Fruition

Beep Beep Beep Beep.

“Ugh, why does the weekend go by so fast?” Josiah mumbles to himself as he rolls over and smashes the top of the alarm clock.

Beep Beep Beep Beep

“What the…” He sits up and remembers he set the alarm on his phone too, which was on the charger across the room. Too many times he had hit snooze on the alarm clock and rolled back over only to fall back asleep. He would awaken to realize an hour had passed and would be late for work, AGAIN. So, his brother came up with the brilliant idea to set two alarms and make one so far that he would have to get out of the bed to turn it off.

This morning he WOULD be on time. Of course, this is after several warnings and the threat of termination from the best job he could get as a high school senior. He was working as a custodian at a new law firm and wanted to make a good impression on the partners in hopes of securing a scholarship. His tardiness wasn’t helping him get closer to that goal.

As he reached his dresser where the phone was still buzzing, he notices the charger dangling along the side. “Of course, I would forget to plug it in!” he fumes to himself as he hit the silence button on the alarm app. Just then the phone turns off, so he plugs it in and continues with his morning.

Josiah grabs his towel and toothbrush and rushes to the bathroom. As luck would have it, his older brother Jayden was already in the bathroom showering and reciting his morning motivations. “UGH he’s going to take forever!” Josiah mumbles to himself. Instead, he decides a little body spray and mouthwash would do the trick. Hopefully today would be a mild summer day and he could make it to 4 without breaking a sweat.

“I am smart. I am strong. I am brave. The power to be great is within me and I WILL work to bring my goals to fruition!” This was his morning affirmation. He had memorized it but still looked down at the page it was scribbled on as he recited it. He then read his goal off one at a time.

“Graduate high school”. As he read this one chills rushed over his body. It seemed strange to make such a goal when he first started the list, but he flashed back to that very day. He was on his way home feeling good about his last track meet when he walked past a memorial for a young boy. He noticed that the boy was a year younger than he was at the time. The boy was caught in the crossfire of a shooting not 2 blocks from his home.

He was jerked from his memory by the sound of his mother calling to check that he was getting ready.

Goal number 2 “Skim 2 seconds off the record.” Securing an athletic scholarship was once his only hope for making it out of the hood. He stopped to think about his last race and looked up at the medals that hung over his bed. He worked harder at beating his time then he did studying for the SAT’s. He was naturally smart, but it took dedication and lots of training to condition his body to be at its physical peek.

“Forgive but never forget.” This goal would prove to be the hardest to achieve. His eyes began to tear as they always did when he thought about how he had lost his best friend to domestic violence. Several times he had tried to get Michael to go to the police or talk to someone about his father’s drug problem, but Michael would always make excuses for the bruises. One night Josiah woke up to the sound of sirens outside his window. When he looked out, he saw the ambulance pull up. A knot immediately grew in his stomach because he knew something horrible had happened. He crawled back into his bed and tried to ignore the thoughts of all the things that could warrant an ambulance at this time of night. The next morning his mom tapped lightly on the door and peaked in with a look of sincerity. That was the worse day of his life.

As a tear began to roll down his cheek, he blinked, and the page came back into focus. The last goal was written more neatly and emboldened unlike the others.

“BE ON TIME FOR WORK” He wrote this in last Thursday after his meeting with Mr. Scott. Mr. Scott was not only his supervisor, but he also owned the building and several others on the strip. Josiah looked up to him because he was a successful black man who grew up in a neighborhood like his own. Mr. Scott would always lecture him about the importance of hard work and dedication and how being punctual was a sign of respect.

Josiah closed the journal he had these thoughts written down in. He had received it as part of a gift last year from the counselor he started seeing after Michael passed. Ms. Byrd was the counselor who helped him to put how he was feeling into words and release them so they would not continue to build up inside of him. Now he used this little black book to help him stay focused. He tossed the journal into his backpack and ran down the stairs. All the reminiscing had allowed too much time to go by and once again he was running late. He grabbed a toaster treat and headed for the door. If he rode fast enough he would make it on time! He hopped onto his bike and took off for the road.

As he pulled up to the tall shiny building the clock at city hall was chiming to signal he was right on time. With great relief he ran into the building to swipe his time card before the minute could pass. Just as he reached the time clock Mr. Scott was walking out of his office. “Good morning” Mr. Scott said to him. Josiah nervously spun around and reached out his hand. “Good morning Mr. Scott.” Mr. Scott shook his hand and his face began to frown up. “I’m glad to see you’re on time but did you skip the shower this morning son?” Josiah pulled his hand back quickly and held his arms close to his sides. Mr. Scott chuckled seeing that Josiah was clearly embarrassed and asked him to come into his office.

Once inside he offered Josiah a bottle of orange juice then walked over to a desk in the corner of the large room. He pulled out a small luggage bag and walked over to where Josiah was standing. “Take this and go freshen up before you head up to the offices. I can appreciate the efforts son, but next time try not to skip the shower.” Josiah smiled nervously. He sat his backpack in the corner and left as quickly as he could.

The day seemed to drag along. Josiah kept thinking about how poorly Mr. Scott must think of him. The embarrassment lingered with him until the end of his shift. When 4 o’clock came around, he tried to clock out and get out of the building as fast as he could. When he got home, he ran straight to the shower. When he got out of the shower, he decided to write down his newest goal in his journal, AVOID MR. SCOTT AT ALL COST. But when he went to get the little black book, he realized he had left it in the office of the very man he had planned never to face again. Unfortunately, his phone was in the backpack as well so Josiah set his alarm clock and laid in bed tortured by the thought of the coming day.

The next morning Josiah awakened before the alarm clock had even rang. He slowly walked to the bathroom and showered again. He brushed his teeth twice and took special notice of his hair too. He knew he would have to address Mr. Scott in order to retrieve his belongings and wanted to ensure he was looking and smelling his best. He even decided to catch the bus instead of riding his bike just to ensure he was still fresh when he arrived to work. He walked up to the building 15 minutes before the hour and stood outside the door nervously. He knew he had to go in, but his feet wouldn’t take the next steps.

He was lost in his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice behind him. “Good Morning son.” His breath was caught in his chest and he could not find a way to respond. He just looked down at his feet and turned toward the sound he was dreading all morning. It was Mr. Scott, standing tall and confident with a serious look on his face. “Step into my office before you clock in.” They both walked through the glass doors and turned toward the office where his backpack lie waiting for him. Once inside, again Mr. Scott offered him an orange juice then walked over to the desk in the corner. He pulled something out of the drawer then turned to Josiah. There in his hand was the little black journal. Tears began to form in Josiah’s eyes as he thought about someone reading the intimate things he had written. Again Mr. Scott could tell that Josiah was feeling embarrassed and quickly stated “The cleaning lady took your backpack to the front desk. They opened it to see if they could find something with the owner’s name on it. When I saw it there this was sitting on the side. I didn’t mean to intrude but when I opened it to see if it too was yours, the words inside captivated me. I wanted to stop reading. I thought of how violated I would feel if someone were reading my deepest thoughts, but I couldn’t put it down. You are incredibly talented. Have you thought about writing as a profession?” Josiah shook his head and put his hand out to reach for the journal. Mr. Scott handed him the book and said “You should. You’re work is amazing!” Josiah grabbed the book and his bag and left the office. He clocked in and went on to work disturbed by the boundaries he felt were overstepped.

That summer was the longest summer ever. He made it to work early everyday in hopes of not running into Mr. Scott again. Finally, his last day at the office came and he was relieved. As he walked to the time clock to punch out for the last time, Mr. Scott appeared from his office. “Josiah, can I see you in my office?” he asked. Josiah wanted to say “no”! He wanted to run away. Instead, he slowly followed him into the room and stood at the door. After a moment of awkward silence, Mr. Scott said “I’ll get to the point. I am the chair of a scholarship foundation that one of the firms here awards each year. Your words have played inside my head every day and have touched me in such a way that I would like to offer you a $20,000 scholarship on behalf of myself and the firm.

Josiah had given up on the idea of getting the scholarship and was shocked to hear this news. “I know its not much considering how much college costs these days, but you can apply it to a vocational school or even a writing course.” Josiah was so overwhelmed he was at a lost for words. Suddenly his future didn’t seem so dim and for the first time in a long time he felt like he breath again!