Keysha's Drama (9 page)

“Follow me and I'll show you to your room,” he said as he opened yet another door, which I thought was a closet but it was actually a staircase that led to the upper level of the house.

“Damn, this is a big-ass house,” I blurted out my thoughts.

“I'd prefer that you not use foul language. It's not becoming of a lady,” Jordan said, and I looked at him like he'd just lost his mind.
I know that he didn't call himself putting me in check
, I thought to myself.
The last thing he has the right to do is discipline me
.

“Whatever,” I said as I walked up the stairs. In my mind I didn't see myself staying in this house for very long. I felt like I was intruding on his space anyway. When I reached the top landing there were three bedrooms and a bathroom up there. Grandmother Katie was coming out of the bathroom as we were about to turn and walk down the corridor toward the bedrooms.

“Well, I see you two have finally made it up here,” she said with a smile.

“I'm about to show Keysha to her room,” Jordan said. I followed him down to the last door, which was closed.

“I think you should open it,” he said as he stepped aside. I placed my hand on the handle of the white door, gave it a twist and opened it up. I was completely taken aback by the size of the room. It was huge. There was a beautiful vanity dresser filled with all types of cosmetic products. There was a queen-size canopy bed with linen that matched the curtains, a desk and chair were near the window, as well as a stand that had a small television with a VCR and DVD player built into it.

“I hope you like the room,” Jordan said.

“Of course she likes it,” answered Grandmother Katie. To tell the truth I felt like I was more like an outsider than I'd ever felt before. It all seemed so fake to me, and I feared that at any moment someone would come and tell me that there was a big mistake and I wouldn't be able to stay. So, in my mind, there was no sense in getting too comfortable, because I knew that dreams didn't come true, and at some point either I'd run away or get mixed up in some juvenile-delinquent mess just like I was expected to.

“Um, can I be alone for a moment?” I asked, turning to face Grandmother Katie and Jordan. Both of them had goofy smiles plastered on their faces. At that moment I felt as if I was the charity case of the century, and I didn't like that feeling.

“Sure, you can have some privacy, honey,” said Grandmother Katie.

“Your brother will be home in awhile,” said Jordan. That was another thing that was peculiar to me. Jordan spoke so clearly and flawlessly. He didn't sound anything like the men who hung around the empty lot near my old apartment building. He actually spoke like Carlton Banks from the program
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
. “Barbara will be home later. We're all going out for a nice family dinner tonight,” he announced, and I cringed at the thought of sitting at a dinner table with them.

“I don't have anything to wear,” I quickly said, confident that my excuse would get me out of having to go with them.

“Look in the closet over there, honey. Some nice clothes have been purchased for you,” said Grandmother Katie, who still had a smile plastered on her face. I just knew that whatever they had purchased for me was all wrong.
Old people have no sense of style
, I thought to myself.

“If you need anything, we'll be down in the family room,” Jordan said before he and his mother walked out of the room and shut the door behind them.

I
just stood in the center of my bedroom for the longest time, afraid to touch anything. Once I found the courage to move within the space, I went over to the vanity and looked at the products there. It was filled with Proactive Solution skin-care products, cotton balls, Q-tips and an assortment of nail polishes and other makeup items. I opened the top left drawer and discovered it contained feminine hygiene essentials, which I had to admit I was in desperate need of. I went over and sat down at the desk in the room and stared out the window. My view was of the backyard. There was a large tree directly outside of my window that blocked part of my view of the garage and swimming pool. I don't know how long I'd been sitting there but I was startled out of my trance by a knock at the door. I didn't say anything, so the person knocked again. This time a little louder. I got up, moved to the door and opened it.

“What's up, son?” A young boy was at my door. He had caramel skin, a thin trace of hair on his upper lip and an athletic build.

“You're Mike, right?” I asked, trying not to laugh as I studied his appearance more closely. He had a white scarf wrapped around his head, which I assumed was more for fashion than it was for hairstyle. He had a Band-Aid positioned under his left eye, which made him look like a Nelly wannabe. He contorted his face and puckered his lips into an expression he considered to be thuggish, but it only made him look as if he were sitting on the throne with a bad case of constipation. He had on an oversize Akademiks T-shirt with matching Akademiks Armor jeans and a pair of Akademiks gym shoes.

“What? You see something funny?” he asked as he crossed his arms across his chest and tucked his fingers in his armpits. He appeared to be attempting to flex his chest and arm muscles, but he didn't have enough muscle to flex.

“Boy, you are not hard, so don't even try to act like you are some thug with a reputation and a criminal record.”

“You don't know me. You don't know the things I've done. I'm a straight gangster. You're in my world now.”

“Well, you're the first thirteen-year-old hardened gangster I've seen,” I said, thinking he was joking.

“I'm going to be fourteen in a minute,” he said, making a gesture with his fingers. It was then that I realized he was serious about the charade he was putting on.

“Whatever, fool,” I said and was about to slam the door in his face.

“Girl, why are you hating on me? Is it because I'm so iced-out? Is it because of my grillz?” He smiled at me, and I peeked at his teeth.

“That is not a grillz in your mouth, those are braces,” I said. “Who do you think you're trying to fool? Your money is not long, and you are certainly not a baller.” I'd suddenly become annoyed with him. I studied him closely for another moment and could tell he was up to no good by the way he shifted his eyes from left to right.

“Okay.” He lowered his voice to a loud whisper. “I may not be a baller or a thug but listen up, because I'm only going to say this once. If you want to get along up in here, all you need to do is stay out of my way, mind your own business and don't be up in here trying to act like daddy's little girl. Do you understand what I'm saying, son?” He stepped closer to me as if he wanted to knuckle-up and fight. I wasn't afraid of his scrawny behind at all. I made a sudden move as if I were about to hit him and he flinched with fear.

“Yeah, just what I thought. You're just a little spoiled-ass punk!” I said with a vicious tone in my voice.

“Well at least I don't have a face that looks like pimple paradise. I mean, damn girl, did every zit in the nation take up space on your forehead?” Before I could stop myself, I swung at him. Mike saw the punch coming and quickly moved out of my reach.

“Hey, you don't want to throw down with me. I may not look like it, but I know how to fight,” he said as he backed away. I could tell that I'd scared him because his voice trembled.

“You see that I'm not scared, don't you?” I snarled at him, feeling a deep hate for him growing each second that ticked by. “Here is a word of advice for you, Chicken Little,” I called him out of his name. “You have to bring some ass in order to kick some ass. If you come at me sideways again, I will beat you down like a crackhead who stole my last two dollars.” I gave him the meanest, most threatening glare that my face could form. He didn't say anything, only continued to back away. He went back to his room and shut his door. I went back inside my room and shut the door, as well. I didn't feel good about being in this house at all, but until I could find a place to run away to, this would have to do.

I decided to just chill in the room and pass the time by watching television. I was watching a movie called
Save the Last Dance
starring Julia Stiles. It was about this rich girl who lost her mother and then had to go live in the hood with her father. I suppose I identified with the movie because my situation was reversed. I had to move from the hood with my mother and live like some stuck-up girl in the rich suburbs. The movie was excellent, and I enjoyed watching all the dance moves she and the other characters did in the movie. The movie was just about to reach its climax when I heard Jordan's voice.

“Keysha.” I didn't answer him because I was trying to figure why it sounded as if he was in the room with me.

“There is an intercom on the wall next to your closet door. Go over to it and press the ‘talk' button to answer me.” I looked over at my closet door and noticed the intercom. I did as he instructed.

“We're going to be going to dinner in about a half hour, so start getting ready. We're going to the Outback Steak-house so jeans will be the appropriate attire to wear.”

Appropriate attire
, I thought to myself.
He sounds all nerdy
.

“Okay,” I answered him back and then sat back on the bed to continue watching my movie. I was dreading looking in the closet at the clothes my grandmother had picked out because I knew they'd be a throwback to the sixties or seventies. After the movie ended I opened the large walk-in closet and flipped the light switch.

“Damn,” I spoke aloud. “This closet is big enough to put a bed in.” There were two dressers inside the closet along with plenty of shelf space for shoes and other accessories. There was also a large dressing mirror inside. The other thing that freaked me out was each drawer had a small label on it indicating what item of clothing was on the inside. I opened the drawer that said “jeans.” To my surprise, Grandmother Katie had pretty good taste. Inside were several pairs of Baby Phat blue jeans.

“This is all right,” I said to myself as I opened up other drawers and located tops, underwear and other items. This entire change in my life was like magic. It was like living in a fairy tale, and it just seemed too good to be true. I matched up an outfit that was acceptable to me. I then went into the bathroom and got ready. About fifteen minutes later, I stood in front of my mirror fully dressed fussing with my hair because I was trying to make myself perfect, but my hair wasn't cooperating. Months of neglect and bad styling decisions couldn't be erased in a matter of seconds. I decided to put on my night hair scarf to cover it up just like Toya was so fond of doing. It would just have to do for now until I could get something done with it. I had butterflies in my stomach because I was about to go down and really meet Barbara, my stepmother, who made me feel very uncomfortable. I decided if she was going to be mean to me, then I'd be just as mean to her. I finally got my nerves in order and walked downstairs and into the family room where everyone was sitting and waiting on me.

“It took you long enough, I started growing a gray hair waiting on you,” Mike said sarcastically.

Grandmother Katie smacked him on the back of his head. “Watch your manners, Mike.” I looked around at each of them and felt as if they were all judging me.

“Why does she have that head rag on, Jordan?” Barbara tried to whisper in my father's ear, but I heard her. She acted as if I wasn't there and couldn't hear her. I felt as if I wasn't good enough for them. I felt as if I just didn't measure up.

“Just forget it. Y'all go out by yourselves. That's what you want anyway,” I said as I rushed back up to my room. I shut the door and began to pace the floor again. I tried to focus my thinking and determine what to do next. The only thing that came to mind was to pack my things, steal any money lying around and take my chances out on the streets.

“Baby, come on and go with us. She didn't mean anything by what she said.” Grandmother Katie had just opened my door.

“She doesn't like me,” I said. “It was written all over her face.”

“Give it time, Keysha. Your existence is news to all of us. We all have to make some adjustments and make room in our lives for you.” I plopped down on the edge of the bed and placed my face in my hands.

“Keysha, I really want you to have dinner with us,” said Jordan, who was now in my bedroom, too. I looked up at him and saw a part of me in his eyes. For a brief moment I felt some sense of a connection and wanted to hug him but I didn't. I just felt angry with everything and everyone.

“Can I sit down next to you?” he asked.

“It's your house,” I answered.

“When I look at you, I see myself,” he said. “I see a part of me that I feel like I should know but I don't, and that hurts. Perhaps I'm moving too fast, but I want to give you all of the things that you've never had. I want to make up for that. I can give you a decent place to live, nice clothes and some sense of stability. What I can't give you is the time we've lost. There is so much to learn and understand, but we have to give things time.”

“He's right, you know,” said Grandmother Katie. “There are so many things about me and our family that you need to know, learn and understand. I want you to have that sense of belonging, but I know it's not going to happen overnight. A sense of belonging comes from within, and when you get that feeling hold on to it, because it also means that you're beginning to feel loved.” It's just downright frightening how Grandmother Katie could read me.

“Let me see your hair.” Grandmother Katie walked over to me, and I allowed her to remove my scarf.

“It's not so bad, honey. We just have to let it grow out a little and take care of it better,” she said as she took a closer look at my hair. “We can just brush it back and you'll be fine.” Grandmother Katie picked up the brush that was sitting atop the vanity. She sat down at the foot of my bed and asked me to sit on the floor between her thighs.

“I want you to know that I'm always here for you, Keysha. I want you to be able to come to me and confide in me. I want you to know about my history just as much as I want to know about yours. I don't even know what your favorite color or food is. Just like you've missed out, so has this family,” Grandmother Katie explained as she continued working with my hair.

“She hates me, doesn't she?” I asked, referring to Barbara.

“No, she doesn't hate you at all. She just has to adjust to this change in her life,” said Grandmother Katie as she brushed the other side of my hair. Her brush strokes were soft and comforting.

“There is a lot that you have to understand. One of which is that we've always wanted two children, a boy and a girl. We were able to have a son together but medical complications have prevented us from having additional children,” said Jordan.

“Life is like that sometimes,” Grandmother Katie continued. “You can plan out the perfect life for yourself, but if your plans don't match God's plan, then I'm afraid that you're setting yourself up to deal with a lot of heartache.”

“I wonder what God has planned for my mother?” I spoke aloud as I thought about what Grandmother Katie said. No one could give me an answer to my question. The room was silent for a moment, and then Barbara walked in.

“Listen, why don't we just order pizza tonight,” she said, refusing to make eye contact with me. “I'm not feeling too good, and I just want to lie down.”

“Are you okay?” Jordan asked as he draped his arm around her shoulder.

“I'm just not feeling good. Come help me lie down,” she said, and Jordan escorted her to her room. At that moment I felt jealousy raise its ugly head. I mean, for the first time I was actually starting to feel some sort of connection to my father, and she came up and took him away from me. She'd had him for years and I couldn't get twenty minutes alone with him without her interrupting us. I hated her for intruding on my time with him. It wasn't fair.