She's Got Game (10 page)

UNFORTUNATELY
, romantic dates aside, there was still a party to plan. And that meant—shopping.

The day after Binky's date, the
amigas
stood outside the Bal Harbour mall slurping down lemonades, waiting for Binky and her crew. They were meeting the
damas
and
chambelanes
, to hold the fittings for their outfits. Even though the
quince
's court consisted of just seven girls and seven guys, it always felt—at least to the
amigas
—as if they were wrangling a cast of thousands.

Jamie was wearing a black-and-white-striped T-shirt and a cropped black leather jacket. Carmen had on a vintage señorita dress from her mom that she'd dyed bright turquoise. Alicia sported a black halter-top jumpsuit. They were dressed to handle anything, because this was turning out to be their most complicated
quinceañera
yet.

Who knew that if you were going to have 250 people on a yacht you had to have the plumber install a thousand dollars' worth of extra pipes, so that the sensitive bathrooms wouldn't explode? Who knew that the catering trucks could only load at certain docks, because of refrigeration and electrical issues? Who knew that if you were going to take dozens of minors out on the open sea, you needed eight different loading documents, all of which had to be signed by the Miami boating commissioner?

After the last week and a half, the
amigas
knew more about party-planning, yachts, and city government than they had ever thought they would. They kept their clipboards at the ready and went over their checklists with a fine-tooth comb. They were prepared for anything.

Or so they thought.

When the white Cadillac Escalade pulled up and they heard a familiar voice call out, “Wassup,
chicas
?” they were more than a little stunned. Only Binky would show up in a brand-new $80,000 car—just to go shopping for dresses for her
damas
.

“We really shouldn't be surprised,” Alicia mused.

“No, we shouldn't,” Carmen said.

“And yet, we are,” Jamie declared.

Binky got out of the car, as bright as sunshine in a lemon yellow silk dress and a long navy blue boyfriend cardigan, followed by six other girls.

“Hey,
amigas
, meet my peeps,” Binky said. “These are my Everglades Academy girls—Isabella, Carla, Olivia, Brittany, and Blake.”

The girls were all dressed in nearly identical silk racer-back T-shirts, skinny jeans, and boyfriend cardigans.

There were hellos, what's-ups, and nods all around.

“And this is Zoe, my best friend from tennis camp,” Binky said, giving the girl standing to her left a tight squeeze.

Zoe was petite, Asian American, and dressed from head to toe in Chanel.

“This is my first
quinceañera
, and I'm so excited,” she said in a supersugary voice. “I can't wait to tell my friends in Boca all about it.”

“Um, Binky, one small problem—I see only six girls, and you should have seven
damas
,” Alicia pointed out.

Binky quickly explained that her cousin Lily hadn't been able to make it, but that she was hoping that Carmen—who looked to be about Lily's size—would be willing to try on a dress for her.

The introductions completed, Jamie whispered to Binky, “A Cadillac limo? Was that necessary?”

Binky smiled. “Not necessary, but really fun. Look inside!”

They climbed into the Escalade. The interior was covered from floor to ceiling in leopard-print plush, and there were two flat-screen TVs, leather seats, and a bar.

“This is
nuts
,” Jamie said, climbing back out.

“Wait till you see the ones the boys are coming in,” Binky said.

Moments later, a black Escalade pulled up in front of the mall, and seven very happy-looking guys got out: Dash; Troy; Tino; and four others, from the Everglades football team, who, judging from the way they ran over to smooch Binky's friends Isabella, Olivia, Carla, and Brittany, were also those girls' boyfriends.

Jamie hadn't seen Dash since the game, but they'd been texting and talking constantly. Now she felt the familiar butterflies in her stomach as he came to stand next to her. Trying to hide her nerves, she gave him a fake punch in the shoulder. “So, this is how you roll?” she asked.

“You know it's not me; it's Binky,” he said, blushing a little.

“Still, it must be fun to have a little sister who's so OTT,” Jamie said playfully.

“Oh, yeah,” Dash said. “All I have to do is golf, keep my grades up, and go along for the ride.”

Jamie reached out for his hand and squeezed it. “I like a guy who's got his priorities straight.”

Binky, meanwhile, had quickly made her way over to Tino, who whispered something in her ear. She giggled. Turning to Carmen, she said, “You know, I owe you for introducing me to your brother.”

Tino shook his head. “I'm the one who owes her. I would've never met you if she hadn't invited you over to the house.”

Despite the cheesiness, Carmen grinned. She and Domingo were probably still like that. “I love that you both feel you owe me. And I wouldn't mind at all if Tino took on more chores for the next, say, six months. Especially since I've got bathroom duty this week and dishes for the foreseeable future. But the important thing, lovebirds, is to be good to
each other
.”

Carmen looked at her brother and Binky, then over at Dash and Jamie. Was it really true that opposites attracted? Or maybe it was just that, when given the chance to meet and mingle, people who seemed really different had more in common than it appeared? Whatever the reason, she was glad everyone seemed happy.

Now that both groups were there, it was time to call the meeting to order. Alicia stood on a bench in front of the mall. “Hey, you guys. Listen up. There's a lot to do, and not a lot of time.
Damas
—ladies—I'd like you to go with Binky and Carmen to try on your dresses.
Chambelanes
, come with me and Jamie to try on your outfits. We'll meet back at Zanetti's for lunch at twelve thirty; then it's over to my house—I guess we'll be traveling in these ridunculous limos—for dance rehearsal. Got it?”

Everyone nodded in agreement and, following orders, split up into teams of girls and boys.

Carmen had reserved the bridal-party dressing room at Neiman Marcus, and, chatting and giggling, they quickly made their way there.

“Are you the Mortimer wedding party?” the older woman at the front desk asked when they arrived. The girls began to giggle even louder.

Carmen shook her head. “No actually, it's the Mortimer
quinceañera
. It's as big as a wedding.…”

“But I get to stay single!” Binky yelled.

“Woo-hoo!” Binky's girls screamed in agreement.

The saleswoman was completely unfazed. “My apologies, it shouldn't be a problem. Believe me, we get a lot of
quinceañeras
here.”

She led them behind an emerald green velvet curtain and into a huge dressing room with hardwood ebony floors dotted with ivory plush chaise longues and banquettes. Each seating area was covered in either a white or camel cashmere throw. Giant mirrors in ornate silver frames were propped up against every wall.

“I've died and gone to shopping heaven,” Binky said, plopping down on a chaise longue. “You can come and get me in two weeks.”

“You and me both,” Carmen said, jumping into a high-backed tufted chair that came startlingly close to being a throne. “I love creating my original designs. But you know, shopping is nice, too.”

There was a collective squeal from the party as four salesgirls in identical black dresses wheeled in the two racks of dresses that Carmen had preordered. And the waiters who arrived with silver trays of Voss water and ice also received the stamp of approval of Binky and her posse.

So far, so good, Carmen thought.

Then the dresses were tried on—and the drama began.

Binky's
quince
gown was a brilliant tangerine color, and it had been Carmen's idea that the
damas
would all wear navy, to add a nautical touch to the Princess of the Tides theme.

Reality, however, quickly came crashing in when Isabella announced that she only wore purple, since that was her signature color. Brittany followed suit, saying she simply could not be seen at what was surely going to be the party of the year in anything other than Tiffany blue, since that was
her
signature color. Carla felt that navy overwhelmed her fair complexion, and Olivia, who had dark skin, felt as if she needed a color that would really pop. Blake was fine with navy but didn't want to wear a floor-length dress, since her legs, as she explained, were her best feature. And Zoe took off for Chanel, because off-the-rack shopping depressed her.

Two hours later, nothing had been decided. The girls had moved on from Voss to Diet Cokes and were beginning to bounce off the walls from all the caffeine. The sales staff brought out freshly baked Neiman Marcus chocolate-chip cookies made from a secret recipe, and Binky and her friends, completely sidetracked from the task at hand, began trying on Christian Louboutin espadrilles (needless to say, the espadrilles, while very cute, were of absolutely no relevance to Binky's
quince
).

When her cell phone rang an hour later, Carmen, who was not an easy girl to fluster, ducked inside a changing room and burst into tears.

“Hello,” she sputtered.

“Yo, what's wrong?” Jamie asked, on the other end of the line.

“Binky's
damas
won't wear anything I present to them,” Carmen said through her tears. “They are completely and totally out of control, and Binky is no help. She just keeps saying, ‘Cool with me. Cool with me.' Well, you know what? I'm in charge of the fashion for this
quinceañera
, and when Binky gets the pictures of her big day, I'm the one she'll yell at because her girls look like party-girl jesters and not proper
damas
in a
quince
court.”

Jamie sighed. “Do you need me to step in and get a little Bronx over there?”

“I think I do,” Carmen sniffed. “But aren't you busy with the
chambelanes
?”

“
Amiga
, please,” Jamie said. “Those guys did exactly what we told them to do. We were done in half an hour. Alicia and I went and got our nails done.”

Carmen couldn't believe it. “All this time, you've been getting a manicure?”

“Yeah, I got this supercute dark burgundy color. It's called Wicked,” Jamie said. Carmen let out a growl.

Jamie knew not to push the issue. “I've got three minutes under this dryer; then I'm on my way over to you.”

As promised, Jamie showed up shortly afterward at the lounge of the disobedient
damas
, who had gone from trying on Louboutins to checking out Uggs.

“Okay, listen up, because I'm only going to say this once,” Jamie announced to the small crowd of girls. “This is Binky's
quince
, not your
quince
. I don't want to hear any more mess about your signature colors. I could care less about your likes and dislikes, best features and worst features. You've got one job as members of Binky's court, and that is to be a pal to Binky, who has decided to take part in this pretty awesome Latina rite of passage. You should be
honored
that she's asked you to be part of it. You should be
thrilled
that you are getting a free dress. You should be
over the moon
that in a month from now, you'll be on a yacht, shaking your groove thing at the most amazing
quince
the greater Miami area has ever seen. Do you understand me?”

All of the girls nodded. Zoe, who had slipped back into the lounge in the middle of Jamie's speech, added an enthusiastic “Woo-hoo!”

“Now, when I count to three, I want you all to say, ‘Thank you, Binky, Birthday Girl!' One…two…three!”

“Thank you, Binky, Birthday Girl!” they all cried in unison.

Jamie smiled. “Nicely done. Now, I want you all to come over to me, and all I want to hear is one word, or number, rather: your size—two, four, six, eight, ten, or twelve. My associate will hand you a dress, and then we are outta here.”

And just like that, order returned. In less than fifteen minutes, all of the
damas'
dresses had been purchased. Even more surprisingly, everyone seemed genuinely happy.

Unfortunately, later that afternoon, back at Alicia's, the
amigas
discovered that the shopping for Binky's
damas
and
chambelanes
had been a walk in the park compared to teaching them how to dance.

Binky had her heart set on a traditional Latin ballroom number for the presentation of her court. But while all of her girls could walk in heels, none of them—including Binky—could dance in them.

Alicia kept pausing the rumba number that she and Binky had selected, but no matter how many times they practiced the steps, the only ones who could do any of the moves were Jamie (standing in for Binky's cousin), Dash, and Tino.