Pointe of No Return: Giving You All I Got (22 page)

Even when Demi asked for a ten-minute break, Dorane would leave the studio so there wouldn’t be an awkward moment of silence between the two of them.

She asked her mother when would they talk and Dorane asked her, “About what?”

That’s when Demi knew her mother really wasn’t stunting her. Somehow, Demi had allowed herself to become her mom’s guinea pig all over again.

But, she couldn’t act like she didn’t miss the thrill that ballet brought her and that was the ONLY thing that got her out of bed at five in the morning to be yelled at all day by her mom. Demi would never deny her mother’s talent, Dorane was gifted and she had an eye for good dancers.

When a compliment came from her mama, it was like receiving an Oscar or Grammy. Dorane didn’t believe in lying or kissing ass, so when she praised Demi it was because she deserved it.

One day she walked Demi to the door and finally asked about the Bentley.

“I’m assuming you’re still with your boyfriend?”

Demi told her, “Yes,” but that’s all she said before climbing into her car and peeling off. She was happy Dorane didn’t come close enough to see the car seat in the back seat or the “baby on board” sticker on the right window in the back.

Papa cracked on her when she placed the caution sticker on the car, but Demi didn’t care, she wanted everyone to know she was a mommy and to present day it was still her biggest accomplishment.

“I’m going to tell her,” she told him.

“When?”

“After the audition, babe, I promise.” Demi begged him to believe her.

Papa prayed that his girl wasn’t changing before his eyes. They had just began their happily forever after. He had so much more in store for them and would be damned if Dorane fucked it all up.

***

Papa backed his bike up and eyed some old lady who didn’t even try to turn her head while staring at him. Most times when somebody caught a stare they would act like they weren’t staring, but not this chick. She didn’t even blink.

When he entered the house, Mary Jane was standing at the window with a gun in her hand.

“I feel like somebody is watching me,” she told Papa, not bothering to turn around to greet him.

“Probably that old ass lady that lived next door. Who the fuck is that?” Papa asked.

“She just nosey as hell, I’m not worried about her,” Mary Jane told him.

He removed his shoes and took a seat on the couch. “What’s the word?” he asked.

“Not much, I just got back from out of town. Miko got me a fake ID,” she told him.

“How is she? Do you like her?” Papa wasn’t too keen on them bringing so many new people on the board, but The Underworld was expanding and would soon be international, so having Malachi’s sister on payroll was needed.

Mary shrugged her shoulders. “Hell, I don’t know. I didn’t talk much and neither did she.”

“She a li’l sneaky to me,” Papa gossiped.

              She laughed. “You think everybody sneaky.”

“Shit, until they prove me wrong, we all suspect,” he shrugged his shoulders.

“So, I finally met Nasir, handsome guy,” she said.

“Hmm, what’s your take?” he asked, curious to know how she felt about him.

“I fucked him,” she admitted. She was never one to kiss and tell, but she trusted Papa and he was the only person she really communicated with.

His jaws fell open. He never heard of Nasir fucking anybody other than Jordyn, but he was sure he had to be cheating on her.

“Damn, it went down like that?” he joked.

“It just happened. I invited him in, we had tea, and then I don’t know. He kissed me,” she said.

Papa laughed, “What you put in that tea girl?”

Mary smiled. She was thinking of how graceful he was with her body. It had been so long since she allowed someone to get close to her, let alone see her naked and vulnerable.

He was gentle and quiet, yet passive. It was an emotional experience and when she woke up he was gone and took her whole box of tea. She thought it was a cute gesture, considering he told her he didn’t drink or eat from anyone’s home except the one he lived in. She knew he trusted her and he didn’t even know her, considering she handled his most prized possession.

“I don’t like him or anything,” she told herself, more than she told Papa.

“Of course not,” he joked.

“Anyway, he asked me how close we were and did I trust you,” she continued.

Papa rolled the blunt up. Mary studied his facial expressions and all.

“Hmmm,” he said.

“I told him you reminded me of my brother, which says a lot,” she told Papa.

He stopped what he was doing and looked at her. She eyed him.

“I then told him I would lay my life down for you and if he was coming here to deter me from you then he could leave. But he assured me he loved you just as much and he had a funny way of showing it because y’all are alike in many ways,” she told Papa.

He took it all in before saying, “Why you telling me this?” he asked.

“Because I think you’ve been thinking about leaving and I think they know it and he came to see me hoping I would talk to you,” she told him.

Mary Jane had always been a truthful person. It took too much to keep up with a lie and she smoked too much to remember so many details.

“If I do leave it’s not personal,” he told her.

“But it is personal because they consider you family,” she reminded him.

“I got other shit I wanna do. I want to see my kids grow old,” Papa admitted.

Mary Jane took the blunt he was holding out to her.

“And all of those things can still be done. I understand how you feel, trust me, but I think it will be foolish to leave when things are finally about to take off for real,” she told him.

“Did he tell you to say this?” Papa asked.

“No,” she said.

He wondered was she keeping it one-hundred with him, but he never had to question her before. But then again, that was before she admitted to allowing Nasir into her home and into her bed.

“Two years,” Papa said.

“Sounds good to me,” she told him.

He repeated it again, but to remind himself more than anything. “Two years.”

Mary Jane saw the real heart of a hustler when she looked at Papa and that’s how she knew that in two years he would still be a part of The Underworld, if not running the motherfucker.

She laid her head back and blew out a cloud of smoke, glancing at the window once more. Someone had been watching her.

Across the street, Nasir sat in the back seat of a rented vehicle with tinted windows. After he saw Papa pull up, he waited a few minutes to see how long he would be there, but after ten minutes he figured he was there to chill for a bit and that’s when he knew everything had been handled.

Mary Jane wasn’t his type, but for the business he would do whatever he needed to do. And to his surprise, he ended up enjoying himself, but it would never happen again. Nasir didn’t mix business with pleasure, but The Underworld was important and somehow Papa had more trust in this chick Mary Jane, than his brothers, so he did what he had to do to continue running a solid operation.

***

“Number one hundred and forty-one,” the dance instructor called out.

              Demi’s head stuck up like a deer caught in headlights. She looked back down at her number, unsure if she was really who he had called.

It couldn’t be,
she thought to herself. The man repeated himself, this time not sounding too happy.

Demi stepped forward with her head held high and her shoulders to the back. One wouldn’t know that her back was tense and her body in intense pain. Her feet were swollen and her toe nails held on for dear mercy. The average person wouldn’t understand, but a dancer would.

Demi didn’t consider herself mortal or even human. She was a dancer, a dancer who danced in a league all of her own. In the world others lived in, she danced in.

She waited on a few other names to be called, but more numbers never came. The man stood to his feet and left the building with his associates following. Demi looked around for an answer or an announcement to proclaim what had just happened. She heard the whispers and even a few cries, but still she wanted to know, what had just taken place?

There were an estimated fifty-something dancers standing on the stage, dancers that Demi admired from afar, dancers that she considered friends and others that hated her freaking guts.

Demi’s heart beat fast and suddenly she felt like she was wearing the Scarlet letter. She didn’t feel as giddy as she did prior to arriving at the theatre.  Demi couldn’t believe she had been exiled after giving her all, her very best.

Today she danced like never before, knowing how important this day was for her and her family. All of her hard work, blood, sweat, and tears, now meant nothing because she stood alone.

Demi refused to cry in front of her peers, so she took a deep breath and prepared to exit the stage.

“Number one hundred and forty-one, Mr. Apollo wants you in his office,” his assistant ran on stage and said. Demi was now scared and worried, fear stepped over her little heart.

She looked at the other dancers and hate greeted her back. Demi wasn’t surprised nor shocked, it came with the territory. Gone was her girl next door demeanor, Demi knew this was a dancer eat dancer world and she was prepared for the hate just as much as the love.

Demi followed the assistant down the side steps and out of the exit doors. She remained quiet with her hands crossed in the front of her. The assistant knocked and then moved to the side for Demi to enter.

“Come in, come in, Demi…Westbrook, correct?” Mr. Apollo asked.

“Yes sir.”

“Is it true you’re the daughter of Dorane Little?” he asked.

Demi nodded her head, hoping and praying that wasn’t the reason she was chosen.

Mr. Apollo smiled. “Does your mother know you’re here?” he questioned.

Demi told him yes. Of course her mother knows she here, they had been prepping for this day for the past few months. In fact, her mother was sitting on the back row dressed in all black, shades and hat included.

              She hated attention and was now ready for all eyes to be on Demi, her precious Demi.

“Well, I didn’t choose you because of your mother so don’t go getting the big head. You have a lot to prove in the next six weeks. Welcome to the New York Ballet and Company.” He held his hand out for a shake.

Demi smiled and took him in for a hug. Mr. Apollo wasn’t expecting that at all, but then again he didn’t know Demi.

Her smile could light up a room, her personality was amazing and her spirit, oh her spirit was contagious. Demi was the modern day ballerina that every little girl only dreamt of being. Demi said her goodbyes and ran out of the office to find him.

She knew her family was all back home waiting for the news, but she needed to tell
him
. He had been patient, he had listened when she complained, massaged her feet when they ached, wiped her tears when she cried, he was the first person Demi had to celebrate with.

She caught a cab to Queens, knowing she had no business traveling alone, especially since he had forbade her to do so.

Demi stopped the cab and threw the driver more than enough to cover the tab. She ran the other two blocks to where she knew he would be, where he always was.

Demi opened the doors to The Barbershop and looked for him. The other barbers all knew who she was, his prima ballerina as he called her.

“In the back Demi,” his uncle spoke. Demi smiled.

“Hey, how did it go? Today was the big day right?” his uncle asked.

Demi flashed a thumbs up and took off for his office. When she opened the door without knocking, there he was waiting, anticipating her phone call.

He marveled at the sight of her presence. Demi went towards him with tears in her eyes.

“I got it,” she told him.

He took a deep breath and ran his hands over her back. “So proud of you baby,” he said, meaning every single word. 

Demi sighed right along with him, placing her head on his heart.

“So, what about us?” he asked, referring to the sleeping baby in the corner. Demi looked down at her son, her secret, but somehow her greatest accomplishment and biggest blessing.

“I’ll figure everything out,” she promised.

He didn’t believe her, but today was her big day so he wouldn’t dare argue or fuss.

Papa could only pray that her dreams didn’t get in the way of their family. Demi reached up and kissed his lips for a very long time and when she finally pulled away she told him, “Our love has reached a point.”

Papa asked, “What point? What you talking about, Demi?” He was confused.

“The Point of no return. We are forever baby, no matter what,” she said, happily.

Epilogue

Opening Night

Papa, Ryan, Unc, all the members of The Underworld, some of the barbers, and even Mary Jane came to see Demi perform. All together, they consumed the first two rows of the American Ballet Theatre. When Demi ran in the house jumping up and down saying she got the part, Papa pulled out a stack of money asking how much the tickets were.

Everyone knew how hard she had worked for the part. Getting into the Academy was one thing, but vying to be cast in ballet productions with the last name she had was the hardest part of the job.

Demi had cried many nights wanting to give up, but she didn’t. She prevailed, and tonight there wasn’t a person happier than he was. Papa even wore a suit and so did baby Ryan.

Papa made everybody bring Demi roses and balloons and he had tons of other congratulatory shit back at the crib. He wanted her to know that his family was her family and they were proud of her as well.

When she walked into the house that day, in followed her mother and Papa was shocked to see her standing in their home. Demi took Ryan from Papa’s arms and showed him to Dorane.

“Ma, this is my son, our son, Ryan,” she said, nervously. When Dorane asked to see where her father had her staying she wasn’t expecting to see a baby, or Papa standing without a shirt on.

Dorane smiled. He couldn’t tell if it was fake or not, but Demi seemed relieved. They ended up having dinner together that night and it was pleasant mostly. Papa would always keep his distance from Dorane and as long as she respected what he and Demi had, he was good.

              Dorane sat in the skybox section with Mickey, the housekeeper, and her father flew in from Florida, but Demi wouldn’t know he was there until after the show.

Papa ran his hands over his pants nervously. He was ready to see his Demi in action. When the curtain opened and out his walked the leading lady of the night, his leading lady, he let out a huge whistle until Jade who was sitting next to him, elbowed him to be quiet.

After the seven acts were performed, the curtains closed and opened again ten minutes later to introduce the cast.

Swan Lake,
better known as
Black Swan
amongst the younger generation, was composed in 1875 by Vladimir Petrovich Begichev.
Swan Lake
was originally for theatres overseas, but after many years the production was brought to the United States. It was very unsuccessful due to many dancers not being accustomed to French compositions and unable to master the choreography since the music was choppy and somewhat dark in melody.

However, the first sold-out show of
Swan Lake
was in1983 and it just so happened that the show was successful, despite the whispers of the leading role being held by an African-American woman with thick thighs and a round derrière.
Swan Lake
wasn’t
Swan Lake
until Dorane Little graced the stage. After the first night she received a standing ovation and praise in every national newspaper there was. She then performed the same production for seven months straight all over the world.

It would be many years later before another African-American woman held the same role in
Swan Lake,
and when the Director announced Demi Westbrook, soon to be Demi Huffington, since Papa had recently proposed a few weeks ago over a candlelight dinner, everyone stood to their feet and clapped and cheered.

Dorane sat in her seat, overwhelmed with emotion and tears running down her face. There were no words to describe how she felt, but one word was “Proud”. Dorane was proud.

Demi looked down at her family, The Underworld and blew kisses towards their row. There were so many tears rolling down her face. She was proud of her accomplishment and that she could finally make her mama proud meant a lot to her.

              Despite the things she had been through and the nights she felt all alone with no purpose and no dreams, none of that mattered any more. Demi felt like she had finally arrived.

Her dreams were true, her son was alive and healthy, and she woke up to the love of her life every single day. What more could a girl ask for? She took her final bow before exiting the stage.

In that moment she knew she had reached the Pointe of No Return, her life was now complete.

The End