16
W
hen Big D wants to throw a party, he goes all out! Especially when he's spending someone else's moneyâin this case it was Epsilon Records' loot.
Club Pyramids is decked out in white and goldâBig D's favorite colors. The entire spot is looking fresh and clean. Of course, we head to the VIP section because that is the only way we travel now.
I am so happy for Big D and I wouldn't miss this party for the world. After that big speech Evan gave us on solidarity and what not, I'm sure he doesn't want any of the Reign Records artists up in here, but oh well. Big D is not just my manager; he's like a big brother, and someone I truly care about.
We're rolling deep as usual. All of my tenants (I love saying that) are here, except DeShawn, who is at a photo shoot for some sporting goods catalog. This is a good thing for me because Sam is going to be here, and I don't want to have to choose who I'm hanging with for the evening.
Since I know Sam is gonna be here tonight and checking for me, I went overboard with my flyness. My orange tube dress hugs every one of my chicken-and-waffle-enhanced curves. I had my hair done in big barrel curls that are so flawless that you'd swear my hair was a lace-front wig or some high-priced hair weave. I'm so fine tonight that I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror and almost got jealous.
If it sounds like I'm feeling myself right now, it's true! I totally am. But I'm not one of those girls who have to be the queen of their clique! My girls are as bad as I am, and we can all shine. We're black girls (except Piper, who is honorary) and we rock!
Gia's afro demands attention, and once she gets it, she keeps it for days with her legs in her jean miniskirt and silver T-shirt. Ricky hasn't been able to keep his eyes off her and has complimented her like a hundred times. He better, 'cause this spot is crawling with ballers and shot callers. She's trying to act all nonchalant about it, but I can tell she's tickled that Ricky is on her tonight. She has a glow that looks like it comes from the inside out.
Piper dialed back her punk look and went for pretty girl swag. Her royal-blue mini-dress looks great on her and not just because it's her Gamma Girl apprentice color. Last, but not at all least, Hope is rocking the flyest skinny jeans and heels and a nearly backless blouse that she borrowed from my closet. I get so many clothes samples in the mail, that I can't possibly wear them all, so I share freely with my fashionista homegirls.
When we get to the VIP entrance, my jaw drops when I see that they've got my dad, Jonah, playing bouncer. What in the world is he doing at Club Pyramids? And why would he be at Big D's party? I know he doesn't really have a lot of love for Big D, because
he
wants to be my manager instead. That's not happening though.
“Hey, y'all! Sunday Tolliver and her crew are in the house!” he yells out.
I cringe and say a little prayer that he doesn't announce himself as my dad. I hope no one notices a resemblance either.
But it looks like I don't have to worry, because he doesn't say anything. He just shows us to the rope.
“Sunday, can you please get the Gamma Girls in the VIP area? It would go a long way to fix what's wrong with me and Millicent,” Piper begs.
I give her a skeptical look. Millicent can't stand Piper. She gets a stank look on her face every time she sees her. I can't tell if it's because she's white and trying to be a Gamma Girl, or if she just thinks that Piper isn't Gamma Girl material. Either way, it's all bad for Piper.
“Okay, I will talk to the bouncer, but I can't make any promises.”
Don't ask me why I didn't tell Piper that the bouncer is my dad. It's kind of like I don't want to claim him, not even to my best friends. Not yet, anyway. And as much as I don't want to do this, I walk back over to the entrance to VIP to ask my dad to let the Gamma Girls in.
“Hey, honey. What do you need? Is someone bothering you?”
Wow. He's the protector now too?
I shake my head. “No. No one is bothering me.”
“You just wanted to chat with your old man, huh?”
I don't even know how to respond to this. So, I merely chuckle. “Well, actually, I wanted to ask you for a favor.”
“Whatever you need.”
“Well, pretty soon, there's gonna be a group of girls that show up wearing turquoise and white. Can you please let them in? They're my friends.”
“I sure can. Let me know if you need anything else. Or any of your friends too.”
This conversation leaves me feeling weird because my dad and I haven't kept in touch since we sat down and talked after he got out of jail. Then, he was trying to convince me that he'd make a better manager than Big D. Now, he's in their campâwell, Bryce's campâand it makes me pause. Is he really just doing this for a job or is he trying to get close to me? Or maybe it's just because he and Bryce share a common enemyâmy mother's ex-boyfriend Carlos.
Piper has a very hopeful look on her face when I get back to the table. For a second, I think of teasing her and telling her that they won't let them into the VIP area. But she looks so pitiful that I decide not to let her squirm.
“Go ahead and let them know they can come in,” I say.
She jumps up and squeals. “Thank you so much, Sunday! I know I'm gonna cross now.”
Every time she talks about crossing into Gamma Phi Gamma and becoming a soror, it makes me worry. What if she doesn't get in? She doesn't have legacy status like Meagan, so it's not a given. What if they invite people to pledge that they'd never accept just so they can have someone to reject? I'm probably being unnecessarily negative, because that does seem kind of diabolical, but I wouldn't put it past Peony and her wicked hair weave.
I slide back into the booth, next to Kevin, who is looking wistfully at Piper as she goes to send her text message.
“Why don't you ask her out, Kev?” I ask.
He shrugs. “She's got me in the friend zone. I tried to flirt with her the other day, and it totally backfired.”
“What happened?” I ask, totally surprised that he tried anything.
“I told her that she looked really nice in her skirt.”
“Okay . . . and then what did she say?”
“She said, âThank you, Kevy Kev! You rock! You're like my gay best friend, except that you're not gay. Are you?' ”
I let out a loud whoop that ends in a flurry of giggles. I have to cross my legs to keep from peeing on myself. That is utterly hilarious. And poor Kevin is glaring at me like he wants to wring my neck.
“Keep laughing. You all are exactly the reason why she can't see me as a boyfriend.”
“Oh, it's our fault? You're the one who keeps talking about fairy tales and house rules. It's not our fault that she doesn't know you're flirting. Stop acting like a eunuch and maybe she'll see you differently.”
“That was mean, Sunday. Did you know that many of the eunuchs in Bible times had no choice in the matter? They were sold as slaves as children and then mutilated. Does that sound funny to you?”
My jaw drops. “Really?”
“No. I just made that up, but you are mean, though!”
I crack up laughing again, now with tears running down my face. It's a good thing I don't have on any mascara, or it would be running all over the place.
“Well, then you tell me!” Kevin fusses. “What should I have said to Piper?”
“You should've just told her that she looked hot.”
“Uh, no! Hot equals lust, and that's not how I roll.”
I shake my head. “Kevin, I see what you mean, but it's slang. We're teenagers. You asked me what would make her think you were flirting and I told you. So, you can disagree all you want, and stay in the friend zone. It's up to you.”
“You put DeShawn in the friend zone, and he has mad swag. Is that enough slang for you?” Kevin asks.
I nod in agreement. “I put DeShawn in the pre-boyfriend friend zone. There is a difference. DeShawn definitely has boyfriend potential, but there's something that he's missing.”
“I know what he's missing. He's not Sam, and he's never gonna be Sam.”
“You may be right, but he's at least got a fighting chance. We've got to get you into the pre-boyfriend friend zone with Piper. You can start by not trying to get her to accept Jesus as her personal savior every five minutes.”
“If I could just hear her say it once, I would stop.”
“Well, she's been going to church for a long time, Kevin, so you can stop. She just stopped recently when we got in school. Give it a rest!”
“Why did she not tell me that?”
I shake my head out of frustration. Kevin is the dumbest smart guy I know. “She doesn't want you to judge her based on religious affiliation, Kevin. She just wants you to like her for who she is. So try doing that, and see what happens.”
“I hope she knows who she is,” Kevin says as he motions to the Gamma Girl crew coming in through the door. “It seems like she doesn't know.”
“I can't disagree with you on that, Kev. For real, for real.”
I look over at the GPG crew as they walk up in the spot like they are the VIPs and haven't been invited to participate in the festivities. Some of them are sparkling, some shimmering, and some shining, but they're all in turquoise and white, except of course the apprentices, who are wearing royal blue and white. The most striking of the bunch is Sharday in her all white tube dress, turquoise shoes, and accessories. It's no wonder she and Peony don't get along. She makes the rest of the Gamma Girls look like her backup singers. Sharday is the one who stands out in a crowd. She didn't need to be a Gamma Girl to get attention.
Piper runs over to them and gives Sharday an enormous hug. She starts toward Peony and Millicent and they both give her a look that says, “Don't even try it.” Meagan gives her the same look, which irritates the heck out of me. I almost want to go and tell my dad to bounce her stuck-up self right back out of the VIP. How dare they? They wouldn't even be in here if it wasn't for Piper.
I leave Kevin and the rest of the bunch chilling on the sectional and walk up to the Gamma Girl crew. I'm not going to let them play my girl out.
“Hey, Gammas!” I say.
Sharday says, “Hey, pop star! Thanks for getting us into the VIP.”
“It was all Piper,” I say. “She would not rest until I got all of y'all in here. So y'all owe her one.”
Both Millicent and Peony scoff and roll their eyes. Ungrateful heffas! If I didn't think Piper would receive some kind of retribution, then I would embarrass the heck out of them, especially Peony with those run-over shoes. Those shoes are not even VIP worthy. And Millicent knows she's about ten seconds from being on my list after how she tried to play Gia over Rashad.
“Thank you, Piper!” Sharday says. At least she's grateful. “I love rolling VIP style. I wonder if my husband is here.”
“I don't see any Chi Kappas up in here,” Peony says. “Just a few ballers and a bunch of wannabe ballers.”
Sharday says, “Whatever! Who is
that
, Sunday? Do you know that guy in the black T-shirt?”
I turn to see who she's talking about, and I have to narrow my eyes to see if it's who I think it is! It's Truth. But a different, hotter Truth. He's cut off his locks and is now rocking a fade. Before his look was hip-hop grunge, but now, he's more hip-hop smooth. He's wearing a formfitting T-shirt, jeans that fit and don't sag, and a nice pair of black boots. Nothing about him looks crusty and dirty the way he used to look. Shoot, if I wasn't already in the middle of my own little love triangle, I might try to holla.
“That's Truth, the rapper. Have you heard of him?' I ask.
Sharday's lips form a little o. “I've heard of him. He's the one that got punched out in the club. Wasn't that over you?”
I give them all a slick grin. “Yeah, that was over me. But that's all over and done with now. He's free and clear.”
“I have a rule. I never date someone who was kicking it with my friend or even interested in my friend. There's too many boys on the planet for that!”
Piper smiles and gives Meagan side eye. Then she says, “That is an incredible rule, Sharday. I love that rule.”
“I just bet you do,” Peony says. “But I say it's all fair in boys and romance. If you couldn't keep him then he wasn't yours.”
Then, Peony turns around and high-fives Meagan. I will say that Meagan doesn't really seem to want to co-sign on that one. She might be trying to mend things with Piper and that sure didn't help anything.
Piper's smile fades, but she doesn't break down like I thought she might. “That's probably true,” she says. “I wouldn't want someone who would play me, but he'll probably play the next chick too, so, it's whatever.”
“ âIt's whatever,' apprentice?” Peony says. “That doesn't sound like an appropriate response to your big sister. What do you think, Millicent? Does that sound like something an apprentice should say?”
“That is absolutely not something that should ever come out of the mouth of an apprentice. I think she should apologize immediately,” Millicent says.
Sharday shakes her head. “Come on, guys! We're here to have fun, so let's just chill. We don't have to be on that tonight.”
“On what?” Peony says. “We are Gammas all day every day.”
“We are,” Sharday says. “But let's be friends tonight, okay? Let's all be equals for the evening.”