Saturday, January 1, 2011

Joy Comes In The Morning

During the summer , against my better judgement, I attended a summer jam. Mama had company, so I decided to hang out with my peers. Being anti-social, I laid low in the back watching everyone else have fun. Georgia Davis and her friends were the most popular girls in school. When they came to buy beverages at the concession stand where I was, Georgia took one look at me and laughed.
    "They let anyone in!" Then Georgia screamed. "Look at her shoes!" Every eye in the entire room was on my feet. I wanted to run out but the famous fight circle was formed around me.
    "I can't believe you came out looking like that!" Laughter filled the room. All I could do was stand there as the circle tightened and there was no escape. Finally, security came over and broke up the circle. I ran out, but not before tripping over my long frayed shoestrings and stumbling to the ground. It was an uproar at my expense.


Bobby Ray's Day, was a morning talk show Mama listened to when she needed to settle her conscious. Bobby Ray always opened and closed his show with an uplifting quote. This particular morning, Bobby Ray was giving a lucky winner a fresh new pair of Allen Iverson sneakers. They hadn't even hit the stores yet. All morning I called hoping to be the ninth caller. Finally I got through, but was the fifteenth caller.
    "Don't worry sweetheart. We're doing this all week."
Mama felt bad for me and called every morning until the last day.
    "We won baby!!!" My heart elevated to my throat. Sweat poured down my face as we waited for the city bus to meet a representative at the radio station. I was so anxious that I could barely speak.


When we arrived, I damn near ran inside. A big black husky man asked for my I.D. Mama showed him hers and we were escorted in the back to meet Bobby Ray. As we waited, a short thin man with an afro came in to the room with a camera crew and entourage.
    "What's you name?" Mama smiled.
   "Heather." The guys all surrounded her.
    "Alright. Show me what you got!" Mama looked surprised.
    "What? We're here for the shoes." With that said, one of the guys went into another room and brought out my Iverson's.
      "Rules are rules. You gotta show me what you got." Mama and I shared a look.
      "Where's Bobby Ray?" All the guys laughed.
      "Old ass Bobby Ray! This is WGYJ-99.4 baby!" Mama had dialed the wrong number. She had called the most notorious radio station for hoe banging. They were under investigation for filming under age girls in pornographic movies. Mama told me to wait outside. All I could hear was cheering and screaming. When Mama came out, her shirt was torn and there were tears in her eyes.
     "Let's go."



When we got home, I called the police. Mama slapped the phone out of my hands.
   "What are you doing!" Mama sat me down and pulled the Iverson's from her huge pocketbook. Even though I knew what Mama had gone through, I appreciated her getting me the shoes. A few weeks later, we saw that same guy again. He was sitting inside of the police car. When he saw Mama, he screamed,"Bitch you gave me gonorrhea!!" Mama laughed and screamed back,
    "That must have been the bitch before me, because I gave you H.I.V!!!"
 

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