You do not need to have read chapter one in order to understand chapter two. It works as a standalone, though I would encourage it. They are not particularly chronological. But this chapter will shed some light on the shock that Sara received in the last chapter. Same warnings as the previous story still apply. This is a lot of vulgar and racist language that could trigger some.
2 years ago prior to chapter 1 (2020)
Addie in Durham
"We have come far, but we still have a way to go. This course shines a light on the African American experience from Reconstruction till the present day. We will discuss how the Reconstruction Amendments, i.e. the thirteenth through fifteenth amendments, changed the United States from citizens of African descent. To this day, there are those that would like to see us return to the Jim Crow era. It is important that we do not allow for a backsliding of rights that have been guaranteed by the Constitution for over 150 years but are still in the process of coming to true fruition. As Doctor King once famously preached "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." But it does not do that all on its own..." Doctor Rahman stood preaching to the new students in his Spring course The African American Experience: 1865-Present. It was part of the African Studies department at Addie's university. The good Doctor's words were hitting a place beyond her mind and deep within her soul.
She had to leave; Addie Fox reflected. 'I had to leave Memphis and come to Durham. Momma couldn't understand. She had married Daddy before she even got her diploma. What did she know about the real world? Daddy had sheltered her.' More than 50 years since Dr. King, and people still had trouble understanding one another.
'I could have gone Ivy, but the South is where I need to be. The South is the vanguard in this fight. The South is where I can make a change. Where I can have the greatest impact,' Addie thought as she continued to listen to Rahman.
"Our Caucasian brothers and sisters should have a greater understanding of the eternal struggle of the descendants of those forced who were onto this continent. Only then will they truly understand what it is like to be truly marginalized in this free society. While many of their families also faced the wrath of an unforgiving society at some point in the past, whether if be Protestants who could not freely practice their religion in Europe, or the Irish, who were initially treated as second class citizens on these shores, the color of their skin has allowed those groups, with time, to blend into the melting pot that is America. This has sadly not been the case of the descendants of Africans who came to these shores.
It is with that in mind that I assign this semester's project." The tall, slim, good-looking, well-spoken black professor with specks of gray at his temples continued, "I will pair each of you with a partner. There may be some groups of three based on necessity..."
A pretty, petite Korean TA, Yoo Suk-Mee, handed Addie the questionnaire and she started to look down through it. She couldn't help but wonder how this young Asian woman got to TA a class on the plight of African Americans. What did she have that made her stand out to Rahman? There were about 10 questions on the paper. Some mundane, some strikingly personal. 'Have you ever been romantically involved with someone outside of your own race?' What could that possibly have to do with a college project?
Filling out the questionnaire and dropping it at the professor's desk, Addie walked out of class and went to meet her new roommate Leah to have a quick lunch to share stories before continuing with the rest of the day.
Her first full semester away from home had finished. She was already starting to see the shell her parents hid her away in was not the world. She was here to learn about what they wouldn't teach her. Ms. Fox took a varied, traditional first semester slate of course to prep her till she found her calling. "Though Daddy would have me be a lawyer. Small chance of that," she mused. For some reason when she looked at the online Humanities catalogue, Professor Rahman's course grabbed her attention.
Addie could not help but notice on the news all the killings of young black men seemingly minding their own business throughout the past few years. Some were her own age. Some were even younger. She never really befriended any of them in Memphis. The only ones in the private school she attended were there on athletic scholarships and she never started a conversation with one and vice versa. She did not even know how to talk to a black person. Her parents certainly made no effort to do so aside from one of dad's coworkers. But his kids were much older than Addie and she never got to know them.
Despite, or maybe because of that, something about that African Studies class caught her attention. If she was to know the world, she was to learn from as many angles as possible.
The following week in Recon to Present, each student was handed a sheet with the name and contact info of the person or persons we were paired with for our semester project.
LaMarcus Baker; 770-555-1212;
bossbaker12@bcm.com
.
LaMarcus Baker. Where had Addie heard that name before? Then it hit her: he was one of the big new recruits on Coach J's basketball squad. Not that she had cared much for basketball, of course. None of her boyfriends in Memphis ever played. 'Hmm, it seems there are only two in our group. Wasn't he the one that showed up late to our first class and kept talking to that girl next to him the whole time? The nerve of that man. Ugh.
Guess I'll finally meet a black man around my own age. Finally see which stories are true and which are myths. Is the black male youth a victim, as the news seemed to oft portray of late? Were they villains, as Addie often heard back home?' There were other possible myths she pondered as well. Ones you did not hear from your parents or the television, but rather the loose young girls in her peripheral social circle. 'What can I say? I'm free, wealthy, and eighteen. I have the ways and means to get to the bottom of life's big questions,' she considered. Though she was not looking forward to doing so with LaMarcus Baker
Addie waited four days for that jerk LaMarcus to text and nothing. Finally, she decided to text him to see about meeting up to get started on the project.
"Hey, it's Addie, when do you want to meet up?" she finally texted.
More than an hour passed before she got a response.
"Shit girl. U gotta send me a photo so I remember whether u worth meetn w again," came the reply. "Boss don't do an encore with just any bcs" came another response 30 seconds later.
"A photo? A BCS? What the hell was this dickhead talking about? The nerve," she thought.
After nearly throwing the mobile phone at the wall, Addie composed herself and wrote back to clarify. "This is Addie from CRT. We were paired together for our semester project by Dr. Rahman. I am checking when is a good time for you to start our project?"
"Well shit, idk. Coach J b a drill sergeant. You might think he coached cadets or some shit. I also b on the road playing games a lot. I might not even care about the grade I get in this class. If this season goes well, I might go pro. You might be better off finding someone else."
'Damn it,' she thought. 'This guy is not being a credit to his race. He is the type that gives all the other blacks a bad name. I am going to have to go in and ask Doctor Rahman for a new partner on Monday.' Then about ten minutes later, she heard her phone buzz again. She picked it up, "Miss Adeline 'Addie' Baker. Tight little Memphis deb. Why didn't you say so girl? Told ya u shoulda sent a photo. Shit. Aight. We can do this. Sunday at noon in front of Cameroon Fieldhouse."
Sunday rolled around and for some reason Addie had butterflies as she got ready. She believed she was just nervous because she never had a sustained conversation with an African American before. Leah seemed to think maybe Addie had the hots for LaMarcus, but Addie tried to explain that was certainly not true. "He's an asshole Leah, and he was rude with me on the phone the other night" She left out that he curiously changed his tone at the end.
