Then There Were Four

This week was World Culture Week at school, and the Kids were almost too busy with their individual projects to rehearse. Ryan was covering the whole event for the school paper. Renee was going from co-writing that article to composing her own poem for the occasion. Stacy and The Kid had just come from the library loaded down with as many books as they could each check out, no small feat considering the whole school was doing research. Connie had gone home to ask her parents about her own heritage. In fact, the only one without a project was Richie, and helping him find one was becoming a project in itself

He was sitting at the table spinning a globe and calling out whichever countries his finger landed on. Unfortunately, they were all countries he could barely pronounce. “Antigua! No.. .uhhh, Bora Bora!  Wait, I’ve got it: Nicaragua!"

“Don’t tell me you still haven’t figured out what you’re doing for World Culture Week!” Renee said to him.

“It’s not as easy as it looks. I never knew there were so many countries in the world.” he said.

“Well, why don’t you look through some of these.” Stacy said as she dropped her stack of books on the table.

The thud distracted Ryan, so he stopped typing and came over. “Got enough books there, guys?” he asked.

“We got every last one there was.” The Kid said. “Man, you should have been there! It was like a feeding frenzy!”

“Yeah, the librarian was so happy to see all those kids in the library that she nearly cried.” Stacy told them.

Connie came in. “Hi, guys!” she called to them. “Richie, do you have a project yet?”

“I’m working on it!” As he picked up the globe, he noticed a sticker on the base that said Made In Taiwan. “Hey, how ‘bout Taiwan?”

“How ‘bout performing?” Riley said, coming around the door Connie had left open.

“Aw, come on, Riley, we need to work on our projects.” The Kid protested.

Riley looked shocked. “Did I just hear right?  The Kid passing up performing on stage to do his homework?”

“We can hardly believe it, either.” Renee said, patting his arm.

“Believe it or not, Riley, every kid in school is really enjoying this cultural stuff” Ryan explained. “There’s assemblies, guest speakers, even a fair at the end of the week. We’ve all been looking forward to it.”

“Still, we could use a little break.” reasoned Renee. “We have been at it all day.”

“Is there even an audience out there?” wondered Connie.

“Yeah.  It seems everyone else had Renee’s idea, too. They all need something to take their minds off school.” Riley said.

“Well, then, let’s get to it.” said Kid. “And who knows? Maybe Richie will get inspired.”

“Don’t count on it.” Richie replied. Everyone laughed as they headed out the door.

It was hard to concentrate on music with so many different ideas spinning around in their heads. They hurried back to the storeroom to dive into the big piles of books. Richie looked through about nine of them before he sighed in disgust.

“Don’t give up. You’ll get it.” Stacy reassured him.

“Maybe I could get an idea from what you guys are doing.” he said.

“Well, I’m doing a report on native clothing from other countries.”

“Oh, that’s girl stuff! That won’t help me!” He turned to The Kid. “What about you, Kid?”

“Student Exchange Program.” Kid replied.

Everyone seemed impressed. “Now that’s interesting!” Richie said.

“There’s about four kids in my class already.” Renee told them. “Actually, I feel kinda bad for them. They seem sort of lost.”

“Well, I think it would be a great experience, going to school in another country.” said Ryan.

“I’m glad you feel that way,” The Kid said, sounding a little nervous, “because I’m gonna do it.”

They were shocked, to say the least. “You mean, you’re going to another country?” asked Connie.

“Yep.”

“When will you be back?”

“In about a year, I guess. You guys thought this was so cool a second ago.”

“That was before we knew you were leaving.” Stacy said, staring at him as if he was already speaking a foreign language. “What about the band?”

“Yeah, we’re the best we’ve ever been!” added Ryan. “Why would you want to break that up?”

“Look, guys, I’m real sorry, but this is my chance to explore my heritage. I wanna know more than my parents can tell me. I wanna experience it myself, for real.”

“We understand.” Renee said suddenly, but no one echoed her.

Most of the Kids started to head home, but Renee hung back until only she and The Kid were left.  She studied him. “Are you really leaving?” she asked.

“Uh huh.” he said. When Renee sighed and began blinking away tears, he quickly said, “Hey, I know I’ve teased you a lot, but really, I’ll miss you.”

“It’s not that.” she said glumly. “I...I’m leaving, too.

“What? You’re kidding! Where are you going?”

“Well, remember when Samantha wasn’t too sure about going home?” she explained. “She asked me to come, too. And it’s only fair. I mean, she’s been out here so many times.”

“Do you want to go?”

She nodded. “If I’d known you were leaving, I would have waited, but...oh, now I feel horrible!”

The Kid thought of something just then that saddened him. “What about Stacy?”

“Don’t say anything to her, Kid, okay? I have to find a way to tell her myself”

“It better be good.” he said quietly. They both knew no explanation would be good enough, though.

Renee didn’t exactly have time to come up with anything. The next day at rehearsal, Stacy stormed into the P*lace and made a beeline for her sister.

“You’re leaving too, aren’t you?” she demanded to know. “I heard Mom on the phone last night. She was talking about taking you out of school.” When Renee didn’t say anything, Stacy knew she was right. “How could you do this to me?”

“Stace..."

“When were you gonna tell me?  On the runway when your flight was leaving? I don’t believe this!”

“Hey, chill out, Stacy.” The Kid said, trying to make things better. “She was only trying to think of how to tell you so you wouldn’t react like this.”

Instead, it had the opposite effect. “You knew? And you didn’t tell me?” Stacy yelled as she spun to face him.

“I asked him not to!” Renee told her.

The other Kids heard the shouting and came over. “What’s going on?” Ryan asked.

Before anyone else could answer, Renee went up on stage, grabbed a microphone and said, “Yes, I am leaving too, okay? I’m going to England to stay with Samantha.  Happy?” she added, more for Stacy’s benefit than anyone else’s.

It took a moment or two to sink in. Then Richie said, “I’m sorry!”

“For what?” Renee asked him.

“Whatever I did to make you leave!”

“You thought I was leaving because of you?” She came down and put her arm around him. “Believe me, Richie, it’s nothing you’ve done. I’ve been feeling kinda out of place for a while now, and it took Samantha to help me realize it.” She looked at Stacy. “You don’t really need me anymore, so I thought I’d do something for myself” Stacy didn’t say anything. “Stacy, look at me.”

“No” Stacy said to the floor.

Renee went and took Stacy’s chin in her hands. “Why can’t you be happy for me?” she pleaded.

“I’m happy! I’m totally happy!” Stacy claimed.  “You’re leaving, Kid’s leaving, and I couldn’t be happier!  See?”  She attempted a smile.

“You’re about as happy as I am!” said Renee, who didn’t even attempt smiling.  “I didn’t do this on purpose, you know. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Well, you did.” said Stacy. She ran off.

“She’ll be fine.” Ryan told Renee. “It’s just a little harsh, that’s all. There’s no easy way to tell someone that you’re leaving them.”

“Is anyone else going to announce anything earth-shattering?” Renee asked. They all said no. “Good.”

When Renee went home, she found Stacy on her bed surrounded by old pictures. “Whatcha looking at?” she said hesitantly.

“A girl I knew growing up.” Stacy said without looking up.

Renee went over and looked at the picture on Stacy’s lap. It was taken during their joint birthday party at the P*lace. She picked up another. “Looks like you two were really close.” she said.

“Yeah, before she left.”

“You know, Stacy, it’d be really nice if we both stayed in the band together and went to the same college and married brothers and lived next-door to each other for the rest of our lives, but it’s not gonna happen.” She gathered up the pictures. “But this isn’t gonna end! I’m still your sister! Granted, a long distance sister, but still...” Stacy got up and went to the window. “C’mon, Stace, say something.”

Stacy swung around. “What do you want me to say? Huh? That I need you? Is that it? Okay, fine! I need you, Renee. Don’t go.”

“I wish you’d said that a week ago.” Renee said softly. She started to clean up the pictures. Suddenly she burst into tears.

It had never occurred to Stacy that that was what Renee had been waiting to hear all along. Seeing her sister cry made her realize just how selfish she’d been about everything. She went and put her arms around Renee, and the two of them just sat and cried.

The day everyone had been dreading had finally arrived. Renee’s flight to England would be leaving in a few hours, and the Kids all lined up like a funeral procession outside the P*lace to say goodbye to her.

Connie was first. “I’m really gonna miss you, Renee.” she said. “You’re my hero. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”

Renee dropped to her knees and hugged her. “Oh, Connie, I’ll miss you, too!” she sobbed. “You be good, okay?”

Ryan helped her up. For a moment, she wondered why he was wearing sunglasses.  He cleared his throat. “You take care of yourself” he said abruptly.

Renee lifted up his sunglasses and noticed tears forming in his eyes that he’d been trying to hide. She smiled and hugged him. “Yeah, I will.” she said. “Take care of Stacy for me.”

“Of course.”

“When do you leave?” Renee asked The Kid.

“A week from tomorrow.” he said. “Tell Samantha we said hi.”

“I will.”

“’Bye, Renee.”

“Goodbye, Rahsaan.” Renee said, making them both cry. They’d never used his real name since he’d told them. Somehow, it made that day seem so final.

Richie looked up at Renee nervously. “I know I did some pretty stupid things,” he began, “and you’re probably glad to get away from me...” But Renee surprised the both of them by hugging him.  “Try not to raffle anyone off while I’m gone” she told him.

Then she’d reached Stacy, and all the words she’d planned to use had disappeared. This was really it. Two people who couldn’t have been closer were about to be separated for an entire year.

“A-Are you coming to the airport?” she asked Stacy.

“No, I might as well get used to being alone.”

Renee’s voice abandoned her again, so she just hugged Stacy as hard as she could, Stacy hugging back equally as hard. “I’ll come back.” Renee managed to whisper.

A car pulled up in front of the P*lace and beeped its horn. “That’s Mom and Dad.” said Stacy.

Suddenly, Renee just couldn’t bear to leave. “Riley! I forgot to say goodbye to Riley!” she sobbed, running into the P*lace.  Stacy waved at the car and told them to wait.

Riley came out with his arm around Renee. “All right, you, get going before you miss your flight.” he told her. “Have a safe trip, and don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine.”

They waved their goodbyes as she got into the car. Before it pulled away, Renee stuck her head out the window. “I miss you all already!” They laughed, and she continued to blow tear-soaked kisses as the car started to pull away.

They watched the car until they could no longer see it. Then Riley went back inside, followed by Ryan, with his arms around Richie and Connie. Kid took Stacy’s hand for a moment and squeezed it, then went into the P*lace, leaving her standing there by herself until she, too, finally went inside.

For a while, no one had the heart to do much of anything except sit and mope. Richie looked out the door at where Renee had been standing. Then he looked at The Kid. Then he went for his school supplies.

“What are you doing, Richie?” Connie asked.

“Well, in a couple of weeks, I’m gonna have friends in two other countries.” he explained. “So I thought I’d find out how to say, ‘friend’ in every language.”

“That’s a great project, Richie.” said Riley.

“I know Renee would have liked it.” said Stacy. Everyone gave her a sympathetic smile.

“And since you guys are my friends,” Richie continued, “maybe you could help me?” They heartily agreed.

As hard as it was for them to lose their friends (however you may say it!) the kids of Kids Incorporated could be sure that no matter who came or went, the band would always remain because of the strong friendships it had been built on.

The End