Free Ambitious by Monica McKayhan Page A

of it.

eight
    Drew
    I exhaled after I pulled into the garage and found that my father’s SUV wasn’t parked in its usual place. It wasn’t often that I drove my car to school. In fact, it was my father’s rule that I take the Mercedes out for a spin only on weekends, and only with permission. Occasionally I broke the rules and drove Delilah to school. Delilah . She was my candy-apple-red birthday present when I turned sixteen. With a drop-top and a set of nice wheels, Delilah had become my prize possession. Only I didn’t get to spend much time with her. She spent more time parked in our garage than she did on the streets of New York City. That was the downfall of living in a city like this—one where it was ludicrous to drive around when it made more sense to walk, grab a cab or ride the subway. What was the point in having a vehicle that you couldn’t drive? Which is why I broke the rules occasionally.
    Driving her to school was like heaven. Especially at my old public school, where girls went crazy over guys who owned a set of wheels. At my old school, everyone knewme. I was popular and famous—well, my dad was famous. But everyone knew that I was the son of a former semipro ballplayer and a sportscaster, and they treated me as such. There wasn’t anyone who didn’t know my name. However, my experience with driving Delilah to Premiere wasn’t quite what I expected. There was no hype, and the parking attendant didn’t even know who I was. I had to park on the street, which was dangerous. And I received a parking ticket from a disgruntled meter maid.
    At my old school, I was a basketball star. I scored more points in a single game than most of my teammates scored all year. The coaches let me have my way on the court. I called the shots. At Premiere, I was nobody. I had talent and a love for the stage, but nothing more. Building a reputation all over again wasn’t going to be easy, but I was up for the challenge. I needed to follow my dreams.
    I pulled the Mercedes into our apartment’s parking garage, lifted the top and shut off the engine. I sat there for a moment, thinking about the events of the day; especially my audition, wondering if I’d be considered for the role. There were so many talented actors in my class, some who’d been acting since preschool. My acting career consisted of the Christmas pageant at my old elementary school in sixth grade and the Easter play at Gram’s Holy Ghost church in Jamaica, Queens, where she lived. It wasn’t until the production of A Christmas Carol last year that I realized I had talent. It was then that I’d decided to pursue my acting career.
    I still remember heading to the locker room during half-time at one of the biggest games of the year. I’d scored twenty-one points in the first half of the game. I was on fire! But I remember thinking that I wasn’t feeling basketball much anymore. And it hit me that night as I jogged through the hallway of our school, and into the locker room—a towel flung across my shoulder and a bottle of Gatorade in my hand. As Coach Austin laid out his strategy for the second half of the game, I was dazed—in la-la land. I wanted to tell him that night that I was thinking about transferring to another school, but I didn’t want to ruin the rest of the game for him or my teammates—or for my father who was sitting in the stands wearing a silver-and-blue jersey and yelling every time the officials made a bad call. I couldn’t bring myself to do that to them that night. But I had a plan.
    After a brief conversation with my literary arts teacher, Miss Claiborne, who encouraged me to “do something with my acting,” I couldn’t wait to find out more about Premiere High School’s drama program. I skipped school the next day and walked the twelve blocks to the performing arts school in the heart of Manhattan. I snuck in with a group of students and headed straight for the theater. With a baseball cap pulled down on my head, I took