VIVIANA
My life really sucks. Not only has my own mother walked out on me, but now my grandmother is shipping me off to live under the same roof with the one person I can hardly get along with—Maya. My grandmother had somehow convinced my aunt Raven to take me in until my mother decided to surface. Although I would be staying with family who had known me all of my life, I still felt as if I were intruding. I also knew that the only reason I was being taken in was because my grandmother wasn’t going to have it any other way.
When I arrived back at Maya’s house and Aunt Raven met me at the door, she gave me a kiss on the cheek and a big hug.
“You’re welcome to stay for as long as necessary,” she said. Although her words were kind and probably genuine, I still felt like the pile of steaming dinosaur crap that had suddenly materialized in the middle of the room.
“Where will I be sleeping, the garage?” I asked sarcastically.
“No, honey, why would you think we’d place you out in the cold garage?” Aunt Raven asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, feeling really vulnerable.
“Anna insisted that you sleep in her bedroom with her,” she informed me. I perked up a little. I really liked that girl. “She has a queen-size bed that you guys can share until we can figure out what’s going on.”
“Is Anna here?” I asked.
“Yes. Just go on upstairs. You know where to find her.” I gave my aunt another hug before I headed up to Anna’s room.
Grandmother Esmeralda decided to stay for a few days until I got settled in. If the truth were to be told, she only stayed because she knew that my being there was putting a lot of pressure on Aunt Raven. It was an unsettling feeling knowing that I was the cause of underlying tension in the house.
While Aunt Raven and Uncle Herman were at work, Grandmother Esmeralda took it upon herself to make sure no major fallouts happened. Anna and I got along well, Maya stayed to herself and Paul got lost in his video games. Although Aunt Raven told her not to, Grandmother Esmeralda did all the laundry, cleaning and cooking for several days. Coming home to a clean house and a hot meal was something that went over well with Uncle Herman.
I received a text message from an old friend who lived in my old neighborhood. He made money on the side as a DJ at parties and said that he was throwing a summer bash and was inviting everyone he knew. I got the address from him, but was a little disappointed when I realized that it was in the city.
“Damn,” I whispered to myself as I stood in the bathroom and read his text. If I were still living with my mother and Martin I could come and go at will. I knew that in order to go I’d have to get really creative and do a lot of scheming to pull it off without getting caught. After thinking about it for a day, I came up with a plan. It was a risky one, but I was willing to give it a try, because I totally needed to blow off some steam and have some fun for once in my life. I decided that it was best to keep my plans all to myself. The less everyone knew, the better. I figured I’d just sneak out of the house for a few hours and come back in. Aunt Raven had already given me a spare door key and the alarm code for the house. I could exit the house through a side door in the basement, where Grandmother Esmeralda was sleeping on the sofa bed. She slept like a corpse so I knew she wouldn’t hear anything. I figured I’d take her car keys and drive myself down to the party. I’d see some old friends, have a good time and be back before anyone noticed that I was gone.
On the night of the party I placed the clothes I’d change into in the trunk of Grandmother Esmeralda’s car. I waited until 11:30 p.m. when everyone was sound asleep. Once I got out of the house, I was about to get into Grandmother Esmeralda’s car, which was parked in the driveway, when I heard someone say, “Where the hell are you going?”
I thought for sure I’d gotten busted by my aunt. I closed my eyes tightly and nervously turned in the direction of the voice, hoping I could come up with a damn good lie.
“Are you sneaking out of our house?” I opened my eyes and realized that it was Maya and not Aunt Raven asking the questions. Sometimes they could sound like each other. Maya was sitting on the front porch on the swing.
“Keep your voice down,” I said as I moved toward her.
“Were you about to take Grandmother Esmeralda’s car?” Maya asked.
“I’ve taken it before and returned it. It’s no big deal,” I said.
“You don’t even have a driver’s license,” Maya said.
“A lot of people don’t have a license or insurance, but does that keep them from driving around and getting them to where they need to go?” I asked.
“And exactly where are you going?” she asked.
“None of your business. Besides, what are you doing out here this late?” I whispered softly.
“I couldn’t sleep so I came out for some air,” Maya explained.
“It sounds like you’re freaking bored to death.” Maya didn’t deny what I’d just said. “I’m going out to a party,” I reluctantly informed her.
“You can’t just go to a party without asking.” Maya was starting to sound like someone’s mother.
“Yes, I can. I always come and go as I please without anyone’s permission, and I’m not about to start asking for it now,” I said indignantly.
“I’m telling.” Maya rose to her feet to go squeal.
“If you go in there and say something, I’ll deny everything and lie on you. I’ll say that I came out to the car to get my purse and saw you out here with Misalo.”
“That’s a lie! Misalo wasn’t here. My parents wouldn’t believe you,” Maya said.
“How do your parents know that you’re telling the truth? After all, you did get busted with him in your room. It would be my word against yours. Besides, I’m still in my pajamas. Why would I go to a party in my pj’s?” I gambled with my last comment, hoping Maya was the perfect princess that I knew she was, and had never in her life snuck out of the house and stashed a change of clothes somewhere. Maya was silent for a moment. Then to my utter shock she asked, “Where is this party at?”
“Oh, hell no! Don’t tell me you want to go,” I said.
“I’m feeling daring, so either you take me or the minute you pull off, I’ll wake up everyone in the house and let them know that you’ve disappeared…just like your mother,” Maya said.
I wanted to choke her for bringing up my mother like that. I was about to drop the entire idea of going to the party and just beat Maya up, when a mean-spirited thought entered my mind. It would be the perfect way to get Maya into some really hot water.
“Okay. I’ll take you,” I agreed. “How long will it take you to get ready, because we don’t have much time. We’ve got to get there, have our fun and then come back. I want to be back in the house at about 3:30 a.m.”
“It won’t take me long at all,” Maya said.
“I’ll be in the car.” I smiled because she had no clue what I was about to do to her.
Maya got dressed in ten minutes and I drove us to the address as quickly as I could. During the drive there I acted as if everything would be fine and assured Maya that she’d have a great time. When we arrived at the address and entered the house, the party was alive and buzzing with energy. The music was hot, people were dancing and the drinks were flowing. It didn’t take me long to run into several people that I knew. A friend gave me a can of beer and I offered one to Maya. I purposely didn’t introduce her to anyone there. I wanted her to feel totally lost and friendless. Almost immediately, I could tell that she regretted the decision to come. Knowing that brought me a twisted kind of joy. I raised my can high in the air and screamed. Several friends joined me as I rocked and grooved my way to another section of the house, leaving Maya, the human wallflower, behind.
During all of my excitement I stumbled across several people who were pretty wasted. I took the opportunity to pick their pockets. I grabbed a plastic bag out of the kitchen and went to work. It was so easy. I took jewelry and cash. About two hours after we’d arrived I went looking for Maya. I was actually a little disappointed that she wasn’t searching for me. When I found her and saw what she was doing, my jaw hit the floor.
“What were the odds of that happening? That’s why she hasn’t been looking for me,” I muttered to myself as I watched Maya sharing a slow dance with Carlo. If someone had come and told me that Maya was all hugged up with Carlo I would’ve called them a liar, but there they were, all hugged up.
“Unbelievable,” I murmured as I removed my cell phone and set it to video mode. I stood in a corner and filmed it, knowing that at some point the video clip would be very useful. Once I’d seen enough, I placed the nail in Maya’s coffin, and left her stranded at the party.