She responded to Vanessa’s question with a quick shake of her head.
“I texted him, saying we could talk after the show.” She was reaching and she knew it. That wouldn’t stop her from continuing, though. “Does that count as talking?”
“Janae,” Cree began, “you are such a piece of work. I understand why you’re mad with Adam. If he really was angry with you about his father, he owes you a huge apology. On the other hand”—Cree held up her finger to emphasize the point she was about to make—“you don’t really know if that’s the case because you didn’t give the man a chance to explain himself.”
Janae opened her mouth to argue, but the sharp expressions on her friends’ faces stared back at her, forcing her to face some things she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge.
“Am I the problem?” she earnestly asked her friends. “Have I been the issue all along?”
She could hear her mother snickering in her head, telling her,I told you you were too much. You need to humble yourself to get and keep a man.Decades of her mother’s constant criticism poured over her and she had to wonder if this situation with Adam was proving her mother’s point. Yes, she and her mother were taking the initial steps into changing their relationship. That, however, didn’t mean all the hurt her mother caused was magically erased.
She shook her head instinctively, knowing everything her mother had said about her was a lie and Janae refused to burden herself with any of that garbage. Especially after clearing the air with her mother, she realized now that her mother’s criticism wasn’t about Janae’s supposed inadequacies, it was about her mother fearing her own flaws and using misguided attempts to make sure her daughter never had to deal with them.
She wasn’t too much. Not for Adam anyway. He treasured everything about her big personality. His only ask was to let him in, to let him take care of her, to let him show her that just because she could do it all didn’t mean she should have to. He’d shown her that she deserved more than self-care. That was all well and good. But he’d also proven that she deserved a partner who would care for her too.
“You are not the issue,” Vanessa replied. The light tones of her voice calming Janae’s overwrought nerves. “I do think this is something the two of you can overcome, though. He wasn’t trying to hurt you, Janae.”
She looked over at Vanessa, searching for truth in her countenance. “You really believe that?”
Cree nudged her other shoulder. “Adam has never been intentionally cruel.”
Janae was about to respond but Cree held up her hand. “And before you start pointing fingers about what happened with his dad, I think maybe, just maybe, you should talk to him and see where his head was at.”
“And if his anger was really directed at me?”
Cree’s smile grew devilishly wide. “Then I’ll hold him down while Vanessa beats him with her stiletto.”
Janae loved her girls.
She laughed along with them at Cree’s joke. The fact that she still had a sense of humor about this told her she must be feeling better, a direct effect of having her girls around, she was sure.
“So,” Vanessa asked, “if Adam were willing to give you an honest explanation and apology, would you consider trying to mend fences with him?”
“It would have to be a pretty big apology.” Janae was serious about that. She couldn’t begin to think about reconciling if she had the slightest inkling that Adam wasn’t sincere.
“I think that can be arranged.” Cree’s cryptic reply had Janae twisting in her seat, but before she could say anything, the lights went down and an announcement was made that the show was about to begin.
The show was fun and uplifting, and the kids obviously enjoyed themselves. Whether they sang, put on a skit, played an instrument, or danced, they brought excited energy to the stage that hooked everyone in the audience, including her.
The curtain closed and the announcer’s voice filled the room again. “On behalf of the Creative and Performing Arts Program of the Monroe Hills Area School District, we’d like to thank everyone who has supported our fundraising efforts. And to thank you properly we’re bringing you some old-school entertainment to close us out.”
The familiar tones of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” filled the air. But this wasn’t the original version. This was a tad bit faster and a key or two lower. The curtain opened slowly, revealing three men; two of them were dressed in look-alike costumes from when the adult members of the group performed onMotown 25, the last was dressed in the style of the sixties.
“Oh my God!” The words slipped off her tongue easily as she realized Adam, flanked by Michael and Derrick, was on the stage, standing behind microphones.
Michael had on aviator sunglasses with what looked like a bedazzled baseball cap, and he was holding a guitar. As far as she knew, Michael didn’t play the guitar, so she wondered how he planned to pull off what she presumed was his role as a Korean Tito Jackson.
Derrick was on Adam’s left side, dressed in a sheer shirt, a green suit jacket, and leather pants with what looked like the juiciest Jheri curl wig she’d ever seen.
As if that wasn’t enough, Adam—with his lovely locs pulled into a low-hung ponytail and a magenta porkpie hat tilted to the side—wore the iconic purple fringe jacket and was channeling his best 1969 Michael Jackson, resurrecting all her dreams of falling in love with the late performer.
She pulled her eyes away from the stage long enough to look at both of her friends. “Did y’all know about this?”
“Shh,” Cree replied. “Watch the show.”
Janae knew a setup when she saw one, but once the men started moving on the stage, they warmed up the crowd so quickly that it looked like just about everyone in the auditorium was on their feet.
They were lip-syncing, not singing, but they had the choreographed moves down so well, she could hardly tell. They performed the entire greatest hits routine fromMotown 25. “The Love You Save” was next, followed by “Never Can Say Goodbye.” By the time they “sang” the last note of “I’ll Be There,” the crowd was in a near frenzy.
