myers
Z
ander, wake up!” Mom's voice drifting through the fog. “You've got a visitor!”
“Tell Kambui to come back later!” I said, my head still under the covers.
“It's LaShonda,” Mom said. “She's really excited.”
“About what?”
“About everything!”
LaShonda's voice.
I peeked out from under the blanket and saw LaShonda Powell in the doorway. Her eyes were wide and her hair was standing in about four different directions. Before I could say anything she was sitting on my bed.
“Is this going to be okay?” Mom asked. “I don't need to chain anybody down, do I?”
“I just have to go over some things with Zander,” LaShonda said. She had her knuckles rubbing the back of my head.
“I'll make breakfast for the two of you,” Mom said cautiously. “You will be out to the kitchen soon, won't you?”
“Yes, ma'am,” LaShonda answered.
Mom started out the door as I was trying to remember if I was wearing underwear. LaShonda had one arm around my shoulders and had her head close enough to kiss me if she wanted to. I was hoping she didn't want to.
“What's up?” I asked.
“I got a scholarship!” she squealed in my ear.
“Hey, that's mad good!” I said. “But you're in the eighth grade, what kind of scholarship are you getting?”
“Listen to this!” LaShonda cleared her throat and rattled the paper she held about three inches from my nose. “âDear LaShonda Powell, We are pleased to offer you a full scholarship to the Virginia Woolf Society Program for Young Ladies based on your amazing designs for the play put on by the Cruisers last Wednesday. Completion of this program will qualify you for further scholarship aid to either Amherst, Spellman, or the Fashion Institute of Technology.' Zander, I'm going to college!”
“Right away?”
“No, but eventually,” she said. She was sitting on the bed but still leaning on me. I knew that for LaShonda it was a special moment. For me it wasn't. I had to pee.
“People keep saying we're smart and everything,” LaShonda said, her face against my shoulder. “But it takes more than being smart to go to college. It takes money for tuition and stuff like that, but it takes money for clothes, too. I need someplace where I can go to college and still work part-time to support Chris. If they pay my way to Fashion Institute, I'll have it m-a-d-e! I can get a part-time job and we'll both be right here in the city.”
“That's good,” I said. “But I got to go to the bathroom.”
“Go ahead.”
“I don't think I have any underclothes on,” I said, knowing I didn't have any underclothes on.
“You sleep naked?”
“Yo, LaShonda, I have to pee. How about you getting out of the room so I can get dressed?”
She kissed me on the forehead and left the room, calling out to Mom about going to college.
LaShonda is real special. She's the kind of girl that will get your back if you have a fight, or design some clothes for you if you need them. She lives in a group home â I think it's Catholic â with her little brother, Chris.
I found my underwear on the floor, put it on, and then some jeans. I heard Mom and LaShonda talking as I went into the bathroom.
What was really going down with LaShonda was that her brother was quiet. Not just a little quiet but, like, he hardly ever said anything. I didn't know if he was slow or maybe had an emotional problem. Maybe it wasn't right, but even though me and LaShonda were homies, we never talked about her brother. I would have talked about him if she brought it up, but she didn't.
When I got out of the bathroom I went into the kitchen. Mom was making eggs and LaShonda was sitting at the head of the table just looking so pleased with herself it was good to see.
“Do you think you're a little young to be committing to fashion?” Mom asked. “You might change your mind and want to be a doctor or something.”
“I want to be a designer,” LaShonda said. “I've always wanted to do that, so this works out perfectly for me. I'll be a designer, make about twenty buckets of money, and then marry some cute boy.”
“Like Zander?” Mom asked.
“No, I mean a
really
cute boy, with perfect teeth and a big car,” LaShonda said. “And he's just going to adore me from head to toe.”
“Zander, you want your eggs scrambled?” Mom asked.
I nodded and poured myself a glass of orange juice.
“Is Chris excited about it, too?” I asked.
“He doesn't get too excited about outside things,” LaShonda said, her mood changing for an instant. “And I don't think he knows we're going to have to move, but he can deal with it.”
“Where you moving?”
“They have the Virginia Woolf House on 141st Street. You remember where Dr. John Henrik Clarke used to live? We went there once during Black History Month?”
“Yeah, sort of,” I answered. “Who's Virginia Woolf? She's, like, a civil rights lady or something?”
“No, she's a white British lady,” LaShonda said, pushing some scrambled egg off her chin into her mouth. “She wrote a book called
A Room of One's Own
. It's about how women need to have their own space and whatnot. I read it. It was okay.”
“So this is a black group that is interested in women's issues?” Mom asked.
“Uh-uh. This is a white group that is just starting a branch of their organization in Harlem,” LaShonda said. “These eggs are good. I like real eggs. At our place we always get powdered eggs.”
“They probably come from powdered chickens,” I said.
“Zander Scott, why are you so stupid?” LaShonda asked.
“It's a man thing,” Mom jumped in. “They try to keep it secret but it doesn't work, and every once in a while the stupid just pops up.”
“Mom! You're supposed to be on my side,” I said. “We are related, remember?”
“So you sent them your designs, and then what happened?” Mom asked.
“No, they came and saw the play that Zander wrote,” LaShonda said. “I did the designs for the play because we didn't have the money to buy costumes.”
“The thing you were writing on
Romeo and Juliet
?” Mom looked at me.
“Yeah, LaShonda made shirts and blouses for us,” I said. “They were nice.”
“I took oversize blouses and used material to add balloon sleeves and collars so that they looked a little Elizabethan,” LaShonda said. “The girls had smaller sleeves and collars, but I tie-dyed the bodies and left the sleeves white. For the guys I made collars that were big and I put cardboard in them for shape. And their sleeves were solid white and pleated. They looked good.”
“That's very innovative,” Mom said. “Did you take pictures?”
“Kambui did,” I said. “But it takes him forever to send stuff around.”
“Mrs. Maxwell wants us to put the play on again sometime during the year,” LaShonda said. She had finished her eggs and now ran her finger over the plate to get the last little bit. “I think the Virginia Woolf Society liked the play, too. Anyway, they said my costumes deserved recognition and they're going to give me a scholarship!”
I felt really glad for LaShonda because she is always for real. There isn't anything phony about her.
“You should publish the play â what's it called?” Mom plopped down and poured herself some coffee.
“
Act Six
,” I said.
“You should change the name of the play and publish it in your paper,” she said.
“There's a reason I called it
Act Six
,” I said. “The original
Romeo and Juliet
has five acts. This is a one-act play that's a takeoff on the original.”
“Nobody is going to know what it means, Zander,” Mom said.
“I'll know,” I said.
“And I'll know,” LaShonda said, patting me on the hand.
Then LaShonda started talking about how she was going to start acting more mature. She had seen pictures of Virginia Woolf and said she looked like a real lady.
“Kind of proper looking,” LaShonda added.
“Like us,” Mom said, putting on her “proper” face.
“Yeah,” LaShonda answered. “Like us.”
THE CRUISER
A BAD IDEA COMES SAILING IN
By Kambui Owens
We are now reading two English newspapers online every day. They are
The Times
and
The Guardian
.
One big story in Jolly Olde England is that the English are thinking about letting kids who are 14 decide if they want to stay on an academic track or take up a trade such as retailing or repairing cars.
The Cruiser
thinks this is a good idea, because kids who don't do well grade-wise will at least get something useful out of school. We could teach kids how to serve hamburgers at fast-food joints. Maybe get a degree in McBurgers and a minor in Chinese food.
This is one way of handling poor grades â teaching kids how to navigate dead-end jobs. I know some dudes who would be better off getting a PhD in sweeping floors rather than just sitting in the back of the classroom dreaming all day. This might even work for smart kids. I'd love to take up training to be Beyoncé's secret boyfriend.
Meanwhile, our own LaShonda Powell has been offered a scholarship by the Virginia Woolf Society. They must have seen her 360-degree dunk!
THE PALETTE
Â
Get Serious, Dudes!
By Ashley Schmidt
When will the writers at
The Cruiser
finally take a subject seriously? Letting kids choose to opt out of academic studies at 14 is a serious question that will soon be considered over here. Kambui Owens might think he's being witty with his little remarks, but he's not, he's just irresponsible!
The Cruisers seem to think that just because they're individually smart they don't have to be responsible citizens of Da Vinci. Wise up, guys. Some subjects need completely serious responses! And if your so-called alternate newspaper doesn't stand for anything serious, why are you killing trees to publish it? Lastly, LaShonda's scholarship offer (and I actually interviewed her!) was for her design work,
not
basketball!