Things
I need to remember… town hall meeting at one tomorrow, and the sister social
Friday night at eight. If everything goes well I can get home from this meeting
in time to do some cleaning in preparation for Friday. This way I have time to
make any final changes I need in my book to enter it into the contest before the deadline Saturday morning.
I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the
councilman. The way my people are living is downright wrong and that miser needs someone to give him a piece
of their mind. He was supposed to make a difference. A black man in office should
be fighting for the black people he represents. Instead of a hand up we got
knocked further into the ground. Instead of rebuilding our neighborhoods we got
gentrified! That old snake is going to get it! If only I could get my paws around his lying throat.
“Doors closing. Next stop, Congress
Hall” the automated overhead speaker announced.
That’s my stop. Here was my chance to
be heard after so many emails with no response and calls placed on hold only to
end without ever getting anyone back on the line. We are finally going to make
some headway.
At the next stop I stepped off of the
train and onto the walkway crawling with white men in suits and the occasional
white woman, also sporting some uptight navy dress suit. Not a single chocolate
man to be found. I sighed, slightly disappointed but not surprised in the
least. I couldn’t help but to roll my eyes as I walked onto the escalator.
At the top of the escalator was a grand
looking lobby with two large hallways on each side and a desk at the far wall.
I approached the desk only to find a large munchkin
of a man sporting ivory colored skin and acrid
body odor scrolling through Instagram looking at women who were clearly out of
his league. He was fat and small beads of sweat were hiding along his hairline
at the back of his neck. I cleared my throat, hoping to politely get his
attention to no avail.
“Excuse me, would you be able to point
me in the direction of Councilman Sillers? Eric Sillers?” I asked. I did my
best to incorporate undertones of white woman but he made no move to help me.
As a matter of fact, he even had the nerve to roll his eyes and shake his head
at me.
A moment later, a white man strolled up
beside me and asked to be pointed in the direction of the administrative
offices. The small man instantly brightened the look on his face and responded
“absolutely, sir. Take the elevator to the third floor. Room 330 is down the
left hallway.” With a nod of his head and ripples
sent throughout his gelatinous frame, he went right back to his Instagram
fantasies without giving me a first thought, much less a second.
Behind me a bustling had begun to break
out but I had been so focused on not living up to the stereotype of the mad
black woman that I had not turned around until I heard a familiar voice. I spun
around to see the very man I had come to visit speed walking through the lobby
with an overwhelmed looking teenage boy following him trying his best not to
drop any papers along the way. I turned to try and reach the councilman only to
hear the fat munchkin man stand and scream at me to show identification. I did
him a great service by completely ignoring him.
I walked right into the path of the
councilman so that he would have no choice but to stop. That would have been a
really great move if it had actually worked. Instead he walked around me as if
I weren’t even standing there, leaving his little intern to smack right into
me. Both of us were on the ground and papers were fanned all over the ground and even then the councilman never
stopped. Instead, the intern quickly began to pick up the scattered documents
and chase after him.
“Oh no you don’t” I said under my
breath. I began scooping up as many pages and folders as I could get my hands
on before the boy did and followed after him. He led me to an office, talking
about who knows what the entire time.
Inside the office he walked around his
desk still talking until he heard me close the door and lock it behind me. He
reeled, taking my presence in for the very first time. I stood there watching
the look on his face morph from one
of indifference to one of complete business. He silently sat in his chair and
laced his fingers together.
“You do know the only way this is going
to end is with you going to prison, right?” he finally spoke. My eyes rolled at
his ridiculous accusation.
“Hello councilman,” I walked up to his
desk and slammed the documents onto it, “my name is Alisha Bowen. You’re
scheduled to meet with me at 1pm today?” I held out my hand with a sarcastic
smile on my face.
If I could take a picture of the look
of embarrassment on his face right now, I would take it home and frame it. It
didn’t last long enough for me to burn it into my memory. He quickly regained
his composure, stood and walked around the desk towards me. Once before me, he
held out his hand.
“My apologies Ms. Bowen. I was not
aware that I had a meeting scheduled for this time. What might I be able to
help you with?” He turned and motioned for me to have a seat in the chair
behind him. I walked past him and the chair, strolled up the desk, spun, and
leaned against it with my arms folded. This was a declaration of war and there
was not time for cordialities. Even though I knew this, I couldn’t help but
notice the scent of cologne when I
walked by. It was almost enough to disable
my entire strategy.
“I don’t mean to be rude, councilman.
However, I want to know what plans you have to take back the communities that
seem to have been lined up to be handed over to our Caucasian counterparts. I
personally believe that I voted you in office and…” he cut me off.
“Woah, now. I understand that you have
some complaints, but I won’t waste time with deluded individuals” he walked
towards me. I stood to face him head on.
“Deluded? And which part is deluded,
exactly? Without my vote you would never have reached this office. ‘One vote it
all it takes’” I quoted from one of his speeches. That got his attention. He
stepped back and gave me a more considering look. A moment later his expression
softened.
“My apologies, Ms. Bowen. It looks as
though you may have been dealing with some mistreatment today on my part” he
began and I scoffed.
“Don’t worry about it. It seems to be the
norm around here. Your friend at the front desk seems to have aspired to be
like you when he grows up” I said, making a very rude joke about the little man
at the front desk. To my surprise, he laughed and shook his head.
“You know what, Ms. Bowen? I would like to
make this up to you. Will you let me treat you to lunch? It can serve as a much
deserved apology and hopefully give me the chance to erase the bad impression
I’ve made” he explained. I paused, confused at the sudden change.
At that moment there was a banging at the
door. We both turned at the sound.
“Sir, are you in there? Have you been
harmed?” Security was at the door. I’d completely forgotten about the entire
situation I was in. I had come into a government building without any form of
ID. It wasn’t like this was my fault but I shouldn’t have forgotten so quickly.
I waited to see what he would do. The councilmen looked at me and then walked
over to the door, unlocked and opened it.
“I’m fine. I’m in a very important
meeting. Is there some sort of emergency?” he asked innocently. I watched as
security eyed me in concern. I rolled my eyes at their concern. How much damage
could I possibly do? I couldn’t even get him to stop in the hallway.
“This young lady was reported on the site
without checking in” one guard spoke, “we were requested to apprehend her.
“There is no need for that. She is
scheduled to be meeting with me at this time. As a matter of fact she did
attempt to check in and I was told that my guest was not treated well. Will you
please look into that and get back to me? Thank you” he said with an ingenuine
smile. Without waiting for them to respond, he closed the door and turned back
to me. His smile was professional again.
If this man was making a difference in
favor of black people I would have loved to be the woman he came home to every
night. He was absolutely fine. I wasn’t about to lie and say that watching him
take charge just now didn’t send all kinds of ripples down my spine. I shook my head and mentally reminded myself
to stay in my lane.
“If you accept, it would allow you a
better opportunity at getting your point across without worrying about any
checking in, or harassment like that” he insisted. He walked up to me and held
out a card.
“This is my personal number. You should be
able to reach me at any time with this” he said. I took it, whipped out my phone
and dialed the number listed without hesitating. Across from me, a jingling
sound went off in the pocket of Councilman Sillers. He chuckled.
“I was just making sure you weren’t trying
to get over on me” I said matter of factly.
“Understood” he said before standing to
escort me out of the office.
On the train ride home I fell into deep
thought recapping what had just happened. Did Councilman Sillers just ask me on
a date? Even though it’s supposed to be a meeting, it seems more like a date.
And if he was, what was I doing agreeing? Well, I could use this. I absolutely
will use this. Someone has to make changes.
Across from me, a girl was sitting there
with a rat-tailed comb trying to scratch underneath the closure of her horrible
sew in. It was times like this when I wonder whether the dedication I have in
helping my people was worth it. Oh well, I’m going to be the one to find out.
