hoped to have her master’s of social work degree by the time she was thirty—thirty-five the latest.
A girl could dream…
Her voice caught as she greeted everyone. She had almost called her brother to let him know that she couldn’t stop by. But if she had stayed in her own small apartment to fill out grad school applications, she would have missed this.
There weren’t that many people there, only a few in fact. But everyone there held special meaning to the two of them. They’d lost their parents when they were young and even before that her older brother was the one who really raised her.
Valerie Monroe, the social worker who worked with them so that she could remain with her brother after their mother died, was there along with Taj and Pam, two of her closest friends from childhood, and a few other folks from the neighborhood.
She couldn’t believe that because of her quest to finish her degree and “make it” she could scarcely remember the last time she’d seen them. She still called Valerie every couple of weeks just to check in. But she had lost contact with Taj and Pam completely. None of her friends from work or school were there. She didn’t have many at either place. With school and work she didn’t have a lot of time for socializing.
Friends from work and school wouldn’t have fit in at the party, anyway. She remembered reading W. E. B. DuBois’s book The Souls of Black Folk in one of her Africana studies classes and mused that she needed more than the concept of double consciousness to describe the fractured feeling in her life. More like triple consciousness. Sometimes it felt as if she had one face for her work life as office manager in a predominantly white law firm, one face as a college student, and one for her friends in the neighborhood and her brother. One day she would find a way to make all her worlds fit together.
Normally, she and Calvin celebrated all milestones with a night out for dinner. Her brother would let her pick the restaurant and tell her that she could pick the most expensive place in town. She always picked Roscoe’s House of Chicken ’n Waffles. They ate there when she completed middle school, high school, and when she got her job as an office clerk at Henderson, Moore & Moore, the law firm where she still worked.
The banner on the wall read CONGRATULATIONS THENA! That was big for her brother. He was the last remaining holdout when it came to her name. She’d pretty much decided after her mother died that she would go by Thena, the shortened version of her middle name. He had pretty much decided that the name their mother named her Minerva, was just fine.
Minerva Athena Jones didn’t know what had possessed her mother to name her after not one but two goddesses of wisdom. She did know that neither name made her the coolest girl in class growing up. The only thing she hated more than people calling her Minerva was when they called her Minnie. It made her skin crawl. So until she could officially change her name she went by M. Athena Jones. Friends called her Thena.
She took off the cream linen jacket that went with the matching pencil skirt she was wearing. Like most of her clothing, she’d gotten the smart and sassy business suit on sale.
She hugged and greeted the rest of the guests and kept looking back to smile at Calvin. Who knew he was so sentimental? She knew he loved her without a doubt. He was just a guy’s guy and didn’t always express his feelings outwardly.
“So what are you going to do now that you’re done with school?” Valerie was leaning against the wall in the kitchen. She and Thena both watched Calvin taking some heat while he took chicken wings out of the oven.
“My baby sis is going to get more education. She’s just like our mother. She’s smart and she’s going to live the life Mama should’ve lived.” Calvin answered Valerie’s question before Thena could.
Thena smiled and let her brother bask in his happiness. He’d practically raised her when their mother died. He had just turned eighteen at the time, and she’d been twelve. Things were hard. But they had made it and they’d been able to stay together until she moved out on her own three years ago. He deserved to be proud. It was because of his tough love and firm hand that she was able to do much of what she had done.
If only their mother could see Thena now. She’d sing for joy.
Their mother had a voice that would have put the Queen of Soul to shame. She had come to California from Alabama with stars in her eyes. All hopes of stardom got put on hold, though, when she’d met and soon married a guitarist and gave birth to a son. Six years later she’d given birth to a baby girl and soon after that her husband’s recreational drug use spiraled out of control, making him take risks not only with his own life but with hers, as well. Neither of them made it.
It was Calvin who’d encouraged Thena to further her education. He kept books around for her to read from the time she first learned how. He made sure she did all her homework over the years.
Sure, Calvin was strict and might have been the reason at least two of Thena’s former boyfriends ended up in the hospital badly beaten, but underneath his brash persona lay the man who stayed up all night with her whenever she’d been sick. Complicated didn’t even begin to describe Calvin, or Thena’s feelings for him.
“I hope to get my MSW eventually and go into social work like you, Val. You’ve inspired me so much.”
“You’ll be a great at it.” Valerie offered with a smile as she helped Calvin place the wings on the plastic serving tray.
When Calvin went to answer the door, Thena and Valerie worked together to ready the rest of the food. They carried the platters out to Calvin’s living room, which was filled with royal-blue crushed velvet furniture.
“Yeah, sorry man. I thought I told you about the party. Must have thought I did when I actually hadn’t.” Calvin walked toward the living room with his best friend David Sims following him.
Thena’d been wondering where David was and just assumed that he was off wheeling and dealing somewhere. He was a serial entrepreneur at Langer and Associates, launching, developing and making small businesses profitable. And he was one of Calvin’s only noncriminal, non-gang-banging friends. David and Calvin had grown up together on the South Central streets, but David had gone the school and college route. She looked up to David almost as much as she looked up to her brother.
She ran over and gave David a hug.
“Hey, baby girl. Sorry I almost missed the celebration. Calvin neglected to tell me about it. Good thing I was in the neighborhood and decided to stop by.” David hugged her close before letting her go.
“It’s okay. I’m glad you made it and I hope you can stay. I know you’re busy.”
“Never too busy for you—” David started.
“Hey, sis, get in here and blow out the candles on this cake. I got your favorite, with pineapple filling.” Calvin interrupted David by pulling her away and leading her to the cake.
She frowned and shook her head. Her brother could be so controlling at times. She cast an apologetic glance at David and he just shrugged nonchalantly and winked at her.
She figured if David wasn’t irritated with her brother, then she shouldn’t be, either. When two men were friends as long as they’d been friends, they probably had disagreements and bounced back from them more than times she could count. And that sheet cake with the pineapple filling was calling her name.
After everyone left, Calvin gave her a ride back to her apartment. And she was glad to have the one-on-one time with her brother. Seeing everyone meant a lot to her. She had let too many relationships fall to the wayside, and she needed to reconnect. It was a good thing it wasn’t too late to do so. And as soon as she finished her grad school applications she was going to start working on rebuilding her friendships and her relationship with her brother. Girl from the ’hood makes good.
“Thanks, Calvin. That celebration was so special.”
“You know I had to do something special for this, baby girl. You made it. Mama would be so proud.” He smiled and kept