10
I must really, really love Gia, because she’s got me standing before about two hundred of my Spelman sisters and some administrators, barefoot in a bright yellow and orange skirt with a head wrap to match. Piper’s outfit is identical except her colors are green and yellow. Gia, who stands front and center in our little dance triangle, is wearing red and yellow.
Nervous cannot even begin to describe how I feel. You’d think I’d be used to getting in front of people and performing, and I am, but this time there’s no mic in my hand. When I do a show, if I goof up the choreography, it’s okay, because I can just start singing extra hard, like I wasn’t supposed to dance on that part anyway. This is totally different.
I give a quick side glance to Piper, who appears to be confident, but her skin is flushed and red, telling me that maybe she’s a little bit nervous too. Gia on the other hand has a look of intensity on her face.
The only time I see her concentration crack is when DeShawn, Ricky, and Kevin walk in and sit in the back row of the auditorium. Gia bites her lip and then smiles.
Just as I feel myself begin to relax, the music blares through the speakers. The African drum beats and the xylophone’s chime take me back to Gia’s brutal rehearsals. It’s as if I can hear her voice in my head counting out the beats.
And then we start to move! Every shoulder bounce and deep bend is on point. Every turn, spin, and jump is executed dang near perfectly. I get off for a half second, but I don’t think anyone can tell but me.
Then, almost as quickly as it started, the song is over. We link arms and take a deep bow as everyone in the room applauds. Some people even stand, but no one is cheering louder than our own personal boy fan club in the back of the room.
Our performance was the finale to the program and Dr. Brooks, our professor for the African Diaspora class closes it out as soon as we leave the stage. My heart is racing still, I guess from the adrenaline rush I got right before we started.
Everyone congratulates us as they leave the auditorium. I smile and take the background, and let Gia have this moment. She worked really hard on this and she deserves the congrats and the extra credit.
Ricky walks up to her holding a bouquet of flowers and a Tweety balloon. He hugs her and hands her the flowers. “You were awesome, Gi-Gi!”
“I didn’t think you would come,” Gia says as she accepts the flowers.
“Why did you think that? I wouldn’t miss anything like this,” Ricky says.
Kevin says, “Before you two start getting all sentimental, I just want to say that your choreography was flawless, Gia. Are you sure you want to be a computer programmer? You looked like an Alvin Ailey dancer up there.”
“I love dancing, but my mom told me that I should pick something practical to study,” Gia says. “Programming computers will pay the bills. Know what I mean?”
“But you should do what you love,” Piper says. “That’s the only way to be happy.”
Gia turns to me. “Can you back me up here? You love music, but you’re getting a law degree. We can do both, right? We can have what we love and still get a paycheck.”
Before I can answer, DeShawn says, “Or you could get the paycheck doing what you love.”
I shake my head and laugh. “This is an endless debate that no one ever wins.”
DeShawn runs his hand down my right arm and then squeezes my hand. The intimacy of his gesture makes me want to pull away, but for some reason I don’t.
He says, “You were great up there too, Sunday. What can’t you do?”
“Apparently, get an A in my composition class.”
Piper laughs out loud. “You can too get an A. Stop saying that. I’ve got to go, y’all. I have a date with my Morehouse man.”
“You sound like Meagan,” I say.
“There is something to be said for my Morehouse brothers,” Kevin says. “We are an elite bunch.”
DeShawn rolls his eyes. “Ricky, let’s drop off Mr. Elite and go grab something to eat.”
“Okay,” Ricky replies. “Gia . . . are you hungry? Want to go with us?”
“Only if Sunday comes too.” The pleading look in her eyes convinces me of my response, even though I need to study.
“All right, but I can’t stay out late. I have to finish my selection from A Mercy.”
“You’re not done with that yet?” Gia asks. “You are the biggest procrastinator.”
“I know, right? Let’s go change out of our leotards so we can eat.”
Gia says, “Okay, Ricky give us like fifteen minutes and we’ll meet you out front.”
About a half hour later, we’re crammed into a booth at the Busy Bee Café, and scanning the menu for our dinner choices.
“I’m getting fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and greens,” I say as I slam the menu shut.
Gia laughs. “You get the same thing every time, so why do you even need the menu?”
“Sometimes I get the smothered pork chops or different side dishes. I just have to know what I’m in the mood for, and right now it is fried chicken!”
“Since you did such a good job, you should treat yourself,” Ricky says.
“Dr. Brooks personally thanked me for stepping up to the plate,” Gia says. “I’m so glad we decided to do it.”
I laugh out loud. “I don’t know if I really decided to do anything. You guilt tripped me and Piper until we had no other choice.”
“Too bad she couldn’t hang out with us tonight,” DeShawn says. “Piper is cool.”
“Yes, she is, but she is totally gone over this L.J. dude,” Gia says. “I was listening to her on the phone with him the other day and she is completely sickening.”
DeShawn and I make eye contact and laugh. Up until recently Ricky and Gia were equally sickening, so Gia’s observation of Piper’s romance is pretty funny.
“What?” Gia asks. “Oh, I know what y’all are trying to say, but Ricky and I had been dating for a long time. She just met this dude.”
“I didn’t say anything,” I say. “Meagan is lost to us too, I think. She hasn’t even been around. Piper says she’s hardly ever on campus, except for class, and when she is in the dorm, it’s always when Piper is out with L.J. They barely see each other anymore.”
“We may have lost one of our sisters to boy craziness,” Gia says.
“And another is following quickly behind.”
DeShawn laughs. “So, I guess it’s just y’all against the dating world, huh?”
“Pretty much,” Gia says. She is genuinely somber, but I’m on the verge of cracking up. DeShawn is clearly teasing us, but Gia’s not taking it that way.
“Come on. Let’s go up through the line and get our food, before I perish,” I say.
Ricky laughs. “Perish? You sound like Kevin now. You two have been hanging out too much.”
“We haven’t been hanging out, we’ve been working. Kevin is the assistant of my dreams. He’s printed up a complete itinerary for me for Grammys weekend. He hired a car service to take us to the airport and another to pick us up when we land in L.A. He’s a total dream.”
“I told you he would be,” Gia says. “And you were ready to hire Piper’s boy-crazy behind.”
“I was. Thank you for convincing me otherwise.”
As we walk up to the line, I watch Gia and Ricky brush against one another although they are really trying to pretend that it’s not on purpose. I keep catching them stealing glances at each other when they think no one is looking. They are totally pitiful and I feel sorry for their pain.
I don’t care how much Gia tries to fight it, she’s boy crazy too. It seems like I’m the only one who’s been unlucky in love. But, I guess there’s something to be said for solitude.
When I figure out what it is, I’ll let you know.