Grandma's Survival Kit

In every young girl’s life, there’s that one special woman that she aspires to emulate. NO! No!  I am not talking about losing your identity and replacing it with someone else's.  On the contrary, you purge that which is useless and replace it with a beneficial attribute.  This may sound difficult, but it’s not. We all have a living testimony in our lives. It may be an Aunt May, cousin Violet or Big Momma that lives next door. No matter whom it is, that person is within us. A part of us yearn to have that special something among our valued possessions. With it we can get the strength and guidance that we so desperately need.

All That Matters

I woke up this morning with a lump in my throat. My demanding coughs couldn’t nudge the stubborn thick mass that was lodged in my throat. It wouldn’t budge. I didn’t have the strength to force the issue at hand. Since I was able to breathe, I decided to get myself together for the start of the work week. I placed my right hand underneath the back of my right knee. I swung it across my left leg building enough momentum to launch myself upright to the edge of my king size bed.

Oh! What a night I had. Once again, I was outnumbered by my flesh, and Marcus. I spoon fed his insatiable appetite until he collapsed from exhaustion.

Monday morning greeted my flesh and my trusty sidekicks – pain and guilt with no introduction. It entered without as much as a warning. It was here and I had to face it alone.

Marcus was gone. He abandoned our warm cozy king size bed to return to his loving wife and kids in the country. I was left to face the world in double-pain by myself.

I

A Teachable Moment

Hi my name is Joshua Elander-Handover III. I am a senior at M. J. Sterling High School. The school was named after one of Orchard Grove’s most prominent citizen, Marcus Jonathan Sterling. He was once the Mayor of our fine town. I never had the honor to meet the guy, however, we both have something in common – our birthday is on March 3rd. Every year, since his untimely death, the townspeople, my family and I included, would celebrate the third day in March as if it was the super bowl of all birthdays. The celebration would commence the first Friday in March and every weekend thereafter. We would have a “mother” of a celebration in his memory.I have lived in Orchard Grove all my life. I couldn’t imagine anywhere else in the world I would rather live. My family and I live less than two miles from downtown. Our home is located at 712 Richmen Trail. If you were going west on Highmen Avenue, you would make a right turn onto Richmen Trail. My home is the second two story brick house from the corner. Every morning, I get up around five to deliver the Orchard Gazette. I have been delivering the paper since I was thirteen. I try to be extremely quiet so not to disturb any of my family members, especially my baby sister Mandy. Her real name is Mandrel Nya Elander-Handover. She is the youngest of six children.

I have the best parents in the universe, if I must say so myself. Their union doesn’t bother most of the townspeople. Of course, there are those that seem to think that everyone should conduct their lives according to what they define as right. And if you refuse to be pigeon holed, they’ll try to burn you at the stake in the town square. They don’t see anything wrong with them per se. Their ways are the only ways that matters. Everybody else is wrong and needs to conform to the “right” way – their way. Anyway, my parents have been married for the past twenty years. That says a lot because divorce in our community and in our country is so prevalent.

Most of my friends and schoolmates are on their second, third and in some cases their fourth stepparent. My best friend Samaria Antoinette Lambert, I call her Sam for short, is one of those unfortunate kids that seemed to be in the stepparent twilight zone. Her parents divorced when she was around seven. Her father never remarried. Instead, he elected to have a live-in girlfriend named Kristy. She was nineteen when he moved her in. She was only four years older than Sam and three years older than me. The entire neighborhood was in a state of shock after hearing about it. Christy’s parents were totally humiliated. They eventually moved to another town.

And then the unthinkable snatched the town's attention. Highschool dgirls began to disapeare and some were reported missing. These girls were outcasted, the unpopular ones. They didn't belong to any social group or click at school. I didn't think anything of it until Sam became one of those girls.

Underneath the Deception Lies Reality

Without a formal introduction the clouds abruptly revealed themselves. The unwilling sun retreated to its secret place. the wind winced as it bullied its way down Ivy Lane. it was a breezy Saturday afternoon in mid March. Mrs Martha Bell was finally removing her christmas decorations from the exterior of her home. Two of the Stevenson's boys were out throwing their football in the middle of the street. the Baldwin triplets were riding their new bikes up and down Ivy Lane. Two of them paused long enough to witness the death defyingwheelie by their third double. Mr. Terrence McNally was in his backyard enjoying his favorite past time-grilling a couple of beef steaks and drinking an ice-cold beer.

You could hear John Denver's Annie song blearing from his outdoor speakers...You fill up my senses like a night in the forest... The wind swiftly passed his house and immediatley encouraged the spring flowers to dance in unison. It was like a well chorograph dance routine performed by the one and only mightly Temptations. Even the dust and other fine debris danced and twirled down Ivy Lane. The wind dropped off a breeze at the Leblanc's opened bedroom window. the uninvited guest ruffled the aqua-blue and white sheer curtains as it pushed its way into the spacious bedroom.

The air immediately replaced the Hawaiian scented room with the smell of burning charcoal. Maysha Leblanc was lying in her bed asleep when she was awakened by the intruder. She was about to close her window, when  the phone rang.

"Hello."
"Hey mommy? What's up?
"Nothing baby. Just resting and waiting for you to arrive. where are you?"
"I'm at Grandma Lula Ethel's house."
"What are you doin there? I thought you were comin home for your spring break."
"I changed my mind at the last minute. I wanted to spend some time with Grandma Lula Ethel."
"Why didn't you say something earlier before I made all these plans?"
"I'm sorry mommy, I didn't plan this. I'm sorry. It just happened. I didn't call to argue. I called because there is something I must tell you."

Maysha was alerted by Whitney's trembling voice. It was obvious whatever she had to say wasn't good news. Maysha braced herself for the bad news.

"What is it baby? Are you OK? what is going on?"
"Mommy, what i'm about to say is very hard for me to say."
"What is it Baby? Just say it. No matter what, you know I have your back."

Maysha was anxiously trying to get herself together, when Koko her alter ego emerged. "You heard what the hell that gir  said. Your baby daddy has been knowcking  boots with her."

"Koko lets not rush to judgement. We don't know all of the facts yet."

"What facts do you need? I have all of the facts I need. Your daughter said..."

 "Shut up Koko. You are not helping things right now. Let me just get my head together."

"May, remember me? We go way back to Mr. Hathaway's 4th grade class. We've been together for a long time. I was there for you then and I am here for you now."

"I know. I know. You don't have to remind me. I know you were there for me then. I remember it as if it was only yesterday. I wasn't sure what to do or say then. I just sat on that old worn out couch with my little hands cupped together while trying to make sense of what I had just witnessed. I was only nine years old, Koko when it happened. After the shock, I just returned to the living room bewildered. Trying effortlessly without success to understand what had happened."

"I know May. that was the first time we met. Do you remember? I helped you out didn't I?"

"Yep, you did."