The day of the funeral is something none of the guys are looking forward to. Ovaughn’s parents flew into town that Thursday but none of the fellas have seen them yet. They are grieving the loss of a child and spending time with his friends is something they haven’t to build up to. On the day of the funeral Duc and Jairus make sure to get there before it starts so that they can talk to his parents before things get hectic. Mike lets them know when it is a good time to go because he and his mom are going to the hotel to escort them to the church where the ceremony will be held. Burying a loved one is something no one wants to do. It’s even worse when it feels like the loss is not fair. When it goes against the natural order of things. Nothing can console a parent who has to bury a child. And although she is physically present, Omelia is still mentally checked out. As Jairus and Duc enter the church to see them, all they notice is how Ovaughn’s mother just sits there with a dead stare in her eyes. She doesn’t even really say anything. Just head nods and handshakes. His father, Oscar, holds it together for the both of them, talking to everyone to shield his wife from having to deal with it. She is already dealing with too much. He gives the fellas a big greeting, pulling them both in for big hugs as they enter and telling them they can sit up front with them, along with Mike and his family. There is also going to be a ceremony held in North Carolina that most of Ovaughn’s family will be attending so not many are present beyond his parents and his two brothers who have come down together.
As people begin to arrive for the ceremony, the church quickly begins to fill. It is one of the larger churches near campus but is still close to capacity during the ceremony as both the women’s and men’s basketball teams and coaches all attend, the female track team, and many of the athletes that knew him from some of the other school teams. He also knew a lot of people across campus just from being around Duc all the time. Duc knows a lot of people and his very tall, light skin friend always stood out when meeting people. Of course, his closer friends try to get in front of the masses who stray away from sitting directly behind the family. Everyone is there from Tim, Carlos, and Chris all the way to Lisa, and Riley. It is a surprising number of people for someone who has lived so little of his life. His father is in shock by the number of people in attendance to pay respect to his son. In one of the most somber moments of his life he feels a bit of pride knowing that his son made such an impact on so many people in such a short period of time. It speaks to how highly everyone thought of Ovaughn. How good of a person he was to people.
As the preacher begin the service, he can’t help but call reference to the amount of people who felt compelled to be there for his funeral speaking to the character he had and the type of man he was becoming at such a young age. How he is sure that even though they will no longer have him with them in this earthly life that someone as good as him will be there to greet us when we go home to be with God ourselves. The more he speaks about the goodness of the young man the more silent the church grows until the silence is broken by a deep bellow of pain. It is Kennedy. Touched by the words and hurt by the love she will no longer have, she fails to hold back her cries. She is a few rows behind Mike, Jairus, and Duc who are together on the second row. Jairus, stoically sitting in silence, sees it is her and gets up and walks back to her row to check on her. He approaches her, sitting on the end of the row, and reaches out to place his hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her. She tries to tell him it is okay but can’t get the words out through her tears so he decides that, if he has to, he will stand there with her to help her get through it. Just at that time Mike walks up, silently wiping tears from his own eyes, and asks the girls sitting beside her to slide down as he sits next to her. She instantly leans over to hug him. Duc, having the hardest time composing himself among the guys, then walks up and kneels down in front of her taking one of her hands. “We’re here with you Kennedy,” he whispers as they try their best to be as quiet as possible. Eventually everyone notices how the guys came to the aid of their deceased best friend's girlfriend and there isn't a dry-eyed onlooker around them. Including Omelia, who has still been sitting emotionlessly with a cold gaze up until that point.
Omelia, expressing emotion for the first time as tears begin to flow down her cheeks, stands up and begins to walk back towards the group as everyone, even the pastor, watches in silence. She approaches and taps Duc on the shoulder for him to raise up and step out of her way. She raises her hands out to Kennedy and Kennedy takes both of her hands and feels her pulling her forward to her feet. Kennedy stands up and wraps her arms around Omelia and they both let out some much-needed tears as they embrace in the aisle of the church. No words are spoken but all their emotion is conveyed. Omelia turns to stand next to Kennedy, puts her arm across her shoulder and escorts her to the front row. When they get to the front Omelia looks her in the eyes. “Baby, this is where you belong today” and points to the space next to where she has been sitting. For the rest of the ceremony, they hold each other up to get through the sad event. Heartbroken in different ways. Both find solace in helping the other deal with their pain. As they watch the ceremony, Duc struggles even more as each moment is more of a reminder that this is all truly real, and he will never see Ovaughn again. Mike, although not making much noise, runs through almost all the tissues his mother brought for the occasion. She finishes off what is left as she thinks about how many times Ovaughn came over to eat on Sundays. Jairus keeps his emotions bottled up the entire ceremony besides looking like he is deep in thought at times. He has seen loss many times before, including the loss of a friend. He’s learned to hold it in better than he should for a young man of only 20 years old.
As the ceremony comes to an end all the family and close friends stay seated as the church clears out. It takes quite a bit of time with such a large number of people and quite a few of them coming up to give their condolences directly to Ovaughn’s family. Many of the people who consider themselves real friends with Ovaughn come over to speak to them hoping the show of love will help them some. Mr. Carter makes a point to come talk to Oscar and Omelia, informing them that he has known their son since he started college and that he is family to their team. He wants to be there for them just as he would have their son, if they ever need anything. Shante makes her way over to speak to them and let them know how he had been helping her with her basketball. Brenda let them know that she is her “niece” and invites her to come and eat with them all after the ceremony. Shante tries to turn down the invite not wanting to impose but when she speaks to Mike, he asks “Would you please come? So Kennedy will have another girl there, she knows.” She can’t bring herself to turn him down. She is probably more worried about him than anyone else since he is her closest connection among those affected. She decides to go to make sure he is okay just as much as Kennedy.
Lisa, not far behind Shante, also makes her way over to the family to give her condolences. She then goes over to the fellas, who are talking to Mr. Carter and Shante, to check on Jairus, who she hasn’t spoken with all week. She greets and hugs everyone and makes sure to leave Jairus for last, so that she can have a chance to talk to him. He is still very stoic and doesn’t have much to say. He especially doesn’t have much to say to Lisa. Moments like these can bring the best and the worst out of people and Jairus’ silence is not a sign of him handling things well. In Lisa’s mind she knows Jairus is hurting and selfishly thinks she can be there for him in his time of need, and it can heal things between them. She wants to put her best foot forward. Jairus, on the other hand, feels partially responsible. He changed plans on Ovaughn that evening, leading to him going out instead of just being at Duc’s apartment. And he changed those plans because Lisa wanted to talk. On top of that, the discussion just led to them breaking up. He is angry at himself and the only other person he can direct it at is Lisa. It isn’t fair at all, but if life was fair Ovaughn would still be alive, and this is a part of how Jairus is grieving. When she tries to take his hand to talk to him and make sure he is okay he wastes no time pulling it away from her to avoid contact. It isn’t an overt gesture that anyone else notices, but she feels how cold he is. So cold that it makes her eyes begin to water and makes her just want to get away. At that moment, she realizes it really is over.
Once everyone is cleared out and the funeral director let the family know he has everything handled, they all go to a local restaurant for what amounts to a repass dinner since the funeral finished in the evening. It is small and quaint. There is space for others to come so Oscar allows the guys to invite a few more people they feel are appropriate to come as well. That’s why Mike invited Shante. They also invited Chris, Carlos, and Mr. Carter. The group of 15 spend the time focusing on the good times they remember with Ovaughn. The joys and the laughter. The firsts they shared with him and the things that made them love him. It is how they all begin to heal from the loss. And hearing so many of the good times and things they weren’t present for gives his parents and brothers comfort.
When they are done with dinner, they say their goodbyes to Ovaughn’s family wishing them safe travels, since they plan to leave for North Carolina the next morning. Duc then invites all his friends over to his apartment to keep the good time going and to start drinking. It is Friday night after all. Jairus rides with Duc home and Mike has Shante and Kennedy in the car with him as he swings by campus to pick up Simone and Kennedy’s best friend and teammate. He finds himself now being protective of them both and doesn’t want the ladies to be uncomfortable in the apartment with all those guys. They get back to Duc’s apartment and the music is already playing, drinks have been poured, and there’s a basketball game on the television playing in the background with the sound turned down. It isn’t long before Kennedy and her friend break out some cards and start up a game of spades. A little later Riley pops up and hangs out with everyone as well. She wants to come by and check on Duc but doesn’t realize that so many people are there and so she decides to stay.
The rest of the evening is much of the same with them all trying their best to have a good time to keep their minds off things. Eventually it gets late and Simone falls asleep sitting on the love seat in Duc’s living room. Once one person is down it is pretty much a chain reaction. Chris decides he is ready to go, in part because he no longer has Simone to flirt with, and Carlos is riding with him so they both depart. Riley, who never intended to be there long, is next and since she is headed back to campus Kennedy and her friend catch a ride with her so the guys won’t have to worry about them. That only leaves Jairus who is nursing a drink while trying to stay away sitting on the couch in Duc’s living room. Even Duc retreats to his room after receiving a phone call that they assumed must have been Samantha getting off from work and checking on him. In the end, Mike and Shante are the last ones awake and still drinking. Ironically the oldest and youngest of the group of friends who gathered that evening. They are also two who had known each other the longest amongst them.
Shante is still very worried about Mike and wants to let him know that if he needs someone to talk to, she is there for him. She also doesn’t want to change the mood and make him think about things that will make him sad. She decides to wait to try and talk to him until the timing feels better. She is surprised as they sit and continue to watch TV and he suddenly says, “It’s going to take a long time to get used to this.” After everyone clears out and it gets quiet, he can't help but think about the loss of his friend. Shante doesn’t even realize that her intuition and insight of Mike is why she feels inclined to be there for him at the time he needs it most. They have known each other their entire lives. So, trying to gently open the door for him to feel comfortable talking to her she responds, “It’s not fair. But you know we are here for you. You can always talk to me, Artie.” And so, he begins to talk. He talks about all the parts of his life he will miss having his friend be a part of. He talks about all the things he will no longer do that he only did because of that friendship. He talks about everything he hoped he would do that his friend won’t be there to experience with him. He needs to get it out. Everything he has been bottling up and keeping to himself. He needs someone he trusts with those feelings to be able to talk with. It is the first time she has seen him cry, outside of him as a little kid getting physically hurt. This is her really seeing him as a man for the first time and seeing him at his most vulnerable point.
Mike and Shante don’t get much sleep that night as they talk most of the night. Mike even grabs some blanket’s out of Duc’s linen closet to put over Simone who is curled up on the loveseat looking like she is freezing in the middle of the night. He grabs one for Jairus as well but realizes it is the last one left and offers it to Shante since she is stuck lying on the floor with him. She curls up under the cover reaches over and drapes it over Mike as she hugs him to try to comfort him so he can go to sleep as well. It doesn’t help. His mind can’t stop and as she finally dozes off sometime after 3:00 A.M. He is still lying there staring at the television.
After about an hour of his mind wandering, he begins to get sad again and silently starts to cry again. His breathing becomes labored as he tries to hold back the tears and Shante feels him shaking and it wakes her from her sleep. She sees him crying, lying next to her and hugs him tightly. She doesn’t say a word. She just reaches up and wipes the tears from his right cheek as she kisses his left cheek. She is tired and just does what naturally comes to mind to try and console him. She has no way of knowing his reaction will be to turn and kiss her back on her lips. Not that she is upset about it. They kiss deeply for a few moments until they both begin to think about what they are doing and then stop and begin to hug again. Shante lies there hugging him with her eyes closed still half asleep but also aware enough to be confused about what just happened. Mike, just as confused, lays still with her resting on him staring at the ceiling trying not to look at her and have to deal with what just happened. He doesn’t even realize her eyes are closed at first but eventually he can tell she has fallen back asleep and allows himself to relax and finally fall asleep as well.
In the morning Jairus is the first one awake in the living room. He doesn’t want to wake anyone else up, so he just starts watching something on television until Simone wakes up. She is in a rush to get back to campus knowing that the basketball team is going to have an afternoon practice and more importantly, she doesn’t like not being able to do her morning routine. It’s not long before she wakes Shante up, which wakes up Mike. Duc comes out of the room once he hears everyone moving around and starts talking about going somewhere to get breakfast. Simone and Shante aren’t interested because they have things to do, so Mike tells Duc and Jairus to give him an hour to drop them off and go get cleaned up and he will be back to go eat. Jairus had already packed clothes for the weekend and left them at Duc’s place, so he doesn’t need to go back to campus so the ride there is just Mike, Shante, and Simone in the back seat. The short car ride to drop them off is very awkward for Mike and Shante, but Simone doesn’t pick up on it and keeps on talking although they don’t have much to say. He pulls up outside of their dorm and says, “Umm…So I guess I’ll holla at y’all later” not really knowing exactly what to say to Shante as he thought about the kiss that night. She is in her thoughts as well and simply says, “ahh…okay” as she got out of the car. As they walk away, he waits for them to get to the dorm and Shante looks back and catches eyes with him. Both of them look at each other differently than they ever have before wondering how things will be between them from now on.
As planned, Mike gets back to Duc’s place a little more than an hour later and the guys go to a local diner known around campus to grab some breakfast. From that day on the absence of Ovaughn will always be felt but this is the first time in a week that things almost feel normal for them. It will be their new normal. They are able to just hang out and not feel like they are wallowing in grief the entire time. That next week they all return to a regular class and work schedule. They begin to live their lives normally again. The only difference is Jairus still doesn’t like being in his dorm room alone. Even after his parents took all his stuff out, it is a constant reminder of Ovaughn’s absence, and Jairus wants to be there as little as possible. So that one week of crashing on Duc’s couch becomes a more regular situation. A situation he doesn’t know how to tell his mother about, so he keeps it to himself. He also doesn’t tell her about the class he drops before the deadline because it is too demanding, and he doesn’t think he has it in him to keep up the rest of the semester.
16
“What’s Good?”
After the events of the semester so far, Duc is more than happy to have his friend staying with him now. Being the most social of them all and taking the loss the hardest it probably benefits him just as much as Jairus. He also needs someone else to share all his relationship problems with now and Jairus unknowingly volunteers himself for the task. At this point Duc is completely confused by both Samantha and Riley. He’s never had so much trouble dealing with women before. As he returns to work Samantha once again returns to acting like she is not interested after being there for him in his time of need. On the other hand, Riley is back flirting with him like old times after months of making a point to not show interest. He still has feelings for Samantha and no intentions of making things messy with Riley, so he feels stuck about what to do. To his dismay, Jairus is no help. He doesn’t consider himself qualified to tell anyone else how to handle a relationship. His only advice is to just talk to Samantha about it. The one thing Duc is afraid to do. He doesn’t want to open up and be vulnerable.
Mike also finds himself in limbo trying to understand the situation with the women around him. Specifically, Shante. Although, it doesn’t help when he gets a call from Monique to see how he is doing after she hears the bad news. That doesn’t rattle him too much though. He’s already made the decision to move past that situation and isn’t one to generally falter on something he’s made up his mind about. He still doesn’t know what to do about Shante, so he does what Mike does best. He supports. That next weekend the girls’ basketball team is having their last conference game of the season before the conference tournament starts. The outcome of the game determines if they are the two seat in the conference tournament or possibly as low as four or five. So, even though the team is as popular as ever since Shante joined, Mike makes a point to get everyone he can together to come out to support the team for the game. After what they have all been through most of their friends are happy to get together for something positive. It is the first time they have seen Kennedy since the night of the funeral, and they are happy to see her out and about. Carlos makes sure to make it to the game even though it is during the day on a Saturday. Tim also shows up to hang out. Everyone notices but no one points out that Lisa is nowhere to be found among the group. That is when most of them realize that Jairus and Lisa are no longer an item.
The team comes out playing very well and gives them every reason to be excited. They also notice the team is now wearing black armbands in honor of Ovaughn. All the sports teams on campus will be honoring him that way for the rest of the school year. And in honor of him, Shante put on her best performance of the season securing the victory and the second seat in the conference tournament. It’s the best the girls’ team has been in years, and it gives them all something to celebrate. So, they decide to do just that. They plan to go out to the party Duc has going on at Jazzy Belles with Chaotic Harmony performing that night. Almost all of them plan to go but that excludes Kennedy, who isn’t ready to be out partying just yet. It is Valentine’s weekend and it’s a bit much for her. But they are able to talk to Shante after the game and she is going to try to get some of her teammates to come out with her to hang out with them as well.
That night they go to Jazzy Belles and have a good time. Tim doesn’t show up but they aren't surprised. They are surprised to see a few of Kennedy’s friends pop up to hang out. She wanted to be alone in her room, so they came out since she told them about them all going out. Much later than everyone else Shante, Simone and a few other teammates show up to celebrate the victory and hang out with Mike, Duc, and Jairus. But Shante is really only there for one of them. The first time she starts to dance in the crowd she makes sure to find her way towards Mike and eventually he stops acting like he doesn’t see her and they share a dance. That turns into them dancing near or with each other the rest of the night and not dancing with anyone else. They feel surprisingly comfortable with each other following their last encounter. Most of their friends just assume it is Mike being overprotective of Shante and not letting her mingle. Mike wants to know what is there between them, but their relationship has been so different from what he is now feeling that he can’t help but be cautious. There is no coming back from some things.
The night progresses, Chaotic Harmony finishes their show, and the crowd begins to empty out. Duc has spent most of the night working and with Angie there that evening he is still in business mode in the back with her. So, when everyone decides to leave, Jairus asks Mike “Young, can you give me a ride to campus to pick up some clothes to take to the apartment.” Jairus doesn’t want to wait another hour for Duc to help close up and knows Mike will help him out. Overhearing the conversation as Mike begins to respond to Jairus, Shante turns and gently places her hand on Mike’s shoulder then asks, “Artie, can me and Simone ride back to campus with y'all too? We had to squeeze into the car with our teammates to get to Jazzy Belles. Don’t make us do that again.” Mike responds, “I got y'all.” His empty backseat is a much better option than trying to squeeze six people back into the small SUV they came in.
During the entire ride to campus Mike is in his thoughts about why Shante wants to ride back with them. Is she just waiting on him to make the next move? Is she not as concerned about crossing that line as he is? Is he overthinking things? They arrive on campus, and he takes Shante and Simone to their dorm first. Since it is now very late Mike gets out of the car to walk them to the front door of the dorm. Or at least that’s the reason he tells himself. When they get to the dorm, he thanks them for coming out to celebrate when they could have gone anywhere. Simone cracks a joke about having time for the little people, which makes Mike smirk and leaves him off guard for the big hug that Shante leans in to give him. A hug that they both let linger a bit longer than they normally would making Simone feel a bit awkward like she is imposing. She finally notices the energy between them and is confused. As they got into the dorm and out of earshot of Mike, Simone looked at Shante with a confused look.
“Girl, you always hug your cousin like that?” For the first time it dawns on Shante that people look at Mike as her actual blood cousin. She has been so used to everyone knowing the dynamic in their life it doesn’t even occur to her how crazy it can look to someone who is unaware. Up until this point she’s just been concerned about what he is thinking and if they are going to talk about the situation.
On the other side of campus, Mike drops Jairus off at his dorm to go get what he needs before taking him back to the apartment. Jairus asks if he wants to come in since it will be about 15 minutes or more, but Mike is not interested in being haunted by all the memories of Ovaughn in there either. Plus, Mike has things on his mind he wants a moment to think through. He and Shante have grown up together their entire lives and he knows if they allow the one moment after the funeral to turn into a real thing it will not just affect the two of them. He loves Shante unconditionally like a family member and his immediate family views her the same. If things go badly between them, they can avoid each other but in the long run, she isn’t going anywhere. Is that worth the risk? He has a lot of doubts and reasons why it doesn’t make sense but what he can’t deny is that every moment, from the kiss to the hug goodbye that night, felt right to him. What he doesn’t know is exactly what Shante is thinking, if she is considering everything that he is considering. The change in energy between them is clear but is she really thinking it through? The thing is, he has never known how Shante feels about him. He doesn’t realize that when he was 10 years old and playing in his first rec league basketball game his Aunt Deb dragged her and her sister to come watch him and that was the day she decided to try playing, too. Because she looked up to him. He doesn’t remember when she and his little sister were getting picked on at a neighborhood playground and he came and ran off all the little boys picking at them. He wouldn’t know how she viewed him as her protector after that. He didn’t pay attention to how she started looking at him differently when boys became cute in middle school, and he was in the ninth grade and seemed so mature. How an innocent crush by a 12-year-old girl on a 14-year-old boy can grow into her thinking of him as an ideal of what a great guy should be. He has only viewed her and her sister as a matching set with one being his rival and the other being the baby sister. That is until now.
The next day, both Mike and Duc both get up early and make their way over to Jazzy Belles as soon as it opens. They are both going to be there to work during the Sunday brunch. That’s when Mike gets his best tips and Duc makes a habit of keeping an eye on how things are going since it is something he and Malik promote for Angie. It also gives them something to do to keep their minds off burying their friend just a week prior. However, it leaves Jairus alone most of the day at the apartment and it is beginning to drive him crazy. He tries everything he can think of to keep his mind occupied and not think about Ovaughn. He finishes schoolwork, plays video games, calls family to talk, and even cleans the apartment some. Still only a few short hours pass. He finds himself shuffling around things in the apartment looking for something else he can clean or organize. That is until he happens to open the drawer in the little bookcase Duc has and finds the gun Carlos let him hold. It freezes him in his tracks for a second. Not because he has never seen a gun before. In his neighborhood he got to see a lot of things he shouldn’t have been exposed to as a child. It is because Duc is not the type of dude you expect to be walking around carrying. At least not in comparison to those he has known to do so in the past. He is more confused than anything. Duc is more interested in chasing women and money than doing any harm to anyone. His thoughts then go to why he has the gun and assume he must feel the need to protect himself. Especially after the incident that led to Ovaughn’s death. He feels like nothing good is going to come from him having the gun and knows he must talk to him about it. But how does he have that conversation without running the risk of being asked to leave if Duc takes it the wrong way.
A couple of weeks pass and Jairus still can’t build up the nerve to confront Duc, but he is constantly paying attention anytime he goes near where the gun is stashed. He notices that Duc operates almost as if there isn’t a gun there, almost looking surprised one time he opens the drawer searching for something else. Eventually Jairus decides he needs to tell Mike, hoping they can confront Duc together. When Jairus tells Mike about the gun he is in disbelief at first. Neither of them ever imagined Duc having a gun. The more descriptive he is about the gun and where it is kept the more Mike believes him and he agrees that they need to find time to talk to him about it.
The perfect time arises as the weather breaks that month of March and the track teams have their first track meets that Saturday afternoon. It is a time that all three of them have already set out to be together. With the track season starting and the first home meet happening it means that Kennedy will be back competing. Only, this will be the first time she competes since Ovaughn’s death. So, they committed among themselves that since Ovaughn isn’t there for every track meet like he would want to, they will be there to cheer her on for him. They will carry on the support where he no longer can. They show up in full school apparel and make sure they are loud enough for Kennedy and everyone to hear as they cheer her on. She sees them before her first event and is shocked and very touched by their gestures. She has no idea what they had planned. After the competition is over Kennedy comes over to the stands to thank them for coming to support. “Y’all are too much! I appreciate it so much, but you know you didn’t have to come.”
Duc starts to try and crack a joke and Mike cuts him off. “Yes, we did! Ovaughn is always going to have his cheering section at your track meets.” Kennedy presses her lips together tightly as her eyes water. She is moved by the words, but they are all still hurt by the situation. She holds back the tears and gives each of them a hug saying a final thank you before heading back to her teammates.
The fellas leave campus and head back to the apartment with Duc, having no idea that the mood is about to take a dramatic change as Jairus and Mike plan to talk to him about the gun once they arrive. All Duc is thinking about is getting something to eat. They arrive and he goes straight to the kitchen. He comes out of the kitchen to them sitting in the living room with Jairus just placing the gun down onto the coffee table and he stops in his tracks. “You went through my shit?”
“I was cleaning up the other day and saw it. What’s good?”
As they start, Mike is staring at the gun and can’t help but notice that it looks just like the gun Carlos had in his car at the time they got into it. He looks up at Duc from the couch. “Where da fuck you get this from?” Getting upset as he puts the pieces together in his mind, he is speaking in a strong Atlanta accent now. Duc doesn’t appreciate the aggression, especially from Mike who is normally levelheaded and responds in kind. “What fucking difference does it make?”
“So, you ready to shoot a nigga? Or ya just tryna die? Cause that’s the only two options if you carryin’ this around,” Mike says.
“Young, I’m not even carrying the shit around!” Duc exclaims.
“Then what the fuck you need it for?” Mike sees getting loud right along with Duc.
“Nigga, I got robbed. Or did you forget that shit!” Duc yells.
Mike replies in frustration “And you think doing some stupid shit is going to make it better.”
Jairus finally jumps in and says, “Everyone just chill the fuck out.”
Duc, tired of the back and forth, “Fuck all this. I’m going to get something to eat.” As he grabs his car keys and heads towards the door. Mike, just as frustrated, says, “Nah, y’all good. I’m out!” He rushes out the door, now in a terrible mood. He needs time to cool off but doesn’t want to go home to answer questions from his mom about why he’s upset. He hops in the car and drives aimlessly. Duc, still fuming, leaves immediately after him feeling like Jairus is just as responsible for the blow up and not wanting to be around him either. He hops in his truck and heads towards Jazzy Belles almost out of muscle memory from driving there all the time. He gets to the parking lot and realizes that it really isn’t where he wants to be either. He pulls out his cell phone and starts looking for someone to call. Specifically, a woman. He tries to call Samantha but gets no answer so eventually ends up getting one of his many female friends who is willing to get something to eat with him. He just wants some pleasant company and to take his mind off the shitty situation. It went from one of the better days to a bad one quickly.
Mike is feeling the same way, which is why he finds himself walking around campus trying to calm down. As he walks, still frustrated and replaying the conversation in his mind, he almost doesn’t hear Shante call out his name to get his attention. She is leaving the caf after lunch and sees him as she and her teammates walk back to the dorm. When she sees that he is upset she tells them that she will catch up with them so that she can see what is wrong. She begins to walk with him, and he tells her how the entire situation unfolded. She is even surprised that Mike let the situation get so heated since he is usually so levelheaded. She knows it has to do with the emotions he still has because of Ovaughn but she also knows she has to get him to see it for himself. She suggests they sit on a bench that is off the major walkway under some trees so they can talk.
