Nathan and Romy vol 7

Nathan and Romy

06.12.04 04:10 pm



There are two African american young men in my class. They are both pretty serious cats, with a lot of composure for their young years. Nathan is 20, played football basketball and whatever other ball you could play, for Rainier Beach High School. His dad is Jamaican, his mom African American. He has deep brown skin that we all assesed to be cool toned but I still think it looks warm and rusty. His hair is long and always perfectly braided. This really (for lack of a better or more accurate word) ghetto looking white girl who picks him up from school a lot who he swears up and down isn't his girlfriend (I would go toe to toe with him on the swearing that she is,) braids it beautifully and diffently every few days. This week it was crisscrossed like a basket all over his head, her skills are impressive and if theyre not sleeping together, he must be comin w/ something good for her to spend that much time on his hair. He speaks in a very unique and hilarious way, he always puts the emphasis on a different syllable. Once when we were all walking around central on a break, a bird shit on his puffy down coat. He did an unbeleiveable impression of the sound of bird poop landing on a down coat and then proclaimed that he "Needed a nap-kain with some of that good ol' wa-tare." He calls Tabatha "Young Tabs," and refers to clothes that are too tight or short as young as well. He raps and is constantly seeking inspiration from different sources. Once I gave him and Jamaa a ride home, but he lives in skyway so he came to my house for a min while I ate, packed my dance bag and went to drop him off on the way to Franchesska's house, also in Skyway. He and I sat on my couch and he drank a pacifico (sorry mom) and told me stories. He was one of three boys both older than him. His mom wont let him borrow the car to get his drivers license. He supposes she's protective of him, seeing as how both of his brothers have been killed. More specifically murdered. He Sat on my sure fit slipcover teal blue couch and told me that he was eight, spending the night at his favorite brother's house. His brother was 20 at the time and big time into drugs, dealing yes, doing maybe. He heard something in the night and got up to see what it was. He didnt see anything, so he went in the bathroom, probably because the light was on. He could see the top of the showerhead, and there was something wrapped around it, he said it was a belt but I imagine he didnt know what it was at the time. He pulled back the curtain to see his brother hanging. He was still alive, Nathan said, he could see him tryng to breathe. He remembers it like it was yesterday he told me, and I know what he means about those mind photographs that are a wholly different kind of remembering, its like an eye memory, a retina memory. What killed me is that he said he still feels like there was something he could have done, he should have tried to get him down, he was still alive. I heard myself telling him that there was no way an eight year old could lift a dead weight like that and that even if he could have gotten him down, he would have already suffered severe brain damage. How did I think of those things so fast?? What in God's name do I know about dead weight and brain damage. Anyway, he actually seemed a little comforted by what I said, like he'd thought of those things before and it was good to have them confirmed. I asked about his other brother. He said he was stabbed, but It wasnt as bad cause he hadnt been there. I guess its the lesser of the two evils. We agreed that we could see why his mom was overprotective. Then he asked me if I had any poetry books he could borrow and I lent him my favorite dog eared Rumi translation and told him it would change the way he thought about everything. I never talked to him about his stories again, but we have a kind of unspoken closeness, like a young auntie, that we both acknowledge quietly.
Romy is 21 and looks like he could easily be videomorphed into a balinese cat. He has a chisled jaw, deep set eyes and everything tilts down towards a longish aqualine nose. He presses his short hair to his head with grease and a do-rag so it gleams and has smooth ripples like a summer lake. He has coffee yellow skin, flawless rhythm, beautiful hands, and a really poor attendance record. He once told me on the subject of social services and the court system, "once you get them in your business, its really hard to get them out." He knows from experience. His downstairs neighbor called the fuzz when he and his girl were arguing and claimed that she SAW him hit her. She couldnt have seen anything as they have curtains on the windows and even if they didnt she would have had to have a periscope through the toilet or something to see from directly below them, anyway,when the police came, his girl said there had been no hitting, but since they had a witness they booked him anyway and he has been in court on a near weekly basis with his totally innefective public defender ever since. I guess he has the best chance of getting off if he pleads guilty, but its killing him to do it. He cant understand how he can get up there, promise not to lie, tell them he did a crime he didnt do and end up serving less time than if he told the court what really happened. Its a hurter. He is a very serious young man, with real insight into our serious social ills and how he is affected by them. His gave me a very dark and perfectly articulated description of young lawyers who come in to the system raring to make some positive changes and either quit disillusioned or joint the ranks of wage slave defenders who try and forget why they wanted to be there in the first place. Really, I can see that when he gets older, if he manages to avoid the Blacuum, he will be a force to be reckoned with. His beatboxing is off the hook. Id give my eye teeth for rhythm like that. He and Nathan sit in his car at lunch and freestyle. His girlfriend is a future medical assistant and a crazy bitch. A couple weeks ago, I was walking out of school laughing at how my hat dwarfed Melashu's little peanut head. Apparantly I was laughing in the general direction of Romy's girl's car cause she leaned out and hissed like a viper " I see you smirkin' at me you fatass bitch." I walked a few steps before I realized she was talking to me at which point i walked back to the car and leaned in over romy who couldnt even look up at me, and said were you talking to me? She replied that she was sure she saw me smirking at her and her man. I assured her, while she snaked her head from side to side and narrowed her eyes, that I hadn't a thought of her in my head and in fact didnt even know that she was there but that even if i had godforbid, smiled in her general direction it was no cause to be using that kind of language with me as I have no interest in you or your man. She inauthentically apologised like she would let me get away with it this time. The next day I asked Romy what was up with his female attacking me like that. He said he didnt want to talk about it. I can understand why not. We used to have really good conversations but we havent really spoken since then. I guess she got what she wanted. Bintu told me that when she was pregnant she stabbed Romy's sister, i can't remember why but then again, is there any good reason to stab anyone? Poor Romy, too bad about their adorable three year old daughter or I'm sure he'd be long gone. I wonder if that woman downstairs didnt mistake her blows for his, i wouldnt be at all suprised if the wrong party were on trial and never said a word. It takes all kinds.
This week was our written final, it was 200 questions. It was easy, I got a 95% and feel a little ashamed for missing any of them. But I studied for about 20 minutes total so that's what I get. Next week are our practicals. I have to give a mani, pedi, wet set (thats a rollerset, for any post 60s kids, the aforementioned big ol' Texas hair) and a haircut. Sarah has generously agreed to be my wet set model and Carrie Steel will be recieving a version of the friends haircut, but longer and with bangs. I'm sure it will be foible filled.
Stay tuned my dears.