Episode 6

The Crescents of Phi Beta Sigma, which are BRANDON, CALVIN, AHMAD, SETH and DALE are bonding as they practice marching. They continue their journey toward fraternity membership...without MIRI.

CURT - Try it again guys, let's go!

CRESCENTS - We want to be a...Sigma! We want to be a S...I...GMA! We want to be a...Sigma! We want to be a S...I...GMA! We want to be a...

CURT - Stop! Stop! If you guys aren't going to do this right, then just stop it okay!

DALE thinks - These guys are getting on my nerves! Calvin has more rhythm than Seth!

CURT - I'm not gonna say this again! I'm giving you guys one minute to get your act together! You fools are wearing on my patience!

(The Crescents go to the side to practice.)

HAYDEN - How do you think they look?

CURT - Good, real good. They are definitely pumped. You know I'm just messin' with them.

HAYDEN - Yeah. The energy is good. What's wrong with the rhythm though?

CURT - Just takes practice. They'll pick it up.

(The Crescents practice it once, then stop to talk about it.)

CALVIN whispers - Guys, we aren't doing this right! We must look like a bunch of idiots!

SETH whispers - I'm trying. I can't pick up the beat.

DALE whispers - The beat? We are only marching. How hard is it to put your left foot down after your right?

SETH whispers - Hard enough okay!

DALE whispers - I mean, even Calvin is doing it. You are the one messing us up though.

SETH whispers - So what you want to kick me off line too? Huh?

AHMAD whispers - Will you two shut up! What is the matter with y?all? Big brothers are in the room and y?all are fighting like little girls! We gotta make this happen right now! We ain?t got no time for your stupid bickering!

(BRANDON is staring at a wall.)

AHMAD whispers - Brandon.

(silence)

(AHMAD grabs BRANDON's arm.)

AHMAD whispers - Brandon!

BRANDON - Huh? Huh?

CALVIN whispers - Are you paying attention? Earth to Brandon!

BRANDON - Sorry guys, I was just...

DALE whispers - Shhhh! You are talking too loud, man!

(They glance over at the big brothers.)

CURT - You fools have 10 seconds.)

BRANDON whispers - Sorry guys, I was just thinking about Miri and what happened to him. He is my boy and...

DALE whispers - Can't deal with that right now! We got bigger fish to fry! Look, start on your left foot. This time, when we start marching, Seth you don't say anything. We will cover for you. You just march on time with us okay?

SETH - Okay.

BRANDON thinks - But what about Miri?

CURT - Pledgees.

CRESCENTS ? Yes, dean of pledgees!

CURT - Get back over here.

(They run back into place.)

CURT - Okay, let's see it.

(All the Sigmas in the room crowd around, waiting for the line to mess up the march. Specifically watching SETH.)

CRESCENTS - We want to be a...Sigma! We want to be a...

(CURT drops his head and laughs to himself.)

CURT - I see this is gonna be a long night gentlemen.

(TROY walks inside the house. JEFF is still outside speaking with MIRI.)

HAYDEN - What's up blue?

TROY - What's up my brother?

CURT - I'll tell you what's up. These boys are about to piss me off!

(HAYDEN starts to take off his jacket.)

TROY - Looks like I showed up just at the right time! Ha ha ha ha!

(TROY starts to take off his jacket and some of the other brothers gather around. The pledgees are looking nervous and BRANDON is staring into space.)

HAYDEN - Brandon you better wake up!

(The doorbell rings.)

CURT - Y?all keep getting saved by the bell! Ha ha ha ha!

TROY - Maybe it?s more Sigmas.

CURT - Oooh, good point. Y?all better hope not because if it is, y?all better not embarrass me! Hey Jean, get the door.

(A larger brother who was sitting down gets up to answer the door.)

SETH thinks - Please, no more big brothers!

AHMAD thinks - Please, no more big brothers!

DALE thinks - Please, no more big brothers!

CALVIN thinks - Please, no more big brothers!

BRANDON thinks - How can I get Miri back on line?

(JEAN opens the door.)

JEAN - Nope, no Sigma brothers but the next best thing!

(JEAN steps aside as he is hugged by DENICE. SHARONDA is following, then TONYA and SALEEMA.)

HAYDEN - Oh it is on now! Yes!

CURT - What's up sorors!

(CURT turns to the line and whispers to them.)

CURT whispers ? Y?all better get pumped up! You better get pumped! You better not embarrass me in front of my sorors! You better do this march and do it right!

(The Zetas come in and hug all the Sigmas in the room.)

HAYDEN - You ladies are just in time. We are going over a few marches and y?all can help us get these guys looking sharp.

SALEEMA - Our pleasure.

(Everyone sits down, except for DENICE.)

TONYA - Hey Denice, where you going girl?

DENICE - Uh...to the bathroom. I'll be right back.

TONYA - Hurry up, you don't want to miss your boy marching.

(TONYA winks and DENICE shows half a smile as she turns and walks to the bathroom. She locks the door behind herself and pulls her cell phone out of her purse.)

Meanwhile, across the street from Woolfolk-Taylor Enterprises...

(GREGG and SHAREESA are at lunch discussing double dating with XAVIER and APRIL.)

GREGG - But you know, I was thinking. Why don't we hook up with Xavier and April before we head out on Friday.

SHAREESA - Xavier and who?

GREGG - Xavier and April. I think they got a thing for each other.

(silence)

GREGG - What?

SHAREESA - I don't think that is a good idea.

GREGG - Why not?

SHAREESA - I just don't think it is.

GREGG - Why not? It would be fun. I was thinking about double-dating with Xavier more often because he never goes out. I was hoping that things would work out between him and Donna but for some reason, he stopped seeing her. So when I got an inclination that he liked April, I thought we should start inviting him out with us. I think it would be fun.

SHAREESA - Well I think it would be stupid and I won't play a part in it.

GREGG - Reece what is wrong with you? Why is it such a bad idea to double date with Xavier?

(GREGG's cell phone rings.)

GREGG - Hold on a second babe.

(GREGG looks down at his cell phone and recognizes DENICE's cell phone number.)

GREGG - Uh Reece, excuse me while I take this call.


:: NEW PAGE ::


SCENE 2

The ladies of Delta Sigma Theta are in a meeting in the Chase Dodd building on campus.

(CHRISTIAN walks in.)

CHRISTIAN - Hey sorors, sorry I'm a little late.

WILLIE - Hey Chris. It's cool girl, we were just about to start.

CHRISTIAN - Oh okay. Hey Robin.

ROBIN - What's up girl?

WILLIE - Stacie called and said that she is on her way here but I kind of wanted to talk to y?all before she got here.

ROBIN - That's cool. What's up?

WILLIE - Well, I wanted to get everyone's opinion on what happened. If Stacie were sitting here, we would tend to be a little biased toward her and her feelings. This has got to be devastating on her.

CHRISTIAN - I can imagine.

WILLIE - But I would like to at least know where everyone's head is so that when she does show up, we can fully discuss what we should do as a chapter.

ROBIN - Why don't you start? How do you feel about Breanna?

(WILLIE hesitates.)

WILLIE - Hmmm. Well I have been thinking about this for a while now. I think we all have.

CHRISTIAN - Yeah, me too.

WILLIE - I feel so bad for Stacie and for the kids. I mean, dag, they are just babies.

ROBIN - Yeah.

WILLIE - But...the thing is, we have to decide if we believe that Breanna had no idea that Alex was married.

ROBIN - I agree, that is the thing.

WILLIE - See, if Breanna had no idea that he was married, then it really isn't her fault and it is all Alex's fault.

CHRISTIAN - But wait, what about when she did find out? We have to know if she continued to mess around with him.

ROBIN - Good point.

CHRISTIAN - I agree with y?all on the point that it may not be her fault. But we have to dig and get to the bottom of the entire situation. And that might be ugly. I know how ugly confrontations go. Look at how Candace and me used to argue over...Nino.

(uncomfortable silence)

ROBIN thinks - Nino? Girl get a grip, he was not your man!

WILLIE - I see what you are saying and I do think it may get ugly, but for a different reason.

(They turn their attention to WILLIE.)

WILLIE - What if Stacie comes in here and wants Breanna beheaded? Like, I can imagine her wanting to stick up for her man and not trying to hear Breanna's side of the story at all.

ROBIN ? True, true.

WILLIE - And what if she doesn't want Breanna as a soror? I mean, we voted her on line as a chapter and started her process.

ROBIN - Well she didn't get anything too deep yet.

WILLIE - In other words, you haven't gotten your haze on yet?

(Everyone laughs.)

ROBIN - Shut up.

WILLIE - So what do y?all think about Breanna herself? I mean, about her being a soror?

CHRISTIAN - You first.

WILLIE - Like I said, we voted her in. I voted for her. I like her.

ROBIN - Me too.

CHRISTIAN - And what happened...between her and Stacie's dog of a husband hasn't changed your opinion?

WILLIE - Not until the facts come out. I at least owe her the benefit of the doubt. My opinion will change if she knew he was married and continued to mess around with him.

(silence)

CHRISTIAN - Judging by how well you know Stacie, how do you think she is gonna feel?

WILLIE - You know what? I really don't know. I can tell you what I think about Stacie's demeanor all day long. But I didn't know she would pull a gun on Alex either.

ROBIN - Yeah! Now that was some mess!

CHRISTIAN - I just froze! I didn't know what to do! I thought we were all going to jail!

WILLIE - Obviously Stacie is a good shot. Maybe she has had practice with handguns because she shot perfectly around him.

ROBIN - Well she is better than me because I would have shot him!

(Nobody laughs.)

CHRISTIAN - How do you think she is gonna feel toward Breanna though? Do you think she will want her in our chapter? Just in your opinion.

WILLIE - Well...I truly feel that she is gonna...

(There is a knock on the door and ROBIN gets up to unlock it.)

ROBIN - Hello soror.

STACIE - Hello ladies.

Meanwhile, across campus in Slowe Hall, the AKAs are meeting...

SYLVIA - Okay, Presjina, would you mind bringing us up to speed with what exactly happened? You were there when the word first came out so run it back for us.

PJ - Sure. Jahanna said that she went to see Mona in her room. And Mona had been coaching her on how to be an AKA.

APRIL - Good God.

PJ - So after a few lessons, Jahanna deciphered that the information that Mona was giving her was incorrect and damaging to her quest to AKA. So she went to Mona's to talk about it with her. They started arguing, one thing led to another, she beat Mona down. Case closed.

(Some AKAs laugh. KATRICE doesn't.)

APRIL - I say we commend Jahanna, give her an award or something and then vote her in.

PJ - I second the motion.

KATRICE - Well I don't! What is the matter with y?all? Don't y?all take this serious?

(Everyone is quiet.)

SYLVIA - Go ahead Katrice with your position.

(KATRICE hesitates and continues.)

KATRICE - Jahanna beat up a soror! Can't you guys see that?

JUNE - A soror? Jahanna didn't beat up no soror! Jahanna beat up Mona! Good for her!

KATRICE - No...Jahanna beat up a soror. You might not like Mona, I might not like her either. But you have to understand what was going through Jahanna's mind. Jahanna doesn't know how we all personally feel about Mona. So as far as Jahanna is concerned, she beat up an AKA. As far as Jahanna is concerned, Mona is just as much an AKA as I am. So she would have beat me up too.

JUNE - That is bull Katrice! You are so reaching! Why the heck do you want to protect Mona?

KATRICE - Because y?all tend to forget what we are dealing with in Mona. How easy would it be for her to contact our national office and report being beat up by a lady interested in Alpha Kappa Alpha? Huh? What happens to us then?

JUNE - We deal with it then! We deal with Mona the way we always deal with her! Let her make her noise and then shut her stupid butt up! I don't understand this ridiculous caution on your part!

KATRICE - And I don't understand the tone and volume of your voice!

JUNE - Well honestly you are pissing me off!

KATRICE - What?

(Everyone looks at each other surprised at JUNE's remark.)

PJ thinks - June never raises her voice or talks like that.

SYLVIA - Ladies ladies...we can just...

JUNE - No wait! I am mad! Whose side are you on anyway?

KATRICE - It's not about sides...it's about...

JUNE - I guess you just gonna ride with her huh? Just ride with the Fergusons!

SYLVIA - June...

JUNE - That ain't cool Katrice!

KATRICE - No, what's not cool is this outburst from you!

JUNE - Oh yeah? Well what...

SYLVIA - June!

(SYLVIA slams her fist down, which gets everyone's attention.)

SYLVIA - June what is the matter with you!

(JUNE looks around and gets up teary. She starts to leave the room.)

PJ - June wait.

OCTAVIA - I got it.

(OCTAVIA gets up and follows JUNE out.)

In the hallway...

OCTAVIA - Spec, is everything okay?

(JUNE is crying.)

OCTAVIA - June?

JUNE - I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

OCTAVIA - What's the matter?

(silence)

JUNE - Derrick is gone and I miss him already.


:: NEW PAGE ::


SCENE 3

ALEXIS answers her door thinking that it is QUINTON. Instead it is the ladies of Sigma Gamma Rho.

(ALEXIS opens the door.)

CANDACE - What's up Alexis? You remember my soror Paula. Well this is Angelique, Jennifer and Rosalind, my sorors from Amgis College.

ALEXIS thinks - Oh no!

ALEXIS - Hello...uh pleased to meet you all.

CANDACE - Are you busy? We wanted to get a chance to talk to you.

ALEXIS - Uh...

ALEXIS thinks - That idiot Bobby is inside! Dag!

ALEXIS - ...can you give me one second to tidy up a bit?

CANDACE - Sure.

ALEXIS - Okay. Be right back.

(ALEXIS goes back inside her place and closes the door. She rushes over to BOBBY who has his feet up and is in the process of kicking his shoes off.)

ALEXIS - What the heck are you doing?

BOBBY - What? Nothing, just chillin'.

ALEXIS - Well Mister Chill Man, you gotta go!

BOBBY - Huh? I just got here!

ALEXIS - And you are just leaving!

(ALEXIS grabs BOBBY's arm and starts to pull him off of her couch.)

BOBBY - Whoa! Whoa! What's the hurry? Why you pullin' on me?

ALEXIS - Because you have overstayed your welcome and you gotta go.

BOBBY - Is that Quinton at the door? You ain?t gotta rush me out over my own frat brother.

ALEXIS - For your information, it isn't Quinton and you still gotta go. And as a matter of fact, you can't even go out that way. I don't want them to see that you were here.

BOBBY - I can't go out the front door? What in the world am I supposed to do then?

(ALEXIS smiles.)

ALEXIS - I have a bedroom window.

BOBBY - You have a what?

ALEXIS - Come on!

(ALEXIS pushes BOBBY toward her bedroom.)

BOBBY - Are you crazy? You live on the second floor! I'm not going out your window!

ALEXIS - Oh yes you are!

BOBBY - No I'm not! Be serious!

(ALEXIS slaps BOBBY in the back of his head.)

ALEXIS - I am serious! Get out!

(ALEXIS points to the window.)

BOBBY - I may break my neck Alexis! Don't you care about me at all?

ALEXIS - There is a dumpster that you can jump on, right outside the window. That way, you can climb down from there. Now hurry up! Get out!

BOBBY - I gotta step on a trash dumpster?

ALEXIS - Get out!

(ALEXIS throws a book at BOBBY. He ducks and heads for the window.)

BOBBY - Well can I at least get a hug for bringing you some cheeseca...

(ALEXIS grabs a trophy to throw at BOBBY. He realizes that she is serious and opens the window and looks out.)

BOBBY thinks - I'm gonna break my neck!

(BOBBY starts to climb out the window, as there is a knock on the door.)

ALEXIS - Hurry up! Hurry up!

(ALEXIS starts to help BOBBY by pushing him out the window.)

BOBBY - Hey! Stop! You're gonna make me fall!

(ALEXIS lowers the window almost on BOBBY's hands. BOBBY is hanging from the window and looking down at the dumpster.)

BOBBY - Hey! Help!

ALEXIS thinks - I was a fool to let him in here!

(She runs to the door and opens it again.)

ALEXIS - I am so sorry to keep you waiting. Please, come right in. I just didn't expect company and my place was a mess. You know how it gets when you're studying. Hee hee.

(The ladies enter but do not laugh with ALEXIS.)

ALEXIS thinks - God!

(LARRY turns to ask QUINTON a question as they walk.)

LARRY - Q, I joke around a lot right?

QUINTON - Yeah, you do.

LARRY - But how would you know if I was telling the truth about something and not joking?

QUINTON - That's easy. Whenever you tell the truth about something, your get this twitch, like a nervous reaction. I know all about you. I pledged with you remember?

LARRY - Good because I am about to tell you something now and I want you to realize that I am not joking.

QUINTON - Okay, ha ha ha, well let me see if you are twitching. Ha ha ha.

LARRY - I hope I am, and maybe you are about to be twitching too.

QUINTON - Huh?

LARRY - Turn around and tell me if I am crazy...or is that some dude hanging from Alexis' bedroom window?