Drama Queens

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  “My point exactly,” I responded. “One minute you don’t want him to meet your child. The next you’re ready to make him your child’s daddy? That’s just triflin’, as my granny would say,” I cried. “And then the fact that he just went off and left you alone at Chili’s . . . If that isn’t a sign for you to leave him alone, I don’t know what is.”

  “Yeah, what does he have to offer you anyway?” Camille said.

  “He loves me,” Angel said softly.

  “If you love somebody, you don’t leave them at a restaurant with no way to get home!” I yelled, then lowered my voice when people started staring. All I could do was shake my head.

  “You guys just don’t understand.” Angel gathered up her things and quickly walked out into the courtyard. We all immediately jumped up to follow her.

  “Help us understand,” Alexis gently said once we caught up. Of course, her and Tyeesha, who we’d called right after we’d left the restaurant, were trying to be voices of reason, but we’d tried talking to Angel like somebody with some sense, and it was obvious that approach wasn’t working, so we needed to just be real.

  “Angel, the fact that this twenty-five-year-old college dude is wanting to marry you—a high school girl he’s known less than six months—is a problem,” I said. “The fact that he wants you to go live on his mama’s hog farm while he tries to become a rapper is an even bigger problem. Ask yourself, why ain’t he messing with nobody at college? Probably because those girls aren’t stupid enough to let him run all over them.”

  “So you’re trying to say I’m stupid?” Angel said.

  I turned my lips up. She really didn’t want me to answer that.

  “No,” Alexis said, cutting her eyes at me, “no one is trying to say you’re stupid. We’re just worried that you’re not thinking rationally, and we don’t want you to act spontaneously and later regret the consequences.”

  I rolled my eyes at Alexis using all her big words. She should just call it like it was. All that sweet and gentle stuff wasn’t working.

  “And don’t tell me that you’re really going to marry him?” Tyeesha said.

  “It’s just something we talked about. There’s nothing set in stone,” Angel said. I could tell she was lying.

  “Are you really talking about moving, too?” Tyeesha said.

  “The question is, why would you even want to get married?” Alexis interjected. “I mean, you have the rest of your life for that. You’re about to go to college. You’re supposed to be having fun.”

  “I’m sorry!” Angel cried. She finally released all the emotions she had been holding in. “I have a little girl. I can’t just go off to college and ‘kick it’ like you guys. I found someone who loves me despite the fact that I already have a child.”

  “Angel, calm down,” Camille said.

  “No!” Angel said, wiping the tears from her eyes, although she did lower her voice. “You think about it. I haven’t been on a date in years. Boys flirt with me, but nobody wants to talk to me. Nobody wants a girl with a baby!”

  “Angel . . . ,” Alexis began.

  “Even Marcus doesn’t want me,” she said. It’s like she had a lot of stuff pent up inside and was finally letting it out. “He has a girlfriend. Shoot, he had a girlfriend all along.”

  We all looked at each other. “Is that what this is about?” Camille asked.

  “No!” I could tell she was getting all worked up. Her face was turning red and her nostrils were flaring. I don’t think any of us had ever seen Angel like this. “Nobody wants to take on the responsibility of raising someone else’s child, and I’ve found someone that will, so I’m not gonna mess it up. I’m almost grown, so I don’t need nobody’s permission to tell me what I should do!”

  We were stunned. This was the first time we’d heard anything like this. I know she sometimes joked about the fact that boys never seriously asked her out, but she always acted like it was no big deal.

  “So you just latch on to the first thing that comes along?” I asked. I was being a little harsh, but I was trying to get her to see that she was making a big mistake.

  “You tell me what other choice do I have?” Angel said.

  “Wow,” was all I could say.

  Her voice became quiet and sullen. “Marcus gets to have this kid and go on about his business. Me? It crosses me off the market. Teenage dads don’t have to pay the price for messing up, but teenage moms do.”

  “Angel, yes, you made a mistake, and with how hard your life has been, you’re definitely paying for it. But it’s not the end of the world. There is some good guy out there that will love you and your kid,” Camille said soothingly. “All I’m saying is right now maybe you should have some fun and enjoy life until that happens.”

  “Whatever,” Angel said, sniffing. “I have to get to class.” She hurried off before anyone could say another word.

  “Wow, what’s up with your girl?” I asked no one in particular.

  Camille let out a long sigh. “I don’t know what’s going on with Angel.”

  “Did you know she felt like this?” Tyeesha asked, looking back and forth between the three of us.

  We all shook our heads.

  “Let’s try to talk to her at the meeting tonight,” Camille said as the bell rang. “We really need to tell Miss Rachel what’s going on.”

  The mention of Miss Rachel reminded me of another important adult in my life. “Cool. I gotta go,” I said. “Mrs. Stafford has my grade for my paper.”

  “Oh yeah,” Camille said. “Let’s go.”

  “Send me a text and let me know what you got,” Alexis said.

  “Me, too,” Tyeesha echoed.

  I gave them a tired look. “Do you want me to use my iPhone, my Sidekick or my BlackBerry?”

  Tyeesha laughed as she remembered that I was the only one without a cell phone. “Sorry,” she said, “I forgot.”

  “I’ll send it,” Camille said.

  “Good, ’cause I wanna know all about that A you got,” Alexis said.

  That made me feel more positive. “I sure hope so,” I said.

  “I know so,” Alexis said, darting off, Tyeesha right behind her.

  29

  Jasmine

  Mrs. Stafford was standing at the door to her classroom, ushering everyone inside. I tried to make eye contact to get a read on how I’d done on my paper. Of course, I couldn’t tell anything. She had her usual mean look on her face as me and Camille made our way inside. Angel had already arrived, but she’d taken a seat at the back, in between two girls so we couldn’t sit next to her. Camille shot her a sad look. I shot her one of pity before shaking her out of my head. I’d have to deal with her after class. Right now I had more important things to focus on.

  Camille knew I was nervous, because she smiled reassuringly as I slid into my usual desk. “Girl, chill, you aced it.”

  I sighed and mumbled, “Hopefully.”

  “Everyone, please take out your literature books,” Mrs. Stafford said, motioning for us to quiet down.

  “Mrs. Stafford, school is out next week,” said this class clown named Alvin. “Didn’t you get the memo? Seniors are allowed to chill.”

  “I’m sorry,” Mrs. Stafford responded. “That memo must have gone to my spam folder. Open your book, boy.”

  He groaned but did as he was told. I’d just opened my book to chapter 26 when Mrs. Stafford said, “Miss Jones, Miss Wilson and Miss Pitts, may I see you up front?”

  I took a deep breath and walked up to her desk. All eyes were on the three of us.

  Mrs. Stafford handed Carla Wilson her essay first. “Nice job on your essay,” she said.

  Carla took her paper and smiled when she saw the B+. “Thank you so much,” Carla said, relief covering her face as she headed back to her seat.

  My heart started beating faster as she said my name. “Miss Jones,” she declared, handing me my paper.

  I was so nervous I closed my eyes as I took the paper.


  “You’re going to have to open your eyes to see your grade,” she said, and the class giggled.

  I squinted, trying to get my mind ready for the worst. “Yes!” I screamed when I saw the A- at the top of my paper.

  Miss Stafford smiled. “Very good job, Miss Jones,” she said. “I’m proud of you. I knew you could do it.”

  The smile left her face as she turned to the girl standing next to me. “Miss Pitts . . .”

  I couldn’t help but notice the big red F at the top of the paper Mrs. Stafford had clutched in her hand. She stopped and looked back at me. “Miss Jones, you can return to your seat.”

  I briefly looked at Dana before heading back to my desk. Camille squealed as I sat down. Even Angel flashed me a smile.

  “. . . I’m going to need you to take your paper and come with me,” I heard Mrs. Stafford saying to Dana.

  An immediate hush fell over the classroom. Dana’s eyes grew wide.

  “Class, you need to go ahead and start reading chapter 26. We will discuss it when I return.” She looked at us sternly. “I expect you all to be on your best behavior. And if you’re not, trust that every day between now and the end of school will be filled with the most homework I can pull together.” She turned back to Dana. “Miss Pitts?”

  Mrs. Stafford didn’t say a word as she led Dana out of the room. As soon as the door closed, everyone started whispering.

  “What’s up?” Alvin asked me.

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged.

  “What did she get on her paper?” Camille asked.

  “It was an F on there,” I replied.

  “An F?” Cassandra said. She was sitting in the row across from me. She had a look of pure terror on her face.

  I nodded as realization set in.

  “She paid all that money for an F?” Dana’s best friend, a girl named Linda, said. “She paid all that money for an F,” Linda repeated, cutting her eyes at Cassandra.

  I shrugged to let Linda know I had no idea what was going on. I wasn’t sure if that’s what Dana was in trouble for. But all I knew was at that very moment, I was so glad that I had decided to do the right thing.

  30

  Jasmine

  The dismissal bell had just rung, and the hallway was buzzing louder than normal. I had no idea what was going on, but with the way everyone was peeping toward the principal’s office, I knew it had to be major.

  Me and Camille were heading to our locker when we noticed this girl named Reagan. She was the school newspaper editor, so she would have the scoop.

  “Hey, Reagan, what’s going on?” Camille asked.

  “You haven’t heard?” Reagan asked.

  “Heard what?” I opened up my locker and tossed my books inside.

  Reagan shook her head. “Cassandra Hardy was busted today.”

  “Cassandra? Busted? Doing what?” Camille asked.

  “Apparently, her and some dude was running this plagiarizing scheme where they were selling papers and essays to students on the internet.”

  My eyes widened in shock. I thought maybe they’d just figured out Dana had cheated. I had no idea they’d busted the whole ring.

  “How did Mrs. Stafford find out?” Camille asked.

  “Girl, can you believe they were copying some of the information straight off of Wikipedia?”

  “What?” I exclaimed.

  “Yeah, how dumb was that? Anyone looking for information is gonna go to Wikipedia. They didn’t even try to mix the words up. Just cut and pasted like five or six paragraphs into a paper someone else had written.”

  “But I thought the papers Cassandra was selling were original,” I said.

  Reagan looked at me, confused. “Why would you think that?”

  That was a good question, but I quickly recovered. I didn’t need any trouble. “I mean, that’s what I heard.”

  Reagan shook her head as she turned back to the principal’s office. “Not only were they not original, somebody in Mrs. Stafford’s class turned in the exact same paper two years ago. That’s why it looked so familiar to Mrs. Stafford. And I heard it didn’t take long for her to track it down.”

  “Wow,” Camille said. “How do you know all this?”

  Reagan made a shush sign. “Now, you know I can’t reveal my sources, but let’s just say I have an inside connection in the front office. Anyway, I heard it was Dana Pitts who ratted Cassandra out, but I’m not sure. I heard she sang like a bird when Mrs. Stafford called her into the principal’s office. Now both of them are getting expelled, won’t be able to graduate and could be facing criminal theft charges.”

  “Theft?” Camille asked.

  “Yeah, even though Dana didn’t actually steal it, someone stole the original paper from Mrs. Stafford’s office, so Dana is considered an accessory to the crime. I’ll have the whole story in the paper tomorrow,” Reagan said excitedly.

  I was speechless. Camille and I exchanged glances. I know we were both thinking the same thing. That could have been me.

  Just then the front office door opened and Dana came out with a very angry-looking older woman, who I assumed was her mother. Dana’s eyes were red and puffy from crying.

  “Whatcha crying for now?” the woman with her bellowed. “You made this bed, now lie in it.”

  “Mama, please,” Dana said, putting her finger up to her lips.

  Her mother stopped in her tracks. “Oh, you’re embarrassed now?” she said, getting louder. “You’re ashamed to let your classmates know you’ve been kicked out of school for cheating?” She took in the small crowd that was staring at them. “You see this?” she shouted. “This is what happens when you steal someone else’s work! You get kicked out of school a week before graduation!” She swung her hand and knocked Dana upside the back of her head. “I’m losing money having to take off work and come deal with this mess!”

  Dana was in full-fledged crying mode now. The rest of us stood there, not knowing what to say. Half the people probably didn’t know Dana, but everybody felt so sorry for her. Nobody wanted to be put on blast—by their mom, of all people—right in the middle of the hallway.

  “Now what are you gonna do?” her mother shouted. “You have to come back next year, if they even let you back! All your friends will be gone off to college, and you have to come back—all because you were too lazy to do your schoolwork on your own!”

  Dana’s mother snatched her arm and dragged her out the side door. After they left, the shock wore off and everyone started cracking up about it and spreading the word to all those who had missed the show. One guy had even taped the whole scene on his camera phone and was heading straight home to post it on YouTube.

  I couldn’t laugh because I didn’t see anything funny. That very well could have been me in Dana’s place.

  Once again I said a silent prayer—thank you for the Good Girlz—as I headed to my next class.

  31

  Angel

  I’m sorry.” I was saying the words, but I didn’t know exactly what I was apologizing for. I just knew that at this point, I would say whatever to keep Rico from being mad at me. My girls were mad at me. My family was mad at me. I just wanted to make things right at least with Rico.

  I sighed when he stroked my cheek. “I’m sorry, too. I’m sorry for blowing up and leaving you. I was just so mad. I want to make you my world, and it just felt like you didn’t want the same with me. You don’t want me to meet your daughter, you choose your friends over me, and everything is a fight with you.”

  Rico had gone all day yesterday without talking to me. He hadn’t answered my calls or my texts, and I thought I was going to go crazy. I’d paid my neighbor forty dollars—money I’d taken out of my savings account—to drive me up here. I knew Rico was moving out this weekend, and I was scared that if I didn’t catch him before he left, I’d never hear from him again.

  “I’m sorry,” I said again. “I do want to be with you.”

  “Then I’ve got to come first. Not your friends. No
t your mama. No one but me,” he said sternly.

  I fought back tears as I bit down on my bottom lip. “So, are you saying if I want to be with you, I have to give up my friends? Please don’t ask me to give up my friends. I would never ask you to do that.”

  He rolled his eyes like that wasn’t the answer he was looking for, but he still said, “Okay, fine. Just don’t put your friends before me and you can keep them.”

  I didn’t quite know how to take his response, but he was smiling, and that was all that really mattered.

  I looked around the almost empty room. All of his stuff was boxed up. “So, where are you gonna stay for the week?” I asked.

  He didn’t look my way as he said, “I’m not.”

  “Huh?” I replied.

  “I’m out, Angel. Tomorrow. I decided to go on back home. Ain’t no reason for me to stay. It’ll give me some extra time to work on some rhymes.”

  I felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach. “W-well, what does that mean for us, you know, with you leaving?”

  “It means we’re done.” He shrugged casually as he walked over and started putting stuff into boxes. “I don’t do long-distance relationships. I know there’s some girl out there who can appreciate a good brother like me who will love her—

  despite her faults,” he stressed.

  I knew what he was trying to say, and if I hadn’t been so scared that he was right, I might have been a little offended.

  “You stay here and hope that your baby daddy leaves his girlfriend—’cause I know that’s what you’re hoping for—

  although I truly doubt that’s gonna happen. I mean, she was the real girlfriend from jump and you were just the jump off.”

  That stung so bad, but Rico didn’t seem to notice—or care. I hated that I had even told him about that.

  “But you stay here, pining after him, and maybe one day you’ll find someone else to love you like I do.”

  “I’m not staying for Marcus,” I protested again. “I could care less about him.”