Dream Me(50)

Mattie Lynn gave out certificates of completion to all the friends and certificates of appreciation to all the mentors.

She presented me with a certificate of special appreciation for someone “without whose valuable behind-the-scenes assistance, the program never could have been a success.” It was kind of cute. I admit I’m susceptible to flattery.

I’d picked up green and white balloons that morning to decorate the tennis clubhouse. A big banner that said “Congratulations to Our FABulous Friends!” was stretched across the wall. I’d made the banner at my house following Mattie Lynn’s instructions. Mai helped me with the design even though she claimed she had copyrighted FABulous and it was intended to be used only for sarcastic purposes.

Everyone seemed to have fun, even Alonso, who truly was celebrating the end of the program.

Kiet was quiet that afternoon, probably mourning the loss of Mattie Lynn from his life. And as though she sensed it, she was extra attentive to him and hugged him every chance she got.

LaShawn consulted with his mentor about tennis team in high school. They were lucky to have him and I knew I’d be seeing him on the courts in school. LaShawn was going to be a freshman, just like Alonso.

Afterward, LeGrand suggested we call up Mai and have her meet us at The Lucky Lady where the four of us, including Alonso, could celebrate with a graduation dinner. Alonso called his mom to see if it was alright, which, of course, it was. I knew Dee was happy to see him get out and socialize whenever the opportunity presented itself. But there was no way I was setting foot on that boat and taking the risk of running into Clyde.

“I have to go home for a while and help my mom with something,” I said. LeGrand had heard this story before and his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Could we just eat someplace on the beach? It’d be easier for me and Mai to get to the beach once I’m home, instead of coming all the way back here.”

“Okay,” I could hear the hurt in his voice but he was too much a gentleman to press me. “Alonso, how about you come and hang out with me, and when Babe’s done with whatever she has to do, we’ll meet up with her and Mai at the beach.”

I hurried off, burning with shame at my deceit. LeGrand was so excited to plan this night for us, and once again I’d ruined his plans with a lame excuse.

__________

“I think you need to tell LeGrand why you never want to do anything on The Lucky Lady,” Mai said as we pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. “Otherwise, he’ll sail off into the sunset at the end of the summer and wonder why his besties never wanted to come visit his cute, little dinghy.”

“Dinghy?”

“It’s not what you think, Babe. Don’t go having any dirty thoughts. A dinghy is a boat.”

I threw a stick of gum at her. “I know what a dinghy is.” I parked my truck right next to LeGrand’s Beemer.

The guys got out of the car, where they’d been waiting for us, and we all walked into the restaurant together.

“I’ve been thinking,” Mai said after we ordered. “Since Alonso’s the only one who’s likely to be a success in life, we need to keep mentoring him even after we all graduate and go off to college.”

Mai’s statement stung a little even though I knew she was just playing around the way she always did. Not because I was hung up on success, and not because I doubted Alonso’s future success. I just didn’t want to be prejudged on what might happen in my future. And what was success anyway? Happiness? Money? To me, it was the first.

“Good idea,” I said. “That is, if you want us to keep in touch, Alsonso. We’ll be pros at applying to colleges by then.”

“Yeah, our college counseling services suck,” Mai said. “I can help you with all the financial aid stuff when you apply to college. I already had to figure that out by myself.”

“Maybe you can help me with that too, Mai,” I said.

“What can I do?” LeGrand had been quiet up to that point.

“You can . . . you can find out what connections your father has. You know, pull some strings,” Mai laughed.

“Hah! Funny,” LeGrand wasn’t laughing and I could tell Mai had gone a little too far again.

Alonso looked up from the food he’d been pushing around his plate while we girls planned out his life.

“You could teach me how to play tennis,” he looked directly at LeGrand.

“You’re joking?” LeGrand said, the corner of his mouth pulling up into that half-smirk.

“I’m serious,” Alonso said. “I always wanted to learn. I just didn’t want to be part of Mattie Lynn’s pity party.”

“Babe should teach you then,” LeGrand said, the seriousness of Alonso’s statement sinking in. “She’s a lot better player than me.”

And then miracle of miracles, Alonso looked me right in the eye for the very first time.

“No offense, Babe,” he spoke slowly. “But I’d rather learn from a dude.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw LeGrand’s surprised smile and Mai’s open mouth. We were all thinking the same thing. And we were all so happy.

__________

I thought about LeGrand a lot that night and even introduced him to Zat in my dreams. It seemed impossible that LeGrand wasn’t in on all of this, because it felt so real. When Zat and I climbed into LeGrand’s red car, and drove through the streets of Alonso’s neighborhood, we eventually realized LeGrand was no longer with us. I was glad because it gave me a chance to talk to Zat privately about the nagging guilt which dogged me when it came to my relationship with LeGrand. I didn’t want there to be any hard feelings or misunderstandings between us when he went back to Memphis, but I was afraid there already were. Mai only reinforced my concerns. I knew she had a big old crush on LeGrand, which might have made her more sensitive to his feelings. But who didn’t? He was a human magnet—even Zat admitted it.