Say It

seven

same day | 7:08pm

—

Sitting on this panel with a few Alpha and Finer women along with my line sister, Arnelle, made me a little happy. There were petty beefs between the organizations, but we came together for a good cause.

All of us had experienced some form of sexual assault. I didn't know Mariyah did until she confessed to me a while back. It saddened me because her attacker was her father.

However, it explained his possessiveness over her. Once her mother found out, it was over. According to Mariyah, her mother tried to kill her father.

I have confidence that my mom would have done the same.

What really sucked is that Mariyah's father is a famous actor so everything unraveled in front of the world. I tried to be there as best as I could.

Looking ahead, the room was packed. Mostly women much to my disappointment, but there was some fellas in the crowd.

Including the nigga I'm mad at right now.

When we made eye contact, he smiled and waved, but I just looked away. I knew he'd be confused, but I'd have to chew into him later. Mariyah said to give him the benefit of the doubt.

But, if he lie to me to my face, all of that goes out of the window.

"Hello everyone," Mariyah began to speak. "I'm so glad that you all found time in your day to come to our panel, hosted by the Oh so pretty ladies of Alpha.. Kappa Alpha."

Arnelle and I glanced at each other then back at Mariyah.

"We do have some special, special guest panelists. We teamed up with two Devastating Divas and two Finer women. First, we have Arnelle Williams of Delta Sigma Theta. She currently serve as her Chapter's President." Arnelle raised her hand and smiled as everyone clapped.

"Next, we have my dearest friend Nia Cartier of Delta Sigma Theta. She currently serves on the board for Cartier Academy and she is the President of our sophomore class."

"She does more than that." A student blurted out from the crowd causing everyone to look at her.

"We'd be all day naming everything that Nia is involved in."

Mariyah continued as if she wasn't interrupted and introduced the two Zetas and her line sisters before we got started. I glanced at my phone to see that Jace had texted me.

I opened it to see what the nigga wanted.

What's wrong?

I politely closed the message and sat back in my seat. I put it to the back of my mind and focused on the task at hand.

"So, Nia is going to start off first and after she finishes, feel free to ask questions." Mariyah said before giving me the floor.

    "Hi everyone. Since Mariyah has introduced me, I won't get into all of that. But, what I will say is that I exceed qualifications to speak on this panel if some of you were wondering. I started a nonprofit organization right here on this campus to support Black women who are survivors of sexual assault. I have also done work alongside my mother, who is a survivor herself."