by D. Camille
When the students had issues, or needed a timeout, the meditative classes gave them a break from school work and allowed them to work on their mental health. Entering the building, he spotted the administrator, then walked over to her.
“Mr. Webber, so nice to see you.”
“Hello, Ms. Greer. I’m here to see one of the students.”
“Okay, which one?”
“Dameon Wilkins.”
She nodded. “Mr. Profanity and Anger…yes, he’s in room 102.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure. I hope to see you over here more often. I’d love to show you more about our program.” She offered.
“I’ll try to do that.”
Josiah headed in the direction of the room, and knocked on the door when he arrived. Stepping inside, he saw a few children lying down, while others sat meditating in silence.
“Who are you here to see, Mr. Webber?” the teacher asked.
“Dameon Wilkins.”
She nodded. “I’ll get him for you.”
Josiah watched as she went to the boy, then pointed back at Josiah as she spoke to Dameon. The boy looked at him, then walked slowly over to where he stood.
“Hello, Dameon. I’m Mr. Webber.”
“Hi.”
“Can we talk for a few minutes?”
Dameon shrugged. “I guess…”
“You can use the quiet room across the hall.”
“I’ll bring him back when we’re done.” Josiah promised.
“Okay…”
Leading Dameon across the hall, Josiah positioned two chairs inside the room, facing one another. He looked at the boy, then leaned forward.
“So, tell me about what happened in Ms. Barrett’s class.”
“We had to do a worksheet.”
Josiah nodded. “Okay. You didn’t want to do a worksheet today?”
“I was tired.”
“Did you sleep last night?”
Dameon looked at him. “I don’t know.”
Josiah studied the boy, then asked, “Did you know how to do the worksheet?”
“I didn’t want to do it.”
“Because you were tired?”
“I don’t like it.”
“You don’t like what? The worksheets or something else?”
He folded his arms. “Everything…”
“Let’s talk about what you don’t like.” Josiah sat back.
Dameon listened with his arms still folded.
“Do you like school?”
“No.”
“Do you like your home?”
“No.”
“Okay…do you have friends?”
He frowned. “Yeah…”
“What don’t you like about school?”
“It’s boring.”
Josiah placed his hands on his thighs.”
“What don’t you like about your home?”
“My momma make me do stuff.”
“What kinds of stuff?”
Dameon frowned. “Homework, clean my room, stuff like that.”
“I take it you don’t like that?”
“I don’t want to do it. I just want to play video games with my brother.”
Nodding, Josiah took in that information.
“How old is your brother?”
“Fourteen.”
“Does he like school?”
Dameon replied. “Nope.”
“Is that why you don’t like school? Because your brother doesn’t?”
“I don’t like math and stuff. I like gym and recess.”
“You know it’s okay to like both?” Josiah told him.
Dameon looked down at the floor.
“When you go back to class, you can’t take your anger out on the other students,” Josiah began. “If you’re feeling angry or frustrated, you can come and talk to me. Just ask Ms. Barrett or any of your other teachers to contact me.”
“Talk to you about what?”
“Anything that you’d like to talk about, and whatever is making you angry.” Josiah answered. “Can we do that?”
Dameon looked at Josiah and shrugged. “Yeah…”
Josiah smiled. “Good. Are you enjoying the meditation?”
“I don’t gotta do math.”
“We’re going to help you with that, okay?”
Josiah returned Dameon to the meditative classroom, then went back to his office. At the end of the day, he received a call from Ms. Adams.
“Yes, Ms. Adams?”
“Dameon Wilkins’ mother is here. Can you come to my office please?”
“I will be right there.”
Ending the call, Josiah made his way to the Principal’s office. He was shown to her door, and when he stepped inside, he saw Ms. Barrett, along with who he assumed was Dameon’s mother, and Ms. Adams.
“Hello, everyone.” He greeted.
“Mr. Webber, please join us.” Ms. Adams invited.
Taking a chair off to the side, Josiah gave the women his full attention.
“Ms. Wilkins, this is our Guidance Counselor, Mr. Webber.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Ms. Wilkins said, looking over the handsome counselor.
“You too, and I’ve met your son.”
She smiled and Kenya sat watching.
“Mr. Webber, I called you in to see if you had any questions for Ms. Wilkins, since Dameon is a part of your caseload now.” Ms. Adams explained.
“In speaking with Dameon, I understand that he doesn’t like school. Has he voiced his feelings to you?” Josiah asked.
“Don’t all kids hate school?” she asked.
“No…and they shouldn’t.” Josiah replied. “I’m sure the teachers like Ms. Barrett work very hard to make the Bantu Academy a place that students like to attend.”
Kenya gave him a few points for that and remained watching, as Josiah continued.
“Dameon mentioned that he has an older brother, who also doesn’t like school. How are you handling that?” he asked.
Ms. Wilkins frowned. “Why are you asking about my other son? This is about Dameon.”
“Your other son clearly influences Dameon.” Josiah answered.
“Listen, I’ll deal with Dameon. He knows better than to be cursing in the classroom.” His mother stated in a huff.
“Dameon may be dealing with issues that require more than temporary discipline.” Josiah explained.
She frowned at Josiah again. “What are you saying?”
All the women looked at him and he replied, “My experience is in working with black boys who start to lose interest in school around fourth grade. There are varying factors as to why this occurs, but one thing is for sure, if we begin to see the signs, we need to start addressing them immediately.”
“Fourth Grade Failure Syndrome is Mr. Webber’s specialty.” Ms. Adams interjected. “And he’s here to help our students avoid that.”
“Dameon can just be lazy.” His mother argued. “There’s nothing wrong with him.”
“I’m not saying that anything is wrong with your son, Ms. Wilkins. I’m saying that he may need some additional help navigating his changing environment.” Josiah said, quietly.
Ms. Wilkins got to her feet. “Look, I’ll make sure he’s not acting up in class again.”
She walked out the door, and the three left in the room looked at one another.
“I guess that didn’t go as well as I’d have liked.” Ms. Adams said, shaking her head. “Thank you both for coming.”
“Is Dameon coming back to class tomorrow?” Kenya asked.
Ms. Adams looked at Josiah. “What do you think Mr. Webber?”
“I’ve told him, that he can ask you, Ms. Barrett, to call me, if he needs to talk about his anger and frustration.” Josiah told Kenya.
‘I’ll be happy to do that.”
“Thank you. I’ll also let his other teachers know, as well.” He responded.
When the women stood, Josiah did the same. Ms. Adams wishe
d them a good day, then watched them leave her office. Josiah held the door open for Kenya, that led out to the hall, then followed her.
“Should I be worried about Dameon?” Kenya asked, as they walked side by side.
“Not worried…”
Kenya nodded. “You’ve been here for half the year, and I just really found out your specialty today. I’d love to learn more about it, since I teach the lower grades.”
“I’d love to tell you more about it.” Josiah said smoothly. “Just let me know when…”
Kenya kept walking toward her room, which was not in the direction of Josiah’s office, but he remained by her side.
“I don’t want to take up too much of your time.” She slid him a look.
“I’m offering as much as needed.”
Outside her door, she stopped and looked up at him.
“Why don’t I let you know?”
He nodded. “You know where to find me.”
“Yes, I know where your office is located.” She said, holding his gaze.
“Then don’t be a stranger.”
Kenya smiled. “I won’t.”
Holding her eyes for a minute longer, Josiah said, “Have a good evening, Ms. Barrett.”
“You too, Mr. Webber.”
Kenya watched him walk away, and admired his form.
“Looking for your next victim?”
She turned to Mr. West and frowned.
“Stay away from me or it’s going to be you.” Kenya warned.
“Why are you so angry with me? You broke things off, remember?” He said harshly.
Kenya looked at him. “And I’m so glad that I did…”
“What have you been telling people?”
“The truth…you’re an asshole. And they see it for themselves…”
Andre frowned. “You’re just bitter, like all these females around here.”
“I’m of no concern to you Mr. West.” Kenya turned toward her door. “Have a good evening.”
He watched her go into her classroom and stood outside the door for long minute.
******
Kenya arrived home to her apartment later, and kicked off her shoes at the door. Flipping through her mail, she made her way to the kitchen to see what she would throw together for dinner, when her phone rang. She answered when she saw the name displayed.
“Hey, girl.”
“Hey,” Niyah replied. “Rashad made dinner and there’s plenty.”
Kenya smiled. “I know Rashad is tired of me coming over there to eat all y’all food.”
Niyah laughed. “No, he’s not…and R.J. wants to see his Aunt Kenya.”
“Don’t tempt me like that. You know handsome faces are my weakness.” Kenya said, leaning back against the counter.
“Do you have something else planned?” Niyah asked.
“No. You know I’m on my Man Ban.”
“Then come and get some of this food, girl.”
Kenya smiled. “Cool. I’m on my way. I don’t think there’s anything in my fridge, anyway.”
“I’m sure there’s not…”
“Keep your jokes, and I’m coming to spoil the hell out of your kids.”
“You’ve already done that.”
“See you in a minute.”
Kenya went into her bedroom and quickly changed into some comfortable clothing to play with Niyah’s son and daughter. She had to admit that she loved those kids like her own. Kenya had thought that once Niyah and Rashad were married, their friendship would take a back seat, but Niyah remained her Day One, and they still worked and played together.
They’d made Kenya one of the family, along with Niyah’s fine ass brother, Curt…his wife, Sydney…and Sydney’s sister, Leslie. Although, she had a family of her own, Kenya preferred hanging out with that crew.
She arrived at the Miller’s home and was greeted by Rashad.
“Here she is. Are you ready to sample this bomb spaghetti?”
Kenya smiled. “You know I am. Let me get a plate before Chris gets here, because I know you invited him.”
Rashad looked down at her. “He’s already here.”
“Damn.” Kenya took off toward the kitchen, hearing Rashad’s laugh.
Kenya saw Chris leaning back against the counter with a small plate and glared at him.
“Did you save some for anybody else?”
“I’m just sampling.” He said with a smile.
Niyah entered the room with the kids and R.J. ran to Kenya.
“Aunt Kenya! Did you come to eat with us?”
Bending, she kissed his face. “I did, but I think Chris is going to eat all the food.”
R.J. looked at Chris, who shook his head, while Niyah handed Pearl to Kenya.
“Here, take your goddaughter, while I get everything ready.” Niyah said, then turned to Chris. “Why are you eating?”
“I’m sampling.” He repeated.
“Out.” Niyah told him. “All males out of the kitchen, until everyone eats, please.”
Kenya watched as a beagle ran into the kitchen barking at Niyah.
“Rashad, if you don’t get your dog!” Niyah told her husband.
Her husband smiled. “Maybe he wants to eat, too.”
“Get the dog, or…”
“Come on, Oba.” R.J. grabbed the dog’s collar. “I’ll get him, Momma.”
She smiled at her son, with his neat locs. “Thank you, little King.”
“I’ll help,” Rashad winked at her. “Come on, Chris. My wife wants to talk to her friend.”
Kenya watched them leave, then turned to Niyah.
“You want to talk to me?”
Niyah looked sheepish. “Yeah…”
“Whatever it is…no.” Kenya told her.
“You don’t even know.”
“Hmmm…I knew this dinner was too good to be true.”
Niyah frowned. “Stop. You know we always have you over.”
“What is it then?”
Kenya heard the doorbell ring and looked at Niyah.
“I invited another guest.” Niyah told her quietly.
“Who?” Kenya asked.
She turned when Rashad entered the kitchen with a very handsome man in jeans and a dark blue T-shirt.
“Ms. Barrett. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I didn’t expect you either…Mr. Webber.” Kenya turned and glared at Niyah.
Chapter 2
“What the hell are you doing?” Kenya snapped at Niyah, after Rashad had taken Josiah out to the pool area, where the men were waiting for dinner, along with the children.
Niyah went about prepping some garlic bread. “Hosting dinner.”
“Why is Mr. Webber here?”
“Oh, I saw him when I was leaving today, and he said hello. He’s so nice…”
“Niyah.”
After putting the bread in the oven, she turned to Kenya.
“Look, you’ve been on this Man Ban long enough. Mr. West isn’t worth all this.” Niyah told her.
“What? I’ve dated quite a few men after Andre…and found them all lacking.”
Niyah shrugged. “Well, maybe you’ve been dating the wrong ones.”
“I think that’s clear, Mrs. Miller. Otherwise, I’d be Mrs. Somebody by this time.” Kenya pointed out.
“Mr. Webber might be different.”
Niyah frowned. “He works at the school.”
“Yes, I know. So do I…” Niyah said, starting a salad to go with the meal.
“You know I’m not doing that again.”
Niyah paused. “It’s not the school. It’s the men.”
“Why Mr. Webber?” Kenya asked.
“Because you’re attracted to him…and don’t deny it.”
Kenya stared at her. “And what does that mean?”
Niyah began making points with her fingers. “One, he’s nice. Two, he’s fine. Three, he’s very smart. Four, he’s exactly your type. Five…
“Okay, damn!”
&nbs
p; “I could go on.” Niyah told her, and walked over to where she stood. “Kenya, you can’t take your ball and go home because you struck out a few times.”
“I don’t want to do this again, Niyah.”
Niyah hugged her. “Okay, if Mr. Webber is an asshole like Andre, then I’ll let you die an old maid.”
Kenya pulled away. “Really Niyah?”
“I’m just trying to make you laugh. I want you to be happy.”
“I should’ve just married your brother.” Kenya teased.
“Don’t say that around Sydney, Leslie or C.K.” Niyah warned.
Now Kenya did laugh. “You’re still so sensitive about Curt.”
“And always will be…” Niyah told her, before going back to the salad. “Now back to you.”
“What about me?”
Niyah sighed. “Just be open, Kenya.”
The room was silent for a moment, then Kenya said, “I might…”
“You know he’s worth a try.” Niyah smiled.
“Maybe…if he’s interested.”
Niyah fanned a hand. “Don’t play. You know how to get a man’s interest.”
“Hmmm…but keeping it is the key.”
“You’re the one who dumps them, Kenya.”
Kenya smirked. “Because they show their asses…”
“Mr. Webber has been at the school for over six months and hasn’t approached one woman.” Niyah told her.
“Maybe he has one outside of the Bantu Academy?”
“Maybe he doesn’t?” Niyah countered. “You can at least test the waters.”
Kenya looked thoughtful. “Maybe, I’ll just stick in a toe and feel the temperature.”
Both women laughed, then finished the preparations. The dinner was festive with good food and conversation had by all. When Kenya prepared to leave, Josiah also declared it was time for him to depart.
“Thank you all so much for your hospitality.” He told Niyah and Rashad.
“Thank you for coming,” Niyah replied. “We’re all family at the Bantu Academy.”
Kenya hugged the couple, then said goodbye to Chris and headed out the door with Josiah behind her. At her car, she stopped as he approached.
“Am I going out on a limb thinking that this was kind of a set up?” he asked.
“Not at all…but one that I was not aware of…”
He looked down at her. “So you were set up, too?”
Kenya nodded. “Yep, and Chris was the ringer…to try to throw us off.”
“Mrs. Miller is crafty.”