A Street Girl Named Desire: A Novel (13 page)

Despite the temporary agreement they had come to, Desire still had mixed feelings about Carvelas. She confessed what was going on to Tiah one night as they sat out on the stoop while Hattie Mae busied herself inside.

“So you really gonna go to the prom with little ole Carvelas?” Tiah asked.

“Shit, he asked,” Desire said. “I ain't never been on a date before. And Grandma will let me go 'cause she likes Carvelas a whole lot. She the one got him playing in church.”

“How you know that?” Tiah asked.

“He told me,” Desire answered, looking away and imagining Carvelas walking up the street.

“Hold on, bitch!” Tiah shouted. “When you and Carvelas been talking alone? I'm with you damned near all the time. How come I ain't see none of this? You been sneaking out of school to kick it with him?”

“Calm yourself, chick,” Desire answered. “Since you insist on knowing everything about my life, I'll just tell you we been writing a lot of notes. That's all.”

“Oh, snap! Writing notes … that's what you do before you start sexing.”

“We ain't sexing and we ain't gonna sex. I only like him as a friend. I don't know, I really just don't see Carvelas like that. He like my play brother, you know.”

“Well, who do you see like that, then?”

Desire was very peculiar when it came to what interested her. She wanted anything that she couldn't have, and one such person was Tony Evers. The 6′1″, handsome, All-City basketball wizard, who was Chanel's boyfriend.

“I wouldn't mind getting Tony alone! Chanel don't deserve nobody that fine.”

Tiah looked shocked by Desire's response. They had both
talked about Tony, but she didn't know it was that serious for Desire.

“Hell, take that bitch's man if you don't want Carvelas,” Tiah advised.

Desire still wasn't sure if she wanted to take it there with Carvelas. Tony seemed to be a much more mysterious prospect.

“That just might be what I do,” Desire said, wondering how she could without hurting Carvelas.

It was a hot, muggy morning and more than 150 students were waiting to go into the auditorium to get prom tickets. Carvelas had given her the money to pick them up. As Desire stood in line, she watched Chanel's boyfriend, Tony, approach. He had on a brand-new warm-up suit and some sparkling new Jordans. His wavy hair was perfectly faded. At every step other boys extended their hands to give him a pound. Desire turned her back as he approached. When he got to her she was surprised to hear his deep, spine-tingling voice call her name. She turned around and said, “Yeah, what's up?”

He smiled, showing a perfect set of pearly white teeth. “Yeah, what's up? Your last name is Evans, right?”

“And?” Desire was nervous, but played it cool. This was the first time they had ever spoken to each other.

“Well,” he continued, “my last name is Evers, so that means I'm right behind you.” He smiled again.

Desire had a weakness for ballplayers. She loved their attitudes and swaggers. She also liked the attention that they got, as well as how they were respected by everyone. Desire was all about respect,
getting it and keeping it. It would help to have somebody on her arm who had it to the degree that Tony did. The line moved slowly. Everybody wanted to make sure they would be suited just right. Desire and Tony spoke for the full hour and a half it took to get their tickets. Tapping his tickets against his mouth, Tony asked, “You gonna be at the prom?”

It was on. Nothing was going to stop Desire from going to the prom. However, she needed to lay down a few ground rules with Carvelas.

“But I got some stipulations first,” she said. “One, pick me up at my house at seven sharp. Two, make sure you bring my corsage. And three, give me a hundred-fifty dollars so I can get my hair and nails done.” Desire extended her hand to him like he just walked around with that type of money. She may as well let him know early that she expected to be taken care of if things were to go any further. She had feelings for Carvelas as a friend, but the hustler mentality she had had to employ for so long had trained her to use anybody to get what she wanted. She wanted Tony, she already had Carvelas. It was like instinct for her to use Carvelas to get what she wanted from Tony. She had no plans of really hurting him. Not to mention, Carvelas was getting what he wanted as well. She
was
going to prom with him.

“Okay, I got some stipulations too.”

Desire twisted her face. She shifted her weight onto her other foot and folded her arms as she waited for him to continue.

“I just want me and you to walk in together arm in arm.” He waited to see her reaction.

“What else?” she said.

“And for you to give me the first and last dances.” He smiled with relief when she looked at him and said, “No doubt.”

Desire had her hair cornrowed down her back by the Africans on 125th and her nails done by the Koreans right across the street. She and Tiah headed to Macy's to look at gowns. The conversation with Hattie Mae about Desire attending the prom with Carvelas had gone well. The part about buying a gown had not.

“I'm so happy you got you a little date,” Hattie Mae had exclaimed after Desire told her the news. They'd quickly run down the list of what she would need: a prom gown, shoes, and bag to match and earrings. Then Hattie Mae had marched to a closet that was full of so much junk from the past that they usually had to lean against it to close it. She had almost opened it before changing her mind. “I don't want all that junk tumbling out on me. I'ma hafta get my sewing machine later …”

“Grandma, get a sewing machine for what?” Desire had asked. Tiah had just sat silent and confused.

“I'm making yo dress, chile,” Hattie Mae had answered.

Though they didn't really want to do it, they felt like they had no choice, Desire and Tiah decided to resort to boosting a prom gown. They didn't want to hurt Hattie Mae's feelings. But she had begun describing the gown she was going to make for Desire, and there was no way Desire was going to have her grand entrance ruined by walking into prom in a homely gown made by
her grandmother. Desire was only into fashion because of the money it had made her in the past, not for her own glamour, but she had an agenda for prom night. She couldn't look like anything but the flyest girl in the room if she was to get Tony Evers's attention.

On 34th Street, Desire and Tiah admired all the fashion mannequins in Macy's windows. Desire stopped suddenly when she saw a dress that would make her curves pop out once she slipped it over her body. The dress's red color made her think of fire. It was a floor-length gown with a train that glided in back like a red carpet, almost as if whoever wore it was a star on their way to an awards ceremony. The front of the dress was a low-cut V-neck, with just enough support to boost her small breasts. It was sexy and provocative yet still tasteful. That was the image she was hoping to project. Tiah nodded her approval. This sleek and ultrasexy dress was by Christian Lacroix, and probably cost well over a thousand dollars. Desire and Tiah formulated a plan before setting out on their mission.

They entered into Macy's revolving door. Both girls knew their roles well. If caught, the other was supposed to pull the nearest fire alarm to clear out the place. Slowly but surely, the old instincts were starting to come back to Desire. The thought of boosting a gown was more appealing than the thought of describing exactly what she wanted to Hattie Mae, and all of them making it together. Having a family project. In a weird way, Desire wanted to know if she still “had it.” Something inside of her didn't trust the security and comfort she had, not yet. She wanted to know that she could still access her skills when necessary.

She and Tiah entered the evening gown section of the store
and found that there were no more gowns like the one she wanted. Not wanting to draw attention to themselves, they didn't bother to ask the saleslady where some more gowns might be. Desire wanted the dress she wanted. None of the others moved her the way that one did. They were about to leave the store, when, finding themselves in an uncrowded section of handbags near the Madison Street exit, Desire suddenly had an idea. She consulted with Tiah on what she was going to do.

“I need a distraction,” was what Desire said. She thought quickly, then snatched Tiahs purse off of her arm. Tiah looked astonished.

“For now, your bag has been stolen,” Desire whispered to her. “I need you to get each and every person in this section looking for it.”

Tiah followed orders without question. They both could be drama queens when they needed to be. Tiah spotted one salesgirl who was adjusting gowns nearby. She immediately went into theatrics, running as far away from Desire as she could.

“My bag is missing! Somebody got my bag,” Tiah shouted. Everyone who had been browsing turned their attention toward Tiah. She continued shouting as the salesgirl left her customers.

“When did you last have it?” the salesgirl asked Tiah. Tiahs goal was to get everyone as far away as possible from Desire. The customers who had been shopping previously began to whisper among themselves.

“It's a big brown bag. Black straps,” Tiah said. “Look around, everybody!”