****
Allen, Davis and Kizzy squeezed themselves into the cramped janitors office after getting their Chinese take out. There was barely enough space for all of their Styrofoam containers on the table. Allen sat sandwiched between Davis and Kizzy. Allen had not meant to sit there and he hoped his position next to Kizzy did not offend Davis. So far things were turning out well. Davis and Kizzy had done most of the talking on the way back to he hotel. They basically talked about random stuff, and different people they knew at the hotel. Allen had no idea what they were talking about or how to come in on the conversation, so he just listened. He was content with listening to them while they ate when Kizzy turned to him.
“So Allen, you single?”
“Dag, Kizzy, you don’ waste no time! He ain’t even got two spoonfuls of rice down and you startin’!” laughed Davis.
“Hey, I’m not tryin’ to front. I’ma go for mine. So what you say
Allen?”
“Actually, I am seeing someone.”
“A boy or a girl?”
“A girl.”
“Y’all serious?”
“We just started dating, but I am interested in her.”
“What if I told you that I could offer you the opportunity of a life
time?”
“Girl, you are too bold!” laughed Davis.
Davis seemed very amused about the whole situation. Obviously, Kizzy was not his girl, nor did he have any intentions for her. Unfortunately for Kizzy, neither did Allen. Her boldness and her directness made Allen very uncomfortable. He couldn’t believe she was propositioning him in the presence of other people.
“I’d regret to say I’d have to decline.”
“So you a good boy, Allen?”
“I like to think I am.”
“It’s okay to be bad sometimes.”
Allen couldn’t think of anything to say to that. So he just said
nothing.
“Don’t say you never had your chance. It’s a little tight in here. I think I’m going back down to the window where there’s more space.”
Kizzy picked up the remains of her meal and headed out the door without another word.
“Sorry, Allen”, smiled Davis, once she was out of earshot.
“Did you set me up?” asked Allen.
“She begged me to introduce her. But I knew you wasn’t gonna be feelin’ her though.”
“She’s very direct.”
“No, just desperate. Don’t get me wrong, I love her and evythin’, but she can be a chicken head sometimes. You know?”
“I thought she might have been your girl.”
“Nah, we just co-workers. We don’t even hang out or anything. I don’t have nobody right now. I’m tryin’ to get my life together and I don’t need the drama. You feel.”
“I get that. Don’t tell Kizzy, but to be truthful, I don’t even know if it’s gonna work out with the girl I’m seeing right now.”
“Word? Why not?”
“A couple of days ago, she found out that I worked here and when I called to ask her out again, she was a little evasive. She sort of gave me the brush if you know what I mean.”
“I hear that. She lookin’ for cheddah. That’s bad. You know, some chicks they so messed up they see you wit’ two twenty dollah bills an’ dey throwin’ theyself at you. And if it’s not one thing it’s another.”
“Dating is hard when you’re a work in progress.”
“That’s why I don’t. I got too much goin’ on tryin’ to straighten my life out. I wasted a lot of my life on the street, hangin’ out on the corner. After a while you get tired. You always gotta have one eye over your shoulda, always gotta be at the drop spot, no matter what, rain, sleet, or snow. It’s all good when you a kid and you don’t know no better, but then you get older. You want somethin’ more out of life. You want to live, period. You see the money you makin’ ain’t worth the trouble you get behind it.” Davis said rather gravely.
“I couldn’t agree with you more. So what’s your plan?” asked Allen.
“First, I wanna work on getting’ my contractin’ license.”
“With the way you work, I thought you would’ve had one already!”
“Nah. I got a lot of training certificates, but not the real deal youknowwhatimean. I been going to night school to get my real diploma as like a first step, you know, but it’s hard. I never had much luck wit’ the books. I can deal with math, but I’m not so good with readin’an’ writin papers, stuff like that. That English regents ain’t no joke, son.”
“What is it that you seem to be having trouble with?”
“Everythin’ man. A lot of times I don’t even get what they talkin’ about in those old-time novels.”
“What ‘old time novels’?”
“You know the ones by those ol’ dead white guys from England and what not. Shakespear an’ them. It’s like they speakin’ English, but not no English I never heard before. You feel?”
“I get you. The language is pretty hard to take, because it really is a different kind of English. Most of those books are written using a lot of expressions and phrases that people of today don’t use any more. Do you read the books with a guide, like “Cliff Notes”?”
“I been usin’ that, the dictionary, whatever. Sometimes its like I get even more confused ‘cause just when you get into what’s goin’ on, you run into somethin’ that confuses you and when you look it up there’s like five different meanings it could be or the meanings theyself is confusin’. Then I gotta write these papers. A lotta times, I’m not sure if I’m gettin’ what I’m suppost to outta the readin’. You know like the main idea and whatnot.”
“Do they offer help at your school?”
“They have tutors, but I have a hard time meetin wit’ them ‘cause they not available when I’m off. They have daytime office hours durin’ the week. I’m only free on the weekends.”
“Maybe I could help you. Better yet, I have a friend who is a teacher who may be able to help us, too. We could all get together on Saturday and get our gears turning.”
“I don’t know, man. I don’t want to put you or your friend out.”
“It’s no problem, I don’t mind and I know she won’t. How about we meet at the library in the Museum of Natural History over on 81st. It’s better than the 40th Street one because there’s not a lot of traffic and
there’s private space where we’ll be able to talk.”
“Aiight. Is 11:00 a good time?”
“As good as any. I’ll let you know what my friend says.”
“Cool.”
“And how would you feel about meeting on Sunday afternoons if
necessary?”
“I guess I could. Just as long as it’s after 2:00 ‘cause I’ma start goin’ to church. That’s another thing I been workin on: tryin’ to live a saved life. A couple of month’s ago I met this dude named Daniel at like a church festival or somethin’, and he’s really been breakin’ things down for me. He told me about this church over on 153rd street called Greater
somethin’ somethin’…”
Allen couldn’t help but interrupt at this point.
“Is the guy you met, Daniel Joyner?”
“Yeah. You know him?”
“I went to school with him as a kid. He’s our Youth Outreach
coordinator at Greater Apostolic.”
“Yeah, that’s the church! You go there?!”
“Every Sunday.”
“For real? Cold Snap! This is crazy, yo! What’s the chance of
somethin’ like this happening?”
“It’s almost as if God must’ve wanted us to meet”, said Allen thoughtfully.
Thirty-Three