Born in Sin

Chapter 2 In homeroom, like always, the crackling started first. "Will the following Primm students please report to the office: Keisha Wright, Betty Shabazz, Kente Sha-bazz, Malik Shabazz, Roberta Santos, Elayna Rodriguez, Paulie Cooper, and Sammy Ray Lee."I'm thinking, Why they got to say Primm students? They think other school's students here?I heard apssst.I turned around and looked into the face of a goat."Keisha Wright, you in trouble.""Kiss my you-know-what, Sammy Ray," I said. "I ain't in no trouble." But I wasn't as sure as I sounded. Why wouldanybodycall me to the office with Sammy Ray goat-head Lee? Hestayedin trouble. I ain't been in no real trouble since I was nine years old and I pushed Jackie Payton out of the swing 'cause she called me a punk. And I quit talking in class this year. I was trying to think what they could be calling me for while I got my books together.Ms. Parker, my homeroom teacher, looked at me and barked, "Take all your things with you, Keisha. You're not coming back today.""Why ain't I?" I asked her."How many times do I have to tell you it's not 'Why ain't I?' Just get your things and go to the office like-I-said."She hates me, Ms. Parker. She hates me and I don't know why. I'm the only black girl in her class and she's black, too. Real black. Blacker than me, even. But she just plain hates me. Ever since I got to ninth grade she's been picking on me about something. "Good," I said to her. "I'm glad to not come back." I rolled my eyes to let her know she ain't the only one who can hate somebody.I yanked my book bag out from under my desk and stuffed my books inside. Sammy Ray had already gone. He was a white boy, but she didn't hate him. He was the biggest troublemaker in school and most times Ms. Parker act like he ain't doing or saying nothing. At least that part was right -- he wasn't doing nothing. And he never had any books with him, so it was easy for him to leave."Do you have to disrupt the entire class just to get your books, Keisha?"I wanted to say, Yes, yes I do, but I didn't. I wasn't talking to that witch no more today. All she wanted was for me to be in trouble. Naw. It ain't gonna happen.Thatwould make her way too happy. I tiptoed to the door, looked back at her, and smiled. Then I walked out in the hall, sat my book bag down on the floor, and slammed the door shut as hard as I could. That ought to help her.On my way to the office my heartbeat speeded up. I realized I knew what this was about -- why I was called to the office. I applied for the special summer program for smart kids. I been making straight A's and B's since I was in the third grade. Last year I made up my mind to become a doctor. I was even let into the tenth grade chemistry class this semester.I picked up my feet higher. I felt lighter, like maybe I was gonna float right through the ceiling. Man. This was the bomb -- that means something good getting ready to blow up for you. I stopped and straightened my blouse and tucked it inside my skirt. Dag. I hated our iron was broke. I wanted to look nice when Ms. Hill told me in front of the other kids they called that I was there for something else.It had to be that I'd been selected. That had to be it. I shot into the bathroom and combed my hair. My hair was the longest it had ever been and I was glad. I loved having long hair. Rhenda had long hair and so did Mama, down their backs. But mine never grew that long. Grandma used to put black thread on it and hook the plaits together to make my hair grow. Mama buys me special grease now. I suppose it's working -- a little, I said, looking at it in the mirror. The edges were kinky, but when it's getting hot out, ain't no helping that.I attempted to pull some of the wrinkles out of my blouse by smoothing out the cloth with my hands. It didn't work. This blouse was made from permanent-wrinkle material. I looked at myseColeman, Evelyn is the author of 'Born in Sin', published 2001 under ISBN 9780689838330 and ISBN 0689838336.