“I know that now. Me creating the list stopped you from messing around with so many guys and sent you into his arms. I’m sorry I put you on the list, and I’m sorry I created the list.”
“Honestly, you did me a favor.”
Hillary smiled and said, “Good, but I’m also sorry I was dogging Pia. Those boys raped several other girls.”
“Are you serious?” Willow asked.
“Yep, that’s what’s coming out. I defended their butts.”
“You didn’t know,” Willow said, even as she couldn’t believe she was being so nice to Hillary. But she saw no fun in kicking a girl when she was down.
Being on the swoop list, she’d been the victim and felt people’s verbal attacks and constant badgering. And while things had gotten a lot better, she still felt the pain and didn’t want to make anyone else feel as low. Even if that person happened to be the one who caused her all the grief in the first place.
Willow sat down beside Hillary, pulled out the tissues from her purse, gave one to Hillary, and said, “Look, so you’re gonna have to repeat a couple classes. Might not be the way you want it to go, but it’s not the end of the world. Better learn a lesson that we shouldn’t chase popularity and drama when we need to be chasing our dreams and our education. This little hiccup will propel you to greatness. Now you’ve learned a lesson, so when you get in somebody’s college, you’re gonna be focused.”
“Get in somebody’s college? I’m not even getting a high school degree. Give me a break.”
“You’re not getting a degree next week. But that doesn’t mean you’re not gonna get one by the end of the summer.”
“But then I would have missed my opportunity to go to college.”
“So, maybe you wait one year or one semester. Or, maybe you go to a two-year school and get your grades up. You can actually save some money that way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Right now you won’t be qualified for the Hope Scholarship. But if you go to a great place like Georgia Perimeter Community College, take your basic classes, and get at least get a 3.0, then you can transfer. And you will qualify for the Hope Scholarship and will have saved a bunch of money. Lots of community colleges are more affordable but offer the same basic classes with teachers who care.”
“And how do you know?”
“I’ve heard people talk about it at my mom’s church. Lots of kids go that route. She was thinking about it for me, but I’m gonna go ahead and go to Spelman.”
“Oh my gosh! You’re going to Spelman? I’m going nowhere!”
“Hillary, what are you talking about? My life is not your life. That has been your problem. Stay in your lane. Don’t worry about mine.”
Hillary sighed. “You’re right.”
Willow stayed there and joked with Hillary for another few minutes until Hillary went from crying to laughing. Willow didn’t want to be her best friend, but she didn’t want to leave her somber either.
“You taught me something,” Willow said to Hillary before they parted.
“What? How ‘what goes around, comes around’ is the truth?”
“No. If I can have empathy for you while you’re going through this, then I’m not the big, mean, bad wolf after all. That’s good to know.”
Hillary called for a truce, thanked Willow for her support, and said, “Yeah, deep down I must admit, between the two of us, you’re the sweetest.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Bravest (Olive’s Ending)
Olive was moved as she left the baccalaureate service that kicked off the week of graduation. It was the first time she got to pose for pictures in her own cap and gown. It was the first time she marched in with her class. The graduation ceremony wasn’t until the end of the week, but already she felt special.
The most memorable part of it all for Olive was hearing a speech from Ms. Sealy, teacher of the year. She charged the students to be the star in their own lives. The meat of the message was to strive for excellence, to be tough and enduring, to have an attitude that’s always positive, and to radiate light wherever their feet may tread.
Things were still a little tense in the foster home between Olive and Charles. It wasn’t as bad as before. They were speaking. They knew they cared about each other. Things weren’t the best either, though.
If Olive wanted to be the star in her own life, she decided, she might as well start then and there. She had to put her conflict with Tiger away for good. So, when she saw Tiger in the hallway, looking at her like he wanted to devour her for dinner, she walked up to him. He was all smiles. She was serious.
“We need to talk,” she told him.
“Yeah, beautiful, we do.”
She looked at all of his cronies hanging around him and said, “Can we talk alone?”
Tiger gave his boys a dismissive glare, and they all scattered. To Olive’s surprise, before should could speak, Tiger straightened up. Suddenly, he wasn’t so ghetto and cool. He acted like he had some sense. In a gentleman’s voice, he declared, “I owe you an apology.”
“Huh?” Olive was thwarted from her agenda of telling him off.
“Yeah, your boy can clean up. Don’t get it twisted. I can still take down anybody I want, but I had some of my police friends shed some light on a brother. I’m going to try to clean myself up. I know if I want good karma, I need to set things right with you.”
“I’m listening.”
“I just wanted to control you. I just wanted you to want to be with me. I’ve always known that Charles dude liked you. Every time I’d come around the house and pick you up or walk with you in school, he’d look at me like he wanted to take me down. He got under my skin. One time I saw you talking to him—this was way before we broke up—and I thought you didn’t like me anymore, or I thought you were playing me. So I tried to distance myself. And that’s when I asked you to hook up with my boys. I wanted to hurt you like you hurt me.”
“But you told me to get with those boys.”
“I know I told you to, but I didn’t think you would be that stupid or have such low self-esteem that you’d do it.”
This was really hard for Olive to hear because Tiger was being frank. Why was she so frail that when he asked her to do something appalling, she had complied? Back then, she hadn’t wanted to lose him. She’d thought that if she didn’t do what he wanted, she would. But, ultimately, she ended up losing him anyway, as well as her pride.
Tiger went on, “But I still felt angry toward you. So, I put your name on the swoop list and then I broke up with you.”
Olive felt her stomach turn. Inside, she’d always worried that Charles was right, that Tiger had put her name on the list. But she’d never wanted to believe it.
Tiger looked at her and said, “Listen. I was wrong for tricking you that way, playing with you, and belittling you, when, to me, you’ve always been precious. When I put you on that list, as weird as it may seem, I ended up setting you free. I thought you were going to need me more after that. Actually, it turned you into the girl I’ve always known was inside. So really, you should thank me.”
“Oh, I should, huh?” Olive said as she sort of smiled.
Tiger smiled. But when Olive saw Charles approaching, she put out both of her hands, one in front of Tiger’s chest and one toward Charles’s.
“Okay, guys, we’re not going to do any of that. We’re on church grounds. It’s time to call a truce.”
Tiger stepped up and said, “No, it ain’t going to be none of that. I told him I wanted to talk to him, too.”
Olive looked at Charles. “Huh?”
Tiger extended his hand to Charles, and Olive stepped out of the way.
“You’re a much better man for her than me. Take care of my girl. You got mad balls for standing up to me. I need to concede that you’re the right one for her.”
“You told her you put her on the list?” Charles asked, probably wanting her to hear from Tiger what he had already known all along.
“Yeah, he t
old me. Can we have a moment?” she said to Charles.
He nodded, firmly shook Tiger’s hand, and walked away.
“Are you going to stop gang banging?” Olive said to him.
“Aw, you still care about me.”
“I should kick you in the groin. That’s what I should do with all you put me through. But with what you just said, all that you admitted, and all that you conceded, all is forgiven.”
“Well.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m trying to work on me, but sometimes you’re in too deep to get out. That’s why I want you to stick with a guy like Charles and not me.”
“It took guts to be real with me like that. The Tiger you’ve just shown me here, I know if he wanted to get out of the gang, he could. Of all the dudes I know, you’re the bravest.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Sincerest (Octavia’s Ending)
Coming out of the baccalaureate service, Octavia was hand in hand with Shawn. She sat with him during the program, but she kept looking over at her girls, wishing she was with them. It was so ironic because she was now back in the same position she was at the beginning of the school year. No crew wanted her to be around. While she was overjoyed things with Shawn were going right, seeing Sanaa, Willow, Olive, and Pia pose for pictures without her broke her heart.
Seeing her down, Shawn said, “You know, I can talk to Olive if you want me to. I know she cares about you. You asked me to leave it alone, so I haven’t gotten on her, but this ain’t even cool.”
“No, I don’t wanna be around anybody who doesn’t want me around them. Please don’t talk to Olive and push the issue. If anything, I learned I gotta be happy with me. I need to be okay standing by myself.”
“Oh, so if I walked away, you wouldn’t be mad?” Shawn teased.
“Come on, Shawn, I’m serious. I wanted to be a part of a group so bad that I lied and turned myself into some freak girl just to get attention.”
“Yeah, but it’s more than that for you. I know you care about those girls.”
She really appreciated Shawn because he was telling the truth. Her heart was big for her swoop list sisters. She kept up with their scoop online. She was happy that Sanaa had gotten things cleared up with Toni. She was overjoyed that Hillary had come clean to Willow and that Willow was there for her in her darkest hour. She was glad that Tiger had let Olive go completely, and she was deeply concerned about Pia, hoping that she would give Stephen a chance to explain why he betrayed her so. Because Octavia cared so much, it tore her up on the inside that the girls who meant so much to her didn’t reciprocate her feelings. However, she knew she had no one else to blame but herself. She should’ve told them the truth long ago. Keeping it cost her so much.
“You think you could take a picture with us?” she heard a familiar voice say from behind.
Octavia dared not turn around. She looked at Shawn, and he was smiling. When she turned around, she couldn’t believe it. All four of the swoop list girls were standing right there.
“Okay, what? You can’t forgive us for being jerks?” Willow uttered as Octavia just rushed to her and gave her the biggest hug. “Alright, alright. Don’t mess up the dress.”
“Are you kidding? You guys want to take a picture with me? You’re coming over here to talk to me? You wanna apologize to me? I owe you guys apologies!” Octavia explained.
“No, we owe you one,” Sanaa said. “It took Pia to talk some sense into us. Who are we to judge? I hate that you had to feel so low to put yourself on this crazy list, but you weren’t trying to hurt us in the process.”
“Yep, it’s not like you put any of us on it,” Olive said.
“Besides, anybody that desperate for swoop friends,” Willow joked, “deserves to keep misfits around.”
“You’re not misfits,” Octavia said. “We’re just a real bunch.”
The girls all stared at Willow. Octavia didn’t know what they wanted her to say. Willow sucked her lips.
“Okay, I also need to apologize for calling you a white heffa,” Willow blurted out.
“No biggie, brown bully ... I mean beauty,” Octavia coughed and joked.
The girls giggled and made up. They all posed and took selfies. Octavia was delighted she had learned not to hide from her mistakes, but to learn from them. She understood that she needed to be strong, with or without friends. And that her true friends would came back to her because they loved her. That was a lesson she was never going to forget.
Pia asked Octavia if she’d go with her to the restroom.
Octavia was happy to comply. As they walked, she put her arm around Pia and said, “Thank you. Thank you for not letting them hate me.”
Pia smiled and said, “Thank you for giving us another chance.”
“You know, you probably need to do the same thing with Stephen. He’s following us.”
Pia quickly turned around and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that Octavia was right. Pia huffed. Octavia wanted to help her girl make things right.
“You should at least hear him out!”
Pia boldly demanded, “Okay, but you’re not going anywhere.”
“What he has to say is private.”
“You are not going anywhere!”
Stephen walked over to them. Octavia tried to slip away, but Pia wouldn’t let her. Octavia stopped moving and stood by her girl.
“Whatever you have to say to me, you can say to the both of us.”
Stephen said, “I wanted to tell you that I’m not ashamed I put you on the list.”
“Excuse me?” Octavia said, not wanting to get in it but unable to help herself.
“Okay, now can we move on?” Pia said. “I knew he wasn’t ashamed of what he did.”
“If y’all would just listen!” Stephen called out.
“Okay, we’re listening. Talk.” Pia said.
“The guys, the night they raped you, they were bragging that they wanted to do it again. And they wanted to do it again to you because you were pure.”
“But they’d just raped me. I wasn’t pure anymore,” Pia rationalized.
“To them you were still pure. They were the only guys to be with you. So when I saw a notice about the swoop list, I figured I’d put your name out there. When they saw you on it, they mostly backed away. I’m not saying I deserve a medal for what I did, but I was trying to protect you from them. Love me or hate me, my crazy tactic worked.”
“His motives may be a little suspect,” Octavia leaned over to Pia and said. “But forgive him, girl, ’cause your hot señor’s intentions were the sincerest.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Best (Pia’s Ending)
Sitting with her classmates at the graduation ceremony, Pia was overwhelmed. All was good between her and Stephen again. Her mom was still doing amazingly well. Finally, she was a high school graduate.
The ceremony was touching, but it went by fast. With so much of her life right, she was tripping when she looked around and saw many eyes looking her way. Over the course of the semester, one would have thought she would have been used to it. When she was placed on the swoop list, she was stared at and dissected. When the swoop list girls dressed up for the big basketball play-off game and brought a lot of attention to themselves, people had glared at and analyzed her. When three boys in her senior class were hauled away in handcuffs after she accused them of rape, she was looked at and scrutinized. As she threw up the hand that didn’t hold her diploma, she wondered what in the heck was wrong now.
She rushed over to Ms. Davis, who was waving her down in excitedly. “You did it, Pia! You’re a graduate, girl! Oh my gosh, I’m so proud of you!”
As Ms. Davis hugged her tight, she said, “Yeah, thanks, thanks, thanks, but why are all these people staring at me? What is it now?”
“Oh, Pia, it’s nothing bad. Haven’t you heard? You’re a hero!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Two other girls in the school have come forward saying th
at they were also raped. One was blindfolded similar to your story, so she couldn’t be sure it was those same guys. But the description and everything that happened was exactly like your experience. It was after a game one day. She was by herself, and they grabbed her. The other girl had a similar experience. One of the boys admitted to her that he’d done it. But she wasn’t going to say anything because she thought it was her fault. Then, with you coming forward, it was a no-brainer for her to do the same thing.”
Pia clutched her diploma over her heart. “Are you serious?”
“Yes, I am. And I’m so proud of you,” Ms. Davis said. “Actually, the strength of all five of you girls makes me proud. I just wish my niece would have been able to hold on too.”
“Your niece?”
“Nothing,” Ms. Davis said, getting a little emotional.
As she walked away, Pia watched her wipe away tears and thought of the different times that Ms. Davis had given hints of not being able to help someone else or this infamous niece. Before she could put it all together, she was practically tackled by her girls.
“We graduated!” Willow said as she did a cool dance. Octavia and Sanaa tried to copy Willow’s moves, but they were not as cool.
“Come on, Pia, help me out. These girls can’t dance,” Willow chuckled.
“Speak for them,” Olive said as she busted a cool move.
Pia motioned for them to settle down. “No, guys, listen. I think I know who’s been writing the Leah letters.”
“Who?” Sanaa asked.
“I know it wasn’t Hillary,” Willow said. “She wasn’t that caring.”
“And for sure not Stephen or any of our guys,” Olive uttered. “They weren’t that sensitive.”
“Tell us,” Octavia begged, tugging on Pia’s arm.
Pia took a deep breath. “I’m not sure, but I think it’s Ms. Davis.”
Willow looked betrayed. “What do you mean, Ms. Davis?”
Pia explained, “I think it’s her. She mentioned a niece and not being able to save her or something.”
“Well, let’s go confront her.” Willow huffed and uttered.
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