College Boy : A Novel (9781416586500) by Omar (COR) Tyree Page B

studying, and Peter finally gave some correct answers, to Troy’s applause.
    â€œGood, man, it’s about time. I thought I would have to be up all night with you,” Troy commented excitedly. “It’s already a quarter after one.”
    â€œIt’s ten after one,” Peter corrected, looking over at his desk clock.
    â€œShut up, man, it’s about the same thing,” Troy snapped.
    John Hughes’s roommate walked the two girls back to the elevator. “OK, then, I’ll see you,” he said before the elevator doors closed. He stormed back to his room, angry for some reason.
    Troy continued to listen.
    â€œShit, John! What the hell I tell you ’bout dem White girls! All they wanna do is be friendly with us and shit! I told you to leave them ugly ones alone anyway! Every night you got some new monsters coming down here to act stupid and leave!”
    â€œYo, is someone arguing or something?” Peter asked, hearing the disturbance.
    â€œOne of them football players is mad about them White girls I was telling you about,” Troy answered. He chuckled to himself as the clamor decreased. He and Peter returned to the quizzing.
    â€œOK, Pete, what is a control?”
    â€œThat’s an experiment where the observer can manipulate the stimulus, to see the changes in the effects.”
    â€œBet! Now you doing aw’ight,” Troy told him.
    Â 
    â€œOK, you think you’re ready by now, Peter?” Troy asked, entering the auditorium. They had remained on the phone until two o’clock in the morning.
    â€œYeah, I think I can kick it out. But damn, where did all these people come from?” Peter asked, observing an enormous increase in the class population.
    Troy smiled. “These are the people who’ll only come to class on test day. It’s, like, five hundred of us. Who gon’ recognize Joe Blow?”
    After six minutes of explanations and the passing out of tests, it began. Troy found few difficulties with the sixty-question test, although he guessed four answers. He finished the test in precisely thirty-eight minutes out of an allotted fifty. Seeing that Peter, who sat near him, was not yet finished, Troy held on to his test answers to help him out. He watched for the instructor’s assistants as he did so.
    â€œAy’, Pete, number seven is b ,” he whispered while Peter changed the answer. “Number thirty-four is e .”
    Troy stooped down to fake picking up a pencil whenever he spotted an assistant nearing. They cheated until time was consumed, changing ten of Peter’s original answers.
    â€œThanks, Troy. I hope I did well on that exam,” Peter said after dismissal.
    â€œOh, sorry,” a White student apologized. Peter had accidentally bumped into him, but he paid no attention as he listened to Troy.
    â€œDon’t even worry about it, man. I’ll always help a friend, no matter what it takes,” Troy assured him.
    Â 
    Back inside the cafeteria, a rush of Black students was jumping in line as usual. Troy and Peter saw Doc and jumped up in front of him.
    â€œHey, you guys just can’t be jumping in front of people. I’ve been waiting here,” a muscular White girl protested.
    Doc responded before Troy could. “Why don’t you just shut up and mind your business?”
    â€œYeah, well what are you gonna do to me?” she asked, challenging him.
    Doc stared at her. “I’ll punch you in the face. That’s what I’ll do to ya,” he answered. The rambunctious girl sulked and romped away to another line.
    Troy spotted someone he knew, deciding to sit with her instead of with Peter and Doc, who sat nearby.
    â€œWhat’s up, girl?” he asked, placing his tray in front of hers. “Why are you sitting by yourself?”
    â€œMy friends all have different schedules from mine,” she said. Lisa had light brown eyes, hair, and skin, but with a smaller