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“Mr. Davis, C plus. Ms. Crozier, B minus. Mr. Bezel, as usual, A plus,” Mr. Lehman said and went on handing out Biology papers.
In the third row, fourth seat, Kareem said to his friend Marquis that sat behind him, “Mr. Gibson, C minus.” He was imitating Mr. Lehman.
“I don’t know what I did wrong.” Marquis confessed.
“You definitely didn’t cheat off of me. That’s obvious.” “Man, I have to stop that.” Marquis was lying. “Imagine that.”
“Please, you’re killing me.”
“Seriously, though. What am I going to do in college next
year? It’s bad enough you’re a freshman and I am a senior and we’re in the same Biology class.”
“Let’s face it. Biology is designed for sophomores. In 8th grade I had a 99% in Science. I wasn’t given a 100% because the school board has decided that no student is perfect, so I was stuck with the 99%. I chose to skip Physical Science as it’s not important. Well, neither is this, but at least I cut open a frog. Just relax, things may change in college.”
“Reem, C minus’ don’t get you into the NYU Theater Program, man.”
“Look, get more involved with the school’s theater program and NYU will be all over you. All the time you spend loitering in the ID room, because you only do five minutes of work making two ID’s a day, you should be with the school’s theater teacher doing extra things. You also need to log onto the NYU web site, so that they can see that you are interested in their school.”
“Yeah, I feel you. I am going to get on top of that. You always say the right things to be way younger than me.”
***
Kareem and Lavar entered the pool area twenty minutes late and the teacher asked them both why they were late? Coach Rodin had a pernicious grin on his face having heard rumors about the two of them doing bad things on school grounds.
“I had a wardrobe and had to borrow shorts from Lavar,” Kareem said with a straight face.
Lavar just nodded his head in agreement. “Whatever he said.”
“Really! Since both of you are seeming to take responsibility for this frequent lateness, both of you 15 laps.”
“But Coach,” Lavar said trying to protest.
His efforts were futile. “But Coach nothing. Fifteen laps. The clock is ticking. Take the end lane and share it.”
Kareem hopped in the pool and hoped that Lavar was not mad. After all, he too had participated in several of the late arrivals, so they had to pay together, simple as that.
At the end of the day, Marquis joined Kareem on the bus headed to West Conshy. They got off the bus and crossed the bridge headed to the train and then boarded it. On the train, Marquis confided in Kareem that his family was poverty- stricken and experienced financial problems since his dad went AWOL and started a new family in Houston, Texas. The sorry man had left him and his siblings behind with no father.
Marquis was going to help his mother clean office buildings to take some of the load off her. Marquis would not get paid, but his mother would have less work to do for the same pay check. Marquis explained that the stress was affecting his grades.
Kareem was sympathetic, but as a 14 year old friend, what could he do? He said, “Never give up. Things will change. Try to find a part time job to help your mom with the bills and study harder. Failing is not going to make this better, man. Good grades lead you to NYU and then to Broadway. They work in tandem.” Kareem tried to sound like an academic scholar.
The train pulled into the Market East station and Kareem used a bit of humor to balm the mood. “You could always rob a bank,” he said impishly.
“Don’t tempt me!” Marquis said through laughter.
Marquis then walked to the office building that his mother cleaned for a living. He had taken heed to Kareem’s advice. Meanwhile, Kareem took the train home and walked into his home. He was aware that he served as an impetus to Marquis and hoped he’d follow through.
Kareem entered the living room and found a morose umbrella draped over Jean-Mary. He was immediately affected. To show concern, he sat on the arm of her recliner and wrapped his arm around her and asked, “What’s wrong, Mama?”
“Oh, nothing. Just a little down.” An obvious lie.
Kareem had no plan to let it go that easily. “Please do not tell me that nothing is wrong. It’s all over your face.”
“Kareem do not worry. I will be fine.”
“Yup, so just tell me what am I not supposed to be worried about.”
“Boy, you’ve always been persistent. Good thing you’re not going to be a lawyer. Any-hoo, the water could potentially be cut off in three days, seventy-two hours, if the bill is not paid in full.”
“And the balance is?” Kareem asked unbothered. He had considered how much he had in a small show box savings, his investments, and his savings account.
She said, “The bill is $549.83.”
“Okay, use the money that my dad left me.”
“No, that money is for your education, not my bills.” “These are our bills, Mama. I implore you to use the
money. I’m a three-year consecutive National Honor Society member. Trust me, top universities will be fighting feverishly over me. Do not fret. I’ll live here instead of going away to avoid room and board. The University of Penn is one of the top three schools in the country. College is a guarantee for me. Pay the water bill.”
Jean-Mary shook her head stubbornly and replied, “I won’t do it. I’ll make a way.”
Kareem was pissed and before he had gotten into trouble, he went to his sanctuary. He prayed that God would command Mary to use the money. Tears began to escape his eyes. He could not believe that Jean-Mary loved him to the point where she would sacrifice the water to keep his educational fund intact. There was no way that he could have her in the house with no water, though. Kareem would move the heavens and Earth for her, so he called his maternal family to see if they could help with some of the money to at least bargain with the city water revenue department. Of course, they all cried broke, and Kareem became more infuriated. To block some of his anger he dug into his homework. That was his outlet. To set up his future for success by working extremely hard in high school.
Later that evening, Kareem went to work and became angrier. There he was slaving for a foreigner. He hated that Jean- Mary’s father was from Alabama and he was a step away from slavery. He thought for a moment about the Black community and the incessant reliance on welfare, which kept them in poverty. That was not going to be him.
Mr. Kim, his boss, noticed that Kareem was not working and scolded him in front of many of his neighbors. Many of them already viewed him as a square because he was not in a hood school, spoke properly and had a job. They were wasting their lives away on corners and making babies. He planned to prevail over the ghetto mind-set and his miserable neighbors. Kareem replayed all of his bad memories in his head and decided someone would pay. He smiled at Mr. Kim, got up and began to stock shelves. He had a plan.
Kareem returned home and went straight to his room and avoided Jean-Mary who was in the kitchen making late tea and toast. He called Marquis and told him to meet him in the ID room to take care of the financial problems that they both faced.