Episode 26

DERRICK is in the locker room getting dressed. His cell phone rings.

DERRICK - Hey wassup. Let me call you back.

CARYN - Whyyyyyyyyyy?

DERRICK - Stop! Damn, you know I hate it when you whine like that.

CARYN - Well why you gotta call me back all the time.

DERRICK - Because I'm getting dressed. I told you to not call me right after a game.

CARYN - Did yall win?

DERRICK - No so I'm in a bad mood anyway.

CARYN - Well I'm sorry sweetie.

DERRICK - It's okay.

CARYN - Well I need to talk to you and it's important.

DERRICK - But Caryn, I'm trying to get dressed. I just got out the shower, I got a towel on and I gotta get back on the bus in a little while.

CARYN - You never have time for me!

DERRICK thinks - Damn!

DERRICK - Alright alright! Hold on.

(DERRICK props the phone on his shoulder so he can try and dry off and get dressed while he listens to CARYN.)

DERRICK - Okay go ahead.

CARYN - Okay, I was talking to Trina and Donna. My girls.

DERRICK - Uh huh.

CARYN - And Donna is trying to go to law school. So she knows a lot about this.

(DERRICK drops the phone.)

DERRICK - Damn.

(He quickly picks it up as CARYN is still talking.)

CARYN - ...from what she can tell. You know?

DERRICK - Uh...yeah.

CARYN - So anyway, she says that if he can find something like that then he maybe could have a case. And take him.

(silence)

CARYN - So what should we do?

DERRICK - Um...

(silence)

CARYN - You weren't even listening to me were you!

DERRICK - No I heard you, I'm just thinking.

CARYN - Well what did I say then?

DERRICK - Caryn...

(DERRICK's other line rings.)

DERRICK - Hold on.

(He clicks over.)

DERRICK - Hello?

CANDACE - Hello Derrick?

DERRICK - This is Derrick.

CANDACE - Hi. This is Candace.

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Ty is at the Omega Psi Phi frat house and has just found out who played the trick on the Iotas at the building dedication.

(DRE, RONNIE, and NASIM start to fall over laughing.)

TY - What the...

(TY is looking in disbelief.)

TY - That was...that was you?

RONNIE - Yeah dog! That was Nas! Ha ha ha ha!

DRE - Yeah man! Ha ha ha, wasn't that mess hilarious? Ha ha ha ha ha!

(DRE, RONNIE, and NASIM laugh once again.)

(silence)

TY - No it wasn't hilarious! Are yall crazy!

(Everyone slowly stops laughing.)

RONNIE - What?

TY - Dude, do you realize what you just started?

RONNIE - Come on bruh. It isn't that big a deal.

TY - What are you talking about? Dog, you put their shit on blast in front of the whole campus, administration, and school president! That shit wasn't funny.

RONNIE - Yes it was. TY - No it wasn't!

DRE - Ty, calm down bruh.

TY - Dre, I know you got more sense than that.

DRE - I know that you and Sean are cool. But he's a foul nigga.

TY - What?

RONNIE - Yeah bruh. That nigga came over here tryin' to fight me.

TY - He did? You're lying.

RONNIE - Naw dog, straight up! I'm here chillin' and he comes up the the frat house, rings the bell, I answer it, and this dude slaps a beer out my hand challenging me to a fight! If Dre wasn't here to squash it, I would've kicked his ass.

TY - Are you serious?

RONNIE - Yeah I'm serious.

DRE - Sean is asking for trouble Ty. I know he's a friend of yours but he started it.

NASIM - Yeah, and I just thought it was funny.

(NASIM and RONNIE laugh again.)

RONNIE - So I'm sayin' dog. What you think about that shit now that you know your boy Sean is a trouble maker?

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(DERRICK's other line rings.)

DERRICK - Hold on Caryn.

(He clicks over.)

DERRICK - Hello?

CANDACE - Hello Derrick?

DERRICK - This is Derrick.

CANDACE - Hi. This is Candace.

DERRICK - Candace?

CANDACE - Yeah. Is this a bad time?

DERRICK - Oh no! No not at all. Um, let me just clear the other line okay?

CANDACE - Sure.

DERRICK - Hold on a second.

(DERRICK clicks back over.)

DERRICK - Caryn I gotta go.

CARYN - But wait! What about...

DERRICK - Caryn, my assistant coach is calling me. I'm holding everyone up. I gotta go.

CARYN - But...can you send me some money?

(DERRICK clicks over.)

DERRICK - Still there?

CANDACE - Yep.

DERRICK - What a nice surprise. How are you?

CANDACE - I'm good. How are you?

DERRICK - Good.

(DERRICK sits down.)

DERRICK - We just finished a game and so I'm in the locker room.

CANDACE - Oh yeah? Where are you?

DERRICK - Philly.

CANDACE - Really? Wow. It must be exciting to travel all over like that.

DERRICK - It can be. Sometimes I get tired though. Like, I like the off season so I can just go home and visit mom. Get a real home cooked meal.

CANDACE - You a momma's boy?

(CANDACE laughs.)

DERRICK - Oh yeah. I can't front.

(DERRICK laughs too.)

CANDACE - What do you eat when you travel?

DERRICK - I go out to dinner in the city I'm in or I just order room service. Lots of time when we go out, fans approach us and want autographs or pictures with us. It's cool but I don't get alone time. Ya know? That can get tired real quick.

CANDACE - I can't even imagine.

(Some of the other players start to leave the dressing room.)

DAMON - Hey rookie, you comin'?

DERRICK - Hold on Candace.

CANDACE - Okay.

DERRICK - Hey D, yall go ahead. I'll catch up with yall at dinner or something. I'll just grab a cab.

DAMON - Okay Derrick.

DERRICK - Okay I'm back.

CANDACE - Am I holding you up from anything?

DERRICK - Oh no, not at all.

(DERRICK leans back and gets comfortable. He adjusts his towel around his waist.)

DERRICK - I've got all the time in the world.

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BRENDON has invited Phi Beta Sigma brother AHMAD into his room to talk about AHMAD's decision to pursue Sigma over Kappa.

BRENDON - Sorry it's kinda messy in here. You know how it is around exam time.

AHMAD - Ha ha ha, don't sweat it man. I hear ya.

(BRENDON clears off his bed and sits down. AHMAD sits on the chair next to BRENDON's computer.)

BRENDON - So you were talking about how you chose Sigma but you were once going toward Kappa right?

AHMAD - Yeah.

BRENDON - Well how far did you go into your process with Kappa?

AHMAD - Well...

(AHMAD looks up at the ceiling as if he's trying to remember details.)

AHMAD - I went pretty far man. I mean, real far.

BRENDON - Like you were pledging?

AHMAD - I might as well had been. For all that I went through to get it, yeah.

BRENDON - And you were able to switch like that? Without any kind of drama?

AHMAD - Well I do get drama. I got it downstairs. I'm sure you heard.

BRENDON - Yeah.

AHMAD - But I knew that was coming. So I'm not surprised.

BRENDON - Well how were you able to make a switch like that? I mean, I'm not quite sure I understand.

AHMAD - Brendon remember this. You've got to be your own man and follow what's in your heart. Not anybody else's heart. You've got to do what is best for you. Unfortunately for me, I didn't find out that Kappa Alpha Psi wasn't the best for me until I got deeply involved with the process of intake. But that's why we have interest meetings. So you can decipher for yourself if that particular organization best suits you and you it.

BRENDON - That makes sense.

AHMAD - I know Brandon would love for you to follow in his footsteps and pursue Sigma. But if it isn't in your heart man, then don't do it.

(silence)

BRENDON - I hear ya.

(silence)

BRENDON - So let me ask you.

AHMAD - Uh huh.

BRENDON - And I don't know if you can even answer this.

AHMAD - If I can't, I won't. But go ahead and ask.

BRENDON - Okay. Can you tell me, like, can you let me know why exactly you decided to not go Kappa? Like what made you change your mind if you thought that that was the fraternity for you?

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TY - I don't know man. I mean, they may get suspended for something like this.

RONNIE - So?

TY thinks - Good grief! Why am I even talkin' to this fool about this?

TY - Dre, what would we do if this happened to us?

DRE - This is my thing Ty. I have problems with Iotas in general anyway. I mean, I liked it when it was just eight. Why we gotta have nine organizations?

TY - But they've been in the pan hel for years. They were in the pan hel before you were an Omega. What are you saying?

DRE - I just don't vibe on them man. For real. And that nigga Sean is whack. He wanted to be a Que, and an Alpha. I heard Gregg say he wanted to be a Kappa. How the hell does he now show up as an Iota and talking shit?

TY - He was investigating which frat was best for him. That's all. What's wrong with that?

RONNIE - I was born to be an Omega! Que til I die! I knew that when the doctor pulled me out of my mom's. I was throwing up the hooks coming out!

(Everyone laughs.)

TY thinks - Oh brother!

(The door opens and DEXTER walks in.)

TY - What's up dog?

DEXTER - What up team.

RONNIE - What's up bruh. You remember my cousin Nas right?

DEXTER - Oh yeah. What's up playa?

NASIM - I'm chillin family.

(DEXTER and NASIM shake hands.)

DEXTER - What's up with yall?

TY - Yo dog, did you know that these fools were behind that stunt at the library dedication? With the Iota pledge?

DEXTER - I wasn't at the ceremony but the word is all over campus. Yall did that shit?

DRE - Yeah. Getting back at Sean.

(DEXTER laughs.)

DEXTER - You stupid Ronnie. Ha ha ha.

TY - You don't see anything majorly wrong with this picture?

DEXTER - What?

(silence)

TY - Nevermind.

(TY grabs his bag and starts to walk upstairs.)

DRE - Where you goin' man?

TY - I gotta read this article for class. I'll be upstairs.

RONNIE - Aight bruh.

(TY goes upstairs.)

TY thinks - Damn, I feel bad for Sean. What he did was stupid...

(TY walks into one of the rooms upstairs.)

TY - ...and he did kinda go at a lot of frats and that was kinda stupid.

(TY sits down and pulls his books out.)

TY thinks - And to challenge Ronnie right here at the house was stupid too.

(TY sits down and prepares to study.)

TY thinks - But damn to mess up his chapter, that aint cool.

(silence)

(TY pulls out his cell phone and dials SEAN.)

SEAN's VOICE MAIL - Hey this is Sean, newest member of Iota Phi Theta fraternity innnnnnnnnnnncorporated! Please leave me a mes...

(TY hangs up.)

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AHMAD - Well first of all, I didn't like the way I was being treated by some of the members.

BRENDON - What do you mean?

AHMAD - I mean, some of the Kappas on the yard at that time were cool. But there was always a gang of them hanging around that had graduated. These dudes were not in the chapter anymore because they had already left Ahpla. But they would come by and get with us or put us through a set. Which was nothing but excuse gatherings to haze niggas or get food.

BRENDON - Really?

AHMAD - Yeah man. I was always thinking, don't these dudes have lives? I mean damn.

(BRENDON laughs. AHMAD doesn't.)

AHMAD - So anyway, that was one thing. But another thing is that in my opinion, they weren't teaching me enough stuff.

BRENDON - Teaching you?

AHMAD - Yeah. There was a lot about Kappa that I just didn't know. And now that I am in a fraternity, I see even more now how important knowing your history is. I know Sigma like the back of my hand. Why? Because my big brothers taught it to me. They engraved our history into our heads twenty four seven.

BRENDON - But you didn't get that pursuing Kappa?

AHMAD - Nope.

BRENDON - Didn't you feel like you left them hanging a little?

(AHMAD stops to think about that question.)

AHMAD - Yeah, kinda. But it was better for me in the long run. Ya know?

BRENDON - Yeah. So let me ask you this. Why Sigma?

(AHMAD smiles.)

AHMAD - I was waiting for you to get to that question.

(BRENDON smiles too.)

AHMAD - Well like I said, I realized that Kappa just wasn't for me. I actually left Ahpla after that and transferred to Amgis. And I wasn't going to pursue an organization at all.

BRENDON - Uh huh.

AHMAD - Then I met Seth. We used to live in the same hallway in the dorm over at Amgis. And he wanted to be a Sigma. His uncles are all Sigmas.

BRENDON - Oh really? Cool.

AHMAD - So we would talk down in the games room about it. We shot pool together down there and we would talk about what he saw frat life as, and what I saw it as. Ya know?

BRENDON - Yeah.

AHMAD - So eventually I told him that I had gone out for Kappa Alpha Psi and I was basically one of there pledgees before it was over with. And I told him that I bounced up out of that camp. But he understood when I gave him my reasons and he was cool with that.

BRENDON - Oh okay.

AHMAD - So when Hayden came through and got with the chapter, they set up an interest meeting. It was like a social event. Real casual but serious. And I got to meet some of the brothers. Me and Seth were there and I met Miri. I didn't meet Brandon there, I didn't meet him until later. But I liked the way that the brothers approached and spoke to us. I liked the way they presented their information. And most importantly, I like the programs that they had in the community. We don't do community service because it's popular or because it makes us look good. We have to. We're mandated by our national office to.

BRENDON - Really?

AHMAD - Oh yeah. So when the brothers would go out into the community and work, educate, or clean up, they took us with them. I never had that experience before.

BRENDON - Wow.

AHMAD - It was tight man. So I started to feel what they were about. And I knew I was happy I didn't continue to go the other way toward Kappa.

BRENDON - I hear ya.

AHMAD - I knew the Kappas would probably hate me. And I got a lot of flack here on campus from them. It actually helped me make my decision to leave and go to Amgis. I was surprised their neo Mike came at me though. He doesn't even know me.

BRENDON - He's high strung though.

AHMAD - Yeah well he needs to watch himself. He seems to make enemies fast.

BRENDON - Yeah.

AHMAD - I know that if anything, me and Xavier could probably sit down and have a conversation about it. He didn't want me to leave when I left. And I know he is level headed and down to earth. He's a good brother.

BRENDON - Yeah, he is.

AHMAD - Now Gregg, that's another story.

BRENDON - Really?

AHMAD - Gregg hates me. If he didn't have to break up Xavier and Mike just now, he probably would've stepped to me.

BRENDON - Really? Just because you left his fraternity?

AHMAD - That and...

(AHMAD pauses.)

AHMAD - ...he may know by now that I'm dating his ex Shareesa.

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(DERRICK looks over at the alarm clock on the dresser.)

DERRICK - It's only four.

(CANDACE laughs.)

CANDACE - Only four? You say that like it's normal to be on the phone with someone at four o' clock in the morning!

(They both laugh.)

DERRICK - Okay okay. You made your point.

CANDACE - So we better get off the phone now. This has been a great conversation though.

DERRICK - Yeah it has.

CANDACE - How long has it been?

DERRICK - Oh I don't know. When you called, I was in the locker room after the game. So it must've been like eleven.

CANDACE - Yeah. Wow.

DERRICK - Wow.

(silence)

CANDACE - So um, I guess I'll talk to you later then.

DERRICK - Yeah. Do that. Get some sleep okay?

CANDACE - I will. You too. You got a long day tomorrow traveling to the west coast.

DERRICK - Yeah. I'll be alright.

CANDACE - Well I'll pray for you to get there safely and to have a good game.

DERRICK - Thanks.

(silence)

CANDACE - So have a good sleep.

DERRICK - You too.

CANDACE - Good night Derrick.

DERRICK - Good night.