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THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF PANDEMICS

Nalani's Story

By Antonia WebberPublished 3 years ago 10 min read
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Harlem, NY, November 9,2020. It was 3 months into her Junior year of High School and Nalani was already over it. Only 2 weeks until Thanksgiving, Lord give her the strength. She was tired of the mundane routine that her life had become. Get up at 9am, sit on the toilet, not necessarily for elimination, but as time to get in the last few minutes of sleep, before logging on to her "virtual school". 9:35am, as she awakes from her toilet slumber, "Oh man, I have to take the dog out." "C'mon Akira, let's go outside". With no time to put on a coat to face the winter morning, Nalani pulled up the hood on her sweatshirt, ran down the stairs to the front door of the brownstone, opened the door and yelled "Akira go! Hurry up." The little dog went outside, hurriedly peed and returned to the front door, as Nalani stood waiting. She opened the door, ran back up the stairs, with Akira close behind, grabbed a bottle of water and was about to go back upstairs to her "virtual classroom" AKA her bedroom, when Akira exclaimed "Awwwwrrrllll", in dog fashion, meaning she was ready for her bacon treat. Nalani retrieved a dog bacon snack, threw it to Akira and went upstairs. 9:55am, 5 minutes until showtime. Nalani logged on, turned the video off, and checked in to her first class.

Thankful that the lunchtime had finally arrived, Nalani went downstairs to the kitchen, looked in the refrigerator to check the food prospects, and realized there was nothing she wanted. Looked in the pantry, saw asian noodles, but that would require using a pot that she would have to wash, because "paper pots are NOT a thing....yet". She gave up the idea of food, grabbed a box of crackers, a cold drink and was about to head back upstairs, when she noticed the door to her Aunt's bedroom was slightly ajar. She called out to her, "Aunt Kathy are you home?" Upon no response, Nalani pushed open the bedroom door and went in. Being way too nosey for her own good, she began looking over Kathy's dresser and rummaging through her dresser drawers. Under a neatly folded stack of T-shirts in the 3rd drawer, Nalani found an old, worn little black book. She pulled out the book, flipped through the pages and came upon one page that listed the names of deceased family members. The first name was her Grandmother, the next her Uncle and the third her cousin. Each of the 3 names had a single horizontal line passing through them. What was even more surprising was that Nalani's name was printed, lineless, as the fourth name on the list. She took out her phone and took a picture of the page. As she was doing that her phone started buzzing, indicating there was someone at the front door. For fear it might be Kathy coming home from work, she quickly shoved the book back under the stack of T-shirts, grabbed her crackers and drink and ran out of the room. As she was about to go up the stairs, her Aunt came in the front door, she said "Hi, gotta get back to class" and scampered up the stairs. The rest of the afternoon class time, Nalani could not focus on her schoolwork, because she was curious about WHAT this list meant and WHY was she #4???

Another few quarantine days passed, and Nalani could not get the little black book our of her head. She tried to divert her attention by watching the news and seeing the Governor impose restrictions and curfews, but her thoughts always returned to the infamous black book. What if she asked her Aunt Kathy, or even her Mom about the book. That wasn't a good idea because Kathy would know she's been in her business when it's "NONE YA". The best thing for her to do is to get another look at the book. One day when her Aunt and Mother were out of the house, Nalani slipped into the bedroom, into the third drawer under the folded T-shirts and pulled the book out. She took a few minutes just staring at the front and back covers, as if they could reveal the secrets. Slowly opening the book, flipping through mostly blank pages, until she came to the back inside cover which revealed a simple inscription, "LOVE 2Bs". What did that mean? Nalani was no closer to finding the answer. Maybe she could find some answers from other family members, during the Family Quarantine Zoom meeting, scheduled for the upcoming weekend. Taking one more look at that mysterious page, nothing changed, her grandmother, uncle and cousin with their horizontal lines, as they were deceased and Nalani #4 and lineless. Did that mean she was next to die? Or worse yet, would some harm come to her, as on a hit list of some sort? There was no sense in stressing about it, she had to focus on her schoolwork. The Little Black Book of Pandemics, Hit List, whatever it is, was placed back in it's nesting place, then she ran upstairs to log on.

Saturday arrived, it was 3 o'clock, the online meeting started at 4pm. Nalani could not wait to ask questions of her family members in attendance. She tried to write down the most inconspicuous questions, as to not give away her little T-shirt stack find, the Black Book of Pandemics. Could it be so ironic that the color "black" sometimes has a negative connotation, like in old Westerns the cowboy in BLACK is the villain? The correlation between BLACK and a life changing Pandemic, and the fact that she was still #4, on a list of doom, or whatever that list meant. While she was alone with her thoughts, her Mom and Kathy opened the meeting with their CORNBALL KARAOKE singing. Nalani was used to tuning them out, especially with the deafening sound of her thoughts, until some said "Nalani, hello. Are you going to join us?" Nalani and her thoughts returned to her body and cognizance. "Hello Deedee, Sandra, Maritza, Laura, Gigi. Hey Becky, nice to see you Cameron etc etc, " she said. Maritza asked Nalani about what she was thinking? Nalani saw this as an opportunity to ask questions, leading up to the Little Black Book. "Who is 2 Bs? Maritza looked puzzled and asked, "Where did that come from? Didn't your mother ever tell you that 2Bs is what your grandfather, MY father, used to call himself, because people always misspelled our last name "WIBBY. I know he passed away before you were born and you didn't know him". Nalani asked " Did he like to write, did he leave letters?" "You are the most curious person I've ever seen. You know what they say about curiosity and the cat?" Maritza stated. Aunt Kathy interrupted, "Okay Laura, isn't it time for Trivia questions?" On that note ,Nalani was even more paranoid than before and got up to leave the room. Her Mom Tori asked about WHERE she was going and Nalani replied something about menstrual cramps and retreated to her bedroom. Talk about DON'T ASK QUESTIONS ,IF YOU DON'T WANT ANSWERS. She was even more confused than ever and decided to pull out her phone, log on to Social Media and learn something new.

Another month passed, Nalani went about her daily schoolwork, and working her part time job at the Burger Hut. She was still paranoid, not knowing about WHAT her fate had in store, or if it was to be decided by the Little Black Book. Caution was her middle name, when it came to her adhering to social distancing and mask guidelines, safety at work, practicing her driving skills and even simply eating. She was sure to chew her food at least 20 times before swallowing for fear of choking. Every day was anxiety filled as life changed for the worst and she withdrew from socialization with her friends. The only place she felt completely safe was in her bedroom. Tori noticed the change in her behavior and mental state. Nalani's 18th birthday was in 2 days, and as promised, they would go to get matching tattoos, have lunch, go to the mall and make a day of celebrating her coming of age.

As they were coming down the stairs to exit on their day of adventure, Aunt Kathy, came into the dining area, wished Nalani a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! and asked about what she had planned for the day. Nalani filled her in on the day's events. Kathy asked her if she had a few minutes before she goes and asked her to sit down. She ran to the bedroom and quickly returned, carrying a silver strong box by the handle in her right hand, and in her left was the LITTLE BLACK BOOK... She placed both items on the table in front of Nalani, sat across the table from her, and Tori sat in the chair to Nalani's right. If her eyes could pop out of her head on spring coils, as if she was in a cartoon, this would have been that moment of such a fete. Nalani recognized the book but not the strong box. Nalani and Kathy's eyes met, Kathy speaking, "I know you have seen the little black book before, because someone has been in my dresser drawer. My T-shirts were not aligned correctly." Nalani didn't waste any time, "Why are those names on the list? My name???" "I promised him that I would wait until you were 18 years old, to tell you. "WHO?", Nalani urged. "Two Bs, our father. The names on the list represent the family members who were in line for inheritance, but unfortunately they passed away. He randomly chose successors, and even though he didn't know you yet, you were chosen 4th in line," Kathy added. " You were to inherit $20,000 from his life insurance policy, if you were born within 4 years of his death and you were born at the end of the 4th year of his passing. The rest of my siblings, including your Mom didn't know, because he left me in charge. The monies are to be used for your college education and the purchase of your own car". Kathy opened the strong box to reveal a life insurance policy and handed it to Nalani. In the center of the policy was NALANI WIBBY, embossed in gold lettering, spelled correctly with 2 Bs.

"OMG dud, are you kidding me right now?", Nalani asked. "Kathy said "No. When the others passed away, I had to get the insurance company to reissue the policy in your name." "Mom, let's cancel my day and go straight to the bank," and excited Nalani urged. "Hold your horses Nalani. We have to contact the insurance company, provide your proof of age and wait for them to issue a check, then you can go to the bank<"Kathy explained. "well let's do it ASAP. I've got some future planning to do!" "well does 1 of your plans, at least include lunch?" asked Tori. "Kathy why don't you join us for lunch at our favorite taco place, urged Tori. " Yes we can discuss my future plans over Margaritas and tacos, "Nalani interjected. "Slow your roll you're 18 not 21," Tori added. But how about letting Akira out first, then we can go". "Akira, c'mon. I've got some planning to do," Nalani exclaimed as she again hurried the little dog out the door so she could fulfill her immediate plans...AWWWWRRRLLLL.

extended family
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About the Creator

Antonia Webber

Please cancel my subscription STAT!!!Please send me an email to confirm the cancellation. [email protected]

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