Homecoming Weekend (39 page)

Even in her pain, Felicia looked into the mirror, where their eyes met and they shared a brief laugh. “Me, either,” Felicia said.

Holding her up, Tranise kicked open the stall behind her and slowly eased Felicia into it and sat her down on the toilet. “You've got to sit down. I'm calling 9-1-1,” she said. “And what's Brandon's number?”

She poured out the contents of her black clutch on the counter and retrieved her phone. Between grunts, Felicia got out his number. Tranise reached someone at emergency.

“Listen, we're in the woman's bathroom by the ballroom at the Holiday Inn off Newtown Road,” she said. “My pregnant friend is having pain and I see some spotting. You've got to get an ambulance here right away . . . What? She's seven months' pregnant, so it's not time yet. How long before they get here?”

Holding her stomach and holding onto the stall's wall, Felicia looked up at Tranise. “Your ‘friend'?” she said.

Tranise froze. “Yes, my friend, as of two minutes ago,” she said. She then grabbed a paper towel, wet it and dabbed Felicia's face.

“Shit,” Tranise said. “Brandon's not answering. He probably can't hear it. How you feeling?”

“Like there's pressure on my stomach,” she said. “What's going on? I've never felt this before.”

She held her hand with both hers. “It's going to be okay. They'll be here any moment. I'm not going to leave you.”

“Our friends would die if they saw this picture: you in a stall on a toilet and me holding your hand,” Tranise said, and they shared another laugh.

“Let's meet them at the front,” Felicia said. “I can walk. I don't want them busting through the party, making a scene coming all through the lobby. That's not a good look for me to be wheeled out of here on a stretcher.”

“How vain is that?” Tranise said. “And I
totally
understand, girl.”

They laughed once more. She helped Felicia to her feet. She teased her hair to get it back in place. Felicia held her arm as they gingerly exited the bathroom. But they stopped at the last of a series of mirrors and fixed themselves up even more.

“I get the feeling, ironically enough, that we're a lot alike,” Felicia said.

“Me, too,” Tranise said.

They made it to the reception area outside the ballroom and moved slowly through the crowd. “Don't make eye contact with anyone; they'll want to stop and start talking,” Tranise said.

When they made it to the lobby, Tranise saw Charlene, who could not believe Tranise and Felicia were arm-in-arm. “Charlene, don't say anything. Just go get Brandon and tell him to come to the front of the hotel now,” Tranise said.

Off Charlene went. When the automatic doors to the front of the hotel opened, the ambulance pulled up. They got Felicia on a gurney, put an oxygen mask on her and lifted her onto the vehicle.

The paramedics were ready to get her to Sentara Leigh Hospital, but Brandon was not there. “Well, I'm going,” Tranise said, and she hopped in the back. “I'll call him again.” They shut the doors and took off.

As the medics asked Felicia a series of questions, Tranise called Charlene. “I didn't see him until just now,” she said. “Wait, he's here.”

“Tranise, what happened?” he said into the phone.

“I don't know. I'm in the ambulance with her now. We're going to Sentara Leigh. In the bathroom she started feeling pain and bleeding a little. Brandon, you just need to get to the hospital.”

“What's going on?” Tranise said to the paramedic.

“I can't tell right now,” she said. “But the baby's heartbeat is good. We'll be at the hospital in a minute.”

“Thank God,” Tranise said.

Tears flowed under Felicia's mask. There were tears of fear. Tranise reached over and grabbed her hand. “Hey, girlfriend, I'm here,” she said. She was smiling. “It's going to be all right. Probably something minor. Your baby probably was upset that we were acting like fools to each other for no good reason.”

Tranise could see a smile on Felicia's face through the mask. Tears started to flow down Tranise's face.

When they pulled up to the hospital, Tranise ripped off her pumps and jumped out of the ambulance first. The workers swiftly got Felicia off and hurried her into the hospital, Tranise running behind them with her shoes and purse in her hands.

Several minutes later, Brandon arrived to the waiting area, looking totally disoriented. “What's going on?” he said.

“I don't know,” Tranise said. “We just have to wait.”

Brandon did not say much. He shook his head. Tranise left him and went outside to make some phone calls.

“Thank you, Tranise,” Brandon said before she walked away.

The Whole Damn Gang, Part
II

J
immy pushed aside his discontent with Donna long enough to let her apologize. “I'm really sorry,” she said. “It was a stupid thing to do. But I am glad to know my cuz has a real man as her husband. I wish I were so lucky.”

“I appreciate that,” he said. “Other than being crazy, you seem like a together sister.”

She laughed and extended her hand. “Forgive me?” she asked.

He looked at her hand and then clutched it. “Okay, cousin,” he said. “Forgiven.”

On the other side of the ballroom, Carter pleaded with the DJ to play a slow song—“What's that about? Used to be there were slow songs throughout the night. Damn.” The DJ obliged him and the dance floor was packed.

He and Barbara shared a slow dance. She buried her face in his chest and wept. He held her firmly and rubbed her back. Their lives were in flux. He loved her but was married to Marlena. She had gotten a divorce with the expectation of having him, but had no one.

When Janea decided she was going to have the baby, Kwame soon after learned he was going to be a father. He was floored and no longer in a partying mood. She was floored, too, with the finality of the decision. “You'd better not even think about
abandoning your dreams,” Venita had told her. “A baby should enhance your life, not stunt your growth. At times it won't be easy. But you have family and a great friend in Diamond and a new ‘auntie' in me for support.”

Janea hugged Venita. “You okay?” she said to Kwame.

“No,” he said. He looked at Janea. “But I will be.”

“I won't be all right until I tell my parents,” Janea said.

“I'll be there with you,” Kwame said.

Mary and Rodney made a pact: They would not have sex again until she ended her relationship back home. It was a tough decision for her; she craved his touch and passion. But she was shrouded in guilt for having spent Friday night with him knowing she had Clint at home.

It would be a difficult conversation. She knew Clint loved her. Breaking his heart was something she never anticipated or wanted to do. Further, her family and friends saw them as an ideal couple. She loved some things about Clint, but she was not in love with him. And she wanted true love in her life—needed it—and believed she could have it with Rodney. At minimum, she was willing to seek it with him on the
promise
of true love.

Charlene was looking for love, too, but mostly a love of self. She used jokes to suppress her displeasure with her body. And Tyrell picked up on it. “You talk about your weight a lot,” he said as they left the party. “That tells me it bothers you. And that's okay, if you are willing to do something about it. If not, then you should stop talking about it.”

For a moment, Charlene was upset. But the truth is strong. She told Tyrell of her plan to make a lifestyle change. “Well, if you are okay with it, I will adopt the same plan,” he said. “We can do it together. I could stand to lose some pounds myself.”

And so, they vowed to become each other's inspiration in their
lifestyle adjustment. That commitment took their homecoming reconnection to another level. “You know,” Tyrell said, “sex is great exercise.”

Said Charlene: “Well, I guess we know where to start then.”

Don took Renee's advice and called his wife right there, from the party. “Baby, I have a lot of making up to do, and I'm willing to do it,” he said. “Something happened to me down here at home-coming. I found myself—and I want us to rediscover each other.”

His wife was shocked—and happy. “I thought I had lost you, baby,” she said. “Don't you know, no matter what, I'm your wife. Our love is stronger than any business or any situation. You're my man. And I'm your woman.”

Don, the man who deemed crying as weak, was moved to tears. He wiped them quickly, before anyone saw, especially Jesse or Venita.

But Jesse's focus was somewhere else: on Rochelle. “There are a lot of women out here,” he said to her when explaining why he was not in a committed relationship. They sat at the same IHOP from the previous night. Only this time, he was sober. “But it's about quality, not quantity. There's a real sorting-out process that leaves you drained. You can't just accept anyone because she is available. The fact that she is available might even be a red flag.”

“Oh, so I have red flags?” Rochelle said.

“You have red, black
and
green flags,” Jesse cracked. “But I'm willing to make an exception for you.”

“Kiss my you-know-what,” she said. “That's why I'm gonna stand you up at that event in two weeks.”

“You do and I'll sue you,” Jesse said, laughing.

Earl and Catherine took photos together with friends and left the party the way they came in—hand-in-hand, with a group of friends looking on pleasantly surprised by their coming together.

“Baby,” she said, after they dropped off Starr and headed to her place, “we are a true love story.”

“That's true,” Earl said. “And after tonight, I think we're going to be the source of a lot of gossip. But I don't care.”

Jimmy was tempted to tell his wife, Monica, about her cousin Donna's “test” but he didn't. “Why won't you?” Donna asked.

“Because she should already know who I am and what I would do,” he said. “I prove it every day. That should be enough for her.”

“I hear you,” she said.

Tranise stayed at the hospital with Brandon until the doctor came out with his prognosis of Felicia: pre-term labor, meaning the baby was trying to come out. It was not an uncommon event, but one that required Felicia to minimize her activities until the baby was delivered. Any more drama and she would be restricted to total bed rest.

“It was meant to be that you were in that bathroom when I was,” Felicia said, resting comfortably in her hospital bed. “How could it be that you, of all people, are a hero in my life?”

“I don't know about hero,” Tranise said, “but I do know this has been an unbelievable weekend. And I'm glad I was in that bathroom at that time. Amazingly enough, I gained a new friend.”

“Two friends,” Brandon said.

On Sunday morning, as he stood in front of the hotel waiting for his car to come up from valet, Jimmy embraced several friends and old classmates and wished them safe travels home.

He and Carter had a talk over breakfast, where he learned his boy was married but in love with Barbara. “I don't envy your position,” Jimmy told him. “I'm not sure what I can do, but I'm willing to help any way I can.”

“Pray for me,” Carter said.

Jimmy called Monica as he tipped the valet and settled into his vehicle. “Hi, wife,” he said.

“Hi, husband. How was everything? What's next on your agenda?” she asked.

“It's been an awesome weekend,” he said, putting on his dark sunglasses. “People told me, but now I know for sure. It will take a few days to recover. Homecoming was great. But, baby, it's time to come home.”

“Am I coming with you next year?” Monica asked.

“Yes,” Jimmy answered.

“No,” he then said after a few seconds. Monica did not say anything.

He put on his dark sunglasses and smiled.

“Well, maybe,” he said, finally, driving off.

“I remember my high school guidance counselor exalting all the virtues of the HBCUs. He told me I wouldn't be just another student, a number. He told me that I would get personal care from my professors—and he was right! At Norfolk State, I became a part of a huge family that included professors, administrators and an eclectic group of friends from all over the US.

There are 10 federal holidays in 2012. For me, you would need to add two, maybe three more days for homecoming weekend. Homecoming at NSU is a must on my calendar. It is a necessary part of my year.”

—S
AM
M
YERS
, N
ORFOLK
S
TATE
U
NIVERSITY
, C
LASS OF
1984

“My great-grandfather, Henry C. Baker, was a friend and confidant of Booker T. Washington (founder of Tuskegee Institute) and George Washington Carver (the school's first president). Naturally, when it was time for college, Tuskegee was the only place for me. In fact, I always envisioned myself one day being a learned scholar and being so proud to see my grandmother's face as I was one of the many well-known former students who passed through town to participate in events at Tuskegee Institute. As a freshman, what I remember as my most impressionable moment was my first day. The most memorable and life-molding person I encountered at Tuskegee was my ROTC instructor, Major Neal,
the polished, impeccable intellectual man I had ever met. He was a man who had traveled the globe. Major Neal was intimidating but also humorous, and I gravitated to him. He would often tell me “Whatever area you choose to pursue, always put your best foot forward.” It was a simple but lasting message that I held on to . . . was at Tuskegee when Dr. King was there discussing the Rosa Parks bus boycott. I was there when my grandmother and I were thrown off a Greyhound bus to make room for a white family. All in all, being at Tuskegee gave me the gumption to start an international corporation that has worked across the globe. I take my time at Tuskegee as my history lesson not only by which I live by, but as the rich cultural history I have tried to shape the lives of my children and grandchildren.”