How To Salsa in a Sari (13 page)

She could use this.

“
Papi,
I haven't done anything wrong.”

“How many lies have you told me?” Diego was shaking his head. Suddenly, he didn't look like Antonio Banderas anymore. He looked old, and very tired.

Issa felt an unsettling in her stomach. Despite everything, she had to admit Diego had been good to her. He trusted her with his house, his cars and even his daughter's life. Now she was breaking that trust to further her own goals.

This wasn't her. This wasn't the kind of person her father would want her to be. Not even for his sake.

“Catalina, I haven't been strict with you and I see what has happened. Everything will change from this moment on.”

“What do you mean,
Papi?
”

Issa watched as Cat's eyes filled with tears. Cat was one of those annoying people who looked especially beautiful when she cried. Her huge green eyes pooled with glistening tears, her eyelashes darkened and her pouty lips trembled. Issa sighed. Unfair. No matter how unfortunate Cat's situation got, she was still a stunner. When Issa cried, she was a red, blotchy, snotty mess.

“From now on, you will go to school, attend class and come straight home. I will keep an eye on you at home and Alisha will watch you at school. You are
not
to associate any further with your Jewel and Sun friends. No more!”

Alisha stared at her half-filled plate and Issa watched the scene from lowered eyelashes. She hadn't expected the gushing guilt that followed Diego's statement.

Cat was crying openly now. “How can you not listen to your own daughter? You're listening to this girl over your own daughter? She hates me, can't you see that?”

“Issa is being a good sister!” Diego yelled. “You have a long, successful life ahead of you and I will not have you spoiling it for nothing. You are not to leave the house for any reason! No parties, no dances, nothing.”

Issa cringed. House arrest. She would die under these circumstances.

“I want to see every single homework assignment you do and I will now speak to your teachers to make sure your grades are improving. If you do not do as I say, you will transfer schools!”

“Everything was fine until these people came! Now you don't love or trust me anymore!” Cat sobbed.

Issa felt another twinge of guilt. Cat really did look flabbergasted and Issa knew how it felt to be betrayed by a loved parent.

But for her plan to work, Issa had to play hardball. If things had been reversed, Cat would have pulled this stunt on her. Actually Cat would have done far worse and she wouldn't have felt bad.

“
Nada mas!
No more car, no more late nights, no more shopping. You will go to school with Alisha every morning and come back with her every afternoon. I am not making jokes here!” Diego called as Cat flew out of the room.

“I hate you!” Cat screamed as she ran up the stairs.

Diego looked stricken and now his eyes looked as if they were about to spill over.

Alisha rose and lay a hand on his shoulder. “She needs discipline. This will work out, don't worry.”

Issa silently pushed her chair back. “Excuse me,” she whispered. She needed to go call Gigi and tell her phase one had worked beautifully.

“Issa, I need your help.”

Issa paused in midstand. “Sure.”

“I need you to make sure Catalina doesn't fall in with her old crowd. Can you do that for me?”

“Of course.” Issa nodded. The plan had gone even better than expected. At this rate, her parents would be back together by the end of the month. Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that she was doing something she would always live to regret.

She left the dining room and decided to take a walk around the gardens. For early November, it was still unseasonably warm. The trees still wore their burnt-sienna leaves and Issa's feet crunched over the still green grass.

She traced her fingers over the perfectly trimmed rose hedges and sniffed a perfect white flower. She glanced up at the main house and noticed a light in one of the bedrooms. She could see a pale pink wall inside and a shadow of something that resembled a hunched-over figure. Cat's room.

As much as she thought she'd enjoy seeing Cat be miserable, guilt weighed her down. She was playing dirty. It wasn't her. This whole scenario of being a spoiled princess wasn't her.

She sighed. What a lousy
Diwali.
In the years past, she, her parents and Amir used to set off Roy's illegal fireworks and welcome in the New Year with good food, card games and laughter.
Diwali
at the Morena mansion had been a cold, impersonal dinner with screaming and yelling.

She trudged back to the guest house and grabbed Roy Bradley's card from her wallet.

After several rings, a deep voice answered.

Issa held her breath. Alisha would murder her if she knew she was calling her father, but she needed to hear his voice again and reassure herself this whole thing wasn't a dream.

“Hello? Anyone there?”

“Dad?” Issa said after a few seconds. “It's me.”

“Hey, girl. How're you doing?”

Issa twisted the phone cord around her polished nail. Was there even an answer to that question? “Okay.”

“Happy
Diwali,
babe.”

Issa smiled. He remembered. He wasn't even Indian and he remembered. She loved him so much. “Thanks. You too. Mom cooked. Chicken and
channa.
”

Issa heard the sound of water running in the background. The familiar creak of the pipes. He was living in their old house. Issa's heart throbbed thinking of the good times they used to have there. That's where they belonged. She and Alisha could be there that very moment.

“I'm having Costco salad and bread,” Roy said. “I miss her cooking. God, I loved that
channa.
”

Issa laughed. “She's a terrible cook!” It was true. The family had lived on buttered pasta for years because Alisha never remembered if she'd added salt to a dish and always wound up overspicing everything.

“I know. I miss that.”

“Dad, I miss you.” Issa stopped laughing. She wondered what would happen if she ran away from here. She could pack a small bag and catch a train into Detroit, her D-town, that night. She could spend the night at their old house with her father. In the morning she would call Alisha and tell her where she was. Her mother would drive up to get her. She would see how happy Issa and Roy were in their old house. Maybe Alisha would change her mind and stay….

“Hey, girl.” Her father interrupted her fantasy. “Everything okay at that crazy house? That Diego being good to you guys?”

That he was. Too good almost. It made her feel guilty every time she thought of how much she'd be hurting him. Issa nodded. “Yeah, I guess so. Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Mom, me. You. How much we miss you.” Issa knew in her heart that Alisha still loved Roy. Otherwise why would she refuse to see him? If she didn't care about him, then it wouldn't matter to her if he was in town. It hurt her too much to be with him. She knew if she was around him too long, she would fall in love with him again. It had to be.

“You think we still have a chance?” Roy asked, his voice sounding far away and sad.

“I know you do, Dad. And I'm going to make it happen.”

 

Issa trudged back to the main house and quietly closed the kitchen door behind her. Talking to her father had rattled her. Suddenly she felt like she was ten years old and her father was her hero, the one person in the world who could do no wrong. But, in her heart, she knew things had changed. That hero was no more. He'd disappeared one day with no explanation and this man who'd come back was a stranger to her.

She needed to see him again. She needed to know why he had left and what had caused him to come back. She needed his assurance that he would never do that again.

She needed to find Alisha and ask to go visit Atlanta with Roy to see his family again. Her father would need her by his side when he explained his disappearance to his sisters. She needed to be there to support him and understand the person he had become.

The main house was silent. Issa tiptoed along the central hallway, peeking into every room. The kitchen, dining room and living room were empty. She heard low voices coming from Diego's office.

“I need to know that you're here to stay,” Issa heard Diego murmur.

Issa peeked into the room and froze. Alisha was leaning on Diego's shoulder, her hand on his thigh. “I'm not going anywhere, my love. I can't leave you. I promise you that.”

Issa knew she should not be spying on such a private moment, but she couldn't look away. Seeing her mother in such an intimate picture with a man who was not her father disturbed her. She wasn't stupid. She knew her mother and Diego kissed and made out and did all that couple stuff, but seeing them together like a couple made everything all the more real.

“He's back,” Diego whispered, burying his face in Alisha's neck. “Your first love is back. And he is ready to pick up things where he left them. You can go to him, give Issa back her family.”

Alisha tilted her head to the side, giving Diego access to her throat. Issa heard her moan. “I need you too much. A young girl loved Roy very much once. He rescued her. He saved her. But that young girl grew up. The woman who sits here in front of you wants only you. Roy doesn't know that woman.”

Issa bit her lip. Could this be true? If Alisha was really and truly over Roy, all the diabolical schemes in the world weren't going to work.

“But, Issa. She needs him—”

“I'll never deny Issa her father or his family. I want her to embrace her African-American heritage. But she's going to be a part of this family too. She has to learn yours and Cat's Cuban heritage, as well. We both do.”

Issa shook her head violently. Not gonna happen.

“I need you, Alisha. I can't imagine a life without you and Issa in it. Raising Cat alone…I'm afraid. I'm afraid I've ruined my chance to raise my daughter as a good girl.”

“Shh.” Alisha pressed a finger to Diego's lips. “She is a good girl. She needs guidance. Love. Support. She needs to know she is more than just a pretty girl with a rich father. She needs to know that she is worthy.”

Was Diego crying? His face was still hidden in Alisha's smooth neck. “Stay with me always.”

“Forever.”

Issa looked away. Her chances of seeing her father any time soon were not looking good. The chances of her mother taking her father back were looking even slimmer.

“I love you.” Alisha's words shocked Issa. She loved him? When had this happened? She squeezed her eyes shut.

When she glanced back, Alisha and Diego were kissing passionately. Diego wound a hand down Alisha's back and up inside her sweater.

“I want to be with you tonight,” Issa heard Alisha murmur.

“But what about—” Diego groaned, and Issa backed away from the door. She did
not
want to know what was going on in that room. She'd been naive to think Alisha wouldn't sleep with Diego until they were married. The thought of the two of them together made her nauseated.

“I want us to be married as soon as possible,” Alisha whispered. “I want us to begin our lives together. The sooner the better.”

“You pick the date and it'll be done. I love you, Alisha. You make me believe in hope again.”

Yikes.
Issa turned and dashed down the hall as quietly as she could. There was no time to waste. At this rate, they would be married by the end of the week. She needed to hit Fast-Forward on her plan.

I Don't Have An Attitude Problem. You Have A Perception Problem.

“Ishaan,
I need you. Or I'll die.” Issa dramatically threw herself into a chair next to her friend. It was the last period of the day and the last thing on Issa's mind was AP English.

“Holy dramatic entrance, Batman,” Ishaan murmured, not looking up from his copy of
The Crucible.
“You ready for the quiz?”

They had a quiz on the play today, but Issa had gotten no studying done the previous night. She'd told Serena about her little lie about Cat's drug use and Serena had instantly called an emergency meeting of the Belles at her house and had insisted Issa be there.

Issa had retold the story with a lot of dramatic pauses sprinkled in, to the glee of all the Belles. The approving look in Serena's eyes had almost scared her. Serena really hated Cat. Maybe she was in over her head.

Five minutes later, she'd forgotten all about it, when Serena had held up a hanger with a skirt clipped to it. A black tulle miniskirt in exactly her size.

“You're now a Belle. We support each other in everything we do. Welcome to the sisterhood,” Serena had said. The other Belles, Megan, Jody, Jessica, Kristy and Allison, had hugged her and welcomed her into their clique.

Phase two done. On to phase three.

She had to find a way to meet Rake Robinson before Cat got to him, and this morning, she'd thought of a way.

“I don't have time. Ishaan, you listening?” Issa snapped her fingers.

“I am now.” Ishaan set the book down. “God. You look like that Destiny's Child chick with all the makeup on your face.”

From anyone else, that would have been a compliment, but she knew Ishaan's tone and it was
not
complimentary. She ran her fingers through her tangled coppery hair. Her slightly “nappy” hair was hard to straighten and even harder to keep smooth and flat. By the end of the day, her flippy bob had become a frizzy triangle. She made a mental note to make a pit stop in the bathroom with her bag of styling products after class.

“You know Rake Robinson, right? The new guy who just moved from Austin?”

Ishaan sighed. “Yes, I know him. We play soccer together. But of course, you already know that.”

“I need to meet him.”

“Why?”

“I just do.”

“Fine. Meet him.” Ishaan picked up his book again.

“Ishaan!”

A few students glanced up at the rise in voice. Little Issa Mazumder would never cause a scene in English class. Issa shrank down in her chair.
What am I doing?

This was a very Cat Morena thing to do.

Ishaan seemed to think similarly. “I don't know what's gotten into you. Ever since you got this…this makeover—” he gestured in her direction “—you've been sporting some major attitude. It's annoying.”

Issa felt as if she'd been slapped. She was supposed to be cute and funny,
not
annoying. She felt her cheeks starting to burn. Well, if Ishaan found her to be such a pain, she didn't need him. She would meet Rake on her own.

“Fine,” she said stiffly, and turned around in her desk, fingering the unread copy of
The Crucible.
The first time she hadn't completed her homework. Oh, well, doing badly on one little quiz wouldn't mess up her GPA.

Would it?

Issa's paranoia kicked in and she started to flip through
The Crucible.
If she knew the beginning, the middle, the end and who got burned at the stake, she should be fine.

Cat wandered silently into class, a copy of the book tucked under her arm. She took a seat across the room from Issa in the front row and immediately opened up the book, not looking left or right. As Diego had ordered, she was arriving at school with Alisha every morning and leaving with her, as well. Issa hadn't seen her leave the house all week for anything other than school. After a few days of Diego answering all of Cat's phone calls with his scarily curt tone, the calls had stopped.

Issa glanced up at Cat in between page flips of
The Crucible.
Elizabeth Proctor accused of being a witch by a vengeful mistress. Was her fate really so different than what was happening to Cat at the moment?

Serena had spread the word quickly about Cat's “drug use” and subsequent grounding. The same people who had been stumbling over themselves trying to impress Cat last week were now whispering about her behind her back. The only person who Cat had been seen with all week was a puppy-dog-like Adam Mitchell.

Issa had turned her back with a swish of highlighted hair every time she'd seen them together.

Elizabeth Proctor…Cat Morena. Was Issa having Cat burnt at the stake just to further her own aspirations?

“Hey!” Megan Simmons flopped down into the desk in front of Issa. “You look hot. Those pants are
so
cute! I love them. Gucci?”

Issa nodded absently. Just being around Megan was draining her brain cells. A year ago, she would have choked laughing if someone had told her she would be making stupid chitchat with Megan Simmons. Unfortunately, for her plan to work, she needed Megan and the rest of the Belles.

“And oh my God, did you drive to school in that hot Lotus this morning? I
love
that car. I'm
totally
going to ask Daddy if he'll get me one for Christmas. Do you love it?”

God, last year she and Alisha had made a trip to Manhattan and seen
Bombay Dreams
on Broadway as their joint Christmas present. She could only dream of waking up Christmas morning and seeing a ribbon-wrapped car in the driveway. She always assumed things like that only happened in movies.

“I totally love it!” Issa summoned her best enthusiastic voice. “You should totally take a ride in it sometime.”

“That would be
so
awesome. You are just
so
cool. I totally cannot believe we weren't friends like forever! Why weren't we?”

Because you people are too snooty to look beyond your Gucci-wearing crowd, that's why.

“I don't know, but we have to make up for lost time, right?” Issa offered instead, giving up on the book and setting it aside.

“Totally.”

Issa suddenly realized a tiny would-be flaw in her plan to get Rake. What if some other Belle had her mascaraed eye on him? “Hey, can you do one thing?”

“Yeah.”

“Find out more about Rake Robinson.”

Megan's eyes widened. “He is so cute! Everyone thinks he's so hot, but he's so quiet! You're really going to ask him out?”

Issa shrugged nonchalantly, even though she had no idea how she was going to do this now that Ishaan was out of the picture.

“You guys would make
such
a great couple,” Megan continued to gush. “Totally like Nick and Jessica.”

“They broke up,” Issa reminded her.

“Oh.” Megan's face fell. “Okay, then like Ross and Rachel.”

Issa squashed the urge to roll her eyes. Yeah,
just
like Ross and Rachel. Now all that would happen was for Rake to fawn over her for seven years, date her, cheat on her, get her pregnant and the two of them live happily ever after in New York City.

“None of the other Belles have a thing for him, right?” Issa wanted to make sure she wasn't stepping on any Belle toes. Stealing another's top-secret love interest was a major no-no in their crowd.

“He's still so new. We don't know where he'll fit in. Is he a jock? Is he a loner? No one knows.”

Issa didn't give a damn. Cat wanted him and that was good enough for her.

“So anyway.” Megan's voice dropped. “Me and the Belles were wondering about something.”

Issa raised an eyebrow expertly. She'd been practicing the expression in the mirror for weeks. She had it down to forties movie-star perfection.

“Are you, um, black? I mean, you're so tan and your hair is kind of, you know…”

Issa felt her breath catch. Never had she been asked the question that directly before. She scanned the Belles in her mind. Caucasians. All of them. She could claim her hair was due to a perm gone wrong and her tan was due to an extended holiday in Cabo.

But she wouldn't. This whole elaborate scheme was for her dad and she was proud of him and her heritage. If being black meant she couldn't be a Belle, she didn't want to be one anyway.

“I'm half-and-half. My father's African-American. His ancestors are from Mozambique. In Africa.”

“Oh.” Megan's face gave nothing away. “Is your name really Isabella, or does Issa mean something African?”

Issa was ashamed. She'd never meant to deny her legacy, but that was exactly what she'd done by insisting people call her the more “sophisticated” Isabelle. No more. Issa was back, and she was even badder than Isabelle.

“Issa means ‘our salvation.' When my parents got married, it caused a lot of chaos in between our families. My dad's sister, Helen, always said that after I was born, their family finally started to accept my mom. She said I was their salvation, therefore my name.”

Issa's heart ached. And that was what she was still trying to do. Be the salvation of the family they'd once had. She'd almost lost herself in the process.

Never again, she vowed.

Megan was quiet for a second. “I'm black too, you know,” she finally said in a low voice.

Issa tried not to let the surprise show. Blond-haired, blue-eyed Megan. Black?

“My real mom gave me up to my dad because he really wanted to raise me himself. She was black. From Trinidad. She was really beautiful.” Megan didn't meet Issa's eyes. “The Belles don't know. All they see is my white father and white stepmom.”

“I see,” was all Issa could think to say. “I won't say a word, of course.”

Professor Kidlinger walked into the room and started writing on the board. Issa glanced nervously toward the front of the room. Class was about to start. This was a really interesting conversation and she wished she was having it some other time, some other place with Megan.

“I always felt like, being mixed, it's kind of weird.” Megan paused as if waiting for Issa to tell her being mixed was acceptable. “Is it ever weird for you?”

Issa smiled. She couldn't believe she and Megan Simmons were actually having a real conversation, English class be damned. Megan had always seemed to be a superficial cheerleader. Issa had no idea Megan actually thought or cared about her heritage. “It was never weird for me in Detroit. Everyone just assumed I was completely African-American and I never bothered to correct them. When I moved here, I joined the
African-American Newsletter.
Everyone in the room looked at me like I was a wannabe or something. Like I was pretendin' so I quit.”

“Do you regret that?” Megan frowned.

Issa tilted her head. “Sometimes. It's harder here to fit in as a black person at this school, but it's who I am. I don't go out of my way to tell people anymore, but I'll never deny it either.”

Megan nodded. “The Belles actually think it's kind of cool that you're not the same as us. It makes you unique.”

“If it's cool with the Belles, maybe you should tell them about you.”

“You mean, tell them that I flatiron my hair every morning, and I don't really go to Desert Sun every weekend? That my tan is real?”

Issa laughed. “Yeah.”

“Maybe.”

“Look at it this way.” Issa touched Megan's folded hands. “Mariah Carey and Tiger Woods are both mixed. And they are so amazing looking. And so are you. I think you should be proud of who you are.”

Megan didn't say anything more. She lowered her eyes and turned around in her seat.

Issa's heart sank. She'd crossed the line. The Belles would be hearing about this for sure now.

“Tell you what,” Issa heard Megan murmur. “You stop calling yourself Isabelle and I'll tell the Belles who my real mom is.”

Issa glowed warmly for the first time that day. Maybe there was more to these Belles than just eye shadow and cute guys. “You got yourself a deal.”

 

“There you are!” Gigi was waiting at Issa's locker at the end of the day. “I haven't seen you all week. What's going on?”

Issa grimaced as she stood on one foot and arched her other foot back and forth. Her four-inch-heeled boots were killing her feet. How did the
Sex and the City
girls walk around Manhattan in these all day? “Just busy, you know.”

Gigi pouted. “We were supposed to watch
The Notebook
last night. You said you'd call. What happened?”