CROSSROADS

19

          Mckenna didn't realize how much rehab would cost.
The idea of rehab for the stars was out of the question. She knew KP would have to settle for rehab for the D list.
"Talk to me," Mckenna said, answering her phone.

"Hey, Kenna. Everything is set. I have your ticket for tomorrow like you asked. And everything is set for KP as well. I thought it would be best to let her just show up. I didn't want them charging you, in case she didn't show." Tey walked down the busy hall at the label and sat at her small cubicle in the intern room.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to do that. I'm sure she will be there." Makenna looked at her face in the mirror. The last piece of her ugly scab had fallen off, leaving a longer white mark, no more hideous skin."Well.. I just wanted to be on the safe side." Tey knew what she was implying. Makenna knew her assistant had lost all faith in KP, just as most had.

"Thanks. How are things going with the house hunt?" Mckenna rubbed Neosporin on the area. She was glad the ugly, bubbled up scab was completely gone.
Now she was determined to get her face as close to normal as possible. "I have three appointments set for you when you get back. Are you sure you want to get an apartment? I mean, the mansion."

"it's always best to have your own Youngblood remember that, let me go. I'll call if anything changes." Mckenna hung up from Tey. She brushed her curly hair. She was starting to feel more like herself. Mckenna heard Aaliyah's single play on the small bathroom radio. Her heart raced. She couldn't wait to get back to Atlanta for more than one reason.
Mckenna's text alert rang out. She picked her phone up. It didn't have a number. She opened it.

SORRY, but I can't.

Mckenna reread the text. She called KP's phone number. The operator chimed in with the usual disconnect message. Worry quickly set in. She called Bee-Bee's number.
"Hello!" Bee-Bee yelled in the phone.
"Hey, Bee. It's Mckenna. Is K-"
"Fuck KP! That son of a bitch is gone, and she took my shit with her!" Bee-Bee threw her glass of cognac against the wall. Mckenna's heart pounded.

"What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that bitch left in the middle of the night and took my damn jewelry with her. I swear I bet not find her, fuck the police-I got something else for that.."
"Damn, Bee-Bee. I'm sorry. I don't know what to say."
"See, this is what happens when you try to help someone. Be glad you didn't take that cone-head-ass bitch back with you! I gotta go."

Mckenna hung the phone up. She sat on the toilet seat.
Her mind raced. Where could KP have gone that quick? Mckenna thought to herself. She needed to find her, she needed to save her friend.

***

"Hey, bruh, wanna grab a bite?" Taraji stood in the door. Mckenna looked at Taraji, her eyes filled with worry.
"What's up, Kenna?"
"KP.. she just, she left." Mckenna fought back emotion.
Taraji walked into the bathroom. "Bruh, I want to say something to you without you getting upset," Taraji murmured. Mckebna's glazed eyes looked at Taraji.

"Your expression right now, the feelings you are feeling. Bruh I've been there. I know how you are feeling right now. But there's something you need to realize. Something it took me a long-ass time to realize. You can't save someone who doesn't wanna be saved. KP gotta want the help, or else you gon' be out of a lot of cash for nothing."
Mckenna sighed. She knew Taraji was right. She was there with Taraji all the times her mother skipped out on rehab. She was there the final time when Taraji almost choked her mother to death. She knew in her heart KP was lost, and wasn't going to be found until she wanted to be.

"You said something about food?" Mckenna stood up.
"Yeah, let's go grab a bite. It might make you feel better."
Mckenna and Taraji walked out of the room. Mckenna inhaled, trying to push KP and her drama to the back of her mind, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.
"You know I'm going to miss living right on Broadway."
Taraji and Mckenna walked out the front door of the hotel.

"It's right here at all the action."
"Speaking of, where are you gon' go? Yo ass hasn't looked for a spot at all."
"Well, I'm going to crash at Mariah's for a spell until all the checks clear and I book another job." Mckenna smiled. "Umm, crashing at Mariah's, huh?"
"Shut up. It's not like that."
"Riligghhh-damn!" Mckenna stopped in her tracks. Taraji looked at her friend, noticing her eyes were fixated on something else. Taraji looked up, and her jaw dropped. The large Jocku billboard with her photograph hit them dead-on.

"Damn, that's my friend!" Mckenna pulled her phone out and began to snap pictures of the billboard. Two young black girls walked up to Taraji and Mckenna. They looked at the billboard and back at Taraji. "Is that really you?"
"Yes, that's me," Taraji proudly responded.
"Wow, can we take a picture with you?"
the shorter of the two asked.

People around started to look at Taraji The tourists pulled their cameras out, hoping to get a picture with a model.
Mckenna took the camera from the two girls. They stood on either side of Taraji. Taraji smiled, the two girls gleamed.
"Thank you."
"No problem."
The two girls walked off. "I can't believe we just met a supermodel."
Mckenna and Taraji laughed at the girl's statement.
An Asian couple walked up to them. The elderly woman held her camera out to Mckenna, unable to speak English.

Mckenna frowned at Taraji. She reluctantly took the camera and snapped a picture.
"OK, let's roll before I become your picture girl."
"Aww!" Taraji put her arm around Mckennna's neck.
"It's OK. I'll make sure you always have a job as my as-sistant."
"Fuck you!"
They joked as they walked up the street. Taraji looked back, her billboard farther in the distance. She thought about her grandmother. I hope you are proud of me, Mema.

***

Fantasia stared at the nursery door. The whole house was undergoing a transformation, but Fantasia couldn't bear to open the one door that she knew she needed to. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The furniture and toys all gone from the house; she couldn't bear it. Kendall had hired a nanny to keep Kash. at his place while he was on the road. The only thing to remind Fantasia of the painful past was the walls. The pastel colors on the wall were the constant reminder that the room was for a child, a child that would never be.

Fantasia knew it was her last major project. She couldn't take her eyes off the walls. She stood next to buckets of white, blue, and gray paint. Her gray Grizzly sweat pants rolled up to her knees, her bare feet cold against the clear tarp on the floor. She had to change the color of the room. Fantasia picked up the small canister of blue paint and walked to the wall. She dipped the thin paint brush in the navy paint. With one stroke, blue hit the face of a white rabbit on the mural in the room.

Fantasia's body began to tremble. Emotions rushed up to her hands. She screamed as she threw the canister of paint against the wall. Blue splattered all over the wall and the floor. With Fantasia's rapid heartbeat, heavy breathing, she knew she couldn't do it. Fuck it. I'll hire someone.