Sorority Sisters Page 6

  She was eventually informed by one of his fraternity brothers that Don used to be a big-time player who juggled no less than three women at once. Toward the end of his sophomore year, his older brother, and only sibling, was killed at the age of thirty. His brother had had a steady girlfriend, but he never treated her with respect, and always joked that he would eventually settle down with her when he could no longer stay out all night and make it to work the next morning. According to one of Don’s frat brothers, he really looked up to his brother. After he died, Don’s entire persona changed. He broke all ties with every woman he was seeing at the time, and spent nearly a year and a half abstaining from sex. He also vowed not to get into a relationship until he found someone with whom he could be monogamous and sincere. His fraternity brother told her that Don wished his brother had settled down and had a wife and maybe a kid or two, thinking that if he had, he wouldn’t have died driving home drunk after one of those wild parties he frequented. Don never talked much to Chancey about the details surrounding his brother’s death. But sometimes, when she least expected it, he would mention how much he missed him and that he wished he were still alive.

  Chancey knew she was the person Don needed in his life. Since his brother died, she had been the only person with whom he spent a considerable amount of time. He felt comfortable knowing she couldn’t judge him for the way he used to be. And she would never know the explicit details about his past, if he had anything to do with it. He only wanted her to know the side of Don that was strong, loving, and carefree. Although Chancey knew about Don’s past and about the lifestyle he and his brother had in common, she promised herself she would never bring it up until he did.

  After they completed their shopping spree, they walked to Don’s sport utility vehicle. It was loaded and luxurious. He had traded in his old used car and gotten it before the last official game of the season. She was never one hundred percent sure if it was a gift from his parents or those damn alumni who were always spoiling him, but she never asked. She felt that some questions are better off not asked, because she might not want to hear the answer.

  Once out of the mall parking lot, Chancey reached over and kissed Don on his cheek. “Thank you for being so wonderful. You know, I just might keep you.”

  “Ah, you don’t mean that. You know you don’t love me!” Don kidded.

  “Of course I don’t.” Chancey played along. “How could I possibly love someone who treats me so badly?”

  “I don’t love you, either. There’s something about you that makes it hard for me to be around you. That’s why we’re gonna cut the evening short—because we’ve already spent too much time together.”

  “Please, let’s do. I’m getting sick just looking at you,” she joked, then reached over and kissed him on his cheek again.

  Don smiled at her. He enjoyed Chancey’s company and had fallen in love with her because she was smart, supportive, sweet, and mature for her age. Her maturity and responsible behavior had been evident to him for some time. She’d told him that while growing up, her parents owned their own small business and spent a lot of time traveling to keep their products in the public eye. They taught her at an early age to write checks and keep up their accounting. She made sure none of the bills were late and often cared for the home and herself while they were on the road. Chancey was accustomed to making adult decisions as a child. At times she even seemed more adult than Don. Yet he seemed insistent on making decisions for her.

  “So tell me more about Solomon’s.”

  “No. You’ll just have to wait until we get there to find out more about Sol-o-mon’s. It’s gonna take us a while to get there, so put on some nice mellow traveling music and just relax and enjoy the ride.”

  Solomon’s was top-notch, just as Don had promised. Everyone dining in that restaurant looked like they had a million dollars in the bank. It was obvious that this was not going to be like their usual dinner dates.

  “Don, this place is really nice. How did you know about it?”

  “Some of the alums brought me, a few of the other players, and some other people here during my freshman year. I always promised myself that once I could afford it, and had the perfect girl to bring with me, I’d come back and enjoy the romantic atmosphere. Well, I can afford it now, and I have the perfect girl, so that’s why we’re here. It’s kind of romantic, huh?”

  “Yes, it is. Thanks for bringing me here.”

  “Remember what I said. If you stay with me, I’ll take you everywhere I’m privileged to go.”

  The hostess showed them to their seats and placed menus on the table. Chancey’s menu didn’t have any prices on it. “Don, I don’t have any prices on my menu. How am I supposed to know what we can afford to order?”

  “This is a very traditional restaurant. They like to make a woman feel like she’s a lady, and a lady shouldn’t have to worry about prices.”

  “Well, I have to worry about the prices. I don’t want to overorder.”

  “Chancey, sometimes I think you forget that in a few months I will be playing professional football. Baby, I’m guaranteed to go during the first round of the draft. I will hopefully be in the top ten picks, and it’s looking very hopeful. Baby, I’ll be making millions. Millions! My agent has already given me an advance. How do you think I was able to get this ride? My parents? How do you think I’m able to take you out more often and put gas in your car? The thousand dollars that Jackson gave me is just spending money. Get used to it, Diamond. In the very near future you will never have to worry about the cost of things again.”

  Chancey was speechless. She gave him a blank look. Momentarily, through her eyes Don was a stranger. She knew he had a great chance of making it to the pros, but she hadn’t realized that people were actually going to start giving him money just because he had a good chance. She thought he was taking her out more because the season was over and he had more time. It was finally settling in that she would soon be dating a wealthy man. Chancey’s parents were well-off, but they were by no means millionaires. For the first time, she was faced with the reality that Don would go away with some football team and move to some other city, which they wouldn’t know until the draft. He was going to be constantly surrounded by groupies and the media. All the attention he was already getting was going to escalate.

  “Chancey, you act like you’re hearing all of this for the first time. We’ve discussed me going pro and you visiting me for most all of the home games. That’s all me and my dad talked about while he was here. Remember?”

  “Don, I wasn’t really listening. I was talking to your mother. I mean, I guess I knew, but it always seemed so far away.”

  “Well, it’s getting closer every day. Your man’s gonna be a professional football player. And I’m gonna have my degree too.”

  “I know. I’m so proud of you, but you’re going to be leaving me one day.”

  “I’m not going to be leaving you. I’m just going to be a little farther away. And who knows, maybe I’ll only be a few states over. Plus, I’ve been told that distance makes the heart grow fonder.” He grabbed her hand from across the table. There was a pleasant silence.

  “Baby, order whatever you want,” Don said.

  “Okay. I sure will! I’m not gonna worry about the prices, because my man is rich.”

  Chancey ordered grilled salmon, and Don ordered a porterhouse steak. Everything was so good. They relaxed and talked about their future together and how they were going to make their long-distance relationship work.

  Instead of ordering dessert, they decided to drive back to town and rent a movie, pick up popcorn and ice cream, and spend the rest of their evening enjoying each other’s company in the privacy of Don’s apartment.

 

  EIGHT

  “Hey, Tiara, girl. What’s up?” Sandra asked, as she danced through the door into Tiara’s dorm room. One of her favorite songs was blasting from her mini stereo system that sat on top of her bureau. Sandra was carrying a smal
l bag and wearing tight black pants that stopped and cuffed at her ankle. Her rayon blouse was wrapped in the front and tied on the side, showing her navel and just a hint of cleavage. She always dressed sexily for campus parties. The look worked for her because she never wore her hair too wild and her body was so petite that nothing ever seemed to be out of proportion.

  “I’m just trying to figure out what I’m gonna wear tonight. You’re here early.”

  “Girl, my roommate was getting on my last nerve. Mindy’s boyfriend is over, and they were blasting that Pearl Jam shit and smoking cigarettes. I hate to be smelling like cigarette smoke. And you know what? She only smokes in the room when he’s over, and she didn’t smoke at all until she met him.”

  “Umph!” Tiara responded.

  “So I got dressed as quickly as I could, grabbed my curling iron and makeup, and came straight over here. It’s okay, isn’t it?”

  “Of course it’s okay! You know that,” Tiara said. “But what kills me is when men try to be so controlling, and I hate women who change their entire lifestyles just to keep a man. If Mindy gets lung cancer, she’ll only have herself to blame. Because once her boyfriend walks out of her life, she’s going to be stuck with a nasty habit.”

  “True,” agreed Sandra, “and I hope we won’t still be roommates, ’cause I refuse to spend every day of my college life breathing secondhand smoke.”

  “But you won’t have to because you’ll be getting a private room next year, right? You did know they were available for second-semester sophomores in January. Why didn’t you apply then?”

  “My parents were so insistent on me having a roommate, at least during my first two years. I guess they figured I wouldn’t get in as much trouble with a roommate. Like that makes sense. Anyway, I envy you and Gina . . . sophomores with private rooms. Why can’t I be so lucky?”

  “Girl, all you have to do is apply for a single in the fall. This year is almost up and next year it will be your decision. Right?”

  “I hope so, but you know how my parents can be. They try to control me from home,” Sandra complained. “Believe me, there will be a message on my answering machine tonight asking me to call them as soon as I get in, no matter what time. Is that ridiculous or what?”

  “I couldn’t begin to imagine,” Tiara responded. She wanted her mother to be more responsible, but by no means did she want her to be that overbearing.

  “And if I don’t call them tonight, they will assume I spent the night with ‘one of those nappy-headed rascals,’ as my dad calls them.”

  “Nappy-headed what?” Tiara screamed and laughed at the same time.

  “Rascals, girl!” She laughed. “They call every Friday and Saturday night like clockwork. Some nights when Mindy is in the room, she’ll act like she’s trying to wake me and I won’t budge. She’ll tell them she couldn’t get me up and that I’d spent most of the night in the library studying and came home and crashed, and that she’ll be sure I call them as soon as I woke up in the morning.”

  “Does it work?”

  “Like a charm!” They both laughed and gave each other a high five.

  Then, somebody knocked on the door.

  “I bet it’s Gina just now getting off work,” Tiara said, as she answered the door. It was Gina, still dressed in her Hardee’s uniform. All three girls had part-time jobs, but she was the only one who had to work Friday nights.

  “We figured it was you.”

  “I just wanted to let y’all know I’m off. I’m going to take a shower, then I’ll come over here and put on my makeup. Is that cool?”

  “That’s cool!” Tiara and Sandra answered in unison. Gina left to go to her room, which was right across the hall. The friends stayed on the seventh floor of an eleven-story dormitory. The three girls were night owls, and met their freshman year. Their friendship grew close after forming a late-night study group. They met three to four days a week at midnight and studied until three or four in the morning. During finals, they didn’t sleep. Although they spent a great deal of their study time gossiping and talking about pledging a sorority, they all managed to maintain above-average GPAs.

  “I don’t know what I’m gonna wear tonight,” Tiara complained. She stared into a closet full of nice clothes, most of which she’d bought with money earned from her part-time job. Others were new and used pieces given to her by Rhonda.

  “I can’t believe you. You should have had that picked out at the beginning of the week,” Sandra said. “Let me see what I can hook up for you.”

  Sandra helped Tiara find something to wear. “Now this will look good on you. Plus, I’ve never seen you in this.” It was a black miniskirt and a tight, long-sleeve, scoop neck black top. Both still had tags on them.

  “That’s because I haven’t worn it yet. Rhonda picked out that outfit for me when we went shopping over the Christmas break. I haven’t built the courage to wear it yet.”

  “She’s got good taste, and you need to be stepping out in this. Girlfriend, the winter is about over. You’d better wear it tonight because you may not get to wear this until next winter. And who knows how much weight you’ll put on by then. I know you’re familiar with the freshman fifteen. They haven’t hit you yet, but they will some time before you graduate.”

  “You’re not the only one holding on to your shape, Miss Thang. I, too, am one of the few sophomores who still has what she came in with as a freshman,” she bragged. Tiara hadn’t gained any weight, mainly because she had a work/study position at the school’s weight room, and worked out for thirty minutes to an hour every day after work. She was five-foot-seven and weighed 145 pounds. She was an attractive girl, and her build made her look a few years older. When she was all made up, she could pass for twenty-five or twenty-six. Her hair was cleanly shaven in the back and on the sides, which made her neck seem even longer. She stacked the top in layers going toward her face.

  Her old hairdresser cut it that way before she left for school and promised her it would be a low-maintenance cut. He was right. She grew to love her short cut—she had few bad hair days.

  “Are you going to try on the outfit or am I gonna have to wear it myself?”

  “Okay, I’ll try it on, but I’m not going to guarantee you I’ll wear it.” She tried on both pieces and looked at herself in the mirror.” Sandra was right. Tiara looked gorgeous and extremely feminine. Her long legs looked even longer in the mini.

  “Girlfriend, that looks good on you,” Sandra said, and turned to look on Tiara’s desk for a pair of scissors. “Now, what kind of shoes and pantyhose do you have?” She found the scissors and began to cut the tags off the new clothes.

  “Well, I have some black tights and these black shoes.” Tiara pulled out shoes with a thick, tall heel.

  “Those are sharp. What are you waiting for? Put them on.”

  Tiara put on the tights and shoes. She looked like a model. She had to admit it to herself. She looked pretty good. She loved to dress and always made a fashion statement when on campus. But this time she looked good in a different way.

  “I don’t know why you don’t dress like this more often.”

  “Because I feel like I’m exposing myself too much when my clothes fit too closely.”

  “You wear that spandex shit when you go to the gym.”

  “That’s different.”

  “Whatever!”

  “Whatever,” Tiara sassed back. “Gina’d better hurry up!”

  “That’s right. If she’s not here in five, we leave her.” Just then Gina knocked and walked through the door. She was wearing loose black bell-bottoms and a cut-off long-sleeved top to match. The sleeves flared and hung slightly over her hands. But it was her black stacks that made the outfit sing.

  “You are sharp as usual. And where did you get those shoes?” Sandra asked, and bent down to get a closer look.

  “I’m not gonna tell you, because you’ll go out and get the exact pair, and that would decrease the originality of mine,” Gina said. “T
iara, you know that you’re gonna be killin’ ‘em with that ‘fit.”

  “I told you, Tiara,” Sandra said. “I know what I’m talking about.”

  “We need to hurry up and finish getting our makeup on so we won’t have to be standing at the back of the line,” Tiara said, ignoring her friends’ compliments.

  “You’re right,” Gina responded, “but go on girl, anyway, with your bad self. And you don’t have to say thank you, because I mean it. You’re a diva tonight.” They all laughed and put on their makeup and danced in the mirror while getting ready for the party.

  Once their makeup and hair were perfect, they walked out of the door, leaving Tiara’s room a disaster, but they looked good. Because the campus party was only about a two-minute walk from their dorm, they walked, as most students did. They were feeling good and joking and singing along the way because they all knew it was going to be a good night.

  After the party, they came back to Tiara’s room to recap the excitement. They joked about how all the men were checking out Tiara and how she got asked to dance more times than Gina and Sandra combined. Tiara denied their accusations, but they were telling the truth.

  She was happy to have gotten so much attention, but she was not interested in any of the guys she danced with. However, there was one guy with the deepest dimples and the sexiest smile she had ever seen. She had seen him on campus before, and she thought his name was Ben, but she wasn’t sure. She would have sworn he noticed her too, but he never approached her. And she was not about to approach him. She was a firm believer in men making the first move, giving her the opportunity to not appear desperate or needy. But “Dimples” was fine, and she was going to keep her eyes on him.

  The girls also talked about how awestruck they were by the Greek turnout at the party; every sorority and fraternity on campus was represented in large numbers. They appreciated all the sororities, but all agreed that there was only one for them. They all had dreams of joining the “ladies in pink.” The three imitated members of each organization, dancing around the room while throwing up different fraternity and sorority signs. They got in a line and tried to do the sororities’ steps around Tiara’s small room, but it didn’t work because no one remembered the same moves.