Her First Assignment

       The first time she heard him, she stood in the bathroom listening at their shared wall for ten minutes, debating over what would happen if she called the landlord to report the disturbance.  Living in this large building was very different from living in the duplex over senior citizens Mr. and Mama Ward and their two cats in the South Suburbs. She really missed the place.  She felt safe there.  They treated her like a daughter.  She was sad that Mr. Ward passed away so suddenly.  She was perplexed when their son came from California to put his mother in a nursing home.  She tried to tell Robert that she would care for his mother, but he wasn’t having it.  He obviously didn’t want to take care of his own mother, yet he wouldn’t allow her to do it, and she wanted to.  She thought of Mama Ward as the grandmother she never had and she loved the attention Mama Ward gave Naomi.   Aliyah thought it would be a better idea for him to take her back to California with him.  He wouldn’t think of it either. 
       As Aliyah listened to the voice coming from the other side of the bathroom wall, she felt a tingle in her legs.  After a few minutes she wasn’t disturbed any longer but intrigued.  He was always so loud but he had a really good voice.  Unlike hers, it was made for singing.  During the 5 weeks she’d lived in the building, she never heard a female voice coming from behind the other side of the wall.  “Is he married? Or does he have a lady friend?”  He sounds like he could be a little older than, not much, but maybe a little? What does he do for a living? Is he a singer for real? If he is, then why doesn’t he sing any original songs? So, he must not be a real singer? Then was does he do? Why don’t I ever see?”  Aliyah was not disturbed anymore.  Instead she had questions.  She’d decided that the next time she heard his key in the door next to hers, then she’d make up a reason to go out into the hallway.  “What does he look like?” she thought out loud.
       She left the bathroom because she felt like an intruder listening to her next door neighbor in his bathroom.  “OOO, this ain’t right.”  She murmured.  Before turning to leave though she decided to knock on the wall.  “Sh, sh, sh”, she uttered loudly as she knocked.  She was startled by the sudden silence.  Then he began to sing again.  This time though, she could tell he tried to lower his voice.  “Well at least he is thoughtful.” She thought to herself as she left the bathroom to go into her bedroom.
       Teaching at Chicago Vocational High School was Aliyah Levi's first assignment. She chose her outfit carefully. It was a pink and gray business suit she got from Ashley Stuarts’ clearance rack. As she looked at herself in the mirror she asked herself, “who the hell are you?” She knew she needed be more conscious of what she ate and she needed to work out.   She hated her size. She doesn’t remember when it happened but she had a difficult time finding the outfit that would give her the professional look she sought. She wanted to make a good first impression on her colleagues as well as her students. She was eager and very nervous about this position. Initially Aliyah wanted to teach eighth grade at a middle school. She wasn't sure if she could handle the maturity of today's high school students. However, after being overlooked for the perfect position twice, she felt she better take this job. It would give her the experience she needed to reapply for the position she really wanted.
       She spent the entire evening before preparing for her debut as English teacher. She wanted to make sure she got her bluff in right away with these students. CVS was known to be a little rough. She reviewed several issues of Classroom Discipline for Inner City Children taking note of common occurrences that she might face tomorrow. She carefully chose a reading assignment that might be of interest to the students.  It was a short story about a family struggling to make it and overcoming many trials and tribulations.  She wanted to encourage her students  to have courage and patience, and pride within themselves. Aliyah decided to have her students write about the strength and pride the family in the story she chose needed to make it through their day.  She let her daughter Naomi read the story for approval. She was 10 years old going on 40.
       Naomi was very mature for her age because she read so much. It was common to find both Aliyah and Naomi curled up on the chaise lounge together reading. They read silently as well as orally to each other. Like Aliyah, Naomi has always been academic levels above the rest of her class. There was a bookshelf in every room, including the bathroom and kitchen.  Aliyah was a mother who spent much time with her little girl. She became interested in teaching as she volunteered at Naomi 's school and helped her with her homework. She organized a playgroup, which met once per week at apartment, just before Naomi 's sixth birthday.
       Aliyah loved to hear Naomi sing old school music. Her love for R&B and especially the old skool jams was passed to her daughter. However, Naomi stilled also learned to enjoy the rhythms and lyrics of rap music. Aliyah hated it. But, she tolerated it in the house for the sake of her daughter feeling comfortable at home. She did not want to run away to the comfort of friends homes. She  did not mind Naomi sitting in the living room playing her CD's on her box. She knew Naomi would be careful not to scratch them. 
       “Emah, can I get an IPOD when you get your first paycheck?”, asked Naomi
       “Let’s talk about it after the third or fourth paycheck, Aliyah said. 
Aliyah loved art and decor that depicted her heritage. Her house was filled with pictures of Mothers and their children, praise dancers who seemed to be having a good time, as well as men working and taking care of the business. She purchased a piece from an auction that was simply a giant West African baobob tree standing strong and firm near a body of water as she knew her people to be. There was a mountain and waterfall behind it. This piece gave a feeling of peace and serenity. She hung it at the foot of her bed.
       As she laid her clothes out on the sofa, she thought about the difficulty she had trying to finish high school, and raise a child alone. Then, she had the audacity to enroll in college. Her own mother told her she needed to go get a job.   It takes most people four years to finish college. It took her six. Though she had the academic skills, she wanted to properly take care of her daughter. That takes time. She was proud of herself. She finally did it!


            “Oooo, that’s my song!” She stopped her reflective moment to dance

“Ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-oh-ooh-
Ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-
Ooh, yeah, baby
Whoa-whoa-oh-oh-
Mmm…”

        Aliyah allowed her body to get wrapped up in the music. As she listened she snapped her fingers and let her arms and feet be moved by the rhythm behind the words. “It’s so nice to have a man around to lend a helping hand, you can bet.” Yeah, mumbled Aliyah, as she danced to the Temptations. 
“This song was not necessarily an old skool jam but shoot!”  Aliyah thought “but…..”
 “Cause I believe a woman should be treated with the utmost respect, mmm-hmmm….” she danced and sang along.
“Whoa whoa, oh oh, mmm…,”
 “I need a man to touch me”,  she added. 
       Aliyah wasn’t sure whether she missed David because she yearned to be touched or because she really desired his company.  She hadn’t let herself think about him in awhile and she wouldn’t now either. 
“Now I like openin' doors, Pickin' up Yeah her hanky Yeah off the floor,
Treat her like a lady Treat her like lady….”she sang along.  “In this world of liberation, It's so easy to forget, mmm- That it's so nice to have a man around, To lend a helping hand, you can bet, bet you can, baby.
“Who’s gonna touch me”,  she moaned softly to herself.  She didn’t want Naomi to here her.
“When I was young, my mama used to say, Boy A woman's like a flower, with love on her you shower. Ever since that day, her words never went away. I always will remember to treat my baby tender…… How could anybody ask for much more, whoa-ooh-ooh-…..” sang Aliyah as she closed her eyes, bobbed her head and let the music permeate her.
“Man that’s my song, I wish I could be touched”,  she  muttered again as a tear made its way down her check. She sat down in her favorite chair and just snapped her fingers and bobbed her head and moaned, “Man, sometimes it hurt.” She said too loudly. 
“What did you say Emah?” shouted Naomi from her room.
“Nothin lil girl, just singing my song. You are playing Emah some good music this evening” Aliyah shouted back to her. 
       It was David’s touch that held her hostage and she needed to stop toying with herself before she picked up that phone and called him.  Instead, she remembered the sickened pain she felted in the pit of her stomach the last time she saw him as he stood outside her car peering at her through his sunglasses as he told her that she was never in his corner because she wouldn’t skip her class to go with him to pick up his new business cards before the print shop closed.  She was excited for him and proud that he got new business cards but she didn’t think it was an occasion to miss an important class.  He didn’t understand her choice.  Aliyah fought her thinking that the relationship was going nowhere. She tried to make plans for both to take care of their important business and meet afterwards to celebrate.   She loved encouraging him but he couldn’t find it in his heart to share in her moments as well.  Suddenly she remembered that he raised his hand piercing her across the cheeks with the palm of his hand as they walked down the street when he came to walk her home from school.  This was the catalyst.   In that moment she felt sick and tired of being accused of not being in his corner when it was him who was not in her corner.  
       “Naomi, it’s almost time for bed.  You can stop being the DJ now.  Do you have your clothes and book bag ready for tomorrow?  We don’t want to get up with too many things to do in the morning.  I cannot be late my first day” she shouted redirecting her own thoughts more than the little DJ in the other room.    She was not going to let her thoughts take her back there and she was not going to be distracted from making her first assignment a good experience for her students.