Who You Wit'?

Chapter 12

The next morning, the silence in Brian's truck was so thick it even seemed to smother the light strain of chatter streaming from the radio. The abnormal quiet got to Michael. He was usually the only zombie in the morning. As the truck rolled down the sleepy street, he looked from Jacinta over to JZ and peeked up at the rearview mirror to catch Brian's expression. He was sitting behind Mina's seat and couldn't see her at all. Whatever it was, and it had to be something, everybody was in on it but him. He waited a few minutes more for someone to say something. He knew if he got Mina alone, she'd dish in a minute. But it was too weird that no one was talking. He couldn't take it anymore. "Alright, what did I miss yesterday?" His question was met with Mina peeking over at Brian, JZ's knee jumping, and Jacinta staring past him, looking out his window.

"It must..." he started, but Jacinta cut him off. "Go ahead, somebody tell Michael." She pursed her lips. "The whole world knows now anyway." "Not the whole world, Cinny," Mina said softly. "Just us." "Knows what?" Michael asked. He leaned up so he could see over to JZ, then looked at Jacinta beside him. His face searched theirs for answers. JZ's knee jumped double-time, as if it was keeping time to a silent tune. "My period is late. Okay?" Jacinta exhaled like she'd been holding it since she'd gotten in the truck. "My. Period. Is. Late." Eyebrow arched, Michael glanced over at JZ again, who suddenly had found something really interesting outside his own window. His neck was going to snap if he stretched it any further toward the window. "Let's have this conversation once, so we don't have to do it again," Jacinta said. She rounded her shoulders and sat up straight. "It's late. I haven't taken any test. It doesn't even mean I'm pregnant. It's just late. I'm pissed that Raheem out- ted me like that. Can we talk about something else?" "Please," JZ muttered. "Do you want a pickle?" Michael asked. Jacinta scowled. "What?" 

"A pickle." "No." Jacinta's eyes rolled. "Oh. Well, you're not pregnant then." Jacinta looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "When you pregnant, you're supposed to have cravings and stuff. So you must not be." Michael raised his hands as if to say, "see, that simple." There was a brief moment of collective confusion until they all realized he was joking. Michael shook Jacinta's knee and smiled. Mina tittered, then Brian and JZ chuckled—one of those begrudging, "man, that was stupid" kind of laughs. Finally, Jacinta snorted and chuckled along, too. "Boy, you crazy." "Let me just say I haven't heard the word period used so many times this early since seventh grade when I had language arts first class of the day," Michael said, still clowning. "I wish you would stop using it now," JZ said. "Let's just ban it for the rest of the day." "Yeah, well, Mack D-a-d-d-y, you better hope all those girls you be creeping with use the word often, as in they got theirs," Mina chided. More laughter smoothed out the tension.

"Naw, for real, can we stop talking about it?" JZ pulled his cap down over his eyes and slumped in the seat. "Dra-ma," Mina sang. She balled up a piece of notebook paper and threw it back at JZ. He batted it away, then reached across Jacinta to tap the back of Mina's head. "Stop, bighead," Mina whined. JZ continued to pluck with Mina the rest of the ride. They played their usual game of friend tug-of-war, attempting to get Michael and Jacinta to side with them as they verbally sparred, dissing one another. By the time they got to school, every- one happily left the awkward topic of Jacinta's cycle behind. Later that day, Mina, Michael, and Lizzie sat in Mina's room waiting for the big unveil. Lizzie sat on the bed, silently throwing darts with her eyes at Mina. All day, she'd tried to process what Todd had told her on the phone. She wanted to believe that he was mistaken or maybe just taking a snitty jab at her, because of the pact. Their conversation hadn't ended that well, and Todd had avoided her the entire day at school. But Lizzie knew he'd been telling the truth. Her chest was tight with anger and hurt. But Mina was too eager, dying of curiosity about the prom dress hidden under the garment bag hanging on her closet door to notice.

"Come on, Mike. Stop playing," Mina scolded, hiding a smile. But Michael was enjoying every moment of teasing out the big reveal. Mina plopped on the bed beside Lizzie and gave Lizzie a "he's tripping" eye roll. Lizzie's eyebrows popped slightly, but her face remained expressionless. Michael stroked the white garment bag concealing the dress, purring at it under his breath. The last anyone had seen of the dress, it was a swatch of vibrant, sap- phire satin draped over a mannequin in a jumbled mass. Once Michael was as- sured his measurements were on, he'd refused to let Mina see the dress even when she'd harrumphed that Jennifer Hudson probably got a look at her dress before Oscar night. "Well, if she did, she saw it in the dark," Michael had shot back. "'Cause that thing was wack. I got this, diva. Just trust me." Lizzie knew that if Michael came even close to his sketch, the dress was going to be gorgeous. Mina's knee did an involuntary dance in anticipation as she begged this time, "Come on, Mike. Please." Michael pulled down the zipper of the garment bag in a dramatic sweep, and both Lizzie and Mina gasped. Michael grinned, his handsome, dark chocolate face complimenting the soft electric blue of the short satin dress. His hands pulled lightly at the skirt of the dress, making the pleats shimmer softly. Mina gawked. She stood in front of the dress, taking in every detail. The pleats fell perfectly from a wide band covered in beads. Michael and his bead work. It was like he refused to take the easy way out of a design, and Mina told him so. "Mike, how long did it take you to sew on all those beads? Are you crazy?" Despite the light scolding, her voice was hushed in reverence. Michael shrugged. "Long enough that I'm gonna be pissed if your boy Brian pull any off messing around." Mina smiled sheepishly and rushed on. "It's gorgeous. Isn't it, Liz?" Liz nodded, speechless. She was usually the recipient of Michael's off-the-chain designs for the school's productions.

But he'd gone out of his way for Mina, and it showed. The dress was gorgeous. "It's like...that dress is so Mina," Lizzie said finally, her eyes admiring the dress from its V-neck and spaghetti straps to the pleated skirt. Mina nodded. "Well, I figured that the empire waist would help hide some of that apple  bottom." Michael chuckled as he nodded toward Mina's rear. "So I know Mama Mooney will like that. But you got your top out with the V without having to worry about your girls hanging out." The three of them laughed. "Not that my girls are all that big," Mina said. "I love it," Lizzie declared. Mina beamed. Lizzie smiled back, the smile never reaching her eyes. A flicker of confusion crossed Mina's face before she said, "Mike, can you take us over to the mall so I can finally get the accessories and shoes?" "What? On my magic carpet?" Michael said. Mina picked up her tiny purse from the desk. "Brian and JZ are balling over at JZ's. He'll probably let you use his truck." "Well, if he lets me, yeah, I'll take y'all," Michael said. He and Lizzie trailed behind Mina and headed down to JZ's.