Fair-Weather Friends (16 page)

“Wahhhh, wahhh, wahhh,” Tori sang. “Break out the tissue. Am I supposed to be moved by that?”

I looked at her and shook my head. “You know, it
doesn't surprise me that you're not.” I quickly removed my pink-and-white T-shirt, revealing the white tank top I wore underneath. “Consider me out of the Theta Ladies.” I tossed the T-shirt in her face.

I started walking down the hall. Tori called out after me, “Don't come crying back to us when you figure out who your real friends are!”

I just threw up my hand as I continued to walk away. I probably should've tried to hang around and let Jasmine know I was leaving, but I was so disgusted, I didn't even want to be in the same building with the Theta Ladies.

I could barely concentrate through the rest of my classes. Not because I was upset about the Thetas. Truthfully, I couldn't care less about them now. I just couldn't get my mind off Angel. I said another quick prayer, thanking God that she was going to be all right and that our friendship wasn't broken permanently.

“I heard about what you told the Thetas earlier.”

I looked up to see Jasmine standing over my desk. I had been in such a daze, that I hadn't even realized it was fifth-period English, a class I shared with Jasmine.

“That was less than two hours ago. How'd you hear about it?”

“Girl, you know gossip spreads around here faster than the flu.” She sat down in the seat next to me. “So you finally saw their true colors, huh?”

I cut my eyes at Jasmine. I really wasn't in the mood for
an “I told you so” speech. She must've known that because she left it alone.

I sighed. “You know it's just a lot of things I wanted to do with the Thetas. I really liked what they were about. And not just the stepping.” I added, smiling at Jasmine.

She shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

“But I definitely can't get with this. I mean, Angel almost died, and I feel like we're partly responsible.”

Jasmine looked at me like she wanted to say, “You were.” I was grateful when she didn't say anything.

“Are you going by the hospital?” I asked her.

“Yeah. I sent a text for Alexis to pick me up.”

“A text? When did you get a cell phone?”

“Girl, please. I used C. J.'s.” She held up a blue T-Mobile Sidekick.

I grinned widely. “C. J.'s, huh? So I guess we're back together now?”

“Naw, it ain't even all that. We're just friends.” She shrugged, but I could tell she was trying to play it down.

“You know you need to give that boy another chance. I mean, you are using his phone.”

“Whatever,” Jasmine said. “I just used his phone, that's all. We're not getting married.”

“Cell phone today, a ring tomorrow, because you know you want to forgive him.”

Jasmine rolled her eyes.

“I told you. Jasmine and C. J. sitting in a tree …” I began singing.

“Oh, my God, please do not start that elementary stuff.”

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

“Don't make me get up and move.”

“First comes love …” I continued.

“Then comes Jasmine with these two duckies upside your head,” she replied, holding up her fists.

I stopped messing with her and laughed. It was a refreshing laugh, one that had me more sure than ever that the Good Girlz were finally back on the right track.

“H
ey, Camille. Can we talk to you for a minute?”

I turned toward the voice shouting to me from down the hall.

I saw Lynn and quickly scanned the faces of the five girls with her. I was looking for Tori because if she was with them, I was leaving. I didn't have anything to say to her. She wasn't, so I stood and waited for them to catch up with me. Even though Lynn, Raquelle, and the others had never stood up to Tori, they really hadn't been that bad; I didn't have a beef with them.

I watched as they approached me. Tameka was right in the center like she'd been a Theta all her life.

“Look, we just want to say we're sorry for what happened to Angel,” Lynn started. She looked really sincere, but that didn't change the facts, so I didn't let myself be moved by her words.

“Are you really?”

Lynn sighed as she looked at the other girls. “I know Tori can be a super jerk sometimes and we probably let her get away with way more than we should.”

“You think?”

“But the bottom line is,” Lynn continued, “we got to talking and we believe in what we do with the Theta Ladies. This is a great organization, and we hate the cloud that's hanging over us. We finally had to tell ourselves that a lot of that is coming from Tori.”

I nodded in agreement. “Ain't that the truth.”

It was Raquelle's turn to speak up. “We're saying all of this to say that we plan to take a vote and remove Tori from office as president.”

I sucked my teeth skeptically. “Yeah, right. Like she will ever go for that.”

A determined look crossed Lynn's face. “Well, according to the rules of our organization, she doesn't have much choice. If the majority of us want her out, she has to go. And we want her out.”

Tameka finally spoke up. “I told you the Thetas are more than just about Tori. We wanted to be a part of the organization for a reason and we shouldn't let Tori take that from us.”

I couldn't help but stare at Tameka. She hadn't even asked about Angel, nor had she bothered to come by the hospital and visit her.

Raquelle held my Theta T-shirt out to me. “We would
like you to remain a member of the Theta Ladies and help us to do the things we were actually formed to do.”

I looked at Raquelle, then at Lynn. I wanted to believe them. Honestly, I did believe them. But even still, I just wasn't feeling the Thetas anymore.

“You know what, no thanks. Right now, my concentration is just on my friend. My true friend, Angel. I wish you all the best.” I turned and walked away.

“Camille,” Tameka yelled.

I stopped and spun around. “What, Tameka?”

“Are you for real?” She looked at me in shock. “You're just gon' throw everything away?”

“Everything like what?” I shifted my weight as I waited to see how she was going to try and even fix her lips to convince me to stay with the Thetas.

“Being a Theta.”

I looked at Tameka proudly wearing her Theta Lady jacket and couldn't do anything but shake my head in disgust. “You don't feel the least bit bad about everything that's gone down?” I asked, trying to reason with her.

She looked around nervously, like she really didn't want anyone to hear her answer. “You know I feel bad about what happened to Angel,” she said, stepping closer to me. “But come on, it's not like it's Tori's fault.”

I just stared at Tameka. She couldn't really be that dumb. “Do you really believe that, Tameka? I mean, you saw how
the blacks and Hispanics were going at it. Do you really think them rejecting Angel had nothing to do with that?”

Tameka rolled her eyes. “Please, Camille. The blacks and Hispanics have been going at it for the past year. So don't blame it on the Thetas.”

“Maybe so. But we just gave them even more reason to hate each other.” I sighed, trying to figure out why I was even bothering. Tameka wasn't trying to hear nothing bad about the Thetas.

“So, you're out? Just like that.”

“I'm out. Just like that.”

“What about Alexis?”

“She feels the same way.” Alexis hadn't said point blank that she was quitting the Thetas, but last night she alluded how this was not what she bargained for at all. I knew I wouldn't have to do much convincing to get her to leave the Thetas as well.

I knew there was nothing I could say to Tameka to get her to open her eyes. That was fine with me. If she wanted to be blind, so be it. Me, I was through. The Thetas had almost caused me to lose my best friend. Now, my only focus was getting that friendship back.

T
he door creaked as Camille stuck her head in Angel's hospital room. I was sitting beside the bed reading her an article in
Essence
magazine about Usher.

“Hey, Jasmine,” Camille softly said. “Do you think it's okay for me and Alexis to come in?”

I looked up at Camille. She was standing in the doorway looking kinda pathetic if you asked me, like she hadn't had any sleep in days. Alexis, who was standing behind her, didn't look too hot either.

“Come on in,” I said. “Angel is knocked out. They got her all doped up. Her mom went with Miss Rachel to fill out some paperwork.”

Alexis and Camille eased into the room, never taking their eyes off of Angel. I know they were hurt to see her lying there with tubes stuck all in her body. Her once colorful skin was now a pasty shade. She was lying back on a mountain of pillows, her eyes closed.

“How is she doing?” Alexis asked. “I thought they said she was gonna be okay.”

“She is,” I replied. “Her mom said it looks a lot worse than it is and that she'll probably be able to go home at the end of the week. She just has to get her strength back up. She's been asleep the whole time I've been here.” I looked at my watch. “Which has been about twenty minutes.”

“Were you reading to her?” Camille asked, pointing to the magazine.

I quickly pushed the magazine behind my back. “Oh, that's nothing. I was just reading out loud.”

“Awww, you
were
reading to her,” Alexis said. “I heard you talking about Usher. You know how much she loves Usher so you decided to read to her. That is so sweet.”

“Whatever.” I tossed the
Essence
down. I didn't want them to think I was getting all soft and stuff.

Alexis stepped closer to me and rubbed my arm. “Come on, Jazzy, admit it. You were doing something sweet.”

I snatched my arm away. “I told you I was just reading out loud. What's the big deal? And stop calling me Jazzy.”

“The big deal is you try to act all hard, but you really have a heart of gold deep down. I think you're the sweetest one of the group.” Alexis grinned widely.

“Isn't she though?” Camille added.

“Man, go on somewhere with that,” I snapped, waving them off.

“So you guys can't even stop fighting while I'm lying here dying.” We all turned toward Angel, who had opened her eyes and now wore a small smile.

“Angel,” Camille said, going to her side. “You are not dying.”

“Well, I gotta milk this for all it's worth,” Angel joked. “It's not often I can have my friends cater to me hand and foot.”

“How are you feeling?” Camille asked after our laughter died down.

“Like I've been stabbed,” Angel responded. She winced as she shifted and tried to get comfortable. “But, the good news is the doctor said I should be able to go home in a couple of days.”

“Yeah, Jasmine told us,” Alexis said. “That is so wonderful.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Angel looked back and forth between the three of us. “What were you guys arguing about?”

Alexis smiled. “We weren't arguing. I was just complimenting Jasmine for sitting here and reading to you.”

Angel tried to sit up, but then she grimaced again and fell back against the pillow.

“Isn't it sweet?” Alexis asked.

“Jasmine was reading to me?” Angel said, as she looked at me in disbelief. “Wow, you must've thought I was a goner for sure.”

“Would you all shut up,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It's not that big of a deal.”

“Really it is.” Camille added, “Since you just learned how to read yesterday.”

“Okay, Martin Lawrence. Enough with the jokes already.”

We all laughed for a minute before Camille said, “I heard that the police know who stabbed you.”

“They do? Who is it?” Angel asked, her tone turning serious.

Camille shook her head in disgust. “Some boy that doesn't even go to our school. He's a dropout. He just wanted to get in on a fight.”

“Why would he stab me?” Angel asked.

“He wasn't trying to stab you specifically. You just got caught in the middle as he was going after someone he had a beef with earlier.”

I looked at Camille in disbelief. “So you mean this wasn't even about race?”

“Naw. He got into it with another guy over a stereo. He just used the fight at the peace forum to settle the score,” Camille replied.

“That's jacked up,” I said.

“Wow.” Angel looked down at her bandaged side. “I know one thing. This was so not worth it.”

Camille walked over and gently touched Angel's arm. “Angel, I can't say it enough. I'm really sorry about all of this.”

Angel smiled as she squeezed Camille's hand. “I'm sorry, too. And it's not your fault. Shoot, I'm just as much to blame. I don't even like Christina and those guys. I just started hanging around them because we're all Spanish, so I thought they were just like me. But I found out I have absolutely nothing in common with them.”

“
We're
just like you,” I said. “Well, Alexis is too rich to be just like us but we love her anyway.”

Alexis playfully swatted at my arm. “You're just hatin'. Angel knows the deal, pickle.”

We all stopped and looked at her.

She was cheesing like crazy. “Get it? Dill pickle. Like sour pickle.”

I didn't take my eyes off of her. “If you ever, ever, ever, ever, say some corny stuff like that again, I will hit you in your jaw,” I said.

We all busted out laughing.

“Guys,” Angel asked as the laughter died down. “Are we straight?”

“We're straight,” Camille said with a smile.

“And we're gon' stay straight,” I added.

“We're as straight as my hair after a perm,” Alexis said.