Get up, and show no fear
Get up, if y'all really care”
Barbara turned off the music on Erica's phone.
"I'm sorry," Erica said. "I shouldn't have come up on you like that."
"Mom." Barbara tried to put her arms around her. Comfort her. But she jerked back and ran from the living room, hand still on her mouth, skirting into her office bedroom. Erica's arms dangled at their sides, dark eyes jumping, glittering with tears.
36
Serene - June 1996
"Twerk it, girl." Lanesha threw back her head and laughed, watching her little sister pop her booty, Sweetness and his sidekick doing the cat daddy. Erica worked her way into the splits and sprung back up, one hand on hip, the other behind her head, going into the LL Cool J up groove. Sweetness and Baby Sweetness matched her moves. Kanani, in her baggy jean shorts, was doing some weird version of the D-Mac, singing her heart out to “Shut Em Down.” She pushed her face into Serene's, who sat while Lanesha braided her hair, and the two sang out the next set of lyrics to each other.
Hear go the sound of the wreckin’ ball
Boom and pound
When I shut em down
"Go on, Wheels," Sweetness called out to Serene. "Burn it up, baby, let’s see what you got."
She didn't have to be asked twice. Flying out of the chair, she joined Kanani in the D-Mac and took it into the Dougie. Sweetness held out his fist to her and she rapped her knuckles against his. Lanesha joined them, swiveling her hips and taking the movement low. Kanani switched over to hula, dipping into a squat with Lanesha, which made them all explode with laughter.
"Show ‘em what you got, Hawaii," Baby Sweetness called out.
Serene felt a rush of pleasure, dancing. Lately, she'd been practicing different moves, getting better and better. Dancing was another outlet Serene had discovered. At Lanesha's, though, Serene was known more for her tricks on the skateboard. Kanani was no slouch herself when it came to skating. In the past week, since her friend had come to stay, they'd skated around town with Steve and Dylan, sometimes going to Hollywood, the Santa Monica courthouse or Venice Beach.
"Alright, we're back to work," Lanesha said when the song finished.
"Aight," Sweetness took himself to the kitchen. "Y'all want Kool-Aid?"
"Nah, man, I'm fixing to roll," Baby Sweetness said and gave them all fist bumps before heading out the door. Erica blinked behind her big glasses at Serene, who had taken her seat. Lanesha lifted a thin section of extension hair with one long nail off the back of the other chair she'd pulled in from the kitchen.
"Girl, your hair's long," Lanesha said. "If I stretch it, it go almost all the way here."
"Where?" Serene asked.
Kanani walked over to take a look. "Sis, your hair's long as mine when Lanesha stretch it out like that."
"Down to my butt?"
"Yeah, girl,” Lanesha said. “Next time you should let me flat iron it out. You be lookin’ fly."
"She got that good hair," Sweetness said, sauntering back in, pinching two plastic cups of strawberry Kool-Aid in one hand and holding a third with the other.
"Um-hum." Lanesha's fingers flew, long orange nails clicking with a precision and swiftness that came with years of braiding.
Sweetness handed her a cup, but she shook her head. "Give it to them. I got to finish this one first."
Erica took her drink and gulped it down, leaving a swath of red on her upper lip. When she was done, she stood before Serene, eyeing her. "Can I sit next to you?"
Lanesha pulled her neck in and gave her sister a look. "Girl."
Erica's eyes fell to the floor.
"You betta go sit your little butt down over there." She pointed at the sofa. "What did we talk about?"
Erica scurried over to the sofa and sat quickly, bringing her legs up and crossing them, eyes jumping, face darkening with a blush. Lanesha sucked through her teeth and muttered, "It ain't right. Lord have mercy on that girl's soul." Then, over it already, she ordered, "Kanani, grab that remote over there and turn on the TV. Got to see what's happening on my program."
Moments later, the theme music of One Life To Live blared through the house, and Sweetness plopped down on an easy chair that had seen better days, the vinyl cracked in the center.
"Yo, Lanesha, when you want me to take these girls home?" Sweetness asked twenty minutes into the show, his eyes hooded with fatigue.
"Shh," Lanesha said, irritated over his interruption during a pivotal scene of revelation––an affair that had been going on for months. Sweetness leaned his head back and closed his eyes. In seconds he was asleep, breathing deeply, Serene not far behind him.
She woke to the sound of Crystal, Lanesha and Erica's mom, coming through the barred screen door in her scrubs, face drawn with exhaustion.
"You still doing that?" Crystal asked of Lanesha's braiding. Serene and Kanani had arrived at their house yesterday morning and spent the night.
"I just got this last bit of her crown," Lanesha said. Her mother walked over to them, looking at the braids admiringly.
"You framed her face nice this time."
Serene smiled sleepily up at Crystal.
"How you doin’, baby?" She asked, smiling warmly back.
"Fine," Serene replied shyly.
"Hi, Aunty," Kanani called. She lay belly down on the floor, elbows propped up as she leaned her head in her hands. Crystal's smile broadened. Kanani and Serene's immediate use of the word aunty when referring to Crystal, had garnered a soft spot in Lanesha and Erica's mom's heart.
"Hi, baby." She set her purse down, scanning the room. "Where's Erica?"
"She in her room," Lanesha said, "probably reading. That girl would live in a book if she could."
Crystal laughed. "That's not a bad thing, Lee Lee."
Lanesha grunted and picked up the dense mass of Serene's braids, running her fingers through. "Okay, we're done here. Just got to dip your ends, and then you can be on your way. Where Sweetness at?"
"He said to call
