Dance Into Destiny (27 page)

K
eeva and Shara got out to the basketball court in time to see Quinton wrestling T-bone to the ground. Jamil's nose was bleeding and he was yelling obscenities while Anthony held him back from trying to jump on T-bone.

“Quinton?”

“I got it, Shara. You guys go back inside.”

She and Keeva stood frozen. Most of the fights never got bad enough for an adult to have to intervene. Usually at the first sign of an authority figure, the kids would settle down. T-bone, however, had been a problem since he'd gotten involved with the basketball program. He hadn't met the grade requirement, often started fights, and didn't respect any of the adults. Shara had been telling Quinton he needed to be kicked out of the program, but Quinton seemed to think if he kept working with him, he would get better.

Quinton and his boys were becoming a sore spot between him and Shara. Initially, she admired his dedication and commitment to them, but lately, she had become concerned about it. He spent far too much money on them, and in her opinion, far too much time.

If it wasn't taking Jamil to get sneakers, it was taking Deshawn for a doctor's appointment or Tyreek to the mall, or Tiquan for school clothes. Each of them had his home phone, cell phone and pager number and used him as their personal taxi and Santa Claus. Shara initially joked about him having a savior complex, but anytime she mentioned it, he got agitated and changed the subject.

Quinton stood T-bone up, still holding on to him.

T-bone was seething, trying to escape Quinton's relentless hold. “You done it now. You think you so great just 'cause you was a basketball star? Your blood will flow red, just like anybody else's,” T-bone spat at Quinton. “Jamil, you a dead man. Nobody crosses me and—”

“That's enough!” Quinton's voice bellowed across the court. He looked up at Shara and Keeva.

“Shara, I said go inside.”

“Do you want me to call the police?”

“No honey, just do what I told you. Danae, you go with them.”

Shara felt chills running up her spine from T-bone's words. She understood Quinton's desire to help him, but this time, he needed to let go. As far as she was concerned, they should have gotten rid of T-bone and his equally belligerent friend, Jermaine, a long time ago.

“You okay?” Keeva asked as they walked back into the office.

“Yeah. I don't like that boy.” Shara looked at her watch. “You better go on up. The girls have been waiting and you don't want to have to break up a fight of your own.”

“My girls fight? Never.”

Keeva hadn't had a fight out of Shanique or Lakita since they'd started taking dance classes. In fact, most of the time, they were inseparable, giggling in some corner about a boy. Shara noticed since they started dancing, a lot of the girls carried themselves with more grace and esteem. They acted prissy and ladylike, as if they were imitating Keeva.

Shara snapped her fingers. “Oh, I almost forgot. Mother Hobbs said Pastor Kendrick wanted to take a few of us out to dinner tonight after we finish up. We're supposed to meet at Justin's at 7:00. You can ride with me and Quinton if you want.”

“Wow, nice—what for?”

“I don't know. Mother Hobbs said he had some great news to share with us.”

“Cool. I'll meet you in the parking lot after class.”

W
hen Keeva got to the parking lot, Quinton and Shara were already waiting in the truck. As they were pulling off, Anthony came running up. “Hey, can I catch a ride with you guys?”

Anthony and Quinton had become friends and he had started hanging out with the three of them. He hopped in the back seat with Keeva. “Yo, Quint-man, what was up with your boy, T? He's usually bad, but I've never seen him that bad. What's his beef with Jamil?

“I don't know. Kid stuff I guess.”

“It seemed like more than that. Talking 'bout your blood flowing red and Jamil's a dead man and stuff. That boy scares me.”

“Naw, he's just all mouth.”

Keeva watched Shara looking at Quinton. It was obvious he was downplaying things to keep her from being afraid.

“What's the name of this restaurant?” Quinton asked.

“Quinton, you don't think he has a gun or something, do you?” Shara asked.

He looked over at her and rubbed her cheek. “Stop worrying, baby. T-bone is all talk. He's been making threats since he started coming around. He gets mad about any little thing and mouths off. It's nothing.” He squeezed Shara's knee.

“Hey! Stop that. You know I'm ticklish.” Shara giggled.

Keeva made a face. “Oh boy, here we go. We should have taken your car, Anthony. I don't know how much of ‘the Sickenings' I'm going to be able to take.”

“Shut up, Keeva.” Shara giggled again.

Keeva smiled at how happy her friend was. She wondered when Quinton was going to pop the question. The way they acted, it was just a matter of time.

Her thoughts drifted to Mark. After she first broke off their engagement, he called her relentlessly every day. He stopped by unannounced at odd hours when he knew she'd be home. The first few times she let him in to talk, but after hearing him yell and scream about getting her deprogrammed, she took her key back and stopped answering the door. He even had her mother and father calling. He had obviously convinced them she had lost her mind and joined a cult. The calls eventually trickled off. She hadn't heard from him in about a month.

“Earth to Keeva. Where'd you go this time?” Shara turned around in her seat.

“Just thinking about a dance. You know me.” Keeva sighed heavily.

Anthony put a hand on her arm. “Must not have been a happy dance. You okay?”

She nodded at him.

At first it had been difficult and she had missed Mark. Over the past few months though, she had gotten so caught up in dancing and her girls, church, hanging out with the other youth leaders and school, she hardly thought about him. She smiled to herself as she realized she was happy getting to know herself and getting to know God. She hadn't missed a church service or Bible study since she and Mark broke up. She had even been going to intercessory prayer on Friday mornings. She was really developing a relationship with God, just like Shara had described. She really felt like she was going somewhere with her life now. She wasn't sure where exactly, but since she had started working with the youths, she had that sense of purpose Shara always talked about.

She had asked God to give her some definite direction about what to do next in terms of her career. She asked Him everyday to direct her toward what jobs to interview for. She hadn't heard Him answer her and had been meaning to ask Shara more about how to hear His voice. She had to do something soon. Everybody else was interviewing and some had found jobs.

She wasn't nervous though. She had a strange peace that God had it all under control.

“Now you must be thinking about a happy dance. Wish I could unlock that mind of yours. Must be some serious stuff that goes on in there.” Anthony watched Keeva grinning to herself.

Shara looked back. “Yeah, Keeva's always dreaming up a masterpiece. I can't wait until the Christmas program.”

Keeva wouldn't allow anyone to come near the dance rooms while they were practicing. She kept saying everybody had to wait until the performance at the end of the year. They were planning a combined dance recital, awards ceremony, and dedication for the new track and basketball courts. The kids were very excited about bringing their families and friends.

“Here we go.” Quinton parked the truck.

When they walked into the restaurant, Pastor Kendrick, Jenell, and Mother Hobbs were already sitting at a large table. Quinton pulled back Shara's chair and Anthony held Keeva's for her.

“We're still waiting for Nia and Malcolm,” Pastor Kendrick said. “Why don't you guys go ahead and order. They should be here any minute.”

After Nia and Malcolm arrived and everyone put their orders in, Pastor Kendrick cleared his throat. “First of all, I want to thank everyone for their hard work and dedication this year. God couldn't have sent me a better team. I think God has decided to reward our efforts.”

He looked like he was about to burst. “I received official notification today that . . .” he paused for effect, “. . . we got the grant.”

Everyone cheered at once. The other people in the restaurant looked over to see what all the noise was about.

After everyone calmed down, Pastor Kendrick continued, “I wanted you all to be the first to know, because well, let me slow down some. We're going to be doing some revamping of the allocation of some funds.”

He slapped Quinton on the back. “Because Quinton here was so gracious in funding the resurfacing of the track and basketball courts and renovating the dance and martial arts studios, and because he's refused his salary, we have a lot more money than we thought we'd have.”

Quinton would have blushed if his skin wasn't so dark. “Man, I told you I didn't want anyone to know about all that. That was supposed to be between me and you.”

“Sorry, Quint-man. I'm excited. Cut me some slack.”

Pastor Kendrick continued, “Because of the surplus and grant, we have funds for full-time salaries for a few individuals and part-time for others. So here we go. Shara and Keeva will be graduating next year just as the grant starts paying out. Shara, if you're interested and you feel it's God's desire, we'd like you to come on full time as director of our education and tutoring programs. We'll continue the after-school programs and then run a summer enrichment program. After a while, we want to start planning a charter school.”

Shara's mouth hung open.

“Keeva, I don't know if we can persuade you to forego your career plans, but we'd like you to head up our dance program. We'll continue the after-school programs and then have a full-time dance academy during the summer. Nia has also told me about the plays you've written for her theatre program. We'd like to have you continue that also. Take your time and really think and pray about it. I know we're asking you to give up a lot, especially since there's no promise of funding beyond the initial five-year period. Let me know what you feel like God is saying.”

“Yes!” Keeva bounced in her seat. “Yes! He's saying yes and I'm saying yes.”

Everybody laughed. Shara squeezed Keeva's hand. They shared a hug of excitement.

Pastor Kendrick continued, “Anthony, I know that it takes money out of your business when you leave your studios to come teach martial arts for us, so we'd like to compensate you for your time.”

Anthony held up his hand. “I can't accept any money, Pastor. My business is going great and my time teaching at the church is actually a tithe. What we can do, though, is use the money to buy uniforms for the kids. I think they'd like that.”

Pastor Kendrick nodded. “That sounds great, man. Thanks.”

He turned to Nia. “Well, according to the kids, your theatre program is ‘da bomb'. We'd like to compensate you for your after-school time, then full-time in the summer.”

Nia said, “I wish I could be as noble as Quinton and Anthony and say keep the money, but y'all know teachers don't make nothing. I need all the help I can get.”

Everyone laughed.

Shara said, “I hear you, girl.”

Pastor Kendrick turned to Malcolm. “Last but not least—our visual arts and creative writing programs. I was going to offer you a part-time position, but I have to look at the numbers now. With Anthony waiving his salary, we can probably bring you on full-time.”

“Man, I see God does answer prayer. The starving artist thing is getting
real
old.” Malcolm rubbed his hands together like he could feel the money already.

Pastor Kendrick leaned back in his chair and smiled. “I guess that settles it then. I'm so excited I don't know what to do. God couldn't have sent me a better crew. I love y'all, man.” Pastor Kendrick sniffled and pretended to start crying and everyone laughed.

Mother Hobbs spoke up. “Pastor, aren't you forgetting someone?”

He looked around. “Oh yeah.” He kissed Jenell on the cheek. “My baby here is going to continue the music program and the youth choir at no charge.” She kissed him back.

“Don't start that stuff.” Mother Hobbs shook her head. “Can't take y'all nowhere.”

Everyone laughed.

They all talked excitedly over dinner, making plans and of course, telling stories about their kids. After the waitress cleared their dinner plates, a few people ordered dessert.

Quinton leaned over to Shara. “Wanna share a piece of red velvet cake with me?”

“Just like our first date?” She kissed him and they rubbed noses.

Mother Hobbs humphed. “Now here y'all go. I've told you about all that kissing when people are trying to eat.”

They both laughed and blushed.

Nia made a face. “Talk about public displays of affection . . .”

Everyone followed her eyes to a couple at a table not too far away. They were kissing passionately as if no one was in the restaurant but them.

Shara heard Keeva gasp. Obviously the couple heard her also because they stopped kissing and turned around.

It was Mark . . . with Jade.

Shara could feel Keeva's nails starting to sink into her arm. “Keev?”

“Huh?” She looked down at Shara's arm. “Oh! Sorry, Shara.”

Mark sat with his mouth open and eyes wide. Jade ran her fingers through her hair and wiped her mouth. She got up and left the table.

Shara said under her breath, “I can't believe he's going to walk his trifling butt over here and . . .”

Mark stood with his hands in his pockets. “Keeva, it's uh, it's good to uh—”

“Good to see you too, Mark.” Keeva's voice was smooth and calm. “Jade didn't leave, did she? I didn't get a chance to say hello.”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, she got paged. She's on call tonight. We'll probably have to uh, leave because she may have to go in to, uh, the hospital.” He chuckled and rubbed his hands together. “You know how her, uh, job is . . . you never know when somebody might go into labor.” He looked around at the others at the table. All eyes were on him.

“Um hmm, well, too bad your dinner got interrupted. Please tell Jade I said hello.” Keeva gave him one of her infamous nice-nasty smiles Shara hadn't seen in a long time. “Do give her a big kiss for me, 'kay?”

“Yeah, uh, I'll do that.” He gave a little nod and slunk away from the table. He whispered something to the waitress on the way out the door.

Keeva let out a breath after he was gone.

“You okay, Keeva?” Shara and Anthony asked simultaneously from both sides.

Keeva flagged down the waitress. “I'm so sorry to bug you, but I changed my mind. Could you bring me the biggest hunk of chocolate cake you have?” She smiled as the waitress nodded. “Thank you so much.”

Everyone went back to talking again, pretending nothing had happened.

Shara pretended not to hear Anthony whisper, “So is that the guy that ruined things for me?”

She tried not to eavesdrop, but still heard Keeva's answer. “I told you, it's not about him, it's about me.”

When she was sure that this exchange was finished, Shara leaned over. “Keev? You all right?”

Keeva took a big bite of her chocolate cake the waitress had just brought. “Ummmm. I am now.” She closed her eyes and chewed slowly, humming.

Shara and Anthony both laughed, shaking their heads.

When they got back to the church parking lot, Quinton joked with Anthony as they walked to his car. Shara knew he was allowing her some time to talk to Keeva.

Shara hopped out of the truck and got into the back seat with Keeva. “Well, that was a surprise.”

Keeva looked at her. “Come on, Shara, with the brief encounters you had with both of them, was it really?”

“I guess not.”

“Actually, they're quite perfect for each other. I'm sure they'll live happily ever after.”

Shara smirked. “Please Keeva, you know they'll be battling it out in divorce court ten years from now.”

“Ya think? Nah . . . five.”

They both laughed.

Shara looked over at Quinton and Anthony. “So what's up with that?”

“Nothing really. He's interested. I'm not. I don't want or need a man right now.”

“Isn't that a total switch?”

“What?”

“I'm just thinking back to when we first met. You were with Mark and I was the one that was allergic to men.”

“I'm not allergic. I'm enjoying being with me. I think the reason you and Quinton are so disgustingly happy now is because you spent all that time getting to know and love yourself and God first.”