If Only You Knew (9 page)

“Not only do you need to stay out of grown folks' business, you need to keep your business off the damn Internet, especially if you're trying to hide the fact that you've been trying to get in touch with that little thug from the SWATS. You should take his advice and give him space,” Keisha said, walking slowly over to Lauren's table. Lauren was steeling herself for Keisha to bring up her daughter's impromptu Jermaine hunt last Saturday, but it didn't come up. Neither did, thankfully, Jermaine's visit to the game Monday nor the phone she'd secretly stashed in her purse. “Make that a permanent space, hear me?” Keisha continued. “Just because his brother got stomped out on his front lawn doesn't mean
you have any business running in the streets after him. Have some pride—stop playing with yourself. And stop playing with me. I told you to stay away, Lauren. Stay away.”

“O-okay,” Lauren stuttered.

“I'm not playing with you, Lauren. Ain't no good gonna come out of it if you keep digging into that mess. It ain't none of your concern. Go find one of those cute little boys on the football team. Hell, get back with Donald, for all I care. No Jermaine.

“Oh, and Sydney, one more thing, dear,” Keisha said sweetly. “So what Marcus dipped out on you—get over it. I already went to too much trouble ensuring his political future by contributing too much money to his mother's political campaigns to throw away this relationship. All men got flaws, little girl, and Marcus ain't no different. Dog him out a little bit, make him buy you something nice, and then get back to it, already.

“Now,” Keisha huffed as she lay back on the massage table. “Beth? Let's get it done, baby. Come on, all this stress got Mama a little tight all up in the back area. Can you work that out?”

“Uh, yes, um, yes, Mrs. Duke,” Beth said, hopping to attention like someone pushed her in her back.

“Great.” And then to Lauren and Sydney: “Oh, and remember: What I said in this room stays in this room, hear me?” Keisha warned. “And I expect that we won't have to
take any more girls' spa days for this reason. I don't need this damn aggravation.”

And with that, Keisha put her head into the massage pillow and didn't say another word for the rest of the treatments, except “May I have another” to anyone standing within ten feet of a champagne bottle. Lauren and Sydney? Well they were quiet, too.

“Sooooo, are you ready?” Carmen and Rhea simultaneously burst out as they excitedly pushed their way into Sydney's bedroom and almost toppled to the floor.

Sydney stuck her head out of the bathroom, where she was fighting with her hair, and pouted, “No! Do I look ready to you?” Turning back to the huge mirror over the “his and her” sink top, she slammed her brush down dramatically. “I have been trying to do something with my hair for the past hour and it just won't cooperate. I freaking give up,” she announced, and stormed out to join her girlfriends.

“Humph, you better figure it out, princess; it's already seven-thirty,” Rhea said, doling out the tough love as she hung her green Dior saddlebag on the back of the desk chair and picked up the copy of
Vogue
laying next to Sydney's
laptop. She headed over to the bed and sat down to flip through the pages.

“Rhea! Don't be such a bitch!” Carmen admonished playfully as Sydney stuck out her tongue. Walking over to Sydney, she put her arms around her best friend's shoulder and gently led her back into the bathroom. “Relax, Syd, it's not as bad as you think. Just let me help you with it,” she offered kindly.

“Thank you for at least trying to help a sista out, Carm,” Sydney tossed over her shoulder as the two disappeared into the bathroom.

“I am trying to help,” Rhea replied with a grin over the top of the magazine. “By keeping your slow butt on schedule.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Sydney retorted playfully as Carmen worked on her head. “With friends like you, who needs enemies?”

“Mmm-hmm, whatever,” Rhea said as she finished flipping through the pages and rolled over onto her back. “So have you figured out how to explain Jason to your parents?” she asked as she watched the slowly rotating ceiling fan. “'Cause I know Keisha Duke is not going to be happy about the changing of the guard.”

“Oh, she made it very clear that she was not having it,” Sydney responded cryptically. She winced from the
pain of Carmen twisting her hair into a dramatic chignon. “Ouch!”

“Oh, stop being so tender-headed,” Carmen mumbled around the hairpins in her mouth.

“Wait, how did your mom even find out? You didn't tell us you told her! When did you break the news that you and Marcus broke up?” Rhea asked sitting straight up on the bed in shock.

Realizing that she may have said too much, Sydney faked a cough to buy herself some time to think. “Um,” she said clearing her throat, “I guess Lauren must have let it slip or something…I'm not really sure.” She tried to keep a straight face and gently pulled on her right earlobe.

Carmen shook her head disappointedly. “Your sister never ceases to amaze me,” she said, finishing Sydney's ‘do with a spray of olive oil sheen.

“Aww, Carm it's perfect! Thank you so much,” Sydney exclaimed as she turned to give her girl a big hug. “If that doctor thing doesn't work out, you should definitely look into beauty school,” she teased as she continued to admire herself in the mirror.

“I'll keep that in mind,” Carmen laughed as she put the oil sheen down and stepped back and held up a small hand-held mirror so that Sydney could see the back.

Rhea popped her head in the door. “Let me see,” she
demanded. Sydney turned and modeled her fabulous new upsweep that, thanks to a couple of perfectly placed loose curls, was just the right balance of casual and sexy. “Oh, wow, we like,” she co-signed emphatically.

“Now if you can just help me decide what to wear…” Sydney whined again.

“Uh-uh, that's your department, Rhea,” Carmen teased as she playfully passed Sydney along to Rhea. “I've done my part for the cause.”

With an exaggerated roll of the eyes, Rhea grabbed Sydney by the hand and led her out of the bathroom and into her enormous walk-in closet. “Come, my child,” she said in an authoritative voice. “Together, we will find you the perfect ‘Beware: Horny sex goddess hidden beneath this good girl façade' outfit for your little rendezvous with Mr. Danden,” she joked. Carmen burst out laughing as she followed behind the two.

“Whatever you say, Andre Leon Talley, Jr.; just don't have me looking like J-Hud at the MTV Awards,” Sydney retorted.

“Eww, that above-the-knee gold lamé was the absolute worst!” Carmen screeched as they collectively remembered the time the normally impeccable Dreamgirl made a huge fashion misstep at a most important award show.

“Give me a little credit,” Rhea insisted as she slowly circled the perimeter of the closet, picking out various items along the way.

Carmen looked at her pearl-face Rolex. “T-minus thirty-five minutes 'til the doorbell rings…”

“Actually, I'm going to meet him at the movie theater,” Sydney hedged, immediately looking away.

“Excuse me? Rhea stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Sydney.

“Um, since when do we meet our dates in the street?” Carmen inquired disdainfully.

“Well, what had happened,” Sydney started. “Since, um, Lauren, um, spilled the beans to Keisha, I couldn't really get away with faking like Jason and I were strictly hanging out as friends—”

“Oh, I get it,” Rhea interjected as she brought over a pair of black skinny jeans, plain long-sleeve black T-shirt, and hot pink Michael Kors kimono-sleeve jacket. “Here you go,” she said, handing the outfit to Sydney. “This with the suede and waterskin Jimmy platforms that you bought last weekend.”

“Hot to death,” Carmen co-signed with a nod.

A mischievous grin spread across Sydney's face. “Jason has no idea,” she said slyly.

“None,” Rhea seconded as she headed to the door. “Come on, Carm, let me show you the dress I think I want to wear to the holiday party while Syd gets dressed and puts on her makeup.” As Carmen followed behind Rhea, she paused to throw a thumbs-up sign at Sydney.

About fifteen minutes later, Sydney stepped out of the bathroom with her outfit and makeup done. “Wow,” both girls said in awe.

“I'm thinking these diamond hoops that Marcus gave me for Valentine's Day last year,” Sydney said as she held up one earring to her lobe for them to examine.

“Works for me,” Carmen said.

“Perfect. Then I think I'm ready to go,” Sydney said, turning to grab her silver LV doctor bag.

“I just have one question,” Rhea said, raising her hand as if she were in class. “How are you planning to get past Keisha looking like that?”

“Mmm, good point, Rhea,” Carmen concurred as she pulled a pack of Big Red out of her black Gucci fanny pack and passed out pieces.

“Oh, I'm good. I told you how obsessed my mom has become with HGTV lately, right?” The girls nodded in response. “Well, now she's decided that she wants to take interior decorating classes.”

“Okay…” Rhea said looking unclear.

“Well, her classes are normally on Wednesday nights. But this week her instructor got called in at the last minute to appear on a Rachel Ray special and canceled class. The makeup class just so happens to be tonight,” Sydney finished up with a triumphant grin. “By the time she gets home—”

“You'll be long gone!” Rhea exclaimed as she high-fived Sydney.

“There is a God,” Carmen said with a smile.

“Wait, what about Altimus?”

“Honestly, I don't think he's home from the dealership. He's been working really late nights recently,” Sydney mused as she took her cell off the charger and tossed it in her bag.

“Hmm, well let's get the hell out of here before he comes home,” Carmen said, walking over to the closed door. Rhea grabbed her bag and followed behind Carmen. “You ready, Syd?” she questioned over her shoulder as she gave Carmen a nudge to hurry and turn the knob.

“I'm about to,” Carmen complained as she finally opened the door. And faced Altimus.

“Good evening, ladies,” he stated simply as the two struggled to contain their gasps.

“Sir,” Carmen replied with eyes as wide as saucers.

“Good evening, Mr. Duke,” Rhea replied as she turned back to look at Sydney, who was frozen in her tracks.

“Uh, hey, Altimus,” Sydney stuttered. “What's up?”

“Nothing. I was hoping to have a word with you before you went out for the evening.” He looked at Carmen and Rhea pointedly.

“Um, we'll catch up with you later, Sydney,” Rhea said as she pushed Carmen out the door.

“Yeah, Syd, we'll call you,” Carmen offered over her shoulder as the two hurried down the long hallway.

Without so much as a backward glance, Altimus stepped in the bedroom. “You got a moment?” he asked as Sydney started pulling at the diamond hoop.

“Um, yeah, sure,” Sydney said, turning away. She looked at her watch. She had exactly three minutes to get out of there or she was going to be late. “What's up?”

“Well, first of all, I feel like we haven't spoken in a really long time. How's school? What's up with your classes? I hope we're still on track for that scholarship to Brown,” he joked as he sat down on her bed.

“Um, sure,” Sydney hedged. The last thing she wanted to do was get into a detailed conversation about school. Aside from the time factor, nowadays she was barely keeping up in the classes she used to kick butt in. “You know, everything is good. I've just been really swamped with preparing for the SATs, volunteering at the shelter, planning our holiday party at the lake house, and whatnot…”

“True. You look very nice. Got big plans for tonight?”

“No, not really,” Sydney said, stalling for time by walking over to the bed and picking up the magazine. As she put it back on her desk, she debated using Marcus as an alibi but changed her mind at the last second. “Actually, I'm going with a couple of kids from my French class to see this foreign film that's playing at The High.”

“Hmm, okay. Well, I'm glad to see you're getting out.” Altimus said thoughtfully, “‘cause your mom told me that you and Marcus broke up.”

“She did,” Sydney gasped, shocked that her mother shared information she clearly obtained from her private investigator. Then again, after the day she'd just had at the spa she knew better than to put absolutely anything past Keisha Duke.

“Yeah, she called me on her way to class and said that you mentioned it while you girls were spending time at the spa today,” he said.

“Is that so?” Sydney asked, trying not to roll her eyes at Keisha's blatant lie.

“I hope you're not mad that she told me,” Altimus said as he reached to touch her arm gently. Sydney recoiled at his touch. “I could tell she didn't think the breakup was a very good idea, huh?”

“Are you surprised?” Sydney asked sarcastically, folding her arms across her chest. “Sometimes I think she loves Marcus more than me…”

“That's a bit much,” he chuckled, looking at the copy of
Vogue
Rhea had left on the bed.

“Whatever,” Sydney mumbled as she looked at her nails.

“Regardless, I just want to let you know that as much as I liked Marcus Green, I love you,” Altimus continued, walking
over to where she was standing and lifting her chin so he could establish eye-to-eye contact. “And it's his loss to suffer silently. But if he or
any
guy you're dating ever gets out of line, I will not hesitate to make them sorely regret it for a very long time,” he stated definitively in a very low voice. “Because no one messes with my mine.”

By the time Sydney rushed into the lobby of the theater, she was twenty-five minutes late and a hundred percent stressed out. Struggling to catch her breath from the run over from the parking lot in her stiletto boots, she anxiously looked around for Jason.
Damn, I hope he didn't leave,
Sydney worried as she looked guiltily at her watch. Chewing nervously on her bottom lip, she pulled out her phone and called Jason's number. It went to voice mail. Sydney decided to walk around slowly. “Please, please, please,” she muttered to herself with every step. About to give up, she spotted a very familiar figure wearing a bright yellow Izod shirt, dark blue Red Monkey jeans, bright white Air Force Ones, and a worn fitted Yankees hat, leaned up against the wall. A huge grin of relief spread across her face as she adjusted her outfit and headed over.

Walking up directly behind him, Sydney tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, you,” she said sweetly, trying to sound adorable. However, when Jason actually turned around to face her, all the cuteness drained out of Sydney's body.

“There you are,” Jason exclaimed as he stepped aside to reveal his very condescending-looking ex-girlfriend, Tyra Edwards, right behind him.

“Hey,” she offered, giving Sydney the official cut-eye.

Realizing the awkwardness of the moment, Jason jump-started the introductions. “Sydney, this is Tyra,” he said, pointing to each girl respectively. “And, T, this is my um, friend, Sydney.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sydney finally squeezed out.

“Mmm-hmm, I'm sure,” she replied dismissively. “Well, it was really good to see you, J,” Tyra said to Jason as she reached up to give him a lingering kiss on the cheek. “Promise to come down to FAMU whenever you schedule your HBCU college tour. We'll have
so
much fun.”

“No doubt,” he responded with an uncomfortable smile.

“Great. And don't forget to give your parents my love,” she tossed over her shoulder as she sauntered away, shaking her butt extra hard.

After an extended moment, Sydney cleared her throat and spoke stiffly. “I feel like I interrupted your little reunion…”

“No, no,” Jason reassured as he pulled the brim further down on his hat. “Not at all. I literally just ran into her a couple of minutes before you got here.”

“Is that so?” Sydney asked, trying to suppress the sarcasm.

“Yeah, I guess she's home for the weekend. Tomorrow is her baby sister's birthday, so she came to spend time,” he explained.