The Other Half of My Heart (28 page)

“Ow!” Alisha screeched. “How dare you!”

“No, how dare you!” Minni growled, and kept walking. She pushed through the dressing room door. Keira wasn’t there.

“Have you seen my sister?” she asked Donyelle.

Donyelle shook her head. “Is she going to be okay? What happened?”

Minni didn’t stop to answer. She clutched the skirt of her dress and hurried from the room.

After checking the hallway bathroom and the lobby, she decided to try outside. Keira sat on a bench, watching the spraying fountain in the turnaround. The setting sun still lit the night air. The almost perfectly round moon shone opposite in the sky, making its way up.

Minni sat next to her sister. “Are you all right?”

Keira nodded, gazing at the sky.

“She tripped you, didn’t she?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters! That’s cheating! She should be disqualified.”

“I feel sorry for her—all the pressure she must be under. If she has to win
that
badly, let her have it. There’s always next year.” Keira smiled.

“But Grandmother Johnson said there might not be a competition next year.”

“You know she only said that to get Mom to go along. You’ve seen the way she and Alisha’s grandmother look at each other. She wants to show that woman up. That’s probably why she insisted we had to come this summer instead of waiting until next.”

“You could still win.”

Keira shrugged. “I’ve realized there are more important things.”

Minni looked into her sister’s eyes. “Like not letting anything come between us?”

Keira grabbed Minni’s hand and held it tight. “Or any
one.”

Minni looked at the sun and moon hanging in the summer sky. They had always been together. They would always be together. “Whatever happens, I’m with you.”

F
inally it was time to return to the stage. Standing next to Alisha on the risers, Minni wanted to throw up. Not just a little pea-sized throw-up. Buckets. Gallons. Bushels.

She wasn’t nervous for herself anymore. She was nervous for Keira. She so badly wanted her to win, or at least for Alisha not to.

The emcee came to the podium. “All of our girls are winners already—” The crowd applauded, with a few whistles and hoots thrown in. “But now it is time to acknowledge a handful of them for their outstanding merit in particular areas. First, because achievement and success mean little without a kind heart and a friendly spirit, the Miss Congeniality award goes to
Donyelle Dyer!”

With a rush of excitement, Minni threw her hands together and clapped long and hard. Donyelle, grinning from ear to ear, stepped away from the first row to receive her trophy. She jiggled with excitement as she posed for a photo with last year’s Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America, her dimples deeper than ever. Minni waved at her and gave her a big thumbs-up. Donyelle totally deserved that award. She had made Minni feel welcomed from the very start.

The category awards continued, with girls receiving trophies for school activities, leadership, athletics and the arts.
Minni was not disappointed a bit when her name wasn’t called for academic excellence, although she was sort of surprised Keira didn’t win the arts award.

“The humanitarian award goes to a girl who has exhibited an exceptional commitment to making our world a better place. For her work in her school library helping children to read, her environmental cleanup efforts, her involvement with Girl Scouts and her volunteer service with a local animal shelter, this year’s award goes to Minerva King!”

A tremor ran through Minni’s body. Her face turned hot.

Alisha leaned over. “Are you just going to stand there with your mouth open?”

Minni took a breath, then gathered her dress in her hands and descended the risers carefully. Other girls’ hands patted her back and arms as she passed. At the bottom, Keira rushed over and hugged her neck.

Minni received the trophy from last year’s Miss Black Pearl Preteen, thanked her and posed for the photo. The bright flash made her see stars, but she still managed to locate Miss Laverna at the judges’ table and give her a little wave. She went back to her place next to Alisha, who stood straight and tall, looking smug. “Congratulations.”

Somehow Minni didn’t think she meant it.

“The talent award will be next,” Alisha said.

“Now on to the talent award,” the emcee announced.

“See?” Alisha said, never once losing her pasted-on smile. “In most pageants, the girl who wins talent wins the title.” She couldn’t seem to help herself. She just had to be a show-off.

“This isn’t a pageant. It’s a program,” Minni said dryly.

Alisha sneered, then quickly put on her smile again.

“The judges had a very difficult time with this one, as there were so many fine performances.”

Alisha’s smile held steady.

“And so, for the first time in the history of Miss Black Pearl Preteen, we have a
tie
for talent. The co-winners are Miss Alisha Walker”—Alisha squealed and started for the stage—“and Miss Keira King!”

Alisha stopped in her tracks. Minni didn’t need to see the girl’s face to know the smile had been knocked clean off.

Minni cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Yeah, Keira!” Then she clapped as hard as she could for her sister, who posed for a photo along with the clearly still-in-shock Alisha.

The emcee waited for the girls to return to their spots. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment we’ve all been waiting for…”

The crowd was completely silent, but the room was not quiet. It crackled with the excitement of everyone waiting to hear who would be crowned the next Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America.

Last year’s first and second runners-up joined Miss Black Pearl Preteen onstage, waiting to give this year’s court their crowns, sashes and large pretend checks representing the U.S. savings bonds that the winners received.

“The second runner-up, and first princess in the Black Pearl court, is Miss Shauntay Daniels!” The audience
erupted in shouts and applause. Shauntay put her hands over her mouth when she heard her name and then hugged the girls next to her. She lifted the hem of her dress and hurried to receive her regalia and check.

“The first runner-up, and second princess in the Black Pearl court, is…Miss Alisha Walker!”

Minni bit the side of her mouth to keep from smiling and turned toward Alisha. She could at least give the girl a pat on the back.

Alisha stood with her arms straight down, her fists and jaw clenched. She wasn’t even trying to fake looking happy. She stalked to the front of the stage and forced a smile for the camera. She looked as if someone were pulling her fingernails off one by one.

“And now, to the winner.” The emcee held up a card. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the ninth Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America is…”

Minni smiled, knowing what was coming.

“Miss KEIRA KING!”

The audience roared. Minni’s heart soared. There were cheers, whistles and the most applause of the whole program. People rose to their feet.

Some cheesy instrumental music started to play. Keira hugged the girls around her, then walked forward proudly to receive her foam-board check for one thousand dollars in U.S. savings bonds and stand next to the huge trophy, which was almost as tall as she was.

Minni beamed as last year’s Miss Black Pearl Preteen put a crown on Keira’s head and a sash around her
middle. Then she handed Keira some flowers and kissed her cheek.

Keira walked across the stage, waving at the audience, her eyes shining brightly. Flashing cameras lit up the room.

Minni smiled so hard her cheeks ached. She looked out at the audience again. Grandmother Johnson plowed down the aisle, leading the charge on her way to the stage.

She wasn’t alone.

Mama, Daddy and Gigi were with her!

D
addy blew kisses. Gigi snapped pictures. Mama beamed at Keira, then at Minni. She gave Minni a big thumbs-up.

Grandmother Johnson had apparently forgotten about decorum. She cheered wildly, bouncing up and down. Hopefully, in her ecstatic state, she had also forgotten about the earlier broadcasting of her “heavy breathing” habit.

When all official photo-taking was over, Miss Jackie signaled to the girls that they were free to leave their places and mingle with each other and family members waiting to greet them. Alisha fled from the stage, wailing.

Donyelle grabbed Minni before she could reach Keira, who was surrounded by a hundred people anyway. It would be a while before Minni had her sister to herself again.

“Congratulations on your award!” Donyelle said.

“You too! You totally deserved it.”

“Thanks. Hey, you wanna trade e-mails?” Donyelle held out a pen and a piece of paper with her address already written on it: [email protected].

“Sure,” Minni said, grinning. She ripped the paper in half, wrote down her address and handed it back to Donyelle. They hugged.

“It was fun to meet you,” Donyelle said.

“You too.”

“Don’t forget to write.”

“I won’t.”

“I’ll send you a picture of my Barbie collection.”

“Okay. I’ll send you a picture of me and Bessie Coleman.”

“Great!” Donyelle headed off to exchange addresses with someone else.

Minni scanned the judges’ area, looking for Miss Laverna, but all the judges were gone. She headed for the stairs at the end of the stage and made her way to her family.

She sank into Mama’s embrace, breathing in her lovely scent. She was home again.

I
t turned out Daddy had flown Mama and Gigi out in one of his friend’s charter planes in exchange for a favor. They had decided to keep it a surprise and had actually called that morning from Raleigh. Grandmother Johnson had known all about it. “I’m an excellent secret keeper,” she said with a grin when the truth came out. They stood around Keira in the emptying ballroom, admiring her
gargantuan trophy, the bouquet of stargazer lilies and the big check.

Minni and Keira retrieved their things from the dressing room—Alisha was nowhere to be seen—received a final word of congratulation from Dr. Hogg-Graff, and then joined their family in the lobby. They begged to go with Mama and Daddy in the rental car.

“I’ll keep you company, Minerva,” Gigi said. Her dangling earrings and dental-strip-whitened teeth sparkled in the lobby’s light. “How is it that in all these years, we’ve never had any one-on-one time?” She tweaked Grandmother Johnson’s arm. Grandmother Johnson looked at her sharply, but Gigi didn’t seem to notice. “On our way, you can point out places to go for a hot night out on the town. I wouldn’t mind meeting myself a good old-fashioned Southern gentleman while I’m here.”

Daddy rolled his eyes. He put his arms around Minni and Keira, and they all went out into the warm evening air.

Back at Grandmother Johnson’s, another surprise awaited.

“Ruff! Ruff-ruff!”

“Banjo!” Minni ran to the dog and knelt. Banjo put his paws on her shoulders and licked her face. She untied the dog’s leash from the railing along the back steps and scooped him up.

Gigi came along next.

“I can’t believe she let you leave him in her yard!” Minni looked around the grass for any “dirty deeds.”

“Only after practically making me sign a contract,” Gigi
muttered, then raised the pitch of her voice to sound like Grandmother Johnson, “‘to remove any and all ill effects of his messes from the premises.’”

Grandmother Johnson clip-clopped down the walkway from the garage. She harrumphed and raised The Eyebrow at the sight of Banjo but didn’t stop to comment. She clomped up the steps and unlocked the back door.

Finally, Mama, Daddy and Keira came. Keira still wore the crown and sash. She talked a mile a minute. “I just can’t believe it! I actually won! Can you believe it?”

“Absolutely,” Daddy said, squeezing her shoulders from behind.

Seeing Banjo’s food and water dishes in the grass, Minni thought of her parakeet. “Who’s taking care of Bessie Coleman?” she asked Daddy.

“Mrs. Anderson will check on her tomorrow.” Mrs. Anderson was their neighbor in Port Townsend. “And we should be home by tomorrow night.”

Home
. She loved the sound of that word. Although she wondered what it would be like to be there again, now that she understood better what it was like for Keira. Now that she knew it wasn’t always so easy for her.

Mama, Keira and Gigi went inside. Daddy came over and put his arm around her. “I’m really proud of you.” She rested her head against his side. “And Bessie will be able to tell you the same. We worked hard on that while you were gone.”

Minni nuzzled Banjo’s scruffy face, then tucked him under her arm and followed Daddy inside.

“What is
that
doing in here?” Grandmother Johnson asked, eyeing the dog. She was setting dishes of pudding on the dining room table, still in her long black gown.

“He’s a wonderful indoor dog—completely potty trained,” Gigi replied. “A lapdog, really.”

“I’ll hold on to him,” Minni said. “Promise.” She clutched Banjo to her side.