What Goes Around (20 page)

Lauren peered into the rearview mirror yet again, slathered on a bit more lip gloss, and then slumped back into the driver's seat. The phone was practically burning a hot hole in her lap, but for the past fifteen minutes, she just couldn't will herself to do much more than roll it around in her fingers and stare at Jermaine's digits. She wanted to call him—really she did—but she was afraid of what he would say, and what she would say, too. They hadn't talked, after all, since the big breakup at Uncle Larry's place, and it seemed like an eternity had passed since the two of them found out about Smoke's connection to Rodney. So much had happened: Altimus was off the hook on the tax evasion mess (though the scandal, buoyed by a front page
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
story about Altimus's shrewd-but-questionable business practices, lived on…and on…and on…on YRT); Dice, though still a “person of interest” in Rodney's murder, was free and no longer had to wear the Fulton County ankle jewelry; and Smoke, considered the chief suspect in Rodney's death, was officially six feet under, though no one knew who was responsible for putting him there—which meant that Jermaine was probably somewhere popping bottles with glee. Lauren wouldn't know about that, though; she'd been ducking his phone calls, and then, later, was too caught up in the drama of final grades, Christmas, court dates, back-to-school anxiety, and the battle for her title as captain of the dance squad to think too hard about it.

But the electronic reminder on her computer earlier that morning snapped her out of her if-you-don't-think-about-him-he'll-go-away numbness: Today was Jermaine's birthday. And despite everything that had gone down, she wanted to wish him a happy one. And maybe tell him that she missed him a little. Okay, a lot.

She ran her fingers over his name in her phone's contacts queue and tested out what she'd say if she followed through and called the boy.
What's up—how you doing? How you been? What's going on, birthday boy?
She shook her head and looked at herself in the mirror again. She had nothing.

“Hello?” she heard a small, tinny voice screaming through her phone. “Lauren? Lauren!”

She looked quizzically at her phone, unsure why it was screaming at her until she realized Jermaine's picture was staring back at her. She'd accidentally dialed his number. Lauren was tempted to hang up on him, but then how foul would that be? She bit her lip as she lifted the phone to her ear. “Happy birthday to ya, happy birthday to ya, happy birth-day!” she crooned into the phone, singing the Stevie Wonder b-day song off-key.

“Whoa, whoa, Beyoncé, who sings that song?” Jermaine asked, laughing.

“Wait, you're not serious, are you?” Lauren said, shocked Jermaine had even fixed his mouth to ask such a silly question. “Kang Stevie, baby. I might have to revoke your black papers for not knowing.”

“I might have to revoke yours for butchering the international black people's happy birthday song,” Jermaine laughed. “Next time, maybe you should just send a card.”

“I would have,” Lauren said quietly, “but I was afraid you might send it back.”

“I would have kept it if you put some Benjamins in it,” Jermaine deadpanned.

“Oh, that's it, huh? I have to pay you off to get back in your good graces?”

“You never fell out of my good graces,” he said, coaxing a smile from Lauren. They were silent for a moment, the many words they wanted to say to each other floating between them in that quiet space.

“So, what's going down for the b-day?” Lauren asked as she watched a group of her dance squad members climb out of Lexi's car and tumble into the Duke House, a sound track of giggles announcing their arrival. “You have a Super Sweet Seventeen party somewhere sexy?”

“Nah,” Jermaine chuckled. “Won't be no million-dollar party with the cameras rolling and the Range parked outside. Besides, you probably did enough celebrating over the past few weeks for both of us, what with both your fathers beating the charges and all.”

“Well, Keisha did throw a little somethin'-somethin' together for Altimus,” Lauren said. “You would have thought he was coming off a twenty-year bid.”

“Yeah, well, you can't blame her for celebrating. I know I wanted to do a little celebrating of my own over Smoke,” Jermaine said.

“I guess, if one can celebrate someone's death,” said Lauren, apprehension rimming her words.

“I'm not saying we were setting off fireworks and pouring champagne, but at least my family's happy Smoke got what was coming to him. I know my brother's resting
in peace now, and my moms is sleeping a lot better because of it.”

“I guess,” Lauren said. “I've been checking the papers to see if they've found the person who took him out, but I haven't seen anything on—”

“It's not important who killed him,” Jermaine said. “The only thing that matters is that he's gone from here. Look, why we talking about him anyway? It's my birthday, it's a new year, and things are looking up. My girl is on the phone, it's all good. What's up with you?”

“Nothing, really,” Lauren said, glad to change the subject. “I'm about to head in to dance squad practice. Today's the day they're going to announce who's dance captain.”

“Like there's any question?”

“One would think this one was a no-brainer, but they got me working hard for my position,” Lauren said, smoothing her eyebrows in the mirror. “Seriously, some of these girls are running around here thinking I'm going to take a backseat just because of what's been going on with my stepdad, but they got another thing coming if they think it's that easy to push me aside.”

“Well, go get 'em, tiger!” Jermaine laughed.

“Oh, snap, you're clowning me, aren't you?” she said. “That's cold.”

“No, what's cold is you taking so long to call me.”

“I—I know,” Lauren stuttered. “I really don't have any excuses. There was a lot going on, and I was being such a brat, I just thought you'd moved on.”

“Um, in case you forgot, you were the one who ran away, not me,” he said.

“Yeah, I was wrong and I apolo—”

“You and me?” Jermaine said, cutting her off. “We're the same. You got another thing coming if you think it's that easy to push
me
aside.”

Lauren closed her eyes, sat back in her seat, and smiled.

“So, you saying you're still the captain on my team?”

“Does a hog wallow in mud?”

“Wow, that was so not the image I was looking for,” Lauren said.

“Okay, okay, does a bear pee in the woods?”

“Um, ewwa—that wasn't much better.”

“Are you the captain of the Brookhaven Prep dance squad?”

“Hell, yeah,” she said. “That's much better.”

“Well, then, Captain Duke, get to it. Go in there and play your position—holla at your boy when you're finished showing them who's boss.”

“I'm on it. You gonna be around later?”

“You know it,” he said.

“I'll holla,” she said. “Bye, Jermaine.”

“Bye, Ms. Duke.”

Anyone who could see Lauren in her car probably thought her a madwoman, seeing as she was hitting the steering wheel and hooting and hollering and giggling wildly. She even let out a little scream but quickly stifled it when she caught sight of Coach Maddie staring at Lauren from her car, which she'd pulled up a few spaces away from the Saab. The coach tossed an awkward wave and started gathering her belongings—a stack of folders, her briefcase, a bag of pom-poms, a Diet Sprite. Lauren hurriedly tossed her lip gloss and phone into her gym bag, checked her hair in her rearview mirror one last time, then got out of her car, smiling hard enough to make her dimples produce a deeper-than-usual dent in her cheeks. “Here, let me help you with that,” she said, grabbing the pom-poms and folders out of the coach's hands. “I'm glad I caught up with you before practice; I wanted to tell you all about the Candy Crave fund-raiser. It was a smash,” she continued, walking in lockstep with Coach Maddie, right past Lexi's car, right past a crowd of squad members standing around gossiping, right into the double doors leading into the house that Duke built.

“Okay, ladies, listen up,” Coach Maddie called out to the room of chattering dance squad members. “Before we go out
for our first practice of the New Year, we have some unfinished business to attend to.”

Almost instantaneously, the entire room fell silent. Lauren, who'd taken a seat a few rows behind Lexi and Meghan and their crew, watched as Meghan tossed a knowing nod at her friends, like she just knew not only what the coach was going to talk about, but also that said subject would be all about her. Lauren gave a little eye-roll but, beyond that, tried her best to hide her emotions. Duke family motto: Never let them see you sweat. Lauren Duke motto: Forget them broads—Lauren Duke runs this.
Feel the ambience, heifas,
she smirked to herself. Lauren squared her shoulders, crossed her legs, and looked straight ahead.

“Let's start with the Candy Crave,” Coach Maddie said. “A few moments ago, Lauren gave me the official report of the fund-raising efforts, and great news: Under Lauren Duke's leadership, and with the help of the squad, we managed to raise just over seven hundred dollars—a generous addition to our fund-raising account if I do say so myself. Great job, Lauren!” Coach Maddie added, kicking off the applause. When the hooting and hollering simmered down, Coach Maddie poured on a little bit more: “And Kayo, repeating a request from Ms. Duke, had a fantastic idea for how we should use the money. Kayo, do you want to tell the squad what you and Lauren had in mind?”

“Sure thing,” Kayo said, standing up and facing the rest
of the team. “Well, as you know, our fund-raising efforts over the past few years under the leadership of Lauren Duke have far outpaced our goals, and while we enjoyed using the Candy Crave to satisfy Brookhaven's sweet tooth, we realized pretty early on that doing another fund-raiser really wasn't necessary. So Lauren suggested that we take a portion of the proceeds and donate them to charity.”

“Humph, maybe she wants to give it to her father's legal fund,” Caroline stage-whispered, eliciting a round of nervous laughter.

Lauren didn't hear her exact words, but she was pretty sure whatever they were giggling about over in Caroline's amen corner, it was at her expense. She tried to ignore it; Kayo and Coach Maddie were just getting to the good part.

“Anyway,” said Kayo, pushing through the pettiness, “Lauren thought it would be a good idea to establish a scholarship for kids who attend a basketball academy at the West End Community Center.”

Lexi sucked her teeth; Caroline and Meghan giggled and whispered and shook their heads and spread around their “I told you so's” good and thick.

“Fantastic idea,” Coach Maddie said. “As a few of you know, I live in the West End, and while the community is on the verge, there's still a serious need for a youth outreach, and this is a fantastic start from the students of
Brookhaven, particularly since one of our core missions is to use our power and influence to give others a hand up. Way to go, Lauren!”

Lauren waved and smiled as her fans applauded; she made a mental note to thank Sydney for the idea. Pure genius.

“And that brings me to the other big matter at hand—the election of team captain,” added Coach Piper, who walked into the room as the applause died down. “I didn't realize that the vote would be so contentious—in the past we've identified the person with the best abilities and the team has generally co-signed the choice, but this year, a few of you expressed interest in the position, so this season, we took a ballot vote.”

Caroline, Lexi, and Meghan stopped giggling and sat at attention. The three of them seemed to lean in a little, as if stretching their ridiculous necks would somehow turn the tide in Caroline's favor.

“I'm happy to report that by near unanimous decision,” Coach Piper said, pausing long enough to make everyone collectively hold their breath, “Lauren Duke will again lead the squad this season. Congratulations, Ms. Duke. Obviously, your reputation as a fearless, dedicated leader and dancer precedes you,” she continued, barely heard over the applause, whistles, hoots, and hollers from the squad. After what seemed like an eternity, Coach Piper
implored the girls to settle down. “Okay, Lauren, would you like to have a word with your squad?” she asked when it finally got quiet.

Lauren stood, but really, she hadn't thought she'd be asked to speak. She hadn't prepared. Saving grace: She'd just had her eyebrows waxed and Jamila had laid down her edges something fierce just last night, so she was looking fly. And that was all any girl needed. “Thanks, Coach,” Lauren said, clasping her hands in front of her and smiling. “I just look forward to another fantastic year. And let me kick it off by inviting Kayo to be my co-captain; she's brilliant and has some hot moves I'd like to steal—er, um, I'd like her to teach us in some of our new routines. We're going to be smokin', y'all!”

The room burst into applause again.

Lauren continued to stand, doing her best Miss America wave to her fans. She gave a little giggle when her eyes locked with Caroline's; clearly, the tragic loser could barely keep her Tater Tots down.

So sick.

Lauren practically drooled thinking about all the different ways she would make the three of them pay.

It would not be pretty.

Lauren was practically bouncing out of the heavy glass door, almost all of the laughing, energetic dance squad in tow,
when she looked up and saw him, sitting on the bumper of his car, Jay-Z pumping from his speakers and rattling the windows. He looked lovely and fresh, his white tee gleaming beneath his North Face down, his new Jordans peeking from beneath an oversized pair of Red Monkey jeans. His arms were folded, but he was smiling, his brown eyes practically sparkling when they finally found their mark: Lauren.