Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Alonzo
“ S hit.”
No matter how long I stared, the letters on my screen didn’t change. For the first time in my life, I’d gotten grades lower than an A-minus. Not just that—I had a C+. I’d known my performance had been far from stellar. But this ?
I dug my hands in my hair and scrubbed it, needing to relieve the pounding that had taken up residency in my head.
It was dangerous to get used to too much of a good thing because it would never last. Things changed. Businesses flopped. Money came and went, and so did people, whether by circumstance or by choice.
I’d lived through that. But if there was one thing I counted on through it all, it was my brain. Now, even that seemed to fail me.
We were only a week into January, and between my breakup and my grades, I couldn’t catch my breath.
A knock came at my door a second before it swung open.
My dad poked his head through the doorway. “Lonzo, can you—” He looked past me to my laptop, and I mentally cursed because I hadn’t activated my screensaver. “Are those your grades?”
“Papa—”
He strode right in, planting his palm on my desk as he leaned closer to the screen. “What is this? A C?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and exhaled. Count on him to go straight to my lowest grade. “A C+,” I corrected, like the difference mattered.
“Lucia!” Papa shouted.
I wished Luna and Gabe hadn’t flown out yesterday. With them gone, my dad had only me to fixate on.
Mama entered my room. “What’s wrong?”
“Look at his grades,” he said, pointing at the screen.
Giving me a look of concern, Mama came around to my other side. She put her hand on my shoulder and studied the report. “You got As in Law 99 and 115.”
“He got a C in 109. Criminal law 1.” Papa narrowed his eyes on me. “Isn’t that a basic subject?”
“It’s a C+,” Mama said, unknowingly repeating my words.
Again, Papa ignored the correction and went back to questioning me. “First, you disappear on us, and now this? What’s gotten into you?”
Mama squeezed my shoulder. “It’s his first semester. He’s still adjusting.”
I didn’t know whether to be comforted that Mama was making excuses for me or ashamed that she had to. They’d always relied on me to get good grades. And now, when my performance mattered the most, I was floundering.
“I was going to ask you if you wanted to watch a movie with us, but it looks like you should use that time to study,” Papa muttered.
“I have plans,” I said, closing my laptop. “And I’m still on Christmas break.”
“You can do advance reading to prepare for next semester. Can’t be too complacent.”
I rapped the stack of books beside my laptop. “I already am doing my readings.”
“Juan, let him enjoy his vacation.” Mama looked at me. “Are you seeing Dani?”
My stomach dropped. “No, Miggy.” I should tell her what happened, but not with Papa there. I could already imagine what he’d say—something along the lines of “now you can focus on school”—and I didn’t need to hear it. “We’re having lunch, then I’ll go straight to work.”
“Oh.” A crease remained between Mama’s brows, as though she sensed something was wrong.
“You’ll study tonight?” The way Papa spoke, it wasn’t so much a question as it was a demand—a prerequisite to me going out.
I stood up so I didn’t feel completely beneath him. “Yes.”
“Take the car,” Mama told me. “There are people at the gate again.”
Since we didn’t live in a private subdivision, strangers could show up outside our house at any time. Jason had beefed up the security system he’d initially installed and added an electric fence as an extra precaution.
After promising my dad I’d go straight home after my shift, I headed out.
Kuya Lito, the bodyguard Jason had hired, opened the gate for me.
As he did, strangers gathered behind our car, aiming their phones at me—this mediocre student who happened to be the brother of the future Mrs. Tala Meyer. I felt like a fraud.
More than that, I felt like a failure.
What a way to start the New Year.
“Look who’s a local celebrity,” Miggy said, slapping my back.
In response, I tapped my fist to his bicep. “Don’t start.”
He chuckled and slung his arm around my shoulders. “You have your own fans now, you know.”
A shudder passed through me. “Please, God, no.”
So far, my shifts at Kada Kape had gone smoothly—a perk of me working at a smaller coffee shop instead of a popular chain.
I dreaded returning to school because there were basketball fans in our class, but hopefully, the buzz would die down by then and people would have some new bit of gossip to talk about.
“I’m kidding. Maybe.”
We ordered our food and chose a table near the back of the eatery. Miggy’s face was expectant as he said, “So.”
“Dani and I broke up.” Bit by bit, the words came out easier. My stomach didn’t threaten to hurl—not like it did that first time I said them to a prickly girl in Juana.
Miggy winced but nodded, confirming my hunch that he’d already guessed. “I knew something was up when you disappeared after Christmas. Then she didn’t reply to our greetings on New Year.”
“We didn’t officially break up until the second, but yeah.” Tugging down the brim of my cap, I slumped in my seat.
“Shit. I didn’t want to believe it cause you two have always been solid. Was it about her working and you being in school?”
“No.”
“Was there someone else?”
I thought I knew exactly what I’d tell him, but I hesitated before answering. “I don’t want to mess with the way you see her.”
“Fuck that, Lonzo. Dani’s my friend, yeah, but that’s because of you. You’re my bro.”
Miggy didn’t transfer into Dani’s and my class until we were in our sophomore year, but I met him before then during a round of pickup basketball.
Even though he’d always been a fan of Jason’s team, he never tried to use me to get to Jason or sell me out in exchange for money or popularity.
I trusted him implicitly, so I told him the truth about Dani cheating.
And then I told him about Cam.
“Damn.” Miggy stared at me, his mouth agape. “Okay, that I didn’t see coming.”
“Me neither. Like I told Dani, it wasn’t planned at all.”
“Are you in touch with her?”
I dug my spoon into my rice bowl. “No. She hates me.”
“A girl hates you? That’s new.”
“Shut up.” He was right, though. Whether it was because of the females in my family, I’d always gotten along with girls. Maybe that was part of Cam’s charm, how she made it abundantly clear that she disliked me. “You might remember her—the girl with the tattoo of the birds at the café we ate at?”
His brows swung up. “For real? Of course I remember her. That was an epic tatt, but I didn’t see her face.”
It was one hell of a face, just like the rest of her.
“Wait. You’re smiling. Are you into her?”
“I wouldn’t have kissed her if I wasn’t attracted to her. But it’s a moot point. She lives in Juana and has a thing against city boys.” I still wanted to know the story behind that. Did she always feel that way, or did something happen when she was living here?
Too bad I’d never know.
I wondered if she’d gotten my note, and if she had, what she thought about it.
Did it have the effect I wanted it to have given how we’d left things off that night?
If I had my mind straight, I would have followed it up with flowers or food—something bigger.
But that seemed too late at this point. From what I knew of her, she was probably more than happy to move on and focus on reality.
Just like I needed to.
When I got home that night, everything was quiet.
I worked out in the garage, going hard on my sit-ups and push-ups to clear my head of my negative thoughts.
Dani, my grades, the media attention; those were distractions.
I had to keep my mind on the goal I’d had long before Dani came into my life—to become one hell of a lawyer.
Which meant dialing in further on my studies, starting now.
I took a quick shower before settling at my desk. As I opened my codal, my phone buzzed with a new message—from Nikki, of all people.
Nikki
Congrats to your sister!
Of course the news had made it her way. If she knew, Cam definitely did.
Alonzo
I’ll pass it on. How are you?
Nikki
Kinda starstruck actually. I’m third-degree related to Jason Meyer.
Alonzo
I guess you are.
I braced myself for her next message. She didn’t strike me as the type who’d try to take advantage of her connections, but I didn’t know her well enough to determine if that assumption was correct.
When she didn’t send anything else, I typed out: Does Cam know?
The response came almost instantly.
Nikki
Yes.
Alonzo
What did she say?
Nikki
That she didn’t want to see or hear from you again. Sorry
Yeah, well. I figured as much. That didn’t mean I wasn’t still disappointed.