Chapter 19—Junior
I frowned. “Again, why are we up so early?” I half-snarled over a cup of steaming hot chocolate. I was dressed down in sweatpants and a hoodie. It was freezing for late October in Louisiana. Usually I was still in shorts by this point. “You two realize we went to bed at four this mornin’, correct?”
It was eight o’clock, and both Honey and Rena had arrived at my house about twenty minutes ago, dresses in hand. The plan was to get ready at my house since I had the biggest room, best lightening for make-up and all that, and the boys lived closest to me. Plus, I had the most hair stuff, despite not using not even half of it. And the most make-up. My base and concealer might be a few shades off, but my eye-shadow, eye make-up in general, lipstick, and everything else could work perfectly.
Honey was sitting in front of me, nursing a red bull and looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Rena was upchucking in the bathroom, saying she ate some bad sushi last night, and that she’d be fine this afternoon. I didn’t question it. My mind was too fuzzy from not enough sleep anyway.
I took a sip, waiting on an answer. I heard my toilet flush, my water run, and Rena came out of my bathroom, her cheeks pale. “Uh, I feel horrible.” She placed a hand across her stomach, laying down on my bed.
“Told ya to lay off the sushi,” I said, my voice a little snarky. I was grumpy. Rena waved off my comment and tone of voice—she knew me well enough to know I didn’t really mean it. I worked on softening my voice. “Soooo…. Y’all gonna answer me or not? Why am I up so early? Newsflash, we need to be out at five. It’ll only take us three hours to get read, tops.”
Honey sighed, running her hands through her hair. “Okay, okay, Miss Impatient. Look what I got.” She held up three gift cards.
I frowned. “Yay. Gift cards. Whoo.”
She narrowed her eyes. “They’re gift cards to Cello’s,” she said, grinning. “You know, the expensive spa about thirty minutes away? My parents got them for us because they’re happy I found some friends that don’t have tattoos, babies, or multiple piercings.”
Oh. Well that was nice. At the word ‘spa’ Rena had perked up. She had a little color to her cheeks now. “Sweet! When do we leave? I can use a pedicure. My feet have been hurting. And my nails are atrocious.”
“We can leave as soon as Junior stops lookin’ at me like I ran over her dog.”
I gave her a smile, taking a sip of my hot chocolate. It burned my tongue, but I stood up. “Fine. But if we’re gonna be up for the rest of the day, I’m gonna need one of those.” I motioned to her Red Bull.
Honey gave me a look. “After what coffee did to you, I don’t think so. You’re limited to hot chocolate, ma’am.”
I groaned. “Fine. Have it your way. But when I fall asleep grindin’ on Dante—“
“I’ll make sure to cover you up with a fabulous coat that brings out your make-up,” she finished, grabbing her purse. “You alright in there, Rey?”
Rena nodded, standing, but the color was returning to her cheeks, so I wasn’t too worried. “The thought of sushi disgusts me right now.” A little grin spread across her face. “But I am craving something greasy.... like a burger. Do they sell those for breakfasts?”
I rolled my eyes. “We better go before I pour hot chocolate on you. It’s eight dang thirty in the mornin’ and you want a burger?” I looked at the sky, shaking my head. My ponytail brushed my cheeks. “Lord, give me peace of mind to deal with these girls before I have to use a piece of steel to deal with’em.”
Rena frowned. “What?”
“Piece of steel means gun,” Honey explained, walking out of my room. We followed like little ducks, me leaving last as I slid my feet into some cowboy boots. “So, we are stoppin’ for breakfast—and I guess we can stop somewhere that does a lunch and breakfast all day…. Jack in the Box maybe?”
I shrugged. I didn’t care. I took the last big gulp of hot chocolate. The heat went from my mouth down to my stomach, then ran down to the bottom of my toes. I dropped off the cup on the counter before stopping and giving my mom and step-dad kisses on the cheek. They waved me out the house to have some fun, and a little bit of sadness went through me quickly. I was the last kid left—and, in a few months, I’d be leaving the house, off to college. I had applied and gotten accepted to four colleges, but I didn’t know where I was going, or, really, what I wanted to do.
Shaking the thought off, I followed after my friends. I would have it all together by December. I had to have it all together.
I hopped into Honey’s cute Kia Sportage. Rena had snagged the front seat. “Car sickness,” she explained, giving me a smile when she turned around.
Feeling a bit better now that my body was awake, I laughed instead of rolling my eyes. “Uh-huh.” I looked down at my phone. Three text messages. Facebook telling me it was my cousin’s birthday. I texted her a happy birthday before I forgot. We had been pretty close up until this year when she switched schools and we kind of broke off. The second message was from Dante, telling me our dinner reservations had been pushed back to 6:30 instead of 5:45, which gave us more time to get ready. Great. I responded with a thumb’s up emoji. The third message was from Duke. Good morning my beautiful girl.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Instead, I texted him back without the girls noticing. Wrong number, kiddo. This is Junior, not Laila.
There. That should hold him.
I slid my phone into my hoodie pocket. Honey was giving Rena an interrogation. “How long have y’all been hangin’ with Kyle and the rest?” I noticed the way she said Kyle, her voice hitching a little bit. Despite the time, my friend had a little crush. Good for her.
“Since about…. The last of August, maybe? A little bit before that.” Rena was scrolling through the radio stations, answering absent-mindedly. “They started football season in at the beginning of September, a scrimmage, so, yeah, late August.”
Honey nodded, glancing back at me in the rearview mirror. She gave me a look, but I couldn’t understand what it meant, so I just shrugged. Honey continued her questioning. “So you and Chris been cool since then?”
Rena nodded. “Yep.” She settled on a station that played a good mix of rap and pop music.
“When did y’all first sleep together?” Her tone slipped from neutral to curious.
I wanted to let my best friend handle things herself, but I had been protecting her since we crawled around in the dirt in our diapers back in the gap. I couldn’t just let this go. “Um, that’s none of your business.” I didn’t want to start anything in the car with Honey, it’d be awkward, but I wasn’t about to let her dive into Rey’s business like that. We weren’t that close, even though I liked the girl.
Honey gave me a dismissive look in the mirror. “Don’t get your panties in a knot—I’m askin’ because I think Rena is pregnant.”
There was utter silence in the car, and then I said, very calmly, “Even if she was, it’s not your place to say anything. Turn this car around and bring us back to my house. I don’t care if we’re friends, we’re not close enough for you to make those accusations.”
Rena had gone deathly pale. “I don’t think—I’m not—“ But she stopped there, counting on her fingers, and, then, finally, checking her phone. When she put it down, her voice was scarcely over a whisper. “Junior, I’m four weeks late.”
The world spun a little bit, but I knew I had to remain in control. Honey kept going along the highway, driving towards the spa. She was silent, and she didn’t look smug at having bested me, but she looked… sad. Like she didn’t want to bring that little fact up.
“It’s gonna be okay,” I told her numbly, trying to gather myself. Now what? “Tonight is your last homecoming. You’re gonna enjoy tonight, no drinkin’ of course, and then tomorrow mornin’ we grab a pregnancy test from an hour or two away where no one knows us, and we go from there. Okay?”
She still looked scared. “I know I am—the morning sickness, I’ve been gaining weight, and now I’m late.” She buried her face into her hands. “And I’m hungry.” Her voice turned into a wail at the end.
My eyes met Honey’s in the mirror, and I gave her an accusing look. She really couldn’t wait until later to say something? I rubbed Rena’s back, looking for the correct words to say. I knew being a teenage mother was the only thing she was sure she didn’t want to be. But it was here. Maybe, I told myself, clinging on to a faint glimmer of hope that was fading quickly. Either way, she would have to deal with the problem. “Well, Rena, if you are, cryin’ about it won’t stop it. You have three adopts: abortion, adoption, or keepin’ Junior Jr.”
She looked up, horrified. “Abortion?” She placed her hands over her stomach.
I sighed. “It’s an option. I wouldn’t judge you either way.”
“Nope. I wouldn’t kill it. Him. Her.” She swallowed, shaking visibly. “I also wouldn’t give it up for adoption. My mama didn’t give me away. I won’t do that to…. Junior Jr.”
I laughed. “I think it’s catch. Let’s call it ‘Second’ for short, alright?” I rubbed her back, trying to be comforting, but comfort had never been a strong suit of mines. “Now that you’ve decided what you want to do, it’s all about takin’ a pregnancy test, and then tellin’ people.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Tell who?”
“Your mom…. Chris, for sure. It’s his baby. He has a say in this, too.” I tried to make my voice gentle, but I knew not to let her get her hopes up that he would actually want the baby. Despite his feelings for Rena, I knew babies changed everything. Men ran from feelings, especially Homeboys. And I had to protect my friend. If he hurt her, I would hurt him, plain and simple.
She heaved her shoulders. “He loves me.”
“He does,” I agreed carefully. But love wasn’t enough. He loved her, but maybe not this future baby.
“Well then I’ll tell him…. After I make sure it’s true.” She looked out the window, lost in thought, but the tears had dried on her cheeks.
I sat back in the seat, noticing Honey’s expression. It was guarded, and my gut instinct told me something was… off about the situation. Not that Honey was in the wrong, or not that she was right, but there was something wrong. Not trying to read too hard into it, I closed my eyes and rubbing my temples at the oncoming headache. My only hope was that Honey would keep her mouth shut long enough for me to help Rena get herself right.
*
It seemed like once the spa treatments started, everything else disappeared. The baby talk had been completely ignored, like the elephant in the room had went on a bathroom break. It started with the facials, Honey and I laughing over Rena picking at the extra cucumbers the woman had brought. It ended over our pedicures when I couldn’t stop giggling over my feet being touched.
Once we were scrubbed, manicured, and pedicured to death, we headed back to my house, our skin smooth and silky our faces glowing, our nails on point. It was just homecoming—but it felt like so much more. “My last homecoming,” I said out loud, not really thinking about the words, as we fell into a comfortable, post-laugh silence. My nails were gleaming, the white tips looking smooth and silky in the high sun. It was a little past twelve, and my stomach grumbled.
Honey sighed as she pulled into a Sonic. “It’s weird, isn’t it? You spend your first day of school plannin’ for your last day of school ever, and then it comes, and nothin’ is like you expected it.” She sounded wistful, zipping into a spot.
I agreed. “Yeah. When I was four, I thought I would have three boyfriends by now and drive a Corvette.” In reality, though, I had a guy that didn’t know how he felt about it besides wanting to get revenge on my brother. I had a nice Dodge Charger. But it wasn’t a Corvette.
Honey asked what we wanted, and we all put in our order. As she pulled the window up to prevent us from getting sickness due to the cold weather coming in, she brought the conversation back to school. “And it’s the years in between that last the longest and mean the most.”
“Uh-huh,” Rena said, speaking up. “The years between are when you make your best friends and your worst enemies. It’s the second day of your first year of school that you realize how it works.”
I muttered an agreement. “It ends up that you save this tiny, raven-haired girl that you’ve known for a long time from some massive, blonde bully. And then you run away on the third day of school to get some ‘candies.’” We both smiled at the memory. Two four year old girls, hands held, running across a busy highway to get to some candy. Thank God an officer brought us back to the school. Our teacher was in trouble because she hadn’t even known we were gone.
Honey arched an eyebrow. “You two are trouble.”
We shrugged. “Always have been, always will be,” Rena said. We looked at each other, hooking our pinkies together. It was more than a promise. Hooking our pinkies was a memory—the first thing we did as “best, best, best friends” when we were younger. Back then, when pinky promises meant so much, we vowed to never let anything come between us. And it hadn’t.
And I honestly didn’t think it would.
College, my brain whispered, and that stupid thought came in, bringing tears to my eyes. I was getting upset, and it wasn’t even here yet. Maybe we would separate—maybe we wouldn’t. But how could I be sure? If Rena was pregnant, and I went far off…. I pushed back the thought, saving it for another time, another day. “Friends till the end, you and me,” I finished off.
Hey, we weren’t exactly poets when we were eight. Thirteen words was enough to declare our friendship in our minds.
Honey wiped her eyes as the man came skating up to us with our food. “You two are like a Lifetime movie—sappy.”
All three of us giggled, paying for food, and then heading back to my house. It was quiet except for the sound of us eating, food getting unwrapped, and the slurping of our drinks.
I reached into my pocket, grabbing the phone I had ignored. Duke’s name appeared. I clicked on the message, none too eager to read it.
You don’t understand.
He was right. I didn’t understand. And I didn’t want to. I knew what was up, though. It was Duke, trying to win this stupid bet, trying to get back at me for something Crank did. The thought sent a little shock of hurt feelings right to my chest, but I ignored it. Yeah, I had a crush. And, sure, I wanted to give in to Duke, but I had to win. I still had to get my revenge on him, too. Hurt before I was hurt.
I was going to reply, but then I got a text from Dante, a picture of him flexing with his shirt off. Just know that you won’t be the sexier date. I bit back a smile. Dante was making the most of the day, consoling my feelings but not being a complete butt to me. I appreciated the effort. Especially considering I had become his favorite person to hate lately.
Says who? I have the boobs, I make the rules.
He texted back immediately. Pics or it didn’t happen.
I giggled. I’m in a car.
You’re gonna get out eventually, aren’t you?
I rolled my eyes, still laughing as I sent him a picture of me flipping him off. He sent me back the laughing emoji with the tears, and then I started to put my phone down. But there was something I wanted to send somebody, something I needed to say.
I pulled up the last messages I had sent Crank. They were trivial—something about basketball and him scoring over twenty points. I wanted to think of something to say, but I just texted what I really felt. Even though I’m glad you broke up with that psycho witch with a ‘b’, I’m sorry you lost your girl. I still love you, though—from your sister with daddy issues.
There. It would have to do. If he texted back, good. If he didn’t, oh well. I had tried.
I balled up my trash and stuffed it into my back, taking a long sip of my drink just as we pulled back into my driveway. My parents had long since left for work—Daddy to the plant, Mama to the hospital. They had been putting in some crazy hours lately, and I made a mental note to focus on them and make a dinner or something. Bake them a cake, an appreciation cake.
We got out, Honey issuing instructions the whole way. “Alright, I’ll shower first, since I have hair and make-up to do on all of us. And then you two decides who goes next. I’ll do my hair first, and then Rena’s hair. Rena wanted to do your hair, Junior.”
I shrugged. “Kay.” Wasn’t the first time my best friend had done my hair up.
I unlocked the door as we went inside. My house was warm and inviting, the TV on to Spongebob. “We have three bathrooms actually, so we can all shower at once. The guest bathroom is right there, Honey, and Rena knows where the other guest bathroom is. I’ll go shower in mines.”
We all separated.
Scrubbed clean and hair washed, I opened up my room to a disaster area. Honey was standing there in a strapless bra and shorts only, crying while she held a curling wand in one hand a blow dryer in the other. Our dresses hung from various things in my room—my ceiling fan, my door knob, my bed post—and shoes, all mine and the billion pairs they had brought, were all over the floor. Rena was wrapped in a towel, searching desperately through her bag for something, and her face had two bright red spots where she was about to cry.
“Um, guys, what’s wrong?”
They both started talking at the same time, over each other, and I had about the same idea of what was going on now as I did earlier.
“One at a time. Honey, why are you cryin’?” I demanded, motioning for Rena to hush. She did, stopping in her searching and crossing her arms over her chest.
“She accused me of stealin’ her strapless bra,” Honey said, pointing the curling wand at Rena. I noticed Honey’s wild hair was hanging straight now. She looked different, more mean and serious instead of the carefree girl I somewhat knew.
Rena glared at her. “We wear the same size! And I can’t find mine!”
I did a quick survey of the room. “See, this is why girls shouldn’t function on four and half hours of sleep, no matter how many energy drinks we consume,” I said, noticing the same white strapless bra underneath one of the dresses. I pulled it out, tossing it to Rena. “There ya go. Now apologize.”
She did, and Honey put the curling wand down on my dresser, accepting the apology with a hug.,
Damage control done, I sat down on my bean bag chair, pulling a t-shirt over my bare torso. The girls immediately went back to whatever they were doing before. Honey turned the blow drier on, finishing blowing out her long strands of hair that came about three inches above her waist. Rena went in search of jewelry, going through my box.
I sat, watching, until my eyes closed, and I fell asleep.
*
Rena nudged me with her foot. “Get up. Your phone is going crazy. Plus, I need to do your hair.”
I opened my eyes groggily, looking around. Her hair was pinned up in black curls, and she looked gorgeous, even without her make-up being done. It was a little after three now, and we had another two and a half hours to get ready. But Honey’s hair wasn’t even half-way done. Whatever intricate hairstyle she was going for was taking a long time.
“Whaaa?” I said, sitting up. My baggy shirt was falling off my shoulder. I absent-mindedly lifted it up to its correct position, taking Rena’s out-stretched hand and letting her lift me up. I had a feeling that something major had gone on earlier, but my mind was too hazy to process it. All I did was sit down in the chair by my bed and let Rena start in on my hair.
As usual, her nimble fingers worked miracles through my knots and kinks. I had chemically straight hair, not the natural locks I wanted. But I didn’t want to cut all my hair off, so I kept it this way. It was still thick, though. Rena said nothing, to me anyway. She kept her eyes trained on the task at hand, but she was gossiping with Honey. My mind only went through half of what they said as I struggled to keep my eyes open. I would be no kind of date tonight.
Honey tossed me my phone. I reacted on instinct, snatching it before it fell. I scrolled through thirty-three text messages, most of them more shirtless pics from Dante, a few from Mom, reminders for me not to drink, to act sensibly, and not do anything she wouldn’t do, and one from my brother. There was also three missed calls from Crank.
I decided to call him back without reading his text message, otherwise I’d see the words and lose the courage to speak to my brother. Pressing my phone to my ear, I looked at Rena through the mirror, asking with my eyes If this would stop her in any way. She shrugged, obviously unfazed by it.
Three rings later, Crank answered. “Hello?” He sounded breathless, like he had been running.
“Hey.” My voice cracked, thick with sleep.
“You just woke up didn’t you?”
I grinned. “Yeah.”
“I can tell. You only have two voices when you wake up—either you’re possessed by the devil deep, or your Tinketbell soprano.” He chuckled, but then sobered up. “I have practice in a few minutes, so let me get this out real quick: I’m sorry. I let a girl get between me and my little sister, and I regret it. Laila is a whore, plain and simple, and the baby isn’t even mine.” I started to say something, but he cut me off. “About the daddy issues thing, please, please, please forgive your brother. I’m an idiot.”
“You are.”
“I deserve that, so I’m not gonna complain. But, Junior, I will make it up to you. But, first, do me a favor and take Duke from Laila. He doesn’t deserve a girl as amazin’ as you, but he doesn’t deserve Laila either.” There was the sound of basketballs bouncing, then a few guys calling his name. Crank swore. “I gotta go. I’ll call you Monday or somethin’. I love you.”
I swallowed, tears pooling in my eyes. My brother never told me he loved me. “I love you, too, Crank.”
He hung up, and the noises behind him left with his voice. I put my phone down, and Rena started in on my hair. She straightened and curled, tugged and pulled, hair-sprayed and gelled down. The finishing factor was flattened sides with a Mohawk of curls cascading on the top of my head. I didn’t think I’d like it, but I did. I looked older…. Sexy….”I love it,” I said, patting down the curls gently.
She grinned. “Good.” Honey was finally finished with her own hair, so Rena sat down in the chair and Honey started pinning up Rena’s hair into an intricate bun. It didn’t take long, and Honey used Rena’s big for one big spiral curl to frame the right side of her face.
I crossed my legs. Four o’clock. About an hour and a half left. There was still make-up to be done, outfits to be changed into, and at least one more crying fit before we were all settled.
But there was no crying fit. We got through make-up fine and unscathed. Putting our clothes on was a completely different matter, though. It was pulling them over our hair-dos, zipping them up the right way, and then trying to get our shoes on over the stuff that was the problem. The shoes we bought at the store were beautiful, perfect for our dresses…. At the time. But then, once we were faced with better options, turned out there were so many other heels to fall in love with.
I took a pair of strappy silver heels of Honey’s. They fit my feet perfectly, making my legs look longer than they were. Then there was Rena, who took some light blue heels of mine, the same color as her dress, and Honey took the white stilettos I had bought earlier in the week for my dress.
Just as we had finished, the doorbell rang.
We shot each other nervous smiles. We knew we looked good—but was it good enough? When you had someone you wanted to impress, you knew that you had to come better than usual. I hoped it was good enough.
When I opened the door, the first person I saw was Dante. He looked me up and down, licking his full lips like he wanted to eat me. “Damn you clean up nice, Junior. I might have to retract my earlier statement about me bein’ the sexier date.”
I stepped back so he could come in, followed by the others. The cool air whipped at my bare legs. I saw Chris stare at Rena like she was the love of his life, the sun in his shine, and I knew then that things would work out between them… baby or not. And then Kyle wrapped Honey up in his arms, issuing out compliments to her, eyes shining. And, finally, Duke and Laila. She looked at us with a sour expression, like she didn’t want to be in the room with us.
Take Duke from Laila.
Duke’s eyes traveled straight to me, looking me up and down, and I wondered what the fire in his gaze meant.
“Junior, you look beautiful,” Dante said in my ear, his voice husky and sweet. “Assholery aside, you look really beautiful. And if Duke doesn’t see that, I’m always up for a one night stand.”
I laughed, slapping him on the chest. He gave me a, excuse my language, shit-eating grin. I hugged him tightly, thankful he had stepped in as my honorary date. “Dante, you’re like the douchebag brother I’ve never wanted but somehow got stuck with.” And I meant that as an honest compliment. Our relationship had come a long way.
He hugged me back, then stopped to present the corsage to me. “To my gorgeous date.” He allowed me to pin the boutonniere on him, and then I stepped back, waiting for the other girls. When we were all done, I handed my phone to Dante, and the girls and I stepped in for a picture. All except Laila.
And I will never forget that picture. The expression on our faces at that moment was perfect—Kyle made a joke about how I was the prettiest girl there, and the guys agreed. Honey had her eyes narrowed, but a smile threatened to come up the corners of her mouth. Rena laughed, her mouth wide open and happy. And then me, looking directly behind Dante at Laila, who crossed her arms and glared. It was the perfect picture, capturing us all.
As everybody filed out, I locked up my house, knowing I wouldn’t see it until tomorrow afternoon. I knew somebody was behind me when I turned off the lights, but I didn’t know who it was until Duke put his hands on my waist and his lips on my neck. “Oh, God, Cori, you look beautiful.”
A little shudder went through me, but I suppressed it. “Your date is waitin’ on you,” I said calmly, removing myself and staring at him.
He shrugged. “I’m only with her because I’m obligated. Trust me, my mind is with you.” His eyes roamed over my body.
I rolled my eyes. “Your mind doesn’t matter. If I can’t have your mind and body, then I don’t want any part of you.”
His eyes flashed, hurt, but his voice sounded level when he responded. “What about my heart? Will you take that when I give it to you?”
When. I looked at him. “Your heart belongs with Laila.” I grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him down until he was eye-level with me, which wasn’t much with my heels on. “I’m selfish in relationships, Duke. I don’t like to share.”
He kissed me, his lips meeting mine. It wasn’t that long of a kiss, but it made my knees buckle and my heart beat off-kilter. I pulled away. “We’re gonna be late for dinner reservations.” And then I followed him out the door, smiling at my date like nothing had happened in the kitchen.
No one looked at me funny except Dante, who chuckled into my ear as he said, “You need to reapply lipstick. Nobody else noticed except me—I’m the only one lookin’ at your lips.”
So I shot him a dirty look, face red.