Dance Into Destiny Read online

“Keeva!”

  “OKAY!”

  They were silent for a few minutes until Shara couldn’t help herself. “Except that you think what?”

  “Unh uh. I’m not saying a word. Lips are sealed. Keeva Banks is quiet as commanded.”

  “I’m taking you right back to your apartment to be with Mark if you don’t tell me what you were about to say.”

  “Nothing. Except that I think you guys would make a great couple.”

  “Whatever, Keeva. It’s not like that.”

  “Come on, you have to admit it. Being around you guys is weird. You think alike, you’re passionate about the same things, you’re both so into God, you love the same music. I won’t mention the fact that he is FINE! You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about all that.”

  “No, I haven’t.” Shara was silent for a few seconds. “Okay, maybe a little. Okay, maybe a lot. Okay, maybe it’s starting to completely and totally take over my every thought.” Shara squeezed her forehead as if she was trying to squeeze the thoughts out of her mind.

  “I knew it!” Keeva smirked.

  “Whatever, Keeva.”

  “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I told Mother Hobbs—”

  “You talked to Mother Hobbs about me and Quinton?”

  “We really didn’t talk about it. She pointed to you staring at Quinton in the pulpit with these dreamy eyes and I nodded at her and gave her one of those ‘yeah, I noticed it too’ looks and that was it. I promise.”

  “When was I staring at Quinton in the pulpit? I wasn’t staring at Quinton in the pulpit. Oh my goodness! Do you think anyone else noticed? I’m never going to church again.”

  Keeva laughed. “Would you chill out? Look at you. You’re a nervous wreck. I shouldn’t have even said anything. I should have let you two go on, playing this ‘I don’t really feel anything’ game until you both implode. Now you’re gonna be all goofy tonight.”

  Shara knitted her eyebrows. “You’re right. I am going to be all goofy and then he’s gonna notice and . . . oh I just can’t go.”

  Keeva giggled. “You are hilarious.”

  “Keeva, this isn’t funny! Help me! I don’t want to be all goofy.”

  Keeva stopped laughing and patted Shara on the arm. “Shara, just be yourself. Don’t be afraid of the way you feel. I’m sure he feels the same way about you, too.”

  “I can’t believe you said that! You’re supposed to be helping me, not making it worse. Now I’m going to be watching him to try to figure out how he feels about me and then I’ll be all goofy because of how I feel about him. Thanks a lot. You’ve set this evening off to a great start.”

  Keeva giggled, but patted Shara again, sympathetically. “No you’re not. You’re gonna relax and be yourself, and you’re gonna have a good time tonight.” She gritted her teeth. “And I’m gonna have a good time tonight and dance and not think about Mark James not even one time.”

  Shara kept shaking her head and mumbling to herself until they pulled up in the church parking lot. She turned off the car and sat there. “I’m not going in.”

  “Stop being silly. Yes you are. By the way you look great. Those jeans really fit you nice—they show off all your curves and stuff.”

  Shara’s mouth flew open. “Keeva, I hate you with every fiber of my being.”

  “Yeah, I love you too. Now come on.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  When Shara and Keeva walked into the gym, Quinton was talking to a young man who must have been the DJ. He was setting up a table with electronic equipment and some huge speakers. Quinton waved and walked over to where they were. He gave Keeva a hug.

  “Hey, glad to see you. Shara said you couldn’t make it.”

  “Last minute change of plans.” Keeva smiled. “You gonna be my dance partner tonight?”

  “Please. I would dance circles around you.”

  Quinton stepped over to hug Shara. When he stepped back, he said, “You look great this evening, Shara. You gonna save a dance for me?”

  Shara smoothed back her hair. “Oh . . . no, uh, I’ll leave the dancing up to you and Keeva. Somebody has to, uh, keep an eye on the kids.”

  Quinton pointed toward a large table off to the side. “Let’s get this stuff set up. Can you guys get the punch and the snacks ready?” Quinton walked around to some of the other youth leaders and assigned tasks to them also.

  After an hour of preparations, they were ready for the kids to arrive. Quinton took one last walk around to make sure everything was set up and then came over to where Shara and Keeva were standing. “I think everything is ready.”

  “Everything looks great, Quinton. It’ll be fine,” Keeva said.

  He rubbed his chin. “Do you think they’ll show up?”

  Keeva patted his arm. “They’ll come, Quinton. Relax.”

  Tina came up behind Quinton and linked her arm into his. “All the decorations are done. Do you need me to do anything else?”

  “No, Tina, I think we’re fine. Thanks, though.”

  She didn’t let go of his arm. “If you need anything else done, let me know. Save me a dance later?”

  Quinton unhooked her hand from his arm. “I’m not much of a dancer, Tina. I’ll probably be keeping an eye on things with the kids. I’ll let you know if anything else needs taking care of.”

  As she walked away, Keeva nudged Shara. “Who is that?”

  Quinton overheard and answered. “An annoying, persistent individual.”

  Shara grimaced and turned her back. “Speaking of annoying, persistent individuals . . .”

  Terrence walked in the back door to the gym. Quinton looked at his watch. “Gee, he’s just in time not to help.”

  Shara kept her back turned. “He’s not coming over here is he? I am so not in the mood for him.”

  Quinton grinned. “Don’t worry, Shara. He won’t be bothering you tonight or any other night for that matter.”

  “Why?”

  “He just won’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I just do.”

  Shara narrowed her eyes at Quinton. “What did you do?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just know he won’t be bothering you.”

  The front door of the gym opened and about twenty kids poured in.

  “Gary must have just gotten here with the van. He’s got one more group to bring.” Quinton signaled to the DJ.

  The DJ started playing a gospel rap song. “It’s time to get your PRAAAAAISE ONNNNN!”

  Quinton started moving to the music. “Gospel Gangstaz. That’s my jam!”

  “Everything’s your jam, Quinton,” Shara said.

  He stopped dancing. “You got a problem with that?”

  She laughed. “No, Quinton. Jam on.”

  He started dancing again.

  The kids that came in headed straight for the food and punch. They stood around the table eating for a while then broke off into small clusters, talking. A second group of about eighteen more came in the front door. A few more straggled in here and there. All of them stayed away from the dance floor.

  Quinton nodded. “Good turnout.”

  Keeva looked around. “I guess kids aren’t any different than when we were kids. I wonder how long they’re gonna stand and hold up the walls. We need to set this off.” She held out a hand to Quinton. “Come on, Quint.”

  His eyes widened as he gave Keeva an ‘I’m not going out there’ look.

  “You’re as bad as these kids. Shara, come on. Quinton can stay here if he wants to. I’m sure he’s afraid of getting embarrassed by us.”

  “Embarrassed? Please. It’s on. Let’s see what you got.” Keeva and Quinton headed for the middle of the gym.

  Shara stayed behind. “You guys go ahead. I’ll watch.”

  Quinton was suave and smooth, and didn’t do much in the way of steps, but looked good doing the little bit he was doing. Keeva started out slow and low key with him. She then apparently got bored and did some more complicated steps
.

  The DJ put on Tonex’s song, “’Bout A Thang”, and it was all over. Keeva came unglued and pulled out some fancy hip-hop steps. Quinton was obviously in over his head, but continued his suave dance, not even bothering to try to match Keeva’s skill. The kids gathered closer to watch her.

  Shanique inched closer and closer and finally started dancing with Keeva, matching her step for step. Keeva did a turn and then a faster step. Shanique stayed right with her. Then it was Shanique’s turn to do a complicated step-turn rhythm that Keeva matched with ease. Pretty soon, all the kids were gathered around them in a circle, cheering them on.

  Shara was impressed. Keeva could really dance. Quinton rejoined her on the sidelines.

  She smiled up at him. “What was that you were saying about ‘it’s on, let me see what you got?’”

  Quinton held up his hands. “Man, she got skills a brotha didn’t even know about. I can’t mess with her. That girl there, though.” He pointed at Shanique. “She’s giving her some trouble.”

  Shara eyed Shanique who was giving it all she had. The other kids were loosening up and dancing in their circle around Keeva and Shanique. Jamil obviously decided to take them on and pushed his way into the middle of the circle. Shara soon wondered if he had a bone in his body because he seemed to be able to twist and shake his body in ways that shouldn’t have been possible. When he jumped up in the air and landed in a split, all the kids cheered.

  Quinton shook his head. “Okay see, I’m totally out of my league.”

  More of the kids decided to show their skills. Keeva was able to keep up with whatever they did.

  Quinton turned to Shara. “What—you don’t dance? You’re the only one left holding up the walls here.”

  “I don’t see you out there anymore either since you got showed up, so don’t even try it.”

  Quinton looked Shara up and down. “I figure you a church girl, so you oughta be just about my speed.” He bowed and extended his hand as an invitation for her to dance.

  Shara blushed. “Stop playing, Quinton.”

  He left his hand out. “Aw come on now. You ain’t gonna leave a brotha hangin’ like that are you?”

  Shara giggled at his pitiful, rejected look. She slowly reached out to take his hand and then followed him over to where everybody else was dancing.

  Her timid, self-conscious style matched his smooth, easy one, and they danced for a few songs. She relaxed and began to enjoy herself. Every once in a while, she’d let herself go and do a more complicated step.

  Quinton looked impressed. “I see you got skills, too. Just holdin’ out on me, huh? I appreciate you trying not to embarrass a brotha. That’s more than I can say for your friend there.” They both looked over at Keeva who was still dancing with the kids.

  “She is out of control,” Shara said.

  Keeva had a group around her she was taking through some steps slowly, showing them the movements. After they mastered the steps, the whole group did them up to tempo. They all got excited and slapped hands when they conquered a step. Soon, they did a whole sequence of steps as a group. It looked like something out of a music video.

  Danae was waving wildly and screaming over the music. “Miss Shara! Look at us—watch this!”

  Shara looked at Quinton and nodded toward the kids. “Come on.”

  The DJ started the song over and they started their dance from the top. Shara was impressed at the steps Keeva put together and how well she had taught the kids to do them. When they finished, Keeva walked away, but the kids grabbed her and begged her to dance some more. She pleaded with them to let her go get something to drink.

  Keeva gulped down a whole cup of punch and then held her cup out for Quinton to pour some more. “I can’t believe how thirsty I am.” She gulped the second cup down and held the glass out for one more.

  “I wonder why? You danced like a wild woman for at least an hour straight.” Quinton waited to see if she would want some more punch.

  “Was it that long? It didn’t feel like it.” Keeva pulled her sweaty shirt away from her skin.

  “Where did you learn to dance like that?” Shara said. “I thought you were a modern dancer—all ‘culturified’ like you say.”

  Keeva fanned herself. “Girl, you’d be surprised at what you pick up watching BET and VH1 all night when you can’t sleep.”

  Danae and Shanique ran up to get some punch. Danae latched her arm into Keeva’s. “Miss Keeva, you da bomb! Will you be our dance teacher?”

  Shanique linked her arm into Keeva’s other arm. “Yeah, Miss Keeva. Miss Shara said she was finding us a dance teacher and we want you. You dance better than Janet Jackson.”

  “I’m not that good. Tell you what. Let me talk to Minister Quinton and Miss Shara. I don’t want to make any promises until I talk to them.”

  “Puleeeeze!” Danae begged.

  “Danae! She said we’d talk about it.” Shara pulled the girls off Keeva and directed them back to the dance floor. “Now y’all go ahead and dance. Go on.” They went back to the group of kids that were going through Keeva’s dance sequence again.

  Quinton looked at Shara. “You’re such a little mother.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing. I like the way you handle the kids, that’s all. They respect you a lot and listen to whatever you tell them to do. That’s rare.”

  Shara smiled shyly. She ignored Keeva’s grinning.

  Tina came over to the punch bowl. “Quinton, I thought you weren’t dancing. You weren’t just being shy with me, were you? I saw you out there. Is it my turn?”

  Quinton put his hand on his chest. “Whew—I’m exhausted. I don’t think I can dance another step. Thanks though, Tina.”

  Tina shot Shara an evil look and walked off.

  Shara turned to Keeva and gave her a ‘did you see how she looked at me?’ look. Keeva gave her a “I know girl, what’s her problem?’ look.

  Anthony came over and asked Keeva if she wanted to dance. She looked at him like she was sizing him up. “You think you can hang?”

  “I can hang. Come on. Let me show you what I got.”

  Shara and Quinton were soon stifling laughter as they watched from the edge of the dance floor. Anthony had three left feet and no rhythm, but was dancing with attitude as if he was the world’s greatest dancer. Keeva obviously decided to take it easy on him and kept it slow. They danced for a few songs, and then Keeva came back over to where Quinton and Shara were.

  “Girl, was he pitiful or what?” Shara asked.

  “Oh, don’t say that girl. He was cute. Don’t anybody tell him he can’t dance either.”

  Shara leaned in close. “Uh oh, Miss Keeva, you’re not playing the ‘don’t get one man, always have two’ game, are you?”

  “Girl, please. I barely want the one I got. I was just dancing.”

  The kids left in big groups as they had come when Gary announced it was time for them to load up the van. Danae and Shanique came over and begged Keeva once more to be their dance teacher.

  “Time to go, ladies,” Shara said.

  “Wait, Miss Shara, we’ll stay and help you clean up. You can drop us off. Miss Keeva, can you take us home if we stay and help?”

  “You guys know better. Come on, let’s go,” Shara said.

  They both gave Keeva a big hug before they left. “Thank you, Miss Keeva. We love you, Miss Keeva. See you soon, Miss Keeva.”

  Keeva waved as Shara dragged them to the door.

  Most of the other youth leaders left to grab a late dinner at IHOP. Keeva nudged Shara in time for her to see Tina’s arm looped through Terrence’s as they walked out the door together.

  “She finally caught her one. Now she can leave your man alone,” Keeva said.

  “Would you stop saying that?” Shara was only slightly annoyed.

  She looked around the gym and sucked her teeth. “I can’t believe everybody is leaving. I guess they think some magic fairy is gonna come in her
e and clean all this stuff all up. Keev, do you mind staying around to help? I can’t leave Quinton with all this mess.”

  “Can’t leave Quinton, huh?” She grinned and dodged Shara swatting at her.

  Quinton came over with a huge trash bag. “You gotta be kidding me. They all left? Man, black folk is trifling. You’d think church people would be different, but they just as trifling.” Quinton continued muttering under his breath as he went around the gym picking up trash.

  When they had everything cleaned up, Quinton came over to where Shara and Keeva were packing up the decorations. “Thank you so much for staying to help. I would have been here ‘til tomorrow if you’d left. You have to let me take you guys out to get some dinner.”

  Shara looked at her watch. “It’s too late to eat and I have to get Keeva home.”

  “Shara, please.” Keeva rolled her eyes. “I need some food after all that dancing. And it is not late. I swear, you are such an old lady.”

  Quinton laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes?”

  “I’m in. Miss Fuddy-Duddy can do whatever she wants to.”

  Shara rubbed her hands together nervously and followed Keeva and Quinton out the door.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  They pulled up at the IHOP and noticed some of the other youth leaders were finishing and getting ready to leave.

  Malcolm asked, “Y’all just now getting here? We’re all through eating.”

  “Somebody had to stay and clean up.” Quinton had a bit of an edge to his voice.

  “My bad, man. Why didn’t y’all say nothing? We would have stayed and helped.”

  “Why should I have to say anything? You guys saw the mess before you left. How did you think it was gonna get cleaned up?” Shara put her hand on Quinton’s arm, hoping to calm him down a little.

  He took a deep breath. “Don’t worry about it, man. You guys will have clean up duty next time.”

  Quinton and Malcolm slapped hands and Malcolm and the others left.

  Quinton started muttering under his breath again about black folk being trifling.

  Shara steered him toward their table. “Let it go, Quinton. It’s not worth being upset over.”

  “You’re right. I just can’t believe he had the nerve to say—”