Praise and worship started. The choir at Praise Ministries was anointed. They could sing you into a happy place even if you were feeling down. Lisa glanced around the sanctuary. Still no Dana.

  Please, Lord. Let Dana experience worship and come to know You in a special way, she prayed as the choir sang “I Give Myself to You” by Rance Allen. Lisa sang along in her seat at the back of the church.

  When the choir began another song, Lisa glanced around the church again. Still no Dana. She left the sanctuary, went into the fellowship hall, and opened the back door to look out. She glanced up the street in the direction Dana would walk from, but she didn’t see her.

  Lisa’s shoulders caved in as she went back to the sanctuary. She had prayed for Dana, hoping her friend would come to realize her way was not the right way. Elsie Richardson had asked that Lisa try to make a difference, but if Dana couldn’t even show up for church . . .

  Praise and worship was almost over when she reclaimed her spot in the back of the sanctuary. She’d started singing again when someone scooted into the pew next to her and said, “Girl, you are not making a joyful noise. Just stop.”

  Lisa turned to her left and saw Dana standing there grinning at her. “You made it!” Lisa hugged her.

  “I didn’t have anything else to do.” Then Dana whispered, “And you did say there would be dinner after service, right?”

  Lisa laughed. As the last praise song ended, they sat down and enjoyed the rest of the service. Pastor Jonathan preached a message titled “Your Struggle Is About to Change Your Whole Life.” Lisa wasn’t sure whether Dana was listening to the sermon, but at least she sat through the service. Lisa could only hope Dana took in some of Pastor Jonathan’s message.

  After the benediction, Dana and Lisa went into the fellowship hall to eat dinner. A few other girls who graduated with them came over to say hello to Lisa and Dana.

  Dana pulled her camera out of her purse. “Huddle up. I want to take y’all’s picture.”

  The group struck a pose together, and Dana snapped the photo.

  Lisa’s mom walked over to the group. She held out her hand to Dana. “Get in there. I’ll take your picture with the girls.”

  Dana handed her the camera. “Thank you.”

  The group huddled up again and posed for the camera. “Say cheese,” Brenda said.

  “Cheese,” the five girls said in unison.

  After the picture was taken, Brenda told Dana, “When you get the film developed, I’d like a copy of the photo. This will probably be the last picture of these girls together before they go off to college.”

  Dana nodded. “I’ll bring the picture to you, Mrs. Whitaker.”

  “Have you given any more thought to college, Dana? You’re such a smart girl. I think you can do it.”

  Lisa caught the look of sadness on Dana’s face after her mother asked her about college, so she jumped in. “We have to get going, Mama, but thanks for taking the picture.”

  “Where are you going?” Brenda asked Lisa. “I thought you were supposed to work at the corner store for your father this afternoon.”

  Lisa waved that off. “I’ll get over there later on. Dana and I were going to hang out for a little while. Right, Dana?” Lisa looked to her friend to get her out of working at the store. Her dad wanted to do inventory today. Lisa hated doing inventory with her dad. He always corrected her numbers.

  Dana lifted her camera. “We were going to take more pictures with my new camera.”

  “Okay. You girls go on. But, Lisa, you need to get to the store later on this afternoon.”

  “I will, Mama, I promise. I want to hang out a little while first, though.”

  Her mom kissed her on the forehead and walked away.

  Lisa saw Dana frown again and wondered why she would frown about something like a forehead kiss. Maybe Dana thought her mother was treating her like a baby or something. So she wiped her mother’s lipstick from her face as the two of them left the church and headed down the street in the heat of the day.

  Chapter 6

  Dana went to Lisa’s house with her so she could change her clothes. The cool air caressed their bodies as they opened the front door. “Oh my goodness, it feels good in here.”

  “After walking them blocks and sweating every step . . .” Lisa sighed. “I wish we could put an air conditioner on our backs before we leave out again.”

  Dana laughed. But Lisa put one of her mother’s accordion fans in her purse before they walked to the game room on Halsey Street. It was a spacious building with three floors. The game room was on the first floor and apartments on the second and third floors. Pac-Man and Centipede, along with pinball machines, lined the walls, with pool tables and table tennis in the middle of the floor. Games were only a quarter, so even Dana could afford a few when she wanted to play.

  “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been in this game room?” Lisa asked Dana as they took turns on the Pac-Man machine.

  “Years. You never come here with me.”

  Lisa nodded. “Not since you and I played this very game the summer of our last year in junior high.”

  Lisa took her turn behind the machine. “I’m not as good as you are. I’m rusty.”

  “Give it your best shot.”

  As Lisa played Pac-Man, Dana brought up the past again. “If your daddy hadn’t stopped you from hanging out in here, you’d know how to play the game.”

  “He doesn’t like it here. Says there’s too many kids hanging out, doing nothing, around here.” Lisa then glanced over at Dana. “And you had a new group of friends anyway . . . girls that didn’t like me.”

  Dana protested. “None of my friends ever said they didn’t like you.”

  “They made fun of me, Dana. That’s not being friendly where I come from.” Lisa lost the game, and they moved over to Centipede.

  Dana hadn’t stood up for Lisa back then. She was trying to fit in herself. And having a friend like Lisa, who was the do-no-wrong kid of the neighborhood, made it difficult for Dana. She wasn’t a church kid, but she hadn’t been a street kid—until she started hanging out with her new friends.

  Back then, Dana figured there was no reason for her to go to church with her mother, who was usually high, so she made her choice. She and Lisa stayed friends, but she also hung out with people like Jasmine. “I could have stood up for you back then, but my head was in another place. I was dealing with my own stuff.”

  “Hey, are y’all going to play or talk?” a guy standing behind Lisa asked.

  “We’re talking, so I guess we’ll move out of the way since it’s such an emergency,” Dana said to the guy, then grabbed Lisa’s arm and moved away from the Centipede machine.

  Lisa pointed back at the Centipede game. “I thought we were going to play.”

  “Come on, girl.” They walked over to the pinball machine. Dana whispered to Lisa, “He’s Jo-Jo’s son. He’s one of the biggest gangsters in Bed-Stuy, so we don’t want no trouble from them.”

  Lisa looked back at the guy who made them move away from the Centipede game. He was short and stocky, with baggy jeans and tattoos on his arms. “No wonder my daddy told me not to come to this game room anymore.” Lisa started walking toward the door.

  Dana caught up with her as they stepped outside. “You’re being a big scaredy-cat.”

  “Oh, I’m the scaredy-cat, huh? You’re the one who moved me away from the game so some gangster’s son could take our spot. Looks like these thugs around here have put some fear in you.”

  “I’m not scared. I know the deal, is all. You don’t be out on these streets, so you don’t know what’s up.”

  They were getting ready to turn on Lewis Avenue and walk to Dana’s place when they ran into a group of men leaning against the outer wall of the game room. A guy in the group stepped forward and handed a woman a small packet. The woman, who looked like she should be somewhere holding an “I’m homeless, will work for food” sign, handed him some money.

  Running her hand through her hair, Lisa said, “A lot has changed since we were younger.”

  Dana wished things were different, but wishes and dreams didn’t mean a thing around here. She wished beauty existed where ugliness seemed to prevail. “Come back here for a minute. I forgot to do something.”

  Dana and Lisa then stood in front of the game room while Dana asked one of the passersby to take a picture of them in front of the building.

  “What’s the deal with you and this camera?”

  Dana glanced back at the group of guys. “I want to capture some goodness in this world with my camera. And our friendship is the best.”

  * * *

  When Dana and Lisa arrived at the apartment, Dana didn’t want to go inside and deal with her mother, so they sat on the stoop and watched the people go up and down the street. The sun beat down on their heads. Lisa took her fan out of her purse, and she and Dana took turns using it.

  A guy headed up the street, blasting “You Brought the Sunshine” by the Clark Sisters on his boom box. A few kids chased each other down the street. Yelling, “You’re it . . . no, you’re it.”

  Jasmine came by and sat down with them. Then Dana saw Shayla, a girl they went to school with, walking on the other side of the street. She shouted, “Shayla, come here!”

  Shayla hesitated.

  “We’re not going to eat you for lunch.” Dana held up her camera. “I want to take your picture, that’s all.”

  Shayla crossed the street and came over to where they were sitting. She spoke to Jasmine and then looked at Lisa. “I thought your daddy didn’t like you hanging out with the riffraff.”

  “Who you calling riffraff?” Dana stood up like she was ready to defend herself. But first she had to wipe sweat from her forehead. The sun was clowning on them.

  Mr. Adams, from next door, got his wrench out and uncapped the fire hydrant. His teenage son started scraping an aluminum can on the ground to smooth the edges so he wouldn’t cut his hand. Then he put the can over the hole where water was flowing out of the hydrant. Water began spraying everywhere.

  Dana quickly forgot her beef with Shayla. She snapped their picture, then pointed toward the fire hydrant. “Look, let’s go, y’all.”

  But Lisa complained, “I don’t want to get my hair wet.”

  Jasmine jumped up. “It’s so hot out here, I don’t care about my hair.” She ran toward the water. Other kids were gathering in the street, taking joy in the relief from the heat. Dana ran into the water, then the next thing she knew, Shayla was in the water, too, jumping around and laughing.

  When she noticed Lisa was still sitting on the stoop sweating like a pitcher of ice water, she went over to her, grabbed hold of her arms, and pulled her up. “Come on, girl. Act like you’re being baptized.”

  “Okay, okay.” Lisa laid her purse on the stoop and ran into the water with Dana.

  Dana splashed water on her friends, and they splashed it back on her. The water dripped on her like a cold winter’s rain—swept across her face as if a rushing mighty wind was sent to cool her down.

  Dana twirled around in the water, wishing she could capture the moment with her camera. Mr. Adams was standing to the side, gleefully watching them. Dana pointed toward the stoop. “Take our picture,” she called out to him.

  “Look at my hair!” Lisa yelled.

  “My hair is a mess, too, but don’t you feel better?” Dana said.

  “Much,” Jasmine answered.

  Dana posed for the camera as Mr. Adams started taking photos.

  Lisa smiled, splashed some water on Dana. “I feel cooler, for sure.”

  Mr. Adams set the camera back down on the stoop next to Lisa’s purse.

  The girls let the cool water hit every part of their bodies. When they stepped away from the water, everyone was drenched. The girls started twisting their hair to drain the water.

  Dana told them, “I have some towels. Let me get y’all some.” Dana went into the bottom level of the brownstone. She opened the door and started walking toward the linen closet. But then she saw her mom stretched out on the floor having convulsions.

  Dana’s eyes did the screaming for her. She ran back to the front door, opened it, and yelled, “Help! My mom needs help!” Then she got down on the floor and tried to shake her mother.

  “Ma! Ma! What’s wrong? Are you having another seizure?”

  Mr. Adams, Lisa, and Shayla came into the house. Mr. Adams pushed her aside. “Don’t shake her. Go get me a spoon.”

  Dana jumped up, ran into the kitchen to get the spoon. Once she was back in the living room, she handed it to Mr. Adams, and he pressed it against her mother’s tongue.

  “Call the ambulance!” he shouted.

  “We don’t have a phone,” Dana told him, eyes downcast as she spoke. “It got cut off.”

  “Go to my house and tell my wife you need to call for an ambulance.”

  Dana and Lisa ran out of the house and took the steps to Mr. Adams’ brownstone two at a time. Dana banged on his front door. Mrs. Adams swung the door open and started wagging her finger in Dana’s face. “Now see here—”

  Lisa held up a hand. “We need help. Mr. Adams wants you to call 911.”

  Mrs. Adams stepped onto the porch, concern etched on her face. “Is something wrong with my husband?”

  “My mom is having convulsions.” Dana ran back down the steps as she shouted, “Mr. Adams is trying to help her now!”

  “Please call the ambulance.” Lisa stood next to Mrs. Adams, wringing her hands.

  “Okay, y’all go back to the house. I’ll call right now.”

  Dana and Lisa ran back into the apartment. Shayla was still there, standing in the entryway with tears rolling down her face. Dana’s mother was propped against the wall next to the table where Dana’s record player had been. The convulsions had stopped. Dana noticed her mother was dazed and still looked like she was out of it. She also noticed her record player was gone.

  Dana sat on the floor next to her mother. “Ma, what did you do?” Tears streamed down Dana’s face as her mother labored to breathe. Her head leaned to the side like she was about to nod out.

  “You can’t keep doing this stuff, Vida. You have a daughter to think about,” Mr. Adams told her.

  Vida’s head bobbed back and forth. Her eyes opened and closed like she was trying to regain her focus.

  Dana kept crying. She held on to her mother’s hand. She didn’t care about the record player. She wanted her mother to be okay. “Don’t die on me, Ma,” she whispered into Vida’s ear.

  Lisa put a hand on Dana’s back. Dana could hear her friend praying for her.

  The sirens of the ambulance could be heard outside. Mr. Adams told them, “The paramedics are here. Y’all need to move so they can get to your mother.”

  Dana swallowed hard as Lisa helped her stand. But she kept her eyes on her mother while the paramedics checked Vida’s vitals.

  “Looks like an overdose,” one of them said as they put her on the stretcher.

  Dana followed behind the stretcher as they wheeled her mother to the ambulance. She grabbed hold of her mother’s hand and begged, “Please get better. Please don’t die on me.”

  The tears kept coming. They lifted Vida into the ambulance. Dana wrapped her arms around herself and tried as best she could to comfort herself. Slowly lifting her head, she saw Derrick running down the street toward her. She felt so alone at this moment, she needed his presence.

  When Derrick reached her, he pulled her close. “You good? You good? Jasmine called and told me about your mom.”

  Wiping her eyes, Dana looked around. The paramedics were locking Vida’s bed in place. Lisa and Shayla were standing next to the stoop where she had left her camera. But she didn’t see her camera on the stoop, nor did she see Jasmine. “Where did Jasmine go?”

  Derrick shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Vida moaned.

  Dana reached out her hand. “Ma!” She turned back to Derrick, tears streaming down her face. “I’ve got to go.”

  Derrick asked the paramedic where they were taking Vida as Dana climbed into the ambulance. “I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

  “Thank you.” She needed someone and was so thankful Derrick was willing to sit at the hospital with her. As the doors on the ambulance were closing, Dana heard Lisa say, “Where’s my purse?”

  Chapter 7

  By the time she made it to the house, Lisa had worked herself into such a frenzy that she was crying when she opened the front door. Her parents were seated at the dining room table. It looked like they were in the middle of a serious discussion with the way they were looking at each other and shaking their heads.

  Lisa hated interrupting them, but she had a problem and needed their help. “Mom, Dad!” she bellowed as she stood in front of them.

  Brenda jumped out of her seat. “Lisa, what in the world?” She rushed over to her daughter and wiped the tears from her face. “What happened, honey?”

  “It—it was terrible.” Lisa’s shoulders shook. She wrapped her arms around her mother. She was so grateful to have a mother like Brenda Whitaker. Her mother went to work and church and kept her house clean and her family fed. Her mother volunteered at the homeless shelter and at the 262, helping young kids learn to read. She was a good mother and Lisa admired her. “Dana’s mother was taken to the hospital. She overdosed.”

  “Oh, my sweet Lord. How is Dana doing?” Brenda asked.

  “She’s totally distraught.”

  Her father got up from the table and came to where Lisa was standing. While her mother had an arm around her, comforting her, her daddy wagged a finger in her face. “You weren’t supposed to be with Dana anyway. I told you that girl was trouble. But you wouldn’t listen. And now you come home traumatized.”

  She knew he would be like this. It was going to be worse when she told him about her purse. But she couldn’t keep it from them, not when her identification was in it. “Daddy, don’t be so mean. Ms. Vida almost died,” she bawled as more tears rolled down her cheeks. “Why can’t you listen?”