Mike’s eyes begin to water as if he may start to cry so Ovaughn jumps in and changes the subject to lighten the mood. He doesn’t know what it’s like to grow up without a father and has never been around it. He can’t relate to the problem so he would rather change the subject rather than come across the wrong way. Duc has never been without a father either but has grown up around it all his life. He would probably sit there and listen to Mike talk about it all night even though he can’t personally relate. Jairus, on the other hand, can completely relate to Mike’s problems. Jairus has grown up without his father also and would probably talk to Mike about it all night long just to get the perspective of someone else in a similar situation. When Ovaughn changes the subject, he blurts out that he convinced Jairus to call Lisa. And once again the topic of discussion is Jairus and his fear of Lisa. He starts to complain to his friends that they spend too much time talking about him and he doesn’t want to be the scapegoat anymore.
The four talk more about all the people that they haven’t seen yet and those that they have. Then Duc cuts the conversation short, telling Ovaughn and Jairus he has to wake up early. Jairus asks what Duc is waking up for and he replies, “I have to get up early to go fix my schedule. I’m changing my major.” The two of them look at him with stunned disbelief. Mike comments, “Yep y’all, super nigga, the engineer. The greatest thing to happen to college. After all the talk about being the smartest engineering student, is giving it up.” Jairus then says, “You want to change your major so you can work with your sister… So, what are you changing to?”
“I’m gonna major in business management with a minor in marketing but I’m really thinking about a double major.” They talk about it a little more and everyone gives their opinion on the matter. Jairus says that he knew it would happen after he came back from New York with all those stories and Mike is happy and jokes about finally not being the only non-engineer in the group. Ovaughn is just surprised because he can’t imagine changing his major. Not after investing a year into engineering. Duc doesn’t really care about being at school extra time. He just sees it as an opportunity to meet more people and make more money with his parties. The change of major is his sister’s idea anyway and he can always count on her to help with tuition money or financial needs. Finally, the four finish their conversation and part ways until the next day.
Jairus wakes up that next day, late that Saturday morning, with two days before class on Monday and nothing to do. Ovaughn isn’t in the room because he had to go to a meeting first thing that morning for the basketball squad. Jairus gets up, showers, and gets dressed then goes across the hall to find Mike in the room alone playing video games. He is trying to wait for Duc to get back from making his schedule so they can go to lunch at the same time, but it is now twelve thirty and he is starving. So, when Jairus comes ready to go and eat he jumps up and they leave. They get to the cafeteria, get their food, and begin to eat without much to say until they are done. They sit for a while speaking to whoever walks by then talk about them once they’ve passed by. Then they come to a dead silence for a few seconds and Jairus starts to think about the conversation the day before about Mike’s father. Then Jairus takes a drink and murmurs, “So which do you think is worst?” Mike replies “What?” “Which do you think is worse? Not knowing your father at all or knowing him and still not getting anything from him?” Jairus pauses and Mike just waits for more explanation. “I mean not knowing your father is horrible. Not knowing exactly where you come from. Not knowing an entire half of your family. Not knowing whether you have any other brothers or sisters, cousins, or anybody. When you were talking about your family yesterday all I kept thinking to myself was that I’m nineteen years old and I have never even spoken to my grandmother or grandfather on the phone. The only time I think I have seen my father is in a picture I just found this summer of my mother in college, I think. But she never even finished school and I don’t really know which one he could be because there are three guys in the picture and I’m too scared to ask my mother. She really didn’t know him that long anyway. But the worst part of it all is knowing that the person who is supposed to care about you the most isn’t there to see your accomplishments, and celebrate your achievements, to help you with your problems, to watch you grow up, to show you how to do man shit. And you don’t even know if he doesn’t give a fuck or just doesn’t fucking know. I’ve never even gotten a phone call for my birthday. I’m his son and I’ve never spoken to him or seen him. And my entire family avoids talking about it because they don’t have any answers for him either,” Jairus says. Mike sits in silence with a sort of horrified look on his face, not realizing it is that bad for Jairus. And for a second, he cracks a smile and shakes his head thinking of how Jairus always seems to be the one to bring up the deep and awkward topics. “Man, I didn’t realize your situation was that bad. I guess my shit is somewhat the same where I feel the person who should care the most isn’t there for me, but it’s different. Having your father there for you at first and then just leaving without explanation. I knew what I was missing as a little kid which made it hard and eventually, I forgot what I was missing, which is just fucking sad. Dealing with broken promise after broken promise, trying to make his side of the family understand that it’s not their place to pick up his slack because they can’t make it up for him regardless of what they do. And now on top of that worrying because you don’t know whether or not he’ll end up dead the next day. The worst feeling I’ve ever had in my life is knowing that every time my father sees me, my brother, or my sister, it is easy for him to just walk away. How can he look in my eyes for nineteen years and never see one reason to stay, not find one reason he should get his life together and take care of me. My father was around until I was about 10 and then suddenly just gone. And my little sister was only 6. And even up until the ninth grade I found myself crying because I wished he was there. What is so wrong with us that he didn’t want to take care of us? It’s easy for people to say that some guys aren’t man enough to take care of their kids and that’s why they run away from responsibility, but what do you tell a child when his father chooses drugs over his own children? How do you make sense of that as a kid?”
“The worst part about this whole shit is that niggas like you and me are just as common in our neighborhoods as Duc and O. And the shit is seen as normal, like its common practice,” Jairus says.
“In our neighborhoods, it is.”
They sit in the cafeteria and talk a little more about each other’s situations, talking about some of the crazy things they have learned without fathers and things they had to teach themselves how to do. They eventually leave the caf and head back to the dorm. On the way back to the dorms Mike tells Jairus he needs to write a book with all those thoughts running through his head.
The two of them get back to the dorm and go into Mike’s room to find Duc playing the video game. Duc immediately says, “Young, I got my schedule changed but I couldn’t get twenty hours. But the good news is I talked to the coach, and I got the gym for Saturday after next. Duc Martin Promotions at it again nigga. E’erbody need to call up all the women they know and get the word out. I’ll have the flyers by Wednesday. And remember we don’t need to tell the niggas, cuz they gonna go wherever the women are.”
“Damn, what’s up to you too, nigga,” Mike replies.
“I hope a nigga is getting paid to be on your fuckin’ street team. And I do mean more than free admission for me and a friend,” says Jairus.
Duc gives them a look of surprise at first then ignores them and goes back to his video game, knowing they are just talking. Jairus then notices that Duc is listening to an old Stevie Wonder record and asks Duc what made him start listening to Stevie.
“Dog, you think that’s something. Look at the niggas collection,” says Mike. “He has at least one fifty now, when he left, he had like twenty. His sister got in his head for real. It ain’t just that go-go shit no more nigga. No more backyard, junkyard, or front yard niggas.”
Duc instantly corrects Mike telling him that front yard isn’t a band even though he was just kidding. Mike always criticizes go-go music because it is new to him and he really doesn’t feel it and it was all Duc and Jairus listened to last year. It was the topic of many arguments until they got Mike to admit that he was beginning to like the music.
The three continue playing the video game until Ovaughn enters the room at about 2:30 p.m. As he enters Jairus asks how practice was.
“It wasn’t really a practice. It was more like a meeting to let us know what was expected of us and what positions we need help in,” replies Ovaughn. “Really trying to scare people into playing harder when we start in October. He held me after to talk to me and he said I’m on the real squad this year at the two and three, but I gotta work to get some burn.” Ovaughn is very excited about his work paying off and hopefully gaining more of his father's approval. But seeing all the work that he has put in the previous year and realizing there will probably be even more work to come, his friends were all questions.
“You’re taller than the one, the two, and the three and they're gone have you runnin’ the shooting guard, at over 6’3,” replies Mike.
“I know the small forward is gonna start because he is a senior even though I am taller and the shooting guard was a heavy recruit last year and was the leading scorer last year,” Ovaughn responds. “That’s why I have to show and prove to get some burn.”
“So do you know how much burn you will get to begin with or are you going to be fighting for every minute?” asks Duc.
Ovaughn really didn’t have all the answers to their questions. He was just happy to officially make the team. He was a bit scared about what that would mean for his classes and grades though. But he wasn’t going to let the questions and concerns ruin his joy in the moment. And with a thought Ovaughn changes the subject back to the usual topic. “So Jairus did you call yet?”
“Nigga, maybe you should concentrate more on your women and less on mine. I haven’t seen you picking up the phone to call nobody yet. And me and Mike saw Kennedy in the cafeteria today at lunch but she didn’t ask about you, so you fucked that up. You need to be worrying about that shit or some other chick instead of mine. I got my shit handled.”
Ovaughn has a surprised look on his face in part because he can’t believe Jairus just called him out like that but mostly because he hadn’t seen Kennedy yet and is second guessing his decision with her. “So she really didn’t ask about me? Did she say where she was staying this year?”
Mike jumps in and calms Ovaughn, telling him that she did ask where he was but that was all. He also tells him that he thought that she was looking real good and he should snatch her up before someone else did.
At about seven o’clock the guys all go to dinner together thinking that there would be more people in the caf at that time. They walk across campus speaking to people and when they enter the cafeteria it is packed just as they expected. As they enter some girls walk up and automatically start giving out hugs. They are friends of Duc and this is the first time the guys have seen them. As Jairus gives the second girl a long hug he looks across the cafeteria and sees Lisa looking at him from a table with her friends. She doesn’t have the nicest look on her face and when he waved at her to get her, she simply gives him a head nod like guys do who are just associates. This catches Jairus off guard and now he has a confused look upon his face while they are in line. Of course, Ovaughn is the one that notices the look on his face and Mike instantly jumps in saying, “He probably saw Lisa hollerin’ at some other nigga.” Ovaughn begins to laugh with an “I told you so” attitude as the four of them begin to sit down. Just as Ovaughn begins to run his mouth a little more about the look Jairus had, Kennedy and a few of her friends walk into the caf and simply say hello while catching eyes with Ovaughn. Jairus and Duc tell Ovaughn to get his ass up and go talk to her, so he jumps up and follows them into line.
“So what’s up Kennedy?” says Ovaughn in a low voice, walking up from behind her. She turns around to see who it is and gives a look of unpleasant surprise while rolling her eyes. He was hoping for another reaction but expected as much. “Oh, so you don’t know how to speak now?”
“You want me to speak to you now? I figured since shit wasn’t that serious you wouldn’t want to be bothered. I mean, I am just a friend. Right!”
“I was just asking for a hello. I wanted to talk to you if you give me the chance.”
He gets nothing from her in response.
“So, you’re upset with me? Well, I have a lot going on so I won’t bother you if you don’t want to be bothered.” He pauses briefly as he thinks of what to say. “But I found out today that I am officially on the basketball team. Ever since I found out I have been wanting to let you know but I have no way to contact you at school. I hoped my FRIEND would be happy for me since you know what it took for me to make the team. And I was hoping you were giving me as much thought as I’ve been given you lately.”
He’s self-conscious and is fishing for another chance but doesn’t want her to realize it. He thinks to himself that she wanted to be with him so letting her know she is on his mind can only help his cause and he genuinely wants her to know about him making the team. He gets a slight smile in reply to confirm that she is responding the way he wants. She says in a complete change of tone, “So what have you been thinking? And if you been thinking about me so much, why couldn’t you just pick up the phone this summer?”
“I got caught up with all my family and friends. Plus, you didn’t seem happy the last time I saw you so I wasn’t sure you wanted me to call. Then when I got back, I told myself as soon as I see you, I’ll talk to you. So here I am. So why don’t you write down your number, I’m sayin,’”
She laughs at him and tells him he watches too much Fresh Prince and calls him corny. She then writes down her new phone number and hands it to him. Before she lets go of the paper, she tells him that if he doesn’t use that one, he doesn’t need to waste her time trying to speak to her again. She doesn’t have time or interest in playing games with him or anyone. As he turns and walks away her friends begin to get on her for giving in to him so easily, but she tries to ignore them.
Ovaughn sits down at the table and automatically starts bragging about his skill while holding the paper with the phone number on it in the air. The fellas laugh at him telling him it’s about time he got off his ass and stopped being so timid. Ovaughn tries to defend himself by turning the trash talking onto Mike. “This nigga don’t never holla at no girls either but y'all don’t ever say shit to him.”
“I keep my shit under wraps folk, you been letting that girl run shit since last year and still ain’t getting nowhere. I’m on the low with mine, you all alone. There’s a difference.” Ovaughn quickly replies with a muffled “Fuck you Mike”. Ovaughn’s response comes from a small bit of resentment for always being the one that gets tagged as having a problem getting women even though Mike and Jairus don’t do much more. Everyone leaves Mike alone because once you get him talking, he analyzes everything and will figure out a way to justify anything he does or does not do. Jairus on the other hand just has the luxury of never being questioned, which truthfully comes from the way his relationship drama with Tania went. Even though Ovaughn thinks they just see him as an easy target. And just as he would expect Duc begins to question Ovaughn about his comments ignoring those comments made by Mike. “So Ovaughn, you gonna shut it down with Kennedy as soon as you get on the team or are you going to take advantage of that groupie love that comes with being on the team?” Duc asked and then pauses but only got a head shaking reply from Ovaughn and then continues, “I mean don’t get me wrong if you want a girl that’s cool. Just like I was telling J. But you must have realized that when they notice you on that court they will come running. So you can be that good nigga holding it down with his girl like Jairus or you could be that nigga handling his like me. Which is probably why you were about to cut Kennedy loose in the first place. I mean seriously, you can keep her under wraps just like you did at the end of the semester last year and still have the fun you want to have during the season. But ah, you gotta put your game down tight to keep her waiting and I know you on that honesty shit. But never mind that right now I’ma run over here and talk to these chicks about the party you niggas is supposed to be promoting. I’ll be back.” And in that quick one-sided conversation Jairus realizes that Duc just got in Ovaughn’s head.
As Duc walks across the cafeteria, he sees Lisa and some of her friends sitting at a table and a couple of guys he doesn’t know talking to them and you can tell in his eyes that he is making a mental note, recording everything he sees. Then in a thought, he is focused directly on the table of women consisting of everything from freshman to seniors. And he begins doing what he does best by simply starting with, “How are you ladies doing today?” He is apologetic, charismatic, alluring, and funny all at the same time. And all of that is by accident. He is only trying to be informative about the party he is throwing in a couple of weeks. He reminds them of who his production company is and what his last party was like. He tells them about his connections with the basketball team. He tells them about the flyers he will need passed out and asks for their help to get the word out. And he politely exits and moves to the next table he views as potential victims. In his head he doesn’t need to speak to them one more time if he has said enough to get them to think about him when they see the flyers later this week. And he does this very well for about 15 minutes before he is interrupted making the move from one table to the next. The interruption comes from a senior member of one of the four big fraternities on campus. He stops Duc to ask about the party. “So you are the one that is throwing all these parties by yourself? Yeah, your joints are tight, but you can probably bring in more women and less niggas if you went ahead and threw a party with us instead of by yourself. You know we carry weight with the ladies, and I know you want the women in there cause I see you working the room in here.” Duc gives a devilish grin and a quick little chuckle. “What do I get out of it?” Expecting Duc to jump at the chance to work with a fraternity the brother frowns up his face and stands up from his seat and says, “What the fuck you mean? We have more females at our parties than any other frat and with us your party is tight and you won’t have to compete with us on the same night when we throw a party, REGARDLESS.”
Now Duc starts to laugh out loud, and the other members of the fraternity start to take notice of the confrontation. Duc has a large amount of pride and would never admit to needing the help of someone he barely knows for anything even if it is the truth, which it isn’t in this case. But he isn’t stupid and isn’t going to confront the entire fraternity in the cafeteria, that is until Jairus walks up and asks him if there is a problem.
When Jairus sees the member of the frat stand up to confront Duc from across the cafeteria, he instantly gets up without a word to go to his friend's side. Ovaughn sits for a while shaking his head saying, “there they go again,” until Mike tells him to get up and bring his ass on. Duc seeing his other friends approaching replies, “Man the only thing I get from throwing the party with you is having to use your colors in decorations. Having to pay to use your name. Having to watch you step all night. And having to let a bunch a niggas in for free when we both know you’ll probably be there, REGARDLESS. If not then why even approach me at all. Dog, I ain’t got time to sit and chit chat wit’ you. Finish your lunch, enjoy your first week or two of class and come check me out at the party. Frats get in at a discount. Later!” And he turns and starts to walk away fast trying not to look like he is running but having to pull Jairus to make him come along. As the four of them walk off and go back to their seats Duc laughs and jokingly says, “I guess that’s another frat none of us can join.”
The four friends sit for another ten or fifteen minutes catching evil looks from the fraternity members across the cafeteria before they decide to leave. They walk out laughing the whole time about the situations that Duc always seems to get the group in trouble with his big mouth and Jairus notices Lisa one last time. This time he notices that there are other people occupying her attention and his pride takes a shot from her being so into the guys sitting at the table with her and her friends. But like anyone in his position he tries to ignore it, so his friends don’t catch him staring and start in on him again. And in doing so he hears the tail end of Ovaughn saying that he was thinking about doing the fraternity thing if he could find the time around basketball. But he assured his three friends that it wouldn’t be with either of the two fraternities that they had already had problems with since starting school. “Their colors ain’t my style anyway” and everyone laughs at him. And Jairus starts to question why he felt the need to join one of the fraternities and if he felt like it would add something that he was missing. The biggest issue Jairus has is that he would never want to be defined by the stereotypes that go along with most of the fraternities. He cherishes his individuality a lot and likes the fact that, for the most part, he can’t be categorized as any specific type. Which is something a lot of people do in college saying phrases like, “I think you would be a …” Or “you seem like a….” Duc can understand where both are coming from but thought that it will take way too much of Ovaughn’s time to try and pledge in a fraternity since he should be spending his free time putting in work with the women.
Mike, on the other hand, thinks it might be a good idea if you choose the right frat. “Having the affiliation with a fraternity can work in your favor when trying to get your foot in the door for future jobs and other opportunities. I don’t know what the hell these two dummies are talking about.” He intentionally makes Jairus and Duc look bad for trying to discourage Ovaughn from something he wants to do. He has more of a big picture view of the fraternity issue and even takes it a step further and says to Ovaughn “I might step out there with you and go to some interest meetings.” Of course, Ovaughn is happy that at least one of them is feeling him on the issue and tells Mike he will research some things if he is serious.
After eating they sit outside in front of their dorm for a while until they decide what they will do for the rest of the evening. Which pretty much means that Duc is going into his promotion bit, Mike and Jairus are sitting there going back and forth on a few topics and Ovaughn is being reserved as usual, quietly watching everything that is going on around him. This only lasts for about an hour and when it starts to get close to 8:30pm Mike suggests that they go check out Nat in the coed dorm. Jairus thinks it’s a good idea and no one else has any objections so they go back to Jairus and Ovaughn’s room to give Nat a call.
When they call Nat, he tells them to come on over to his room and that he is just chillin’ at the time. They head across campus in somewhat of a rush to avoid getting held up by Duc trying to run his mouth to anyone and in anticipation of what they may see at the coed dorm. They reached their destination just a few minutes after the hour and Nat came outside to let the guys in the dorm. As they are walking down the hall Nat goes into one of his rants about being adult enough to control yourself in a coed dorm.
