“That damn girl is going to drive me crazy. What happened?” I asked Tanya, walking a little closer to her, so that I could hug her.
She was still dressed up nicely in her work dress, but she’d changed out of the heels that I’m sure she wore to work, and she had on slippers. Tanya worked as a city official. She was married to Duke Williams, who was the mayor of Miami. Definitely a power couple, and I loved the two of them together.
“Girl, you know how Nari gets when it’s showcase time. She wants the girls to be perfect. Any little mess up, she got them going to the line to do duck walks. Brooklyn getting it the worst because you know that she’s damn near the best dancer here, so Nari going to hold her to a higher standard than she holds the rest of the girls. Go in there and watch. I’m only stepping out for a second to take a call,” she let me know, and with a roll of my eyes, I let out an annoyed breath, and I stepped inside of the studio.
Here I am, thinking that I was going to sit in on the last 30 minutes of practice, and that everything would run smoothly. At the most, I just assumed that Brooklyn would be a little annoyed with me for sitting in, especially since I knew that she hated when I would come in, and watch. I didn’t think that I was going to be walking in to her having a tough practice.
The second I walked into the studio, it’s almost like all eyes turned to look at me. I haven’t been inside the studio in a while. Now that Brooklyn was driving, she’s been able to drive herself here, so I haven’t seen a lot of the moms in a while. I was cool with majority of them, but of course, you were going to have a few of them that were funny acting as hell and wouldn’t really speak.
Before I took a seat, I scanned the large room with my eyes, and I could see Brooklyn over by the line, and she was doing duck walls. My poor niece was crying angry tears, as she continued doing them. It wasn’t just her that was getting punished though. She was doing it with about three other girls, and they were angry right along with her, but they just weren’t crying the way Brooklyn was. Her eyes glanced over at me, saw that I was in here with her, and you could literally see the annoyance in her eyes for me. I laughed, not about to pay her ass any mind, and then I went over to the bleachers, where everyone was, and I spoke, giving waves.
I chose to sit next to Lynn. She was another mom that I was cool with, and her daughter was the same age as Brooklyn.
“Hey girl. Tanya briefly told me that Brooklyn was having a tough practice. What’s going on? Why she doing duck walks?” I asked Lynn after hugging her and sitting next to her.
“Girl, Brooklyn just being Brooklyn. Tonight is just one of her nights. She wasn’t doing the dance full out, and Nari been getting on her because you know the showcase is literally in one week,” she said, and I nodded my head.
Brooklyn finished with her duck walks, and then she got back in line, so that she could stand with the rest of the dancers, and they could start the dance from the top.
“Brooklyn, please! Go in the bathroom, wipe your face, and then come back. You got these little ass girls standing here, that look up to you, telling me every day that they can’t wait to get older so that they can dance like you, and look how you carrying on in front of them. The four- and five-year-olds don’t even cry the way you do when I send them to the line to do duck walks. You tell me all the time what your plans are for dance, but girl, that crybaby ass shit not going to work when it’s time for you to get in the big league. Go wipe your face,” Nari, her coach got on her, and I swear I didn’t feel any kind of way about Narihounding her the way that she did. I loved coach Nari down! She was tough as nails, but she did it out of love.
Coach Nari has done so much in her dance career. She started dancing at just three years old. She was a backup dancer for some of the biggest artists out there, and after her years of dancing professionally, she came back and put a dance studio right in the heart of Miami. She’s like the Debbie Allen of Miami, and it was girls dreams to get into this studio, and dance for her. Even the babies had to try out to have a spot on the team. You didn’t just get picked because you were cute. You had to have talent, and if you didn’t have the talent when you tried out, you at least had to have the potential.
Brooklyn quickly walked off, going to the bathroom like her coach told her to, and while she was gone, Nari had the girls get in formation from the beginning, telling them that she wanted to start it from the top. Brooklyn made her way back out about two minutes later, and when she did, she’d calmed down. She’d fixed up her hair while she was in the bathroom because the bun that she had on top of her head was much neater.
My niece was so beautiful, and I just knew that if Temperance was on the outside, and not in prison right now, continuing to serve her bid, she would be out here boasting about the beautiful daughter that she had. She was the spitting image of her mother, and because Temp and I looked alike, people often thought that Brooklyn was my daughter as well because we resembled one another too. Brooklyn had the shape of a dancer. Tall, and naturally slim. Because she practiced five times a week, she was nicely toned. Slim, but her four pack was clear as day, and you could see the little muscle that she had in her arms.
Brooklyn truly loved dance, and I personally believe that she fell in love with it even more after everything that happened withher dad, and her cousin Rhythm. Dancing is how she coped. It’s how she escaped some of the cards that she was dealt last year.
Now that Brooklyn was back in formation, they were able to start the routine from the beginning. They were dancing to Stevie Wonder — Ribbon in the sky, and it was a contemporary dance. Brooklyn was great in all styles of dance, but contemporary is really where you would look at her and be in awe of her talent. Her turns, her leaps, all the floor work that she would put on, were all things that were taught to her by coach Nari, who had turned her into one hell of a dancer, and that’s why Nari could get on my niece without me feeling any kind of way about it. This woman had turned my niece into a superstar.
They got through the routine, and I damn near had tears in my eyes when they finished. I stood up with the rest of the moms, and we clapped at how beautiful the routine was. Brooklyn needed those duck walks that Nari made her do because she just showed her ass on that dance floor, and I couldn’t be prouder of her. I just wished that my sister was sitting right next to me, so that she could witness her baby out here dancing like this.
“My God. Girl, Brooklyn is a beast. What are you going to do with her? What’s the plan? Where is she talking about going for college?” Lynn asked me, and the sound of my niece going off for college always made me emotional. She was in her senior year of high school, and I hated it because I felt like time was moving way too fast for my liking.
“Girl, I want to cry every time we talk about college. Brooklyn doesn’t want to stay in Miami for college. She’s been making that clear to me since her junior year. She’s stuck between wanting to go to a school like Julliard or going to an HBCU because that girls really wants to dance majorette style. Whatever she does, I just know she’s leaving, and that’s going to break my heart, girl. I watched her mama push her out and bring her into this world.She’s been in my care for the past few years, so it’s made us really close, and I’m just not ready for her to leave yet, you know?” I asked Lynn, and she nodded her head, as if she could completely understand where I was coming from.
“Trust me, I feel you. When my oldest went off last year for college, girl I thought that I was going to die. It’s really not that bad though. It’s nothing to just book a flight and go see them whenever you start missing them. Brooklyn is going to do so well. I hate that her mom is locked up right now, missing out on these special moments, but with her talent, girl this is only the beginning. Her mom only has a few more years left to go, and she’ll be around to watch the superstar that she has on her hands,” Lynn told me, and her words eased my mind, and it made me smile, giving me something to look forward to once Temperance was released from prison.
Practice eventually wrapped up, and I went down the steps to the bleachers, so that I could greet Brooklyn. She was standing by her gym bag, and she was slipping her sweatpants on.
“Because why you came in here?” she asked it in a joking kind of way, so that I wouldn’t pop her in the mouth for being slick, even though I knew she was for real about what she’d just asked me.
“I’m glad that I came in, so that I could watch you. Look how those duck walks paid off. You did so good in the routine. I can’t wait to see you perform next weekend,” I said, and at the same time, Nari was walking over. I smiled when she came over, and she quickly gave me a hug.
“Girlllllll,” was the first thing that she said to me, and I laughed, already knowing that she was saying that because Brooklyn had her ready to body slam her. Hell, I was raising her, so I knew how Brooklyn could tap dance on every fuckin nerve of mine.
“I already know. She got it together in the end though Nari,” I said, and she nodded.
“I just don’t like that Brooklyn gotta crash out, cry, get yelled at, and everything else for her to perform at her highest potential. I give her chances because Brooklyn really is my baby, and I want to see her be great, but when she gets out there into the real dance world, they not going to give her the amount of chances that I do. That’s all I’m ever trying to get through to her,” Nari said it to me, but Brooklyn was standing right here, putting her hoodie over her head, so she was able to hear her coach.
“Thanks coach. I know that I don’t always like it, but I thank you for riding me the way that you do. It brings out the best in me. I apologize for my behavior in practice today. I’ll have a better attitude tomorrow,” Brooklyn responded, showing me how much she’s matured.
The old Brooklyn would have been standing here, with a pissed off look on her face, ready to get away from Nari. The new Brooklyn that would be eighteen before the end of the year was maturing, and realizing that everyone wasn’t out to get her, and that there were so many people in her corner that genuinely loved her and just wanted to see the best for her.
I loved that after all the hell that she gave her coach this evening, she was able to apologize to her for her actions, without me telling her, and the two of them were able to hug it out. I talked a little bit with Nari, but it was mainly about my wedding because she was invited, and she just wanted to know how things were coming along, and if I was prepared.
That conversation only lasted a few minutes because there were other parents that she needed to talk to. Brooklyn said her goodbyes to her teammates, and waved goodbye to the other moms as well, and before I knew it, we were walking through the parking lot and eventually hopping in my car. I was pushing theRange Rover tonight. Of course, I still had the Rolls Royce that my man had gifted me last year on my birthday, but I only pulled it out when I wanted to stunt. I didn’t need it tonight, just to pull up, and pick Brooklyn up from dance practice.
