The summer term at the local community college was well attended and Sandra was surprised at how easily she made friends with the other students who could have been her children. She signed up for a remedial math class because it had been years since she had to solve a word problem, and she also took two other courses; one for professional writing and the other for public speaking to get rid of the general requirements. The math wasn’t especially difficult, but compared to her other classes, she spent most of her time completing the work and studying for the math class; writing and speaking came much more naturally to her.
Her enrollment advisor was a young black woman and she had an impressive office that Sandra marveled at when she met with her.
“Girl, this is nice,” she said as she sat across from the young woman and stared at four framed degrees on the wall behind the desk, and the pictures of the young woman’s family on top of the desk.
“Thank you, Ms. Parham,” the young woman said and introduced herself as Felicia.
“I don’t mean to be too casual, but it ain’t often you see a black woman in a office like this. Most of the professional black women I know, work for the government, teachers and social workers, and they don’t have no workplace to themselves. Obviously you worth all this and it’s good your boss know it. Sorry, let’s get to the point of this so I can let you get to your work. I’m sure you got other meetings after me.”
Felicia was definitely flattered and she was speechless. She wanted to say something, but she wasn’t sure what and she moved her lips and nodded her head for a few seconds.
“I’m glad I get to be the one to help you with all this, Ms. Parham,” Felicia said when she was back to herself. It wasn’t rare for her to receive compliments from grateful students, but it had never happened before that a black woman thanked her in the professional setting for working like she did in order to enjoy the life that she did and it made her feel good about the struggles and triumphs that brought her to her present.
“I want to manage a detective agency for my friend,” Sandra said confidently before the class of thirty or so. She was giving her final presentation for her public speaking class, the topic of which was the reason she enrolled at the college.
“Before I met my friend, former Detective Paul Young, I was a mama. I had four kids, my youngest is dead now, but back then, that was all that mattered. And that’s how it should be, a good mother should dedicate herself to the children she’s responsible for. But that job is done now, it’s been over for a long time. I’m still a mama, but it’s not a job anymore, or it’s a job with a lot less duties. My friend, Paul, was there for me when I realized that my life was different and I had different responsibilities to myself. I have a life to live and I want to live it. I realized that I wanted to help people and going back to school will help me do that. Paul used to be a detective for the city, for almost thirty years, but he retired recently, not because he was done with the work, but because he thought the bureaucracy left a lot of people without the justice they deserve. He’s not against rules and proper procedure, but he recognizes that a big machine like the KPD and Sheriff’s Department is bound to miss something, and that’s why he would make a good private detective. I will handle the business side of the operation, and that’s why I’m here. To learn about managing a business and doing accounting and all that. I’m excited about the possibilities and this summer term has been very encouraging and I believe that I can make my goals a reality.”
Sandra got an A in both speaking and writing, but she was a little disappointed in her B in math.
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