Crossing the Barrier (20 page)

“Dude, we can so nail this,” Wes said, turning to Malakai.

“I’m sorry, Wes. I’m pairing up with Lily.”

Lily turned around and smiled at him. In the next moment, she felt a flash of anger coming from Wes and looked in his direction. If his eyes were knives, she was sure she would be dead. Only the practice she had dealing with Beatrice prevented her from recoiling.

“Why? You and I, we’re supposed to be a team, dude,” Wes said.

“Yes, at football, we are. But be honest, Wes; if Zoe was in this class, you’d pair up with her.”

“I’ve been with Zoe for like, what, over six months. And you’ve been with her what, all of five minutes, and now you chose her over me?”

“Sorry.”

Lily knew Malakai wasn’t sorry at all. In fact, he was far from it, and Lily wondered what had happened between the two. She remembered how good friends they had been the previous year.

Malakai turned to Lily and smiled at her, touching her lightly on the arm with the tip of his finger. The simple gesture sent delicious goose bumps up Lily’s skin.

“What do we write about?” he asked her, effectively concluding his conversation with Wes.

Angry, Wes stood up, shoving his desk around. Malakai turned to him and frowned.

“You’re going to regret this,” Wes hissed, pointing at Lily. He then walked away.

“Malakai, he’s really pissed, you know. Why didn’t you team up with him?”

The words and the tone were scary enough as it was, but what she had felt from the quarterback, despite the shielding Malakai afforded her, scared her even more. It was dark, as dark as Beatrice’s thoughts, but while Beatrice’s were erratic, Wes’s were violent.

“Because, to tell you the truth, Wes barely makes passing grades. I don’t know why he took AP. It totally blows my mind that he did. And I really want to keep my grade up. I want to go to college, and even if I have a football scholarship, I want to have the best average I can get, just in case.”

Lily was surprised he would be thinking of a plan B. People her age didn’t usually think something could happen to the path they had laid down for themselves, especially jocks, but obviously, Malakai was one of the few exceptions.

“And I know you have awesome grades,” he finished. “I want to have as good a grade as you.”

“Well, my grades haven’t been as good this year,” she admitted, looking down at Malakai’s desk. “I have issues with concentrating, you know.”

“It’s okay,” he said, caressing her arm, soothing her. “I still want to pair up with you. This assignment, we’ll nail it, I promise,” he added with a smile.

Lily smiled back at him. “What do we write about?” she asked.

They discussed their setting and outline until the bell rang, Wes’s threat forgotten.

Chapter Forty-One

MALAKAI

“Why are you
in such a hurry?” Tristan asked.

Malakai was shoving his gear into his bag at a frantic pace.

The game was over. They had won, again, and by a good margin. Winning the homecoming game was always great, but Malakai had wished for a bigger challenge than the school they played.

“Lily is about to play, and I want to see her,” he said, grabbing his bag and helmet, and rushing out of the locker room.

Because of the Homecoming Court presentation during halftime, the band was presenting their show after the game, and Malakai wanted to watch it since he never got to.

He ran up the aisle separating the lower and higher section of the stands and climbed into the upper section at the fifty-yard line. The band had taken the field and was being introduced by the announcer when he finally reached an empty seat. As the drum majors turned to the band, David and Tristan came running, joining him.

“Good, they haven’t started,” David said with a grin.

Malakai frantically searched for Lily, but he couldn’t find her.

“Sandra said they’re near the forty-yard line, toward the middle,” David said with a chuckle.

Malakai looked that way but still couldn’t find her.

Then the band began to play.

They were magic. Malakai didn’t have any other way of describing them. They gave him the chills over and over again. Their march was so complex, so intricate, he wondered how they actually pulled it off and made it look so easy.

“Oh, my God,” Tristan said. “They kick some serious ass!”

“They’re Warriors,” David said, grinning.

Malakai cheered with the rest of the crowd, liking every second of the presentation, and especially when Lily did her solo, which moved him to the core of his soul, as if she had played just for him. He clapped and cheered for her louder than all the people around him, and he saw her smile. He wondered if she had heard him.

“Wow!” Tristan said. “She’s good.”

“Yep,” Malakai said, a proud smile on his face.

When the eight minutes were over, Malakai wished they would play all over again.

“They’re…awesome,” Tristan said, clapping wildly once the music stopped.

“We are Warriors!” David bellowed next to them.

“Warriors!” Malakai and Tristan followed, shaking their fists in the air. “Warriors! Warriors!”

The attention of the band was now on them, and Malakai saw a lot of them smiling.

As the band began to clear the field, Malakai and his friends left the stands and made their way toward the exit and the awaiting buses.

“So, going to the dance with Lily, I heard,” David said.

“Yeah,” he answered with a grin. “I never really was into those dances and all, but with Lily, it’s different.”

As he finished his sentence, someone bumped into him from the side stairway.

“Sorry,” he apologized, looking up.

Next to him stood a blond woman who was tall and pretty for her age, but she had an air about her that was anything but friendly.

“You better be,” she said haughtily, then walked away.

“That was Lily’s mother,” David said into his ear. “The woman is evil, man. Stay away from her. I’m surprised she’s here to begin with. She doesn’t care about Lily at all.”

“Really?” Malakai asked, looking at the woman as she walked away.

He knew very little about Lily’s home life, only what David had told him. Then he realized he hadn’t told Lily anything of his home life either.

“You know, such a nice girl to have such an evil mother,” David said, shaking his head. “I’m glad I have my parents,” he added, waving toward the bleachers with a wide grin on his face.

Malakai looked up; David’s parents were waving back at them.

“Who’s the man who was with Lily’s mother? I think I saw him at the hospital before.”

“That’s Lily’s Uncle Charlie. He’s a really nice guy. He’s the one who’s looking after her estate.”

“Her estate? What about her father?”

“Died in a car crash over a year ago.”

A pain twisted Malakai’s heart. He knew what it meant to lose a parent as he still felt his own pain, even after all those years. And he knew his mother was alive. Thoughts of her reminded him of the vision he had had a few weeks prior, and he glanced through the crowd, just on the off chance that maybe, this time…

To his immense surprise, especially since he had seen him two weeks prior, he saw his father. Malakai blinked a few times to make sure he was seeing right. His father’s eternal uniform was replaced by one of his football jerseys, proudly displaying the number fourteen on the back and front. Malakai’s heart all but swelled with pleasure at the sight. The sergeant saluted him, a smile on his face, and Malakai waved back. He was now looking forward to getting home, as he wouldn’t be alone tonight.

Chapter Forty-Two

LILY

When Lily got
on the bus to return to school after the game, she picked up her phone and saw Malakai had texted her that his father was in town, and he had to go home. She also saw her uncle had called three times in the last fifteen minutes.

“That’s strange,” she said, showing her phone to Sandra.

“Wait until we’re at school,” Sandra said, looking at the other band members who were taking their seats.

Half an hour later, she was standing by her car and dialing her uncle. “Charlie, what’s wrong?” she asked when he picked up.

“Come and spend the night at my place, Lily,” he said sadly.

“Why? What happened?”

Her uncle remained silent for a few moments.

“Uncle Charlie?” she asked, worried.

“Beatrice, she found out about Malakai.”

Lily wasn’t sure she understood what he meant. Her dating Malakai wasn’t a secret, and she didn’t see why Beatrice finding out was a problem.

“One of the mothers, I don’t know which one, talked to her after the Homecoming Court was introduced, and told her she must be proud you’re now dating the star wide receiver and captain of the team. Of course, she said she was, but once the woman was gone, she asked me who he was.

“Lily, I…”

“Well, her disapproving of my boyfriend isn’t a surprise, Uncle Charlie. I mean, we always knew she wanted me to end up with a rich guy and all.”

“Lily, there’s more.”

“What is it then?”

“His father was there. She saw him.”

“Okay…and?”

“He’s black.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

“What do you mean?” she asked slowly.

Lily felt like someone had just pushed her over the edge of a precipice. She knew her mother would find any reason to disapprove of Malakai but his mixed race?

“Listen, I don’t want you to face her alone. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Wait for my text before going home. I’ll find a reason why I needed to come over. I don’t want her to do something irrational without you having someone there.”

With a lump in her throat, Lily only nodded, even if her uncle couldn’t see her.

“Listen, Lily, you may be almost eighteen, but you’re still
my
little girl.”

“Okay,” she croaked.

“It won’t be long.”

Lily hung up and turned to Sandra. She tried to speak, once, twice, but couldn’t. She willed herself not to cry, not this time.

“What is it?” Sandra asked. Sandra walked around the car and hugged her.

“Why can’t I have a mom like yours?” she asked, her heart constricting painfully. “Beatrice found out about Malakai. She’s pissed because he’s not white-white, never mind he looks whiter than her, never mind his hair is light brown and his eyes are green.

“Sandra, I thought it didn’t matter what he is. Malakai is just so nice and everything. Why should she care?”

“Lily, your mother would find anything to disapprove of. If Malakai had blue eyes and blond hair and looked like a movie star, or be one, she would still disapprove.”

Lily knew Sandra was right.

“Lily, think about moving to your uncle’s, at least until the court makes its decision,” Sandra said gently.

“I wouldn’t see you as much.”

“I’ll get a car and promise to spy on your house to see if your lights are on for me to come over,” Sandra said with a grin.

Pulling away, Lily chuckled. “Sandra, I don’t know what I would do without you,” she said, meaning every word. “I don’t think I would have stayed sane.”

“I’m here,” Sandra said, hugging her again. “And if you move to Charlie’s, I’ll still be here.”

Lily nodded and pulled away again. As she did, her phone binged. She read the text message and sighed. “It’s time to go. Charlie’s at my house.”

Ten minutes later, they pulled into the driveway. Lily’s apprehension grew as she got closer to her house. She didn’t want the confrontation that was coming, but it would happen whether she wanted it or not.

“You’re sure you don’t want me to come in with you?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” she answered, wanting to at least spare her friend.

Lily grabbed her bag and clarinet from the backseat, closed her car door, and made her way to the house. She hadn’t reached the door yet, and already she heard the argument inside. She braced herself and opened the door.

The hostility coming from Beatrice was sickening and so strong Lily wanted to throw up. She barely perceived the exasperation coming from her uncle.

As soon as the door closed, Beatrice turned on her.

“What were you thinking?” she shrieked. “You’re dating a…a black boy!”

“Who cares?” Lily said, dropping her bag and doubting Beatrice would hear anything she said.

“You’re a disgrace to this family!”

“No, she’s not, and you know it,” Charlie intervened. “You know Marcus would have approved.”

“Well, Marcus didn’t have the decency to stay alive long enough to see this happen, now did he?” Beatrice shot back.

Lily was appalled by the hatred in Beatrice’s heart.