"Black Boys Cry Too" (StoryADay Challenge/Day 31)

The Prompt:

Today, go to the Newest Articles section of the front page of Wikipedia.

• Choose one. Scan the titles, stop at the first one that grabs you and click. Don’t second-guess yourself.

• Read the article. As you read, look for some detail or phrase or idea that strikes you.

• Write your story. Don’t try to retell the story as it was told in the article. Focus on the idea or detail that caught your imagination. Turn that into a story

*

“Every N*gga Is A Star”

Deion pressed his ear against the bedroom door. He could hear heavy breathing between sobs. He rested his forehead on the door and exhaled. He knocked on the door. “Tyler, can I come in?”

“Not right now,” Tyler said, sniffling. “Can we talk later?”

“Now is the perfect time to talk son,” Deion said.

“Come in.”

Deion opened the door and looked inside the room. The full-length mirror hanging on the closet was shattered. Posters of Tyler’s favorite athletes were torn to the ground. Clothes were scattered across the floors. Colognes, and other trinkets look like they had been swept off the top of the dresser and flung to the floor. Deion stepped carefully towards the bed and sat at the foot of it, leaning his back up against the wall.

“I know you're angry, son. A lot of people are.”

Tyler raised his face from the pillow with wet eyes. “I just don’t understand.”

“I’m your father and there’s still things I don’t understand. I’ll be the first to admit that. But also as your father, I will never lie to you. When you were born, and your mom put you in my arms, I was in tears. I was crying so much that my vision was a little blurry. And as I was holding you, I already knew that as much as I loved you and would do anything to protect you, I also knew that this world is cruel and unusual to people that look like us. I knew that there would be times like this, uncomfortable, difficult, and heartbreaking. I knew that we would have to have this conversation. I knew that your experience through life will always be uniquely challenging. And as I held you tighter in my arms, I told myself that I would always be honest with you. That when I didn’t know something, I would tell you. If I’m afraid, I would tell you. Because I didn’t have that kind of open relationship with my father. We didn’t talk about things deeply. We only made small talk. We talked about surface-level nonsense, like weather reports and the final score of pro-league games. And I’ve made peace with it. Sometimes in life you realize your heroes aren’t as heroic as you thought. And that’s okay. But I knew that I would try to give my children the world. And as your little brown eyes looked up at me, I thought to myself, you are a beautiful black boy. And I told myself I would remind you of that everyday of your life. That your mother and I would breathe self-love, self-esteem, and confidence into you from infancy. We wanted you to grow up being proud of the skin you’re in. To never feel less than. To know that your lineage is royal, creative, intelligent, masterful, and innovative. That your ideas and thoughts mattered just as much as anyone else’s. That when you walk into a room, you hold your head up high, you look people in their eyes and you command their respect. That you be open-minded, kind and compassionate to yourself and others. That you be respectful, dignified and poised. That you be helpful, diligent, and fearless. I’ll never forget, when I was around your age, an adult brother told me: ‘It’s okay to be scared. It’s not okay to be petrified.’ Even while being scared, one can still operate and do what’s required. Being petrified, is being completely paralyzed by fear. That is dangerous. Never be petrified to the point of immobility. Always be mobile. This world won’t always be kind. This world won’t always make you feel appreciated. This world won’t always congratulate you. That’s why you must learn to be those things for yourself. Be kind to yourself. Appreciate yourself. Congratulate yourself. You must learn to protect your energy, be discerning of the people you engage or disengage with. Some people take more than they give. Some people only take. Everytime you step foot outside this house you must be observant and you must be vigilant. None of this is intended to scare you, on the contrary, it’s intended to protect you. You are fourteen years old. You’re going to learn things out there on your own, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Remember to always be yourself. Remember that you never enter a room as anything other than who you are: Tyler Deion Damba Benjamin.”

Tyler sat up and rested his back against the wall beside his father, both of them staring straight ahead towards the open window. “You’re a great father,” Tyler said, looking straight.

“You’re my favorite son,” Deion said.

Tyler turned to him puzzled. “But I’m your only son.”

“You think so?” Deion said, laughing as he got up to leave the room. 

Tyler laughed. “Pops stop playing with me,” he said, chasing after him. 

The End. 

**This is a work of fiction. Names. characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.