Got It Going On

by Stephanie Perry Moore

  I woke up the next morning feeling renewed, like it was going to be a great day. A part of me wanted to call Konner and apologize, but I knew we both needed space. The dance team was going to perform at some of the basketball games, and we had to practice our routine for the national dance competition. My team had had a couple practices during Christmas break, but because I’d gone home, I wasn’t there. The band director knew this, but I could tell there was tons of tension when I got to practice.

  “Um, did somebody move the time up or something?” I said. They were all in the middle of a dance number.

  “Tried to leave you a message,” Ginger said, “but your voice mail was full. We just felt we needed some extra work to get ready. But you know this routine. You can fall in and get it.”

  And then Meagan, who had recently been dressing even sluttier than I ever could, walked up to my face and said, “Why don’t you just quit this squad? You’re half here, and when you are here, we’re supposed to just make exceptions for you, bend the rules and stuff? Everybody’s tired of that. Everybody’s tired of you.”

  Ginger stepped between us and said, “All right, get back, Meagan. Director Saxton knew where she was.”

  “Don’t either one of y’all touch me,” Meagan said out of nowhere. Ginger and I looked at her like she was crazy because no one was touching her paranoid behind.

  “If you don’t get out of my face I’m going to do more than touch you,” I told her. She started shoving me, and I started shoving her back. I don’t know what her problem was, but I wasn’t a punk.

  Meagan yelled out, “Both of y’all are just jealous that I’m Al Dutch’s girl now!”

  The anger on my face turned to pity. I looked at Ginger, and she looked back at me. The two of us had never talked about our relationships with Al Dutch, but I got the feeling it hadn’t been all good for her, and I had pretty much told her I thought he was crazy. But yet here was another girl standing before us defending his honor.

  So I walked away, saying, “I’m not quitting the team. I’m here to practice. You can have Al Dutch.”

  “Oh, girl, please. I already do,” she said, working her neck. “I didn’t need your permission for that. You better not call him over to your place again.”

  Obviously, he had used me to tell her some lie. I was so through with her I didn’t even care to clear my name. The loudmouth know-it-all could think whatever she wanted. She had just better not come charging at me again.

  “Okay, Cassidy, just because we got rid of the adviser doesn’t mean you can’t be a part of the chapter anymore,” Samantha said to me later that night when we were chilling back at our place.

  “I just feel like if you don’t stand for something, Sam, you’ll fall for anything, and it wasn’t right for them to get rid of her. I know you didn’t vote for it, and I’m not mad at anybody for doing what they did, but that doesn’t mean I have to jump up and down and be excited to be a Beta when they’re doing stupid stuff. And this party you all are having tonight, what’s the point?”

  “The point is for us to raise some money so we can do more community service projects. If you’d come to the meetings ...” She paused.

  “Please, girl. The meetings you are having illegally because you don’t have an adviser there to mediate, you mean?”

  “See, now you’re talking technicality stuff. What are we supposed to do, just kill time and wait till we get a new one?”

  I lashed out. “It was y’all’s decision to think irrationally to get rid of the lady. Yeah, you’re supposed to wait. Our chapter is still on probation, both from the school and from Grand Chapter, so all of us have a responsibility, Sam, to make sure that we follow the letter of the law all the way around so we don’t do anything to jeopardize this chapter. But the Betas are just planning some campus party and having meetings without an adviser present. Y’all are just thinking you can make your own rules, and I’m not down with that.”

  “Well, everybody wants you to be there. Even Torian and Loni,” Sam said in a sweet voice.

  “Yeah, right, they haven’t called me and asked me anything.” I wasn’t tricked by her kindness.

  She slid down near me and said, “They thought I would have a better shot at getting you to come.”

  “Why would they want me there?” I said.

  “Because you see a different side,” Sam explained. “You can be there to make sure nothing goes wrong. If nothing else, you love the chapter. You being there will keep everybody on their toes. You said they think haphazardly, so be there. We can get this right. Please.”

  I don’t know how she talked me into it, but a couple of hours later I was walking around the old gymnasium in which we were hosting our new-semester jam. I had to admit the deejay they had hired was off the chain. He had the latest beats, and from the get-go, even with the small crowd, any time somebody came in the door, they headed right to the dance floor to groove.

  “Thanks for coming.” Torian came up behind me.

  “I don’t think what you did to Dr. Garnes was right,” I told her right off the bat so she didn’t misunderstand that she and I still had big issues.

  “I understand,” she said, “but we’re sisters. We’re not going to agree on everything, but we’re always family. Come on, Cass, let’s party. You know I know you can throw down. Give me some love.”

  Though we hugged, I was still apprehensive. I mean, Torian couldn’t even comprehend the fact that she was completely wrong, and if family broke the law, they still needed to be reprimanded for it. Yet she thought she was above all that. So though we had to exist in the same sorority, I knew we weren’t going to be best buddies. Besides, she hadn’t liked me from the beginning because she’d thought I was wild, and I would never forget how mean she’d treated me.

  All of a sudden I got shoved hard in the back. The push was so abrupt it moved my body five feet forward.

  When I turned back, Torian defended me and said, “Hey, hey, what’s going on? What are you doing? You need to leave with all that.”

  My mouth hung open; Meagan was standing there. Her hands were motioning for more. I walked back to her, and she shoved me again.

  “You need to stay out of this,” Meagan said to Torian as Torian looked about to slug her. “This is between me and your slimy sorority sister who can’t keep her hands off my man. Messing up my perfect world.”

  “What are you talking about?” I said, knowing Al Dutch had fed her more bologna to cover his own lies.

  “Al told me you’ve been calling him and texting him and you won’t leave him alone. He was over at your place today to end it, and you put a hickey on his neck. Then he found out that—”

  “I don’t know what he’s been telling you or why he’s been making you think I want to be with him. You’re the one who needs an eye-opener. He’s a jerk, and I don’t care if I ever see him again. Don’t believe the hype. I despise Al Dutch.”

  “You’re just saying that,” she said as she shoved me again. “Of course you’d try to leave him now.”

  I’d had enough. She was making my blood boil. I pushed her to the ground.

  As soon as I raised my hand to hit her in the mouth, Torian stopped me. “It ain’t worth it, girl, for real.”

  I huffed. The party had ceased, and all eyes were on us.

  “You need to get on out of here,” Torian said and stepped in Meagan’s way.

  “Get on. We don’t want any trouble at our party,” I told Meagan. “You need to talk to Al Dutch and get him to tell you the truth. He was not with me.”

  “This ain’t over. Y’all Betas make me sick thinking you can have whatever you want because you wear some Greek letters. Y’all need to stop spreading stuff. I paid my money, and I ain’t going nowhere,” Meagan said as she and a few of the other girls from the dance team followed her.

  I stood face to face with Torian, not knowing what to say. I guess I owed her a thank you, but it just wouldn’t come out. The whole night was crazy.
r />   “We protect family. Don’t let her get to you,” Torian said to me.

  I nodded and just went my own way, furious. It was too late. I was so upset. I knew if anyone said anything too off the wall, we’d both go up in smoke.

  I was walking around the party silently, and everybody was having fun. Because of the incident with Meagan, the excitement and vibe I was feeling for the jam had quickly subsided. The girl had to go psycho, fronting on me with some bull Al Dutch had told her. The gall of him. If I did ever cross paths with him again, he’d better not even front like we’re cool.

  Alyx came over to me and said, “It’s hard being in a sorority, huh? But you wanted it. I’m sure you didn’t think it’d be this messy, but I’m glad to see you here.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to her, because it was hard and I did want it and I didn’t know if I was happy to be in the place. I’d much rather be at home. But even if I was there, I’d be thinking of my sorors and hoping they would not be getting themselves into trouble. Yet here I was about to hit someone.

  “You and Torian will work through your differences. I’m a little salty with her, too, for letting Dr. Garnes go, but I just saw what she did,” Alyx said.

  “Yeah, she had my back, and so?” I said, acting as if I didn’t care.

  “And so I know that mattered to you. I know that meant something. We’re about to stroll. This is your first time as a Beta. Now, the Cassidy I know loves to show her stuff, and I think I’m the queen of it, too, so you just need to come on with me and let’s get that smirk off your face.” I didn’t budge. “Seriously, everybody has their own way of showing that they care about each other. We are dysfunctional, but we are Alpha chapter. Enjoy this with us.”

  “But you’re okay with the fact that there’s no adviser here? That we could get in so much trouble if we’re caught? People can start something with us or turn us in. There is so much wrong here,” I said, hoping the girl I admired felt the severity of what was happening.

  “Nothing is going to happen. We won’t get caught. I’m not okay with it, but the chapter voted on it. So Malloy, as the President, and me, as VP, have to go along. That’s just one of our rules—when the vote doesn’t go your way, you don’t walk away. You know?”

  I nodded.

  The deejay got the word from Malloy, who had called the sorors to hit the floor. Alyx smiled my way and gestured for me to follow her. Maybe a good jam would help me ease up. To the dance floor I went.

  My sorors chanted the moves they made. “Stepping to the left and stepping to the right, stepping up, stepping back and side to side. We are swinging our hips from the left to the right. Beta women are out of sight.”

  And I fell in line naturally, ready to repeat the pattern. We were grooving, and all girls with other letters and no letters wanted ours. Yes, BGP was more than about partying, but throwing down was surely one of the perks to membership. It was a privilege to represent.

  “Y’all know the rules. So don’t be no fool!” Torian yelled out as she called the next chant. “Nobody cuts the line, this is Beta time! Get back, everybody, here we come, here we come! Get back, everybody, BGP is number one!”

  The next part of her step was where we made the line tighter and dared anyone to break it. We weaved in and out of the crowd, and people were chanting and cheering for us.

  Cheryl came from nowhere and started spinning round and round. Her eyes were red, and she looked like she hadn’t combed her hair in days. She was mouthing the word Al. I wanted to scream out, “Girl, don’t be looking for that nut Al Dutch. Be done with that.” One of our sorors pulled her in line with her.

  However, we couldn’t keep the line moving. Meagan came over, broke up the line, and said to Cheryl, “I know you, of all people, don’t have the nerve to look for my man. I done told y’all Betas—”

  “I’m not in the mood, girl,” Cheryl said.

  “Don’t let anybody cut the line! This is our pride line! Move it up there! Keep it tight, keep it tight!” Torian yelled from the back.

  “I’m not here to dance,” Cheryl said to us. “I need to find—”

  Before she could say anything, Meagan shoved her like she had me earlier. She pulled Cheryl’s hair. Sam pulled Meagan off Cheryl.

  “She’s crazy,” I whispered in Cheryl’s ear when I helped her off the floor.

  “She need not mess with me now,” Cheryl said, obviously dealing with something heavy.

  “I’ll show you crazy. What do I have to lose now, thanks to one of you malicious Betas. Come on, y’all!” Meagan said, motioning for some of the other dancers to break our line.

  When they were successful, Cheryl went ballistic. She took the girl by the collar and threw her to the ground. This was getting out of hand.

  Meagan kept screaming, “Leave me alone! Get off me! I already have to go to the doctor, thanks to you. Stop!”

  And Cheryl kept saying, “No, you’re big and bad! You think you all that! What you going to do?”

  Then Cheryl punched Meagan with a left hook and then a right one. Cheryl hit her again until there was blood all in Meagan’s grill.

  12

  POINTLESS

  Everyone was telling Cheryl to get off Meagan, but our words went in one ear and out the other. With now more than forty Betas on the scene—and the fact that most of my line wore turquoise jackets decorated with our line name, 37 DEGREES BELOW, and the Greek letters BGP in purple—it could’ve been any of our sisters infusing the pain. Not one Beta could tell who was fighting.

  Alyx walked over to Cheryl to stop her. I went over, too. The two of us tugged and tugged until we pulled Cheryl off Meagan. As soon as we were successful, about ten of us dashed to the ladies’ bathroom.

  Samantha guarded the door, and Alyx let her have it. “Are you crazy? What were you thinking, Cheryl?”

  “I’m sorry. Torian shouted not to let anybody break the line, and I guess for a moment I just snapped. She kept pushing me, and I needed to find out if this was true, and she just pushed me the wrong way. This is a lot that has been dumped on me. I just ... I don’t know,” Cheryl said in one breath, not making much sense to any of us.

  “Find out if what is true, Cheryl? So, you would risk possibly losing your letters over some girl who got in your face? Grow up, Cheryl. We have to deal with bad news from time to time. That is no reason to try to kill someone.”

  Cheryl seemed still in a daze. Her eyes were roaming, and it was very apparent she still needed to find Al Dutch. She then started calling his name.

  Of course at that point I really hated that I hadn’t let them all know what Al Dutch had done to me because since I’d kept quiet, he’d been through many more women, victimizing them in so many ways. We were all so damaged. It just seemed like there was no way we could ever be repaired. Cheryl’s typical actions weren’t of the tough girl I was used to dealing with. Al had done something to her. I just knew it.

  “You gotta get cleaned up!” Sam yelled. “One of the girls says someone called the police, and they are on their way.”

  “The police!” Alyx yelled. “Oh, my gosh. We’re gonna lose our chapter.”

  Those of us who were in the bathroom got scared. Well, everyone but Cheryl. She was still wigged out. Everything I thought could go wrong had happened, and more. Bottom line: there was no excuse for us having a campus event without the presence of a collegiate adviser. But we had, something had gone wrong, and now the campus police were on their way to find us.

  “Guys, we gotta clear all these people out of here,” Alyx said. “If we go out there now with this blood still on Cheryl, they’re gonna know a Beta did this.”

  “We stand as one,” Loni said; I hadn’t even realized she was in the room with us. She walked over to Cheryl and said, “You better hope this girl doesn’t have to go to the hospital. We were telling you to get off her! Okay—so what if Torian told you to respect the line. You gotta know when to face reality and admit defeat. You lost either way. Are you
happy? Stop looking so crazy. Cheryl? Cheryl?”

  Cheryl did not respond, and I was so worried Al had done something to her. I knew that after my night with Al, I had been so vulnerable and beside myself. What if what we had seen from Cheryl was just the beginning? Someone needed to get her to a hospital before she did herself more harm.

  “Come on outta there! Everybody come out now!” Malloy yelled from outside the door. “The cops are here.”

  Sam was trying to wipe the blood from Cheryl, who was so stiff and cold, it was as though she didn’t even care if she got in trouble.

  “I just can’t let her take the fall for this, you guys. She didn’t know what she was doing. She snapped, okay?” Sam said, crying. “Something is very wrong with her. Am I the only one who sees that?”

  Sam wasn’t the only one who knew Cheryl was tripping, so I grabbed another wet rag and helped get the blood off. This all just seemed so surreal. Was I helping someone get rid of the evidence of a crime, or was I being a good sister? What would God say was right? I was so confused. When we all walked outside, the police said an ambulance was on the way to get Meagan. She was unable to talk and unable to tell them who had brutally battered her face.

  One stern, pale city officer looked ready to take us all in and asked us, “Who did this?”

  The campus police behind him wanted one of us to speak up. One campus cop didn’t look like he wanted the real police on the scene. Seemed the faster we spoke up and answered the real cop’s questions, the quicker he’d be off Western Smith’s property. However, none of us said a word.

  “Any time the ambulance is called, the city police get dispatched in,” the campus cop said to us, “so somebody better get your adviser to the scene quick. We’ve been looking all over for her. One person said she was in the bathroom. One person said she was in the parking lot waiting for the cops. Why do we keep getting the runaround here? I know you ladies aren’t doing anything illegal, particularly when your chapter is on probation.”