Butterfly (22 page)

“Yeah!” Bri rolled her eyes and turned her head to the side. I grabbed her chin and looked her dead in the eyes.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because it's the only way I can make friends.”

“Look, girl, I love you! And I'll be damned if I sit back and let you ruin your life because you don't have as many friends as everybody else. Or, you're not as popular as everybody else! How many times do I have to tell you, Bri, you don't have to fit in with anybody! Don't fall prey to that peer pressure bullshit! Those fools should be trying to fit in with you!”

Bri jumped in my face and screamed, “That's easy for you to say! Everybody likes you! Everybody wants to be around you! And everybody wants to be you!”

I hugged Bri and I kissed her on the cheek. “But Bri, I want to be you. And I want to be around you, because you're my cousin and I love you.”

We hugged each other for a minute and then Bri sat down. “Why would anybody want to be me?”

“Because you're cute. You're smart. And you have a loving family that loves the hell out of you. Friends will come and go, but your family is your family, Bri. I'm a part of that family now and I can't let you do this to yourself, or them. So no more, ‘trying to fit in with the crowd' stunts?”

“Okay.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. But what difference does it make now? I'm going to be in a lot of trouble anyway.”

“Don't worry about that. Toya is not going to tell on you. If you want to be done with this right now, you're done with this. So what is it going to be?”

“I'm done!”

“That's my girl.” I led Bri upstairs by her hand and she snatched away.

“I'm not ready to face Mama right now.”

“She doesn't know anything, Bri.”

“You must not know my mother.”

“You must not know me! I got it taken care of. Your mom knows we are down here talking, but she said she would let us handle it.”

“My mom said that?”

“Yup.”

“I don't know about that.”

“Come on, girl.”

We walked upstairs and as I tried to push the door open, it slammed against something. That something was Ms. Tonita eavesdropping.

“Ouch!” Ms. Tonita shouted.

“Oops! You okay, Ms. Tonita?”

Bri and I walked from behind the door and Ms. Tonita was rubbing her head.

“Ouch, that hurts.”

“I told you to stay away from that door, didn't I?”

“Shut up, Rob!” Ms. Tonita walked into the living room with Mr. Robert and we followed her.

“So did your private conversation turn out all right?” Ms. Tonita asked.

“Baby?” Mr. Robert sighed.

“I said I would not interrupt their conversation; I said nothing about asking questions afterward.”

“Shante, did you get it worked out?” Mr. Robert asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Great! End of conversation.”

“But...” Ms. Tonita tried to speak, but Mr. Robert kept cutting her off.

“End of conversation, baby.”

“But...”

“End of conversation, Tonita!”

“Well, if I can't ask my questions, I'm going upstairs!” Ms. Tonita stomped upstairs.

“You girls got everything worked out then?”

“Yes, sir,” Bri said.

“You sure, Shante?”

“Yes, sir,” I answered.

“In that case, let me go up here and tell your mother I'm taking her to dinner.”

“Okay.” Bri laughed.

Mr. Robert went to console Ms. Tonita and I went home and took a nap. Keisha called me later that evening and asked me to call Toya, but I couldn't. We spoke a couple of days later and she
was the one who apologized for always bailing on the rest of us. Janae put her up to it, but as long as it was sincere, I was cool with it. Her lucky ass also got out of going to juvie, too. They questioned her and then let her go. It turned out that by not snitching on Bri, the police had nothing to tie her to the 'script ring.

•   •   •

In April, the media converged on Jeremy like vultures. It was approaching the time when he was supposed to select the college he would be attending in the fall. Recruiters had begun to camp outside his door on the very first day, waiting for their opportunity to talk to his parents. That meant from April 14 to May 19, the only time I would see Jeremy was through private indoor quarters. I was glad for him, but it was interfering with our relationship. I wanted privacy, and I wanted to spend time with him. Instead of spending my weekends with Jeremy, I was spending every Saturday with Bri, Brittany and Alex, or hanging with my girls.

One Saturday evening when I was folding clothes, Ms. Alicia, who liked Jeremy but still was not a big fan of our dating one another, started to probe into our relationship.

“You feel like taking Brittany to get her some ice cream? I'll foot the bill.”

“I may as well. I don't have anything else to do.”

“Where's that so-called boyfriend of yours?”

“His dad won't let him out of the house.”

“Not even to come visit you?”

“No ma'am, he might get trapped by the media and say something his father doesn't want him to say.”

“Does he have a say in any of this?”

“Not really. His father guards him twenty-four hours a day. He doesn't want him to do anything. He doesn't even want him
to date me.” Ms. Alicia looked at me in a strange way and I knew I had said too much. “Oops!”

“What do you mean he doesn't want Jeremy to date you? Who the hell is he supposed to be that he can't date you?”

“He's just very protective of him, that's all.”

“Why does he have to protect him from you?”

“Not just me, everybody. People are trying to get next to him, so they can get whatever they can from him.”

“Yeah, but that's not you,” Ms. Alicia looked at me, “is it?”

“No ma'am. I couldn't care less about him playing basketball.”

“And I don't know who his father thinks he is to even suggest that you are after that boy because he can put a freakin' ball through a hoop!”

“I don't think it's anything personal, Ms. Alicia. I think Mr. Winston doesn't want Jeremy to date anybody, no matter who the girl is.”

“He should consider himself damn lucky to have you as his girlfriend.”

I didn't respond because she was talking herself into a state of frenzy, and she would only turn anything I said into a negative against Jeremy. She sat next to me and helped me fold a few clothes and then started talking to herself again. I wanted to go to the basement and get Dr. Forrester before she was too far gone because when she got fired up like that, there was no stopping her.

“That man has no right to try to say that you are not good enough for that big-headed boy!” Ms. Alicia folded a few more clothes and then fussed again. “Like he's all that and you're nothing! I wish he would say something like that where I could hear it. I'll be right back.”

Ms. Alicia fussed all the way upstairs. I did not open my mouth. I could hear her fussing to herself through the ceiling and then
all the way back downstairs. When she came back into the room, she had changed her clothes and styled her hair.

“Do you know how to get to this boy's house?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Come on, let's go!” Ms. Alicia stepped to the side and gestured for me to follow her.

“Where are we going, Ms. Alicia?”

“You know where we're going, come on!”

“Please, Ms. Alicia, don't do this.”

“You better come on here, girl, and quit playing with me!”

I stared at Ms. Alicia and then yelled at the top of my lungs, “Doc-tor For-res-terrrrrr!”

Ms. Alicia put her hands on her hips and patted her right foot in one place. Dr. Forrester came running upstairs. “What's the matter?”

“You have to help me, Dr. Forrester. Ms. Alicia is going crazy!”

“What's going on?” Dr. Forrester looked back and forth at Ms. Alicia and me.

“Her boyfriend's father thinks his son is too good for her. That's what's going on.”

“Is that it?”

“Is that it?” Ms. Alicia snapped. “Did you hear what I said?”

“You have me missing the Final Four for that? The game is on!”

“So that game is more important than Shante, Johnny?”

“No, you know that's not what I'm saying. I just wanna watch my game.”

“Do you not understand that we have a crisis here?”

“What is the crisis, Alicia? They're kids, let them be kids and stay out of their affairs! And who cares what Jeremy's father thinks?”

“I do.”

“Okay fine, but I'm going back downstairs.”

“Dr. Forrester!” I tried to stop him before he went back to his game.

“Yes, Butterfly?”

“Ms. Alicia wants to make me go to Jeremy's house, so that she can tell his father off.”

“I don't want to tell the man off. I just want to ask him what the hell is his problem.”

“Don't embarrass that girl like that, Alicia.”

“Why should she be embarrassed? I'm just going to talk to the man, one adult to another.”

“No she's not, Dr. Forrester. She's going to make a big scene. She's going to gouge his eye out or something.”

“Stop being so dramatic, Shante.” Ms. Alicia pointed her finger at me.

“Sweetheart, will you please stay away from those people?”

“Okay.”

“You promise?”

“I said okay.”

“Let me see your fingers?”

Ms. Alicia pulled her hands from behind her back and showed Dr. Forrester her hands. “See.”

“Okay, now you ladies play fair and stop fighting over boys. I'm going to go watch my game now. Unless it's a fire, or somebody is dying or dead, do not call me. I repeat,
do not
call me. Enjoy the rest of your evening, ladies.”

Ms. Alicia licked her tongue out at me as Dr. Forrester went back to the basement. We started folding clothes again and then Ms. Alicia went upstairs and asked Pa-Pa to watch Brit while Dr. Forrester watched the game. The next thing I knew she was pulling me out of the door by my arm.

“Come on, girl.”

“But you promised Dr. Forrester you weren't going to go over there.”

“Yeah, but I had my toes crossed. Hurry up! Let's go before he comes up here for a snack! Move it! Move it! Move it!”

Ms. Alicia fussed all the way to Jeremy's house. I texted him to see if he was at home. He was, and I gave him a heads-up that we were on our way. Unfortunately, he told me that his father was there, too. I was so nervous I could not think straight. I tried to talk to Ms. Alicia out of it, but she wasn't having it.

When we pulled up, there were a few television and newspaper reporters posted in front of their home. We found a place to park and then walked to Jeremy's door, but before we could answer, Jeremy snatched the door open.

“Hi, Mrs. Forrester,” Jeremy looked at me, “Hey, Bae. I mean, Shante.”

“Hi, Jeremy, is your father home?”

“Yes, ma'am, come in.”

Jeremy showed us to their den and we waited for Mr. Winston. Mrs. Winston was gone. Too bad; I would have much rather preferred her. Ms. Alicia looked around the room for something negative to point out and she found it.

“Um.” Ms. Alicia pointed at a piece of African art. “I wonder how much that old ugly thang cost right there.”

“Ms. Alicia, shush.”

“Don't shush me, girl!”

“You're talking too loud, though.”

“I'm talking loud for a reason. I want these people to hear me.”

“When Mr. Winston comes in, can you please be nice, Ms. Alicia?”

“If he's nice to me, I'll be nice to him.”

“At least try to give him a chance...”

Mr. Winston walked into their den with Jeremy right in his foot tracks. “May I help you?”

“I hope so.”

“I, um, my daughter seems to think that you have a problem with her dating your son. And if that is true, I would like to know why.”

“It's nothing personal. My son is not your average eighteen-year-old and...”

“And neither is my daughter!” Ms. Alicia interrupted.

“I never said she was.” Mr. Winston looked at Jeremy and then looked back at us. “But my son is my responsibility and I have to do everything I can as his father to protect him.”

“And what exactly are you protecting him from, Mr. Winston?”

“From the world, Mrs. Forrester.”

“You can rest assure that there is nothing about Shante that you have to protect him from.”

“Like I said, it's nothing personal. In a perfect world I would like to think that everybody we meet had good intentions for my son, but that's not the reality of his life. People want his spotlight. People want his abilities. People want his money...”

Ms. Alicia stood up and interrupted Mr. Winston again. “Wait a minute! The last thing Shante needs from Jeremy is money! If we don't have anything else, we have plenty of that, Mr. Winston!”

“Ms. Alicia?” I whispered and gently held her hand to try to calm her down.

“I'm sorry you're offended. But I have to do what I have to do to protect my son.”

“And I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry that a grown man can get so caught up in the fantastic world of the NBA that he doesn't care if he hurts a young girl's feelings.”

“It doesn't seem like Shante is hurt at all. You seem to be the only one upset about this.”

“Just because she's not saying it, it doesn't mean that she's not feeling it.”

And Ms. Alicia was right. I did not like it any more than she did. But for the sake of keeping the peace with Jeremy, I ignored it.

“I think we've said all we need to say, Mrs. Forrester. I'm missing a very important game, which could have implications on my son's collegiate future.”