Read Online A Star is Born by Walter Dean Myers - Free Book Online Page A

can’t walk away from that. It’s going to stay with you, and you’re either going to work it or it’s going to eat at you until it messes you up.”
    â€œThe Cruisers are behind me?” LaShonda asked.
    â€œI’m here,” Kambui said.
    â€œI’m with you, girlfriend,” Bobbi said.
    â€œI’ll lay it all down for you, LaShonda,” I said. “For you and for your brother. Whatever it takes, I got your back.”
    â€œOkay,” LaShonda said. “Let’s do it.”
    After we hung up I put on the tube and stared at some reality jam. Only it wasn’t really reality because it wasn’t touching anything that I was feeling. I was happy and proud that the Cruisers showed strong for LaShonda, but I wasn’t sure of myself. In the movies when a crew got together the background music started to play and they all got these cool looks on their faces and everything worked out fine. We were all still hoping things were going to work out and I was a little scared. Okay, a lot scared.
    Also, how come Bobbi had got on top of things so fast? She had thought it out before I could even spit it out. I didn’t know if girls could really think faster than boys, but that girl sure smoked me!
    Â 
    Okay. Woke up on a Tuesday morning and everything looked fine. My room was still rectangular, the windows were still in the same place, and there were still cars double-parked in the street below.
    When I got out to the kitchen Mom was at the table pushing a piece of lemon around her teacup with the spoon.
    â€œWhy are you doing that?” I asked.
    â€œJust thinking about what your father was saying the other day.” Mom sounded moany. “I wonder if he thinks I’m a lousy parent?”
    â€œWhat do you care?” I asked. “I think you’re okay.”
    â€œYou’re just in love with my mac and cheese,” she said.
    â€œSo today we’re going to be doing the duck dish, right?” I said. “I even got Bobbi coming over to help and she’s not into cooking.”
    â€œI hope it turns out all right,” Mom said. “They said it was easy on the website.”
    Mom was sweating making a fancy dish with me. It was funny in a way and not funny at the same time. She was an adult and we had been doing okay most of the time, but here she was getting all nervous about making dinner.
    I checked out my teeth and rinsed. Then I washed my face and checked out how big my head looked in the mirror. It was kind of big but not as big as it looked on television.
    â€œYou’re going to come straight from school, right?” Mom at the door.
    â€œYeah. Hey, do you think I’ve got a big head?”
    â€œIt’s kind of big,” Mom said, turning my face toward her. “But you’re good-looking, so it’s okay. Good-looking covers up a lot of stuff.”
    â€œWhen do you think people will stop having problems?”
    â€œYou mean when will there be world peace and the end of poverty?” Mom asked.
    â€œNo, like, when do you stop worrying about how you’re doing?” I said. “You said looking good covers up a lot of stuff, and you look great, but …”
    â€œSome things you always worry about, I think,” Mom said. “When I was young my mother used to dress me so I would look frumpy and the boys wouldn’t notice me. She was always worried that some boy would take advantage of me. She still worries about it because people are people and they do what they want to do. And sometimes — well, you know….”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThey do what they need to do instead of what they should be doing,” Mom said. “You’ve got things going on in your head that you know are right but you don’t always follow those things. Sometimes you just do what makes you comfortable.”
    â€œLike making this duck thing?”
    â€œIt’ll be cool if it turns out great,