3
“So the wedding was bonkers?” Piper asks as she tries on a pair of my boots. They don’t suit her.
We’re in Gia’s and my dorm, getting ready to go to a Gamma Phi Gamma party. It’s the first sorority party of the semester, and since both Piper and Meagan are determined to be Gamma girls, Gia and I have no choice but to get dragged to all of their parties.
“Yeah, I’m glad the whole wedding thing is over. Mystique is a stepmama though. I think Zac’s baby mama left their son with them.”
“That is sooo what happened on that Tina Turner movie,” Gia says as she looks at her asymmetrical afro in the mirror. “Remember? Tina had to raise Ike’s kids just like they were her own.”
“That’s too much drama,” Piper says. “If that’s what being rich and famous is all about, I’ll pass.”
“Thanks a lot,” I reply. “Since I’m on the road to riches and fame, I hope my journey is not like Mystique’s.”
Gia giggles and pulls on a snug wool skirt. “You’ve already got stuff popping off with you, girl. DeShawn was your date, and you were in the wedding party with Sam. I just knew we were gonna get a YouTube sensation out of that situation right there.”
“Sam knows what it is, plus me and DeShawn are not even all like that.”
Piper says, “You are not all like that toward DeShawn, but he’s definitely getting gone over you.”
I groan and throw myself onto my bed and a pile of clothes. “I’m so not feeling that at all. I need a break from boys. Sam has messed it up for their gender right now.”
“Who could ever get tired of boys?” Piper asks.
Before Gia or I can answer her question, there’s a knock on the door. We already know that it’s Meagan, because she texted us to say she was on her way. When Gia opens the door, Meagan steps in with a huge smile on her face.
“How do I look, y’all?”
Meagan is wearing head-to-toe turquoise and white, the Gamma Phi Gamma colors. She’s got on a turquoise half jacket, white shimmery tank, and turquoise skinny jeans. She finishes the ensemble with silver boots.
Piper’s eyes widen. “Aren’t they gonna be mad if you wear their colors and you haven’t crossed?”
“I am legacy,” Meagan says. “For me, crossing over is a formality.”
Gia lifts an eyebrow and says, “Usually, I don’t agree with Piper, but this time I think you should change. Remember there are those two chicks in the sorority who already aren’t feeling you. You don’t want to make anybody mad.”
Meagan looks as if she’s considering Gia’s advice. “Maybe you’re right. I don’t want to start any mess. It’s a new year so maybe they’ll let bygones be bygones.”
“We’ll wait for you while you go and change,” I say. “But hurry up. The party started an hour ago. I like fashionably late, but dang.”
As Meagan dashes out of the room to go and change her outfit, Gia uses this as an opportunity to beef up her accessories.
“If you add one more bangle, you’re gonna sound like a set of wind chimes walking up in there,” Piper says.
“I like to jingle when I walk,” Gia says with a laugh. “I sound musical, like Jill Scott or somebody.”
“Wow” is the only response I can muster. It’s hard to have a comeback for some of Gia’s witticisms.
“Hey, y’all, I was thinking of picking up a couple of classes at Morehouse this semester,” Piper says. “I’m thinking it will be a good way to meet guys.”
Gia giggles, “So do it, but don’t tell Meagan. She’ll do it with you.”
“I know.”
“Oh, I know what I forgot to tell y’all about,” Gia says in an excited tone.
“What?” I ask. I don’t like the sound of the excitement. She’s too amped.
“Well, you know we’re having a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration over in the Sisters Chapel, right?” Gia asks.
I nod. “Of course. The guest speaker this year graduated from Spelman in the sixties. I bet she marched with Dr. King.”
“Right,” Gia says. “So we’ve been asked . . . well, I’ve been asked to choreograph an expression of dance for the program. I thought we’d do a theatrical interpretation of ‘Ride On, King Jesus.’ ”
I give Gia a big, blank, wide-eyed stare, trying to figure out what this has to do with me.
Piper asks, “So, you need us to help you with it?”
“I’d love for y’all to be in it. Sunday, if you do it, I know I’ll get more participation from the girls on campus.”
“Why does no one believe or understand me when I say that dancing is not my thing?” I ask.
“I know, I know, but I have an idea for you,” Gia says. “I want you to start off singing the song solo, and then the gospel choir will join in with you. You won’t have to dance at all. The dancers will do all that.”
“Am I going to get to dance?” Piper asks.
“You may audition for me,” Gia says. “This is going to have a lot of African dance techniques. If you don’t know the moves already, it’ll be hard for me to get you up to speed.”
Piper rolls her eyes, jumps up from the bed, and gives us a thirty-second rendition of some African-inspired dance. If it wasn’t for her pale skin, light eyes, and pointy nose, I would swear that girl was brought up on the coast of Ghana the way she swiveled her hips and swung those arms back and forth.
She’s a bit out of breath when she gets done, but she says, “You mean those techniques?”
Gia and I burst into laughter. “All right, girl,” Gia says. “You been watching a lot of National Geographic, Janet Jackson videos, or something, because that was on point!”
“My last foster mother’s church had a praise dance group. We did those moves on a song called ‘Anthem of Praise.’ ”
“Well, you are in, girl. I like the way you move,” Gia says.
Finally, Meagan reappears in less controversial wide-leg jeans, cream turtleneck and hunter-green belted vest. This outfit is a lot more conservative, and frankly more Meagan’s style.
“So, style jury, am I going to start any fights with this one?” Meagan asks.
I shake my head. “Nope. You look really sophisticated. Definitely Gamma Phi Gamma material.”
“So let’s roll out. I’m driving, right? And the party is at the Gamma house?”
Gia nods. “Yep. Let’s be out!”
As we leave our dorm, we notice quite a few girls filing out as well, probably most of them going to the Gamma Phi Gamma party. It is the most elite sorority on campus and most of the girls who want to join any sisterhood want it to be Gamma Phi Gamma.
The Gamma girls are strict too. If they invite you to their rush activities, they expect you to make the choice immediately to go the Gamma Phi Gamma route. If a girl seems indecisive or lets another one of the sororities court her too, she can pretty much forget crossing over as a Gamma Phi Gamma girl.
Technically, they’re not allowed to pledge anyone or do any hazing activities, but there is an underground pledge process that takes place. The girls who are accepted based on the intake application alone are classified as “paper” and not given the same respect as the ones who go through the pledge process.
All of this information is completely useless to me, since I have absolutely no intention of pledging or joining any sorority. But since Piper and Meagan are Gamma fanatics, I have no choice but to hear the ins and outs of getting into Gamma Phi Gamma.
The party is definitely already jumping when we arrive. Ironically, the DJ is spinning my cut “Can U See Me” when we walk into the party, as if on cue. Although the music is bumping, there aren’t many people dancing. There are clumps of girls and guys talking and laughing and a few couples grinding in corners—not exactly dancing.
DeShawn waves at me from across the room, and I give him a three-finger wave in return. For some reason, he seems to think that this means “come here,” because he makes his way through the crowded room to where we are.
He hugs me and lifts me off the floor as he does so. “Hey, girl. I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”
I laugh. “I just saw you at Mystique’s wedding.”
“Too long, too long. You could call me or text me or something,” DeShawn fusses.
Gia starts clearing her throat violently. DeShawn asks, “Gia you okay?”
“Yeah,” she says, “I’m just kind of thirsty. You know what that feels like, right?”
DeShawn rolls his eyes. “Thirsty doesn’t describe me in the least. I just like what I like.”
“Anyway!” Gia says. “I see my homeboy Kevin. Where’s Ricky? He said he was probably gonna come through.”
DeShawn shrugs. “I left him on campus. He might not have had a ride. Maybe you should go and call him.”
“Anything to get rid of me, huh?” Gia asks.
DeShawn nods and smiles. “Unh-huh! Now go and find your man.”
“You doing all right?” DeShawn asks as Gia rushes away, furiously pressing numbers on her cell phone.
“I am cool. Yeah, pretty cool.”
“Good, because I have a question to ask you.”
I feel my stomach flip. “Okay . . .”
“Did you invite me to Mystique’s wedding because you really wanted me as a date, or did you just invite me to make Sam jealous?”
“I . . . uh . . . um . . . well . . .”
Thank God for Meagan and her total disregard of conversation etiquette when she has something important to say. I have absolutely no idea how to answer DeShawn’s question and not sound like a jerk, so I am so happy that Meagan nearly knocks DeShawn over to get to me. The truth is, I invited him to the wedding so that I wouldn’t have to deal with Sam’s trying to get me back.
“What’s wrong?” I ask her.
“Wrong? Nothing’s wrong! Nothing at all.”
“Then why the dramatic entrance?” DeShawn asks.
Meagan looks DeShawn up and down like he’s the one who interrupted. Then she dismisses him with a wave of her hand. Rude, but the hilarious look on DeShawn’s face is totally worth it.
“I have found him, Sunday. My husband, my Chi Kappa Psi man. My Morehouse soul mate.”
“And you know this already?”
“I do, I do. He introduced himself, and he summers down the road from my family in the Hamptons. He’s going to study medicine, he’s deliciously fine, and he asked me out on a date. I could just pass out right now!”
“Well, what’s this Romeo’s name?” I ask with a little giggle. It’s hard not to be tickled seeing Meagan like this. Her pin-straight hair is whipping all around as she jerks her head on that pencil-thin frame.
“His name is Linden. And I think I’m in love.”
“You can’t know you’re in love that fast,” DeShawn protests as if he is a part of the conversation.
“Does this guy know who I am?” Meagan asks.
I shake my head. “Apparently not.”
Meagan is the girl with the plan. She already knows the end of her story. By the time she turns thirty, she’s going to be married to a doctor from Gamma Phi Gamma’s brother fraternity, Chi Kappa Psi, be mother of two kids, and own a four-bedroom house and a little dog.
Sometimes I envy her a little bit. It seems like the only thing that I’m sure of right now is that I’m going to finish college and keep pushing forward with my music. As for love . . . that has temporarily eluded me.
And I think that if it comes again, it certainly won’t be planned. It’s almost one-hundred-percent sure to catch me by surprise.