“When the clock strikes

Half past six, babe…”

 In the three-minute window to navigate to the next classroom I walked hesitatingly into the hallway and scanned east and west, above the heads of 3,000+ students, hoping I wouldn’t see Base. (Name changed perhaps because he has changed his ways, or maybe deep down I am still a little nervous)

Check – He wasn’t in the east hallway.  CLEAR!

Check – Not in west hallway.  CLEAR!

Move Forward.

Intersecting Hallway – Move slowly, carefully. CLEAR!

I walked about 30 feet.  Stairwell – Check.  CLE…What were the chances?  There were maybe 14 stairwells in the 4-story building named Benjamin Cardozo High School.  I saw him before he saw me.  I had already committed to 3 steps and the surge of people behind me forced and forged me forward..  Perhaps, if I didn’t make eye contact, I would become invisible, faceless, and unrecognizable.  I would be invisible by using a four-year old’s super power.  If you close your eyes you can’t see them, and they can’t see you. 

Base, a man in a boy’s body, 5 foot 6, built like a wrestler mutant ninja turtle, looked down from the landing, spotted me and screamed at me in a mock-fan to superstar recognition:  “Mooooooooon Man!”  That awful name had become an audio tattoo, my label, and my shame.  He repeated it a like a Southern Baptist Minister to his congregation.   “Moon Man!”, with the emphatic praise the lord, catch your breath staccato at the end.

I had worked so hard to acquire a poker face, a hard look, and a bad-boy stance.  I even wanted to get a black eye patch like a pirate so that I could look tough, accompanied by a diamond stud in my ear and a bald face with four-inch dreads, which would droop slightly and bounce.  I would pair it with a soul brother bop.  But I knew it wouldn’t fly in a Christian, Caribbean House, My default reaction to anything was a wincing smile, while the dread of pain seeped through every vein…

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Visit this website for more information. https://www.mhanational.org/mental-health-month