The Other Half of My Heart (26 page)

Was this some kind of trap? Would Miss Oliphant tell Dr. Hogg-Graff Minni’s answer? Not that Minni cared…or did she?

“If I was hearing you correctly on the balcony—and I’m pretty sure I was because it’s my eyesight that’s going, not my ears—you’re not too crazy about the color of your skin.”

Minni looked at the white swirls on the surface of her cocoa. “No, ma’am. I guess I’m not.”

“Miss King, do you know what the body’s largest organ is?”

“Please call me Minni.”

“Okay, then, Miss Minni, do you know what your largest organ is?”

Minni had a book at home that talked about the human body. She could see the colorful diagrams in her mind’s eye,
exactly as they appeared in the book. “The liver,” she said confidently.

“Your
skin,”
Miss Oliphant said.

Minni stared into her drink.

“That’s an awful lot of yourself not to like, don’t you think?” Miss Oliphant watched Minni carefully and slurped her hot chocolate.

Minni took a sip. Maybe so, she thought, but that was how she felt, and she didn’t see how knowing her outer layer was her largest organ would change that. It wasn’t just her largest organ—it was the part of her that people saw before anything else and decided who she was…how to treat her…whether she belonged.

“Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart,” Miss Oliphant said.

Her heart.
What was hidden in her heart?
“I’m scared,” Minni said.

“Of what, child?”

“Of getting treated better than my sister.” She looked up at Miss Oliphant. “And that it will come between us.”

“Hmmm. That’s a tough one. Your color
will
get you treated differently than your sister, sometimes better. The question is how will you use this to help make the world a more equitable place?”

Minni gripped her mug. Miss Oliphant hadn’t given her any assurances about what effect all this might have on her and Keira.

“So, back to my original question. What fits
your
soul?” Miss Oliphant asked.

Minni closed her eyes and tried to let herself be. How did she feel, deep inside? What did she believe? For some reason, she thought about sitting in Grandmother Johnson’s church, swaying to the choir’s voices. Something had stirred inside her. She was not an outsider peering in, a spectator. She was connected to the people there—maybe not by outer appearance, but by something deeper. Something in all their hearts. These were her people. This music, this feeling, this longing to be seen as a person and not just a color—it was hers, too.

But then there was Daddy, with his desire to be alone—in the sky or in the woods—and she could relate to that, too. She was connected to him, by their skin color and by something in their hearts as well. He would always be her daddy. She was about to say “I’m not sure” when she felt Miss Laverna’s hand on her arm.

“You don’t have to know right now. You’ve got time.”

Minni set down her mug. “Thanks for the hot chocolate. It
was
heavenly.” She took one last look at Sophie, the wisdom doll, and headed for the door.

Miss Oliphant followed her. “Good luck tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

“And, Minni, if you think your skin is going to keep you from belonging, it will. But it doesn’t have to.”

Minni cocked her head, considering Miss Oliphant—Miss Laverna—once more. Then she turned and walked down the steps. She might not have known what label best fit her soul, but she was confident of at least one thing: She didn’t think she was better than Keira. She knew this as surely as she knew they came from the same mama.

T
he next day, first Gigi and then Mama and Daddy called to wish them good luck. Minni used her speakerphone so she and Keira could talk at the same time. Keira was still acting kind of distant after last night’s conversation, but she jabbered with excitement during the calls.

“You’ll be great!” Daddy said.

“Be
yourselves,”
Mama added.

They promised to do their best, then hung up and gathered their things to leave.

G
randmother Johnson had gone completely overboard with her dress—a full-length black gown with curlicue appliqués and a surprisingly low neckline. Instead of her gold locket, she wore a blindingly bright diamond necklace and
teardrop earrings to match. A sheer black wrap lay on the car seat beside her.

She talked nonstop all the way to the Hotel Lamont. “We remembered everything, right? Opening-number outfits—leotards, tights, skirts…gowns, heels, nylons…talent outfits…”

She glanced in the rearview mirror. “Are those flowers holding up all right?”

Keira had asked Grandmother Johnson if she would cut her a couple of yellow roses to accessorize her hair, which was still straight from the flatiron, but which she’d gathered into a bun behind one ear, opposite her side part. The flowers rested on her lap in a plastic baggie, their stems wrapped in wet paper towels. “They’re good,” Keira said.

“Fine. Let’s see…what else? Hair spray, makeup—keep it modest, remember…” Grandmother Johnson glanced at Keira again. “You’re sure you have everything you need to do your sister’s hair?” They’d run out of time at the house.

Keira nodded.

“Good. And don’t forget to smile at all times. Not forced, never forced—natural smiles. And when you’re walking across the stage in your gowns, keep your chins up and your shoulders back, but don’t let your chests protrude too much. And drink a little water before you go onstage, but sip, don’t gulp, lest you trap air in your stomach. And…”

Minni tuned her out.

At the hotel, Grandmother Johnson pulled into the circular drive and around the spouting fountain to the gold-framed front doors. She got out, handed the keys to the valet
and ordered a bellboy to bring a luggage cart for her granddaughters’ things, all at the same time.

That was when Minni noticed. She nudged Keira with one hand and used the other to point. “Her shoes,” Minni whispered.

Keira gasped.

Their grandmother wore her sturdy pumps, but only one was black. The other was clearly navy blue! “Should we tell her?” Minni asked.

“Nah.” Keira snickered and her eyes sparkled with a familiar light.

Minni’s insides were a mess—between her nerves and the awful fear that Keira was still questioning whether Minni thought she was better than her—but at that moment she reveled in Keira’s smile. There was no greater feeling in the world than sharing a secret with her sister.

I
nside, Alisha’s grandmother, Alisha and a middle-aged woman who Minni guessed was Alisha’s mom stood in the corridor talking. Grandmother Johnson and Mrs. Russell gave each other once-overs.

“Ernestine,” Grandmother Johnson said coolly as they passed. Mrs. Russell nodded in response. Fortunately for Grandmother Johnson, she didn’t notice the mismatched shoes.

“This is
it
, Alisha,” the middle-aged woman said. Minni felt Alisha’s eyes following them. “Stay focused. No stupid mistakes. All right?”

“All
right.”
Alisha sounded aggravated.

When they reached the dressing room door, Grandmother Johnson pulled Minni and Keira aside. “I know you will compete with the utmost decorum…” They started to leave but she grabbed them by their shoulders. “But one of you needs to beat that girl, Alisha. Got it?”

They glanced at each other, then headed for the door.

Grandmother Johnson called out. “Take no prisoners!”

T
hey got into their opening-number outfits—black tights and ballet slippers, sparkly leotards and silver skirts—and then Minni sat in front of a mirror so Keira could do her hair. Girls dressed and twittered excitedly around them.

Keira worked silently and was a little rougher than usual. She never looked Minni in the eye. The chill coming off her made Minni feel cold. Why was Keira still mad? Minni had
told
her she didn’t think she was better. Didn’t Keira believe her? Didn’t her sister know her better than that?

Keira used her curling iron to make ringlets around Minni’s face, put in the two rhinestone flower clips, then sprayed the hair spray. Minni would have to make sure no one lit a match within ten feet of her head or they would all go up in flames.

Minni stood to let Keira take her chair. “Would you please talk to me?” she pleaded.

Keira opened her makeup pouch and applied some sparkly blush. She glanced at Minni in the mirror. Her lips
scrunched to one side. She rose and pulled Minni behind a clothing rack.
“Why
didn’t you talk to any of the girls yesterday?” she whispered.

“Why did you ignore me all day?” Minni asked, still feeling the sting of what seemed like her sister’s abandonment.

“Because you need to learn how to make friends on your own!”

“I never go up to new people and start talking. That’s what
you
do.”

Keira huffed. “You could, too, if you tried.”

Minni’s neck and ears got hot. “You know I’m not stuck-up, Keira. I’m shy!”

“Of course I know that, but I’m not always going to be there to help you out…or to defend you.”

Minni’s eyes stung with tears. She grabbed Keira’s hand. “Please don’t be mad at me. I can’t go through with this if I feel like you’re mad at me. I
won’t
. You said we’d get through this
together.”

Keira exhaled again. Her eyes looked sorry, but her jaw was still firm and her arm was stiff and tense.

Minni let go of Keira’s hand and put her fists on her hips. She spoke loudly. “I officially withdraw from the Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America pageant—”

Alisha rounded the rack, nearly bumping into Keira. “Thank goodness,” Alisha said. “Now I don’t have to worry about getting a black eye.”

“Bug off,” Keira said.

Alisha looked aghast. “What did you say?”

“Bug off!”

“After I chose to sit next to you and be nice to you yesterday?”

“We all know you’re just trying to win Miss Congeniality along with the title. You’re as see-through as Saran Wrap, Alisha.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed. “You better watch yourself, Keira King. My mama’s been preparing me for this since the day I was born, and I
will
win.” Alisha opened a canister of Vaseline, scooped out a glob and ran it over her teeth.

Minni shuddered at the thought of the thick stuff in her mouth, but she did something else as well. Something that surprised her, but she did it. She stepped forward and looked Alisha right in the eye. “Well, Alisha Walker, I hope your mama’s ready for a big disappointment, because my sister’s going to beat you.”

Alisha gave her an evil eye, then spun, whipping her ponytail in Minni’s face. She stalked away.

Keira took Minni’s hands in her own. “You
have
to do this, Min—not for Grandmother Johnson or our parents, not even for me. For your
own
sake.” She looked straight into Minni’s eyes. “You have to believe it’s your right to be out there.”

Minni’s heart felt like an egg being pecked on from the inside. With each moment she gazed into her sister’s deep brown eyes, her heart cracked a little more. She was overcome by a sudden need to tell her sister about the lady at the dress shop. “She treated me kindly, Keira.”

The skin between Keira’s eyes crinkled.

“The lady at the gown shop. Before you and Gigi came
in, she was totally friendly and full of compliments. I put my hands all over a bunch of dresses and she didn’t say a thing.” Minni hadn’t realized how heavy the secret had become. She suddenly felt fifty pounds lighter.

Keira looked at the floor.

“I didn’t mean to pass for white—really, I didn’t.”

Keira looked into her eyes again.

Minni knew her sister’s eyes better than any others, even better than her own. She’d been staring into them since before she was born. “And I
don’t
think I’m better than you.” She squeezed Keira’s hands. “You’re the other half of my heart.”

Keira squeezed back. The hairs on Minni’s arms prickled.

Miss Jackie opened the door from the stage. “Let’s go, everyone! In your places!”

Minni and Keira jumped to finish getting ready. Keira gave Minni a coat of lip gloss and a little of Gigi’s Marla Ray blush. They pinned each other’s numbers to their hips. Then they stood at the stage door, the last ones in the room. Keira messed with Minni’s hair, repositioning her bobby pins. “Ready?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Minni said. “I guess I’m about to find out.” She took her sister’s hand. “Shine, Keira. Brighter than ever.
Shine.”