“It’s been all professional…with me,” says Riley. She starts to feel bad now realizing she may have let the cat out of the bag, but there is no turning back at this point. Just as Mike begins to ask Riley a follow up question, Duc, tired of them talking about him like he’s not sitting there, blurts out, “Mind your own business Artie!”
They have spent the last month randomly bringing up the nickname they overheard from Aunt Deb trying to get Mike or Shante to tell them where it came from with no success. This time around Duc tries to use that intrigue as a misdirection to get the attention off him. Luckily for him, Tim has never heard the nickname and doesn’t let it gloss over easily. “Hold up, who the fuck is Artie?” To which Shante is quick to point out it being Mike’s family nickname, loving the fact that she has information none of them know. Suddenly all the women’s attention turns to how cute the nickname is while Tim, Duc, and Ovaughn all start probing about where it came from, throwing out random theories as jokes.
“Artie, you might as well tell them,” she says. “This is never going to go away until you do.” They all find it funny when she calls him by the name knowing she is only doing it to torture him. Duc then says “Yeah, Artie. Tell us.”
“I’ll tell you if you tell me what’s up with Samantha.”
The table gets quiet for a second as Duc thinks about how badly he wants to know about this weird nickname and how badly he wants to be past this Samantha secret. He realizes in that moment, now that it is out, the only way to get past it is to tell them about it. He calls Mike’s bluff simply saying, “That’s a bet,” and stares at him waiting for the nickname explanation. Mike, hoping his proposition is going to make Duc back off, is now looking at a table full of people who are all ears. As much as he wants to know what is up with Duc and Samantha, he isn’t telling all of these people about his embarrassing nickname that has been a secret for a reason. Duc is disappointed when he lets it go, hoping he won’t have to sit through another grilling session to meet their curiosities.
Once they move past both topics Riley is over the entire conversation and quickly excuses herself from the table. Duc, now worried something isn’t right between them, offers to walk her back to her dorm, not taking no for an answer even though she tries. He wants to talk to her and doesn’t want to put it off. As she leaves the caf Riley knows Duc is following closely behind but keeps walking briskly intentionally trying to stay ahead of him forcing him to try to catch up. Eventually he gets tired of this and projects his voice. “Riley! Slow down! Young, what did I do wrong?” His question makes her stop. She turns to face him with a look that says just leave me alone.
“I don’t know what I did wrong. Can we talk, please?”
She turns to continue walking to her dorm. “You didn’t do anything wrong Duc. We aren’t even messing with each other. Don’t worry about me.”
“But obviously you feel some kind of way about Samantha and there isn’t even anything going on between us.”
Riley loudly sucks her teeth letting him know she doesn’t believe his claim.
At this point, he’s thinking to himself this is exactly what he is supposed to avoid by not messing with Riley.
“I mean, it’s not like I ever expected to be in a relationship with you. I know you are not the girlfriend type. I knew we were never going to be anything more than friends with benefits. But the way you were looking at her on Saturday. You actually LIKE like her.”
She stops talking and keeps walking looking forward making sure to not look at Duc. He’s now walking in silence not knowing if he should respond or not, then eventually feeling awkward by the silence he simply says, “There’s nothing going on between me and Samantha.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t want there to be…and that’s okay. That’s your business. I just can’t help but wonder why you are willing to go there with her when you made a point not to mix business and pleasure with me. Why not me? I mean, she could have managed me if that would have been the case.”
At this point Duc is confused as he tries to make sense of the emotions Riley is putting into words. He worries he’s led her on and worries he may be losing his one client. He hates feeling like he misled her and begins feeling like he has to be open and up front with her. So, he tries to explain “It's not like that young. I mean, this wasn’t intentional. I never even looked at her that way until recently. And I’m not trying to make anything out of it...neither is she. The only thing that has happened is one kiss when I took that time off from work and I went to check on her.” Then it is almost like she realizes what created the feelings better than he does. She even starts to seem more at ease, realizing that the feelings must have sprung from the trauma of the robbery. She doesn’t express it to him but somehow it makes her feel better. Duc just wants to make sure they are cool and that his actions don’t somehow mess up things between them. He doesn’t have a great track record with his relationships with women, so it is a genuine concern, even if it is a bit self-serving on the business side. As Riley comes to terms with what he shares she reassures him “Duc, it’s not you. I don’t even know why I am reacting this way. It’s surprising me too. I guess I have to figure that out for myself. Just get to your next class before you’re late.” He takes a long look into her eyes until he feels like she is good and then he is now comfortable leaving to attend class.
Later that day Duc and Mike meet up at Ovaughn and Jairus’ room before heading back to the apartment, as they usually do. Only this time there’s an elephant in the room with Mike wanting to know what happened with Riley. Everyone wants to know but for the first time in a while Duc is not very talkative, so no one brings it up. The fact that Duc seems to be in a rush to get back home is a clear indication he isn’t in a good mood.
Mike makes a point to wait until they are one on one heading back to the apartment, hoping Duc is more open if it’s not a crowd.
“Yo, you good?”
Duc pauses, thinking about if he wants to respond or not and it feels like forever to Mike, who already feels awkward about asking. Instead of waiting for a response, he gives one of his own. “So, my father goes by Tony. Most people think that’s short for Anthony but it’s actually Antonio. Antonio Malcolm Haskins. His initials A M H. And for some reason he wanted all his kids to have those same initials rather than just having a junior. My brother goes by Arthur but his name is actually Arturo…Arturo Mitchell Haskins. A M H. Well, I didn’t like going by my first name so in middle school. I started trying to switch what everyone calls me and by the time I started high school I was just Mike. But my name is Artemis Michael Haskins and my family calls me Artie for short.”
At this point Duc is sitting silent in the passenger seat with his eyes wide and a huge smile on the verge of laughing. Mike held up his end of the bargain from lunch and it is worth the wait for Duc. But he does have one question. “So, what’s your sister’s name?”
Mike chuckles and responds “Anastasia Michelle. She picked up the middle name thing once she saw me do it.” They both get a good laugh at the family name secret Mike has been keeping and it makes Duc’s defenses come down and he finally starts talking to his friend about everything that has been going on. He runs through everything with Samantha and the fall out with Riley from earlier that day and, as he normally does, Mike helps him to look at things from their side and talk out how best to move forward with both Riley and Samantha.
They sit in the parking lot of Duc’s apartment on the clear evening just discussing everything. Duc shares his thoughts with Mike saying “Samantha won’t even respond to my calls. The way I feel makes me want to say something when I see her but maybe I should take the clue from her silence and chalk it up as a freak occurrence. After all, how is this any different than how I have to keep business and pleasure separate when working with Riley.” That stood out to him from the conversation with Riley earlier. Mike pauses for a moment to think about what Duc just said then replies “Well, it is a different working relationship. You and Samantha are not dependent on each other. She’s a coworker, not an employer or employee. But I still see how Riley can see it the same regardless.” And it’s like they talked her up because as they are going back and forth about it, Duc’s phone rings and it’s none other than Samantha. She is calling with an idea she has for promoting Chaotic Harmony. He answers to hear her more excited than he ever recalls. She has been thinking of ideas for promotion the last couple of days and had a major idea fall into her lap that seems perfect for promoting to the college crowds. She is in her fourth year at the largest university in Atlanta as a law major and her university uses their email system to send out mass emails to different student groups by majors, organizations, or the entire student body when necessary. And that day one of those large-scale email distributions went out and it came to her like a flash of light that it is the easiest way to reach a large group. They just have to find a way to get a large enough email list. As she is running down the email idea and how they can use it Mike is looking at Duc silently mouthing for him to “Say something” over and over. Duc, always one to take business seriously, tries to ignore him so he can listen to her rundown. Eventually Mike realizes that it’s not going to happen and motions to him that he’s going to head out and hops into his own car to go home.
Duc loves Samantha’s idea. He has never known anyone to use emails for promoting a party and wonders why he has never thought of the idea himself before. Now he just has to figure out how to get one of the school email distros without having to hack into the school system and get expelled. He tries to take the opportunity to meet with Samantha to brainstorm about it, asking her what she is doing for dinner. To his dismay she turns down his advance. He doesn’t try to show that he really just wants to spend time with her, but she seems to still avoid it, nonetheless. He is becoming more and more frustrated with being turned down and yet more intrigued with her every time. Still, he is scared to take Mike’s advice and just put his cards on the table by telling her what he is feeling. He is too afraid of the rejection he may get. He isn’t used to caring this much about what the outcome will be.
Eventually Duc tells Jairus everything that has been going on with him and Samantha as well. He doesn’t want to keep him in the dark now that Ovaughn and Mike both know, and he wants to get past it so they can focus on this email idea. And from a conversation with his friends, it hits Duc that he knows a starter on the men’s and women’s basketball teams as the seasons are about to start, he knows a star on the track team, he is cool with a few football players, and Riley is a performing arts major. Those emails alone will be enough. He already knows that if he gets athletes on board, it will probably be the easiest way to spread the word amongst people outside of getting the Greek organizations. This will be the fastest way to get the word out to them all at once. Once he talks to everyone, they are all willing to help him out, even the football players who aren’t in his immediate friend circle. The reputation he made about his parties precedes him.
Naturally, Ovaughn is the first to acquire all the emails from his teammates, including all the practice team players. Kennedy, never to be outdone, has the track team emails for both the men and women teams to Duc by that weekend. Duc can’t wait to tell Samantha how well things are going and how fast her idea is forming into a legit plan. By the time the debut performance of Chaotic Harmony occurs at Jazzy Belles a week later, they have sent an initial email out to a few teams and a lot of performing arts students that Riley provided. The turnout is better than Samantha and Duc hope with the limited promotion time, but they are continuing to build the list and know things will only be going up from that point. Those two spend the entire night basking in their win while Chaotic Harmony shows the crowd what they can do and gain some new fans. You can’t pull Duc away from Samantha's side even with all of his friends in attendance. Mike spends his evening as a customer at Jazzy Belles for the first time in a while and he is keeping his promise to Shante, making sure she and her friends have a good night out entertaining them the best he can. Even Carlos shows up and is happy to help Mike with the young co-eds in need of attention. Jairus and Ovaughn are with their girlfriends but both Lisa and Kennedy also have friends attending the party and are spending most of their time with them rather than just sitting up underneath the guys. Of course, Kennedy and Ovaughn make a point to periodically check on each other as she never strays too far away from him. Even if it is just as simple as reaching over and touching hands briefly to let the other know they are there.
As Jairus and Ovaughn sit and talk they decide to get a round of drinks from the server Mike got to hook them up even though they are still a year away from being legal. Ovaughn is going to order one for him and Kennedy, and asks if he should get one for Lisa, too. Jairus
“No. She can’t drink tonight,” Jairus responded abruptly, then quickly averted his eyes downward.
The reaction stops Ovaughn in his tracks for a second as he stares at Jairus looking for more to go with that response. Jairus tries not to look back up until he walks away to get the three drinks. When he returns, Ovaughn hands Jairus his drink. “Aye…Is everything alright?”
“Young, this morning Lisa told me she thinks she’s late.” They both get silent with neither of them really knowing what to say.
“So how do you feel about it? I know you always said you want kids…but right now?”
Jairus doesn’t even entertain it.
“Man, at this point it could just be nothing. I don’t want to speculate and get excited about nothing. Please don’t tell anybody else.”
And with that Ovaughn let it go, for now.
13
“I Think We Need To Talk About...Everything”
In the next couple of weeks things really begin to ramp up for all of the guys. Chaotic Harmony begins to get a cult following and help bring more customers flowing into Jazzy Belles after their performance, which means more work for Duc and Mike. The college basketball season kicks off with home games for the men’s and women’s teams, which means it is getting busy for Ovaughn, and even for Mike now looking for time to support both teams. But even with all the exciting things happening to his friends Jairus is only worried about one thing. He bugs Lisa every day about her period being late that first week. As crazy as it will be at this point of their lives, Jairus has always wanted kids because he never knew his own father. He has it set in his mind at a very young age that he will be the father he never had. He tries to be sensitive to how nerve-wracking it must be for Lisa, but he can’t help but fantasize about how they will make things work with a child and it annoys her. Having a kid right now is not something Lisa is thinking about. As focused as she is on finishing school and starting a career she doesn’t know when she will be ready for kids. She has a plan, and this is not a part of it. She tries to calm him down by telling him that she will have to be over a week late before it is even worth checking out. For him that only means he is going to count the days until that Thursday.
The day comes and goes, and Lisa has no news for him but now he can tell he is getting on her nerves worrying about it, so he begins to back off. By that weekend she finally let him know that she took a test, and he could stop worrying. They both are surprised at the disappointment on his face when she tells him the news. He has let his imagination get the best of him and has a sense of mourning while she just wants them to go back to normal like nothing ever happened. Just the opposite happens as Jairus spends the next few days coming to Lisa’s dorm room always in a pensive, brooding mood and she keeps trying to cheer him up. It isn’t until one of the visits when Ashley is there that things change. When Jairus comes into the room Ashley is there to visit and although he tries to act normally in her presence, she can tell something is wrong with him. He realizes she can tell when she starts being nice asking how he is. She is never usually the warm and inviting type. She is a straight shooter who speaks her mind even when she shouldn’t but suddenly, she is pleasant without much to say. He also notices that every time she notices him acting off, she cuts her eyes to Lisa, hoping he won’t notice. The entire interaction feels off and he assumes that she doesn’t want him to know that Lisa told her about their situation but that is the least of his worries at this point. Ovaughn has his second home game that evening so Jairus let them know everyone is planning to attend so that he will know if they need to save seats for them. Ashley immediately backs out and Lisa says she has been feeling sick and isn’t sure if she will make it or not but will call him to let him know closer to game time.
Later that day, Jairus goes to dinner with Mike, Chris, Kennedy, and Shante before they all go to the game, but he still hasn’t heard anything from Lisa. When they get done eating, he calls her cellphone to see if she decided to go to the game or not. She doesn’t answer her cell, so he calls her dorm room number and that is answered by Shana who is now in the room with her. Shana tells Jairus that she isn’t feeling good and that he should just go to the game without her. Only now Jairus feels obligated to go check on her. How can he go sit in a game trying to take his mind off things while Lisa is in her room sick and miserable. He tells everyone he will meet them at the game and heads directly to Lisa’s dorm. When he gets there, he sees Ashley standing out front talking to some people looking like she is about to head back inside so he catches her before she goes in. Now instead of the pleasant caring response he got earlier she seems nervous and apprehensive about letting him in with her. She eventually walks him to the room and once he knocks on the door she starts walking away as Shana opens the door with a look of shock when she sees it’s him. “Oh...Jairus. What’s up? You know she's not feeling good. You don’t want to get sick too, do you?” He looks at her like she is crazy.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m here. I wanted to check on her to see if she needs anything.”
