For the Love of Money (21 page)

“Was it good things or bad things?”

“I'll
never tell,” I hinted at him.

I caught a look from Juanita that didn't appear too friendly, and I knew immediately that she was screwing him. She probably thought that
I
wanted some, but I didn't. I was just having fun.

“Let me introduce you to somebody real fast,” he said to Juanita, pulling her away from us. I guess he was outright rude too.

Kendra turned to me with a grimace and said, “Tracy, what the hell was that all about?”

I played innocent and said, “What?”

“Why were you flirting with him like that, right in the girl's face? You don't plan to be friends with her long?”

I said, “What, you thought they were a couple?”

Kendra looked at me as if I should know better.

“That was pretty obvious to
me.”

“And you think that he's loyal to her?”

She started to chuckle.

“That was obvious too. He looked like he wanted to get rid of her as quickly as he could.”

“That's what I was reading,” I told her. “So I was just trying to find out if my hunch was right, that's all.”

She grinned at me. “Sharpening up those skills from your youth, hunh?”

I laughed admittingly, and responded, “I guess so.”

Kendra said, “Well, I don't think your New York girl read any of your book yet, because
Reginald
is as obvious as they come.”

We shared a laugh before this good-looking, caramel brother stepped up to me with a drink in hand.

“What video did I see you in?”

I looked at Kendra. Kendra looked away and grinned.

“Ah, you didn't see
me
in a video,” I told him.

“Are you sure?” He actually looked puzzled.

I said, “Yeah, I'm sure.”

“Were you an extra in a recent film or something?”

Kendra couldn't hold in her laugh anymore, and that made me laugh right in the brother's face.

“An
extra
?” I asked him as if I were appalled.

He said, “Don't tell me you've starred in a film already and I don't know who you are. Or was it in a television show?”

The brother was making a deeper fool of himself by the minute.

I put my hand on his arm and said, “Don't strain yourself, brother. I just came out here about a month ago. Maybe you just saw someone before who
looks
like me.”

“Well, you do look good,” he told me.

“Thank you. You do too, but if you'll excuse me, I think I need to go stuff my face before my stomach begins to growl and I turn you off.”

“That wouldn't turn
me
off. That would just mean that you were hungry. What's your name, anyway?”

“I'll answer that when I come back,” I told him, spotting the table of food ahead of me. I pulled Kendra's hand forward to follow me.

“You know what I'm beginning to notice?” she asked me as we headed toward the barbecue chicken, mixed fruit, drinks, and miniature sandwiches.

“What?” I asked her.

“No one seems to pay me any mind when I'm with you.
Usually,
I get all
kinds
of comments and propositions,” Kendra told me.

“Aw, girl, go 'head with that,” I snapped at her. “You're the one in here walking around like you don't have a tongue. And I know you do, because you talk my damn head off about education and the lack of black politics in LA.”

“Yeah, and I bet these people in here don't even think about those kinds of things. They just take things for granted. That's exactly why the affirmative action bill will be wiped out next month in the state of California.”

“You want to go make up some fliers and pass them out in here?” I joked with her.

“Hmmph,” she grunted. “Don't waste
my
time and energy.”

We loaded up on the food to settle our stomachs and looked around through the crowd again.

“Once you've seen one of these parties, Tracy, you've seen them all. These people are all so
obvious
in here.”

“That's the same with the party scene anywhere, really. I mean, do you really care what everyone else is doing, or do we just make casual conversation?” I asked her.

Kendra nodded. “That's exactly why I don't really do parties. It's all nonsense. That's why I have nothing to say in here.”

“So you're ready to leave then?” I asked her.

She took one last look around the room and asked me, “Are you planning to mix and mingle?”

I looked around myself at all of the “schmoozers” waiting in line to talk to more important people than us and decided that it was time for me to go. I had seen enough, and felt enough, enough of the cold shoulders and corny come-on lines.

I finished my punch, slapped the empty cup on the table, and said, “Yeah, we might as well go.”

“Are you going to say bye to your friend?” Kendra asked, referring to Juanita.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I barely know that sister. I'll just see her in class next week.” I just wondered what she'd think after she had read my book.

Before we could make it out of the door, another tall, chocolate brother attempted to grab my hand.

“Leaving so early? I was just about to find out who you were.”

I pulled my hand away ever so gently and said, “Maybe another time.”

“Do you have a card?”

“Sorry, I didn't bring any with me.”

“Well, what studio are you with?” he asked me with a grin, assuming things.

I smiled back at him. “When I finally make it in one, I'll let you know.”

He said, “Well, sometimes it's who you know who can get you in the door.”

I paused and thought about that, and decided to pass on his game. I wasn't out in California to meet a man, I was out there to do my thing in the industry, and I'd rather get in on my
own
hard work and merit than through knowing someone, especially a fine, chocolate black man. Excuse me for thinking it, but I had a hard time imagining us being only business associates. Maybe that was how Juanita got hooked up with Reginald, but I was not the one for sideshows. I was a main-attraction type of woman.

I said, “I'm sorry, but that's not the way I want to go about things,” and stepped off before he could say another word. Sometimes you just get tired of dealing with new guys.

Outside, Kendra looked into my face and asked, “Do you still want to be in this business? Because you can see how slimy it is. And I'm not saying that
everyone
in the business is slimy, but it just seems to me that the
business
of Hollywood is slimy in itself.”

Kendra was echoing my mother, and I didn't even have a chance to respond before Mr. Reginald slipped past us and dashed to his car. He was parked right across the street from the house, a black Lexus Coupe with gold trim.

Kendra and I looked at each other and smiled.

On his way back in, Reginald proceeded to throw out his hook and bait, his
real
reason for dashing to his car like that.

“Hey, you two are leaving already?” he asked us. “Yeah, we've seen about enough,” Kendra spoke up for a change.

I smiled at her.

Reginald pulled out two business cards and handed them to us.

“Get in touch with me if you need anything. Tracy, right?” he asked me before he looked at Kendra. “And what's your name again?”

Kendra paused and came up with “Suzanne.”

I grinned my ass off and didn't say a word.

“All right, well, you know, get in touch with me. Maybe I can introduce you to some people who are good to know.”

I'm sure you can,
I told myself.

I nodded to him and said, “I'll do that.”

“As long as Juanita doesn't mind,” Kendra instigated. I guess she decided to be naughty her damn self since we were leaving.

Reginald froze and looked stunned, but only for a hot second.

“Oh, we're not like that. We're just real cool. What would make you think that?”

This brother was full of it.

“All right, well, I'll just ask her in class next week up at UCLA,” I told him.

“Ask her what?”

“You know, if it's okay to go to Hollywood functions with you.” I sweetened up the pot and looked at his car. “I've never been in a Lexus before,” I lied.

Kendra had to look away again.

Reginald laughed it off and looked nervous. I guess he realized that he wasn't dealing with amateurs.

“I'll see you around,” he said, backing away.

“You promise?” Kendra added.

Reginald shook his head and grinned. “You two need to stop,” he warned us.

We laughed while we walked away.

$   $   $

When I got home that night, I was worn out. I looked around through the emptiness of my bedroom and wondered exactly how long it would take me to fill my place up with furniture. I didn't plan on kissing too much ass to get there though. If I had to kiss ass at all I planned to plant my lips right at the top with someone who could green-light whatever I was working on and get me started without all of the bullshit.

I told myself, “There's no way in the world you'll find me hanging out with
that
set.” Was I too real and too forward for the bullshit machine of Hollywood? I guess I would soon find out.

$   $   $

Early that next morning, my telephone rang. It was Raheema on the line.

“Hey, Ra, what's going on?” My voice dragged and I was barely conscious.

“I have some big news for you,” she said. She sounded peppy, as if she had eaten a big breakfast and was ready to run a marathon.

I looked over at my alarm clock. It was thirteen minutes after seven. I guess Raheema had forgotten about the three-hour time difference from New Jersey to California.

I said, “This better be good, Raheema.”

She actually giggled as if she held the biggest secret in the world. I sat up and asked myself,
What the hell is going on?

Raheema said, “I'm getting married at the end of January. I want you to be my maid of honor. And I'm three months pregnant.”

“WHAT?”

She said, “I know, I know, it's a shock, but I was just calling everyone up and letting you all know. I know it's short notice, but my plans are nothing real fancy. I'm sending the invitations out this coming week with the wedding colors.”

“Well, how long were you planning on keeping this all a secret?”

I couldn't believe her! I thought I was her girl!

“Tracy, we're grown women now, and we
do
have our own personal lives.”

“Obvious
ly,
”I stressed to her.

“Well, we're still brainstorming all of the details, so I just wanted to give you a heads-up on it, and I'll probably call you back this week with more.”

“No, no, no, no,
NO!
You are
not
getting off of this phone with me yet. I don't even know this guy's name. How could you do that to me? Does your family even know him?”

“His name is Ernest. Ernest Neumann. And we're going to be visiting my family next week.”

“Three months pregnant? So what about getting your Ph.D.”

“I'm still going for it. I'm focused.”

“You weren't
that
damn focused if you got pregnant.”

“Oh, grow up, Tracy. I'm twenty-five years old. Twenty-six is a good age to have a baby. I'm prepared, I'm mature, I'm educated,
and
we want to do this the right way.”

“The
right way
would have been a pregnancy
after
marriage,” I snapped at her.

“Who are
you
to talk about doing things ‘the right way,' Ms. Flyy?” she asked me with a laugh. “Really, Tracy, I have a lot of phone calls to make this morning. I'll catch back up with you later on in the week.”

“Okay, okay, just answer me this: Do your parents know yet?” I asked her.

“They were the first people I called this morning.”

“And what did they say?”

“Tracy, please. I believe I've
earned
all of the respect in the world from my parents. They know that I wouldn't make any decisions at this point in my life without thinking about it. So they said, ‘Congratulations, let's get this wedding under way, and we can't wait for our first grandchild.'”

I hung up with my girl Raheema in slow motion. I felt like a fool again.
That girl sat there and told me to go and chase some Hollywood dream, knowing good and well that she was getting good and steamy with the real thing all along. All of a sudden, it felt like I was the last person to graduate into real life. There I was out in Hollywood going to jive-ass networking parties, while my next-door neighbor and lifelong friend was back in New Jersey living a real life, with a real man, and had a wedding and baby on the way.

I was all the way up and feeling outraged!

“SHIT!” I hollered at my empty walls. “Is this shit really worth it?” I asked myself. “Thanks, Raheema! Thanks a fuckin' lot! I feel just great now!”

I stood up, grabbed my robe off the bed, and walked toward my balcony to sit outside and think while a few early morning cars drove by.

It took a while to come to my senses about things, but I figured that I couldn't turn back. I was barely getting started. How much of a fool would I look like if I
did
turn back so soon?

I said, “Well, I made my new bed out here in California, so I guess I have to sleep in it.”

It must be a holiday
with firecrackers
and blazing colors
streaking through the night.

It must be a barbecue
with fire on the grill,
burning wings and ribs
while little cousins play dodge ball.