Hello, there. My name is Wanda Jean-Pierre. A six-foot-three, dark-skinned, lean and athletic young Black woman of Haitian descent living in the city of Brockton, Massachusetts. I'm a student at Avery Scott College, a small historically Black four-year school located in downtown Brockton. I major in medicine. The story I'm about to share with you involves how I met my future husband and got over the one that got away. I love my man. He's the love of my life. I worship the ground he walks on. We met at a time of change both for the college we attended and our personal lives.
The face of Avery Scott College was changing, and I wasn't sure I liked it. My parents, Alexander and Vonette Jean-Pierre met while studying in the library. More than twenty years ago. I'd hate for the school to change so much demographically and ideologically that they won't recognize it anymore. Twenty-seven percent of the student body of this historically Black school is of Caucasian descent this year. Students of African-American, Haitian, Jamaican, North African and Cape Verdean descent make up the remaining seventy three percent. You don't see a lot of white schools seriously trying to diversify their student body, that's all I'm saying. They usually only do it for the sake of appearances. Don't argue with my logic or insult my intelligence, people. You know I'm right.
My favorite school was changing, and the changes were really apparent in the Athletic Department. Originally, we competed in Football, men's Baseball, women's Softball, men's and women's Swimming, men's and women's Basketball, men's and women's Cross Country and men's and women's Volleyball. This year, they added men's Ice Hockey, women's Lacrosse, men's and women's Golf and men's and women's Track and Field. I sure as hell hope they don't start to neglect our original varsity teams. Avery Scott College is a sixty-year-old institution. Originally dedicated to the education of African-Americans. Let's not deviate from our mission. Thanks to the school's diversity efforts, there are lots of young men on campus this year. They make up forty nine percent of the nine-thousand-person student body. Now that's a welcome change in my eyes.
The first time I saw Marcus Simon, I thought he was fine. A six-foot-five, lean and muscular, good-looking Black stud. He was mixed, I could tell. His father James Simon is Haitian-American. He's a Massachusetts State Police officer. Marcus is really proud of his dad, and his mother Aria Sanchez is a Mexican-American teacher. I didn't usually go for light-skinned guys or biracial guys but this dude looked good. Even more impressive is the fact that he spoke Haitian Creole as fluently as I did. Marcus told me his parents made sure he embraced both sides of his heritage. The guy appreciated fine Haitian-made meals like rice and beans as well as Mexican tortillas. I had to respect that.
I'm captain of the Avery Scott College women's Volleyball team, and we won an NCAA Division Two Championship during my first year and my second year. I hope we can do just as well this year. Soon I'm going to be a senior. This is my next to final year leading the team. The rookies had better prove themselves worthy, or else. This year three white chicks and an Asian broad tried out for the previously all-Black women's Volleyball team. The Asian chick and one of the white chicks made it. That white chick's name was Cheryl Watson. She was blonde, skinny, ambitious as hell and wanted my spot. I can't stand that type of woman. And the Asian chick, Amelia Chang, definitely had an attitude problem. I had to watch these two. Can't have anybody trying to take what's mine.
Please don't get it twisted. Defending what's yours is what this life is all about. I heard from my cousin Ashley, star of the Avery Scott College women's swimming team, that two white chicks joined the team. The team was previously made up exclusively of African-American and Hispanic chicks. Times are changing at Avery Scott College. However, I don't have to like it. Now, I don't have a problem with the newcomers trying out for our teams. If they're talented, they might be an asset to said teams. Now, they have to remember that this is our school and these are our teams. Let them be respectful and don't act like they own the place.
Let's move on to better things. The sexy stud known as Marcus Simon was in my sociology class. He's one of eight males in a class of twenty people. As luck would have it, Cheryl ended up in the class. And she clearly wanted Marcus Simon. I'll be damned if I let that white chick get her hooks into the sexiest brother on campus. Still, that witch had me worried. Marcus Simon is on the all-new Men's Ice Hockey team. He's one of a few brothers I know who play this sport. There are three other Black guys, one Asian guy and one Hispanic dude on the team, the rest are white guys. I'm not really into ice hockey. It's not the kind of sport you could pay me to watch. It simply doesn't interest me.
Marcus Simon plays ice hockey, and since I love him, I've to deal. I had to change my attitude toward hockey, and fast. It wasn't easy. Cheryl on the other hand wears Bruins shirts all the time and showed up at the ice hockey team's events. And she made sure she brought all of her white female friends with her. So I showed up too, to show my future hubby some support. And you had better believe I brought some Black ladies with me. I told my girlfriends if they didn't come help me support my favorite guy, there would be hell to pay. Cheryl gave me the evil eye. She knew what I was doing. The men's ice hockey program wasn't the most popular team on campus. Only the parents of the players and some of their girlfriends showed up. Otherwise the newly constructed hockey arena was usually empty. Well, I endeavored to change that. And you know what? I did!
I became such a vocal supporter of the men's ice hockey team that the coach, a nice-looking Italian guy named Marciano, gave me a team jacket for free. The guy even told me I was his good luck charm. When I showed up with about fifty of my lady friends or so, the team played better and usually won. Coach Marciano invited me and some of my closest girlfriends to travel with the team when they went away for events. I really didn't mind that. Especially since Marcus seemed to like having me around. I would sit next to him and joke with him and his buddies.
Now that I think about it, the dudes on the men's ice hockey team weren't bad. They were a cool, easygoing bunch. I even befriended some of them. This Jamaican-American goalie named Patterson Jays had a crush on me, and he was cute but I made it clear we could only be friends. Nothing against Jamaican guys but I love my Haitian men. Eric Lee, the only Asian dude on the team told me he wished his girlfriend Mariko supported him like I did Marcus. Such a sweet thing for him to say! I liked the team and they liked me. The only person I couldn't stand was Cheryl. She still hanging around. The witch wanted to get her hooks into Marcus, especially now that he made captain. Now, even in 2009, a Black guy becoming captain of a collegiate ice hockey team is a big deal. Marcus became the darling of the media, so to speak. Sports Illustrated did an article on him, as did Black Enterprise. The Brockton Enterprise newspaper even made him their front page cover. Isn't that cool?
I could care less about Marcus prowess on the ice. I loved him and I wanted him to myself. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to realize that I loved him. Cheryl kept flirting with him and to my dismay, he flirted right back. It broke my heart when I saw that. I saw her hug him after a big match. That night, I went home and wept. I lay in my bed that night, and wondered why he didn't want me. I'm tall, pretty in the face, strong in the body and thick in the booty. Like my idol, the gorgeous sportswoman Serena Williams. She'll always be the World's Number One in my heart. Why didn't Marcus Simon want me? Why did he seem to prefer the company of Cheryl, a short and skinny blonde-haired white chick?