“For you,” Rebel said with a long-suffering sigh.
“For Harley,” Kaia said. “You don’t want to ruin her big night.”
“You’re right,” Rebel said, pretending to be sweet and agreeable. She returned to her seat, so Kaia sat down as well and took her hand in his.
Diesel was too fucking outraged to even think of a response. When Rebel and Mattie were in Kaia’s room, it was easy to get Uncle Christopher on board. This wouldn’t be. Rebel was in full view of Aunt Meggie and Uncle Christopher, who sat a row behind with Val, Zoann, Mortician, Bailey, Roxanne, Knox, Bunny, Stretch, Ophelia, Jordan, and Cam. Grant and Bishop also sat in one of the rows behind Diesel, which was whereKaiashould’ve been if he had to bring his ass to the fucking play. The myriad children were scattered throughout the auditorium with their friends or classmates, even Axel, which left Diesel completely fucking alone and vulnerable to his deep regret.
Jana’s laughter washed over him. Narrowing his eyes, he focused on her. Her head was turned to whoever sat on her other side.
He leaned forward. A brown-haired motherfucker dressed in business casual smiled athisfiancée, his sole focus on her.
Diesel snatched her hand in his and she turned her head. She actually fucking frowned at him and tugged her fucking hand away.
“Excuse you,” the motherfucker sneered. “We can move to another row, Jana, if this bozo is bothering you.”
“Uh—”
“This bozo is her fucking fiancé,” Diesel snapped. He stood and yanked Jana to her feet. “Switch fucking places with me.”
She plopped back down. “I was enjoying my conversation with Roy.”
His vibrating phone prevented him from exploding. Drawing in a breath, he returned to his seat, unclipped his phone from his belt, and saw CJ had sent him a message.
Diesel was so fucking happy he read it.
Even though she was out of sight, the applause and catcalls at the conclusion of her song lifted Harley’s spirits. She wasn’t sure which of her family members sat in the audience.
She’d been so scared when she got the text to hide. If Nardo got to her…she didn’t want to imagine. Rory stayed at her side until Daddy arrived. That was when he explained Mr. Ned Grevenberg went by a new name: Deader than Dead Fuckberg.
Shocking, but more relieving than Harley ever expected. Then, Daddy said she’d have to suffer Nardo through the play so CJ and his brothers wouldn’t get in trouble. She’d agreed. For weeks, she’d pretended everything was fine. She could suffer one more night.
She regretted Nardo was under eighteen. Daddy promised he’d send him away after tonight and told her not to worry about Nardo ever bothering her again. Now, after her triumphant opening song, she sat in the little room Ms. Mendez gave to her as ‘the leading lady’, psyching herself up. Honestly, she’d been a little disappointed when she didn’t see CJ after she finished the opening number, but backstage must’ve bored him so he’d taken his seat in the audience.
Harley also wondered if Mommie decided to come, though she doubted it after her drunken accusations about Daddy and Aunt Kendall having an affair. Harleyhopedit wasn’t true, but life was strange and, after the past few months, it wouldn’t surprise her.
Her biggest hope was that everyone found peace and happiness. Mommie and Daddy made each other so unhappy nowadays and Uncle Johnnie was just mean and miserable. Daddy and Aunt Kendall together wasn’t the worst turn of events in Harley’s estimation, although she could never admit that to her mother. It would hurt her too much.
If her father was around, maybe she’d tell him there were rumors floating around the club and see his reaction. Unfortunately, Daddy had left Harley with Aunt Zoann and she hadn’t seen him since. The best surprise of the evening was CJ backstage.
Although Harley wished he’d auditioned, he probably would’ve changed classes, especially if Nardo had gotten the role of Mercutio and insisted on rewriting the script. The play had gone through so many iterations, it had frustratedher. She’d auditioned to play the classic role. Nardo convinced Ms. Mendez to turn it into a hip-hop adaptation. Now, it was a hybrid of everything, but Harley fought for some of the more famous lines to remain as is.
Another huge change was the play’s length. Originally, it was supposed to be as faithful a rendition as possible for high school students and nearly three hours long, since shortened to seventy-five minutes and tweaked to include the French song.
MonsieurMontague was both a perfectionist and a stickler for rules. Harley hoped he liked her song and she passed his class.
She’d worry about that tomorrow. Tonight, she should be practicing her lines, though proximity to Nardo might make her forget them anyway.
No, absolutely not. Andrews and Doucette blood flowed through her. Most importantly, she was aBanks. Her father’s daughter. She’d make it through with her head high. Daddy, Aunt Zoann, Lolly, and CJ were in the audience. She’d do it forthem. She’d stand strong and make amends for all her many wrongs.
Ms. Mendez opened the door. “Two minutes until your big entrance, Harley.”
She frowned. “Did Nardo change his lines again?”
Act one, scene one was supposed to start when Benvolio entered and end with Montague, right before Romeo arrived. Harley wanted scene four included, but Sam Darrien, also known as Mercutio for the night, balked at what he needed to memorize, especially those forty-three lines and over three hundred words of one particular passage.
Now that she thought about it, Harley would’ve balked as well at that big block of text.
Ms. Mendez actually set up a debate in one of their classes and allowed all the students with major roles to argue their cases. In the end, she made the final decision.
