Page 4 of Keeping Busy
Hell, I was worried about me, too. The stress of the situation, and the fact that my life started going to shit so close to the start of the season stayed on my mind.
“Why?” I fronted.
“You know why. What does that pretty little girl suggest you do to get your reputation fixed?”
I told her about Sydnie’s suggestions ending with her idea that I needed to “settle down” for a while.
“She knows her stuff. So, which one of your young ladies are you going to bring off the bench?”
“Don’t say it like that, Miss Bo.” I couldn’t help chuckling. “Like I’ve got women waiting around for the opportunity to spend time with me.”
“Don’t you, though?” Her tone was flat. “Haven’t you had it like that since you were in high school? Oh, those little fast-tailed girls who wouldn’t leave you alone used to drive Vera crazy.”
“Yeah, I know.” I agreed. If anybody knew how much they used to drive her crazy, it was me. I had to hear about it all the time. As if I had any control over their behavior. “Anyway, I haven’t really had a chance to think about who I want to ask. It’s kind of a big favor.”
“To spend time with you, and pretend to enjoy it? Sounds like the easiest job in the world to me, Busy. If I was 50 years younger.”
We both laughed.
“Well, don’t think too long, Sweetheart. This heifer is out here dragging your reputation and good name through the mud. Vera worked too hard to keep you on the straight and narrow to let a no-good rapscallion like that one make you out to be somebody you aren’t.” She stood up, holding onto the island for support.
It bugged me to see Miss Bo getting older. I knew what happened as the years started to slide by - we lost our elders one by one. I had just lost my grandmother. I wasn’t ready to think about losing Miss Bo.
“How long are you gonna be in town?” She shuffled over to the cabinet, pulled out a glass and made her way over to the refrigerator. She filled the glass, first with ice, then with water, and set it down within reach for me.
“Another week or so. I have to finish up my youth camp. It’ll be over next Thursday, we’ll do the awards on Friday, and that’ll wrap it up. Then, I’m headed out. I gotta get my life in order before I head to training camp.” I took a long swallow of the ice cold water. “Thank you.”
She nodded. “I’m going to get back over here before you leave.”
“You don’t have to do that, Miss Bo. I don’t want you standing up at the stove trying to cook for me.”
“I like standing up at my stove, cooking. And since you aren’t the boss of me, you can’t tell me who to do it for.”
I smirked at her. “You trying to air me out?”
“I just aired you out.” She gave me a hug that communicated both her strength and her love for me. “I’m gonna see your grandmother tonight in my dreams. We’re gonna figure this whole thing out.”
I wanted to ask her how she was having all of these conversations with my deceased grandmother, but I let it rock. One thing I learned a long time ago was that the elders worked in their own mysterious ways.
Mecca
2
I watched my mother, Janaye Goode, strut into my office. That was my mother, she wasn’t a walker. To get from one place to another, she either strutted, bopped, pranced, strolled, or breezed. Today, she strutted.
“Hey Ma.” I said, looking up at her.
“Hey Baby.” Gracefully, she slid into the chair opposite me. “How’s it going?”
My mom and I ownedThe Goode Experience Dance Academy. For years, she owned it and I worked there as a dance instructor. Now that she was considering retirement one day, she let me buy in and we were business partners. On top of being an owner of the dance academy, I also choreographed on the side. Professional and collegiate dance teams frequently invited me in as a guest choreographer and asked me to prepare a routine or two for a season.
“It’s going well.” I had just finished counting the box office receipts from our summer production. “I’ve been organizing the receipts, so I can take them to Trevor.” Trevor Wrightwood was our accountant.
“Then my timing is perfect. Aunt Bo called me this morning.”
Auntie Bo was my mother’s aunt, making her my great aunt. She was the matriarch of our family - my grandfather’s eldest sister. Auntie Bo’s husband died early on in their marriage before they’d had the opportunity to have children of their own, but she’d had a hand in raising every child from the Watson family tree, including my siblings, Cairo and British and me.
My parents were in the entertainment industry when they had us. My father is actually still in the entertainment industry. He’s a world-renowned DJ, who’s been doing music for almost 30 years. Not a DJ, as in “radio disc jockey,” but an actual DJ with scratching and cutting and stuff. He started with turntables, and crates of vinyl records, making mixes and providing the turn-up for parties all over the world. He’s most loved, admired and respected in the Hip Hop and House Music genres.
