Authors: Stephanie Perry Moore
Get What You Give (19 page)
“Come here, biâ” she called out.
I rushed out of the room when her sharp words tore through me like a steak knife. I felt our sisterhood was over when I exited the theater, and she called me a female dog. Alone, I sat in the stairwell and couldn't fight the tears.
Lord,
I prayed,
there is no excuse as to why I don't talk to You much. Please forgive me. I do need Your help to figure this out. This is way out of hand.
I prayed,
there is no excuse as to why I don't talk to You much. Please forgive me. I do need Your help to figure this out. This is way out of hand.
When I pulled myself together, I found the three guys who had been given checks and asked for them back. I found Cassidy and handed them to her. “Here.”
“Hailey, are you okay?”
“No. She thinks I betrayed her when the only thing I was trying to do was make her proud she elected me chair for our first event.”
“You can't worry about all that right now. You have to straighten up and pull it through to the end of the contest.”
Despite all the drama, Sam and I were on the same stage hours later presenting the winners with their crowns. The packed audience had no clue that hours earlier we had been at odds. Teddi and Evan looked at me from the audience with their thumbs up. Connie was on the left of the stage winking, smiling like she was proud of me or something. I didn't know what all this was about. I knew it wasn't about the fact that we had put on a great event but was instead about me not backing away when my Chapter President had tried to jump me. I had brought in some money for the chapter. I'd helped some guys make their way easier. I was gonna be able to bless a family in a big way, yet I hated myself.
After the curtain went down, Sam eyed me hard and said, “This stuff between us is far from over.”
As she stormed away, I thought about how life was supposed to be good. But I knew for me it was far from golden.
18
PURPOSE
S
hortly after the contest was over, Cassidy called an emergency meeting back at the sorority house.
hortly after the contest was over, Cassidy called an emergency meeting back at the sorority house.
“I'm not showing up to no meeting!” Sam yelled out.
Connie, Cassidy, and the other prophytes walked up to her and said, “You're coming whether you like it, love it, or none of the above. We all need to talk.”
As I walked across campus with my line sisters, Teddi said, “Girl, you don't ever really go after anybody. People think you're so nice and sweet, but you finally let people know you're not a punk. You held your own.”
“Yeah, you go, girl!” Evan said.
“We need to have her removed,” Quisa uttered. As usual, Millie nodded along with no verbal input.
The four of them continued to converse about how wrong our Chapter President had been. While I appreciated their loyalty and their love for me, I wasn't one hundred percent right either. I had been given a direct order by someone elected to govern over our chapter, and I had disobeyed.
Contrary to what my line sisters felt about the situation, whenâminutes laterâwe walked into the sorority room and Sam was telling people how I had given away checks she'd told me to hold, it was just a mess.
“Okay, everybody, settle down!” Cassidy shouted over the mixed voices. “This isn't a formal meeting. Our adviser's not here, but we definitely needed an emergency session. We can't even keep our in-house business in house because word is in the streets that we had serious fighting going on.”
“Well, once everybody found out why I was upset with Hailey,” Sam said when she took the floor, “people have been cool. I specifically told her to hold those checks.”
“Yeah, but you've been showing your tail all semester. You tried to fight me, Cassidy, and now Hailey. You don't need to be our President!” Connie blurted out. “I talked to some of our line sisters, and everybody is not with you. We are thinking about going to the Regional Coordinator and getting you removed.”
The Treasurer said, “Wait a minute. You can't be mad at just Sam. A letter just came in the mail about the alumni chapter supporting Hailey Grant's candidacy for Second Vice President at the upcoming convention. She didn't even tell any of us she was running. No wonder she was working so close with them and trying to get them cool with her. If anyone needs to be ousted, it should be Hailey.”
I could hear Teddi and Evan getting ready to battle for me. But I touched both of them and stood up myself and said, “Look, I didn't tell anybody about running for a position because I never agreed to run. I'll talk to my mom and see what that's all aboutâif they even sent out false information about me. However, I doubt it, because an alumnae chapter knows you can only campaign when you have been slated. They would not break rules. You must have misread the letter anyway, because when you're running from the floor, you can't send correspondence. I want to see this so-called letter.”
“Um, well, are you denying it?”
“Yes, I'm denying that I accepted. And after everything that happened tonight, I don't deserve to be anybody's national officer. I can't speak for Samâ”
“You daggone right you can't,” Sam said, cutting me off.
“But the reason I became a Beta was to make a difference by helping this chapter and our community. Though my decision was partially wrong, I felt it was partially right because I wanted to help Ms. Mayzee's family, those boys, and our chapter.”
“She shouldn't have talked to you the way she did. And you had to protect yourself!” Connie called out.
“That's right,” Teddi said.
“Again, I can only look at myself in the mirror, and at this point I don't like what I see. I didn't join this chapter to protect myself against my sister. So you don't have to overthrow Sam. That's not in my character. I gave the checks back to Cassidy, so you can do with them however you like. I'm done.” And I walked away to head to my room.
I wondered how could I have let things get so off track. And as much as it hurt leaving my sisters, things were irreparably broken. Walking out had been the right thing to do. I had to punish myself in some fashion. I was wrong even though I was right.
Â
“Oooo, so Covin is really handsome,” my sister, Hayden, said to me while we were on a double date with our men.
I couldn't believe that in just a few months she would be married. And although Covin and I weren't walking down the aisle, I knew he was a big part of my world. I had come to understand that all college relationships didn't last forever, but looking at Hayden and Creed, I hoped for the best and promised to hang on as long as we could.
“Hailey, come with me to the ladies' room,” my sister begged. As soon as we got into the restroom, she tugged me. “Okay, I just said your man is fine, and I barely got a reaction from you. What is going on with you? I heard the contest turned out nice.”
“Yeah, and you also heard about the drama with Sam.”
“Yeah, but I told you beforehand that going into this sorority thing I wasn't perfect as an undergraduate myself. Life is about making mistakes and learning from them. It's okay to punish yourself, but it's like you're locking yourself up for good and throwing away the key. I think we should all leave here and go over to that King event together.”
“No,” I said to my sister; I felt she was trying to push me. “I don't wanna be around the Betas.”
“Hailey, they're doing the right thing. They may have questioned the amount at first, but it is a good thing they decided to give five thousand dollars to the King family. You're a big part of making that happen, and you need to be there to see your dream come true.”
When we got back to the table, it was like Covin had heard our whole conversation because he said, “I need to go to the Kings' house. SGA's helping with the presentation, and I need you to be by my side.”
“I told you already,” I said to him, “and I said to Hayden that I didn't wanna go.”
“Come on, babe. I need you with me. I never removed you from my cabinet as director of community relations. So, technically, it's your job. You've been slack on it, so you shouldn't be giving me any lip. We won't stay long. Come on,” Covin pleaded.
“Okay, fine,” I said, giving in to both pressures.
Hayden and Creed rode with us. When we got to the Kings' house, tons of people were there, including two camera crews. Covin insisted I head up front with him, but I said, “This spot right here is fine. Now, I agreed to come, and that should be enough. Please don't make me go up there.”
When he got to the podium, my uncle came out of the house with Ms. King and the kids.
“Why is Uncle Webb here?” I said to Hayden.
She squeezed my arm and said, “Just wait. It gets even better.”
Next out of the house came Covin's parents. The senator approached the crowd and said, “When our son told us what was going on with this family, I went to my fellow state senators and congressmen and collectively went to work. We are thankful for Mayzee King's actions in saving so many kids, including my son.”
“And my niece,” President Webb said, standing behind them.
Sen. Randall said, “As well as all the other children she risked her life to save. We do want to honor her memory today by presenting three ten-thousand-dollar scholarships that will be put away for her children to attend college.”
My eyes just watered up. This was fabulous beyond my dreams. I knew our event couldn't do everything, but it had ignited others to help.
“We also reached out to some local businessmen, and the floor and roof of this house is going to be fixed. This place is going to receive its own makeover, thanks to the great citizens of this state. Be proud of your community, help out when you have the chance, and embrace your neighbor. This is the beginning of a fellowship, and the progress is going to be appreciated to the maximum degree.” The senator stepped away, and applause was given from anyone who had hands.
Covin followed behind his father and said, “Now I would like to introduce the President of Beta Gamma Pi for another presentation.”
As Sam approached the mic, I swallowed hard.
All she said was, “I had a presentation to make, butâ”
Time out. Had she said “had”? See, I knew something was up. This was more drama from the chapter, but in public. Did she plan for the chapter to keep the money after all? I had thought Hayden had talked to someone and knew the check was finally gonna be presented to Ms. King. Ugh! I was so angry.
Then my foot got stuffed in my mouth when Sam shocked me and announced, “But I realize I am not the one who should make this presentation. I am aware that Hailey Grant is among us today. She's the one who spearheaded this whole effort and had the right heart to want to do bigger and better things for this family. Hailey, I can't do this without you. Could you please come forward?”
The spotlight was on me. Everyone turned to face me to see if I would accept her offer. I was no mean person, nor did I hold grudges against people, but we'd had one heck of an ordeal. Placing my feelings to the side, I picked up my feet and slowly but surely made my way to the front of the crowd.
As I walked toward the mic, Sam said, “So many of us get things wrong. Sometimes we want things to be about us and what we say. Hailey Grant taught me you gotta have self-reflection. I'm better. Our sorority is better because she cares so much.” I got to the podium, and she whispered in my ear, “Forgive me.”
I smiled and wiped my face. We presented Ms. King with a symbolic check for her daughter's memory. It felt great to put aside some crucial differences and bring out the good for others in need. I walked away from the podium with my head held high and the attitude of an improved, faith-filled young woman.
As soon as the event died down, Covin's parents approached me. I wanted to walk the other way. However, I knew I couldn't be rude.
“Looks like you make a lot of people look in the mirror. Sorry we misjudged you. Sorry we didn't open our eyes to know our son can make great choices. He spent months trying to make a difference for this family, and that's awesome,” his dad said, giving me another surprise of the day.
His mother touched my back and said, “Because of how you wanna take care of someone else, I know you will be able to take care of yourself and my son.”
“I told you she was all that, Mom!” Covin said from behind me before he gave me a big hug.
To think I hadn't wanted to come. I'd wanted to stay away. I was glad I'd let go and followed the leading of others. This was one of the proudest points in my life. I was a part of really making a difference for a family who had lost everything. On the up and up, it seemed like Sam and I would be able to work things out. And, by just being me, I had ended up showing Covin's parents I was worthy enough for their son. Somehow, in my spirit, I could feel Ms. Mayzee smiling down at me from heaven. Turmoil was worth it sometimes, particularly when good came out of the madness.
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“I can't believe my mom talked me into going to this conference,” I said out of frustration to Covin.
I was speaking to my boyfriend on the phone. I was in Atlanta, and he was back in Arkansas. The Beta Gamma Pi conference was one my line sisters had been anticipating for a while. It was our first one, for goodness' sake. My line sisters were in the room next door, and I was sharing a room with my mom and my sister. At this point, everyone was at the opening session, and I just wasn't feeling it, so I had called my guy to complain.
“Listen, you're there now. You pledged Beta Gamma Pi to learn more about the organization and make a difference. At a National Convention, I can only assume it helps to fine-tune you,” he said like a guy who loved networking.
“Yeah, I miss you, and it's devastating to know you're going to be going off to law school soon.”
“Actually, I decided to go to the University of Arkansas. I wanna stay around here. My state needs me, and, hopefully, someone else does, too.”
“Not going to an Ivy League school is suicide for your political career.”
“Please. Knowing I want to be a state politician and going to the largest school in Arkansas is an asset to me. Plus, I want to be around a special young lady.é So, it's cool. About you, thoughâI know you might not be feeling the whole sorority thing for whatever reason, but you're there. You need to make the most of it. If you wanna get something out of it, you at least have to put in the time.”
He was absolutely right, and he made a lot of sense. I immediately got dressed and texted Teddi to see what side of the large auditorium they were sitting on. I guessed I was gonna make the best of it.
“What made you change your mind?” Teddi asked me when I sat beside her.
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