Commencement

by Lawrence Cherry

  ****

  “So this is room B”, Allen said to himself. Looking through the little latticed rectangular opening in the door, he noticed it was dark inside. He didn’t hear any noise. “Am I early?” he wondered. “Maybe there’s some mistake. Maybe this was the wrong room B.” Then he heard what he thought were hushed giggles, coming from inside. Finally, he began to realize what was going on. Allen turned the handle on the door and peeked in .....

  “S U R P R I S E!!!!!”

  A flood of light revealed an amazing spectacle before him. At first, all he could see were tangles of streamers and balloons through a shower of confetti that was being pelted toward him. Then he could see a stage with a podium and a video screen behind it. On the screen he could see the word “Congratulations!” scrolling across with graphics of fire works followed by pictures from his graduation ceremony. Down below the stage there was an adjacent dining area with tables that had burgundy and yellow tablecloths and balloons that were tied to chairs. On the far side of the dance space was a D.J with his turntable, speakers and other equipment. In the corner near the entrance where he was standing was a large table piled high with beautifully wrapped presents. Interspersed within the scenery there had to be about 50 guests. They were all cheering, clapping, shouting, and throwing handfuls of confetti at him. It almost seemed like he was at a presidential convention and he was the party nominee. Allen was completely overwhelmed by the moment. Allen was trying to match names to all of the faces, and trying to think of something to say, when a quick flash of light suddenly stunned him.

  “Lena, what are you doin’? You tryin’ to blind ‘im?” asked Vernon Sharpe trying to shield his son from his mother’s outdated digital camera.

  “I just wanted to get a picture of the look on his face, that’s all”, Lena explained hastily. “Baby, I’m so proud of you!” she gushed to Allen. Lena, Allen’s mother, was a petite, brown skinned woman whose skin had a glow to it that defied her age. To Allen and his dad, she looked a lot like the woman in those old wedding pictures in the album in the attic. She may have been, at the most, 10 pounds heavier but she wore it well. The only thing that could give any hint to her 48 years was the frumpy looking light blue beaded gown that she wore for the occasion. Overcome by her emotions, she tackled her six-foot-three inch son for a hug.

  “Mmph”, groaned Allen, a little winded by the embrace.

  “Lena, let the boy get some air for goodness sake!” chided Vernon playfully.

  Lena had been waiting for this moment since Allen was born. Her only child had just graduated from one of the top Ivy League schools in the country. She could not restrain the excitement, pride, gratitude, and joy that she felt and she didn’t want to. As Lena released Allen, he took some time to gather his composure.

  “Praise God, he did it! Graduated from Harvard, Thank You Jesus! We got the Victory!” shouted Lena as she “danced like David”.1

  Lena was a devout Christian and she always thanked the Lord for everything. Allen also believed in God, but he could never get as emotional as his mother. His mother’s outbursts always seemed to smack of a bit of superstition and naiveté for him. In this public setting, he couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed by Lena’s jubilant effusion.

  “Well, we all knew he would, and we’re proud of him Lena, but we don’t have to go crazy”, said Vernon sensing his son’s uneasiness. Vernon always seemed to be criticizing his wife’s “wild holy roller ways” as he called them, but it was more teasing than criticism. Deep down Vernon understood the source of his wife’s joy and appreciated her all the more for it.

  “Congratulations, Al”, Vernon said to Allen, as he reached out and gave his son a normal hug. Vernon could only be compared to a big tall oak tree, so overpowering was his presence, and the dark suit that he wore made him look even statelier. He was the only other person in the room who was taller than Allen. He was six-feet-five inches tall, with a powerful build. Vernon always wore an annoyed expression on his face even when he was happy. However, tonight he was able to crack a faint smile for his son’s success.

  “Mom, Dad… I don’t know what to say. This is too much”, was all that Allen could muster.

  “You don’t have to say anything”, replied Lena. “This is your day, baby. You just go ahead and have yourself a good time. Wakeem! Hit the music!”

  At Lena’s cue the D.J. started to play “Never Could Have Made It Without You” by the Williams Brothers. Then Lena withdrew to direct the celebration, and one by one, Allen’s closest friends and family closed in to offer their congratulations and best wishes. The first to grab Allen was his best friend James Reid. No one ever called him James though: just Jim. Allen and Jim had been friends since grade school when Jim had taken Allen under his wing as a little brother after saving him from the school bully. Jim had always wanted a little brother, but his parents never got the chance to have any other children. Allen had always wanted an older brother, so the two seemed to be perfect for each other. Jim was older by two years and though Allen tended to look up to him, there were times when the situation was reversed, as it was at this moment.

  “Congratulations, dog!” beamed Jim slapping his best friend on the back and pulling him in for a man hug.

  “Thanks, man. Couldn’t have done it without you putting up with those late night rants on the phone.”

  “That’s what brothers are for, man. You know I’m always gonna have your back. But this is your night. Forget that modesty stuff. You gotta turn this place out.”

  “Did you know about all this?”

  “Maybe”

  As the two men got reacquainted, a young cocoa complexioned woman in a simple black short sleeved dress snuck up behind Allen and threw her arms around him. She was so tiny that she practically had to jump on his back to plant a kiss on his cheek.

  “Congratulations, Al!” she chimed sweetly, attempting to cover his eyes with her hands.

  “Miko, ?!” guessed Allen, recognizing her voice.

  “Who else?” said Jim petulantly, as if their pesky little sister had just interrupted them. Then Allen pulled her around for a real hug. ‘Miko’ was short for Tamiko. Tamiko Bynum was another childhood friend of Allen’s. They met in kindergarten, and their relationship started off rather rocky at first. Tamiko was the only other kid in the class who could even come close to being as smart as Allen, and they were always in constant competition. To make matters worse, Tamiko’s father was the pastor at the church his family attended. She was the teacher’s pet in school and in the church’s Sunday school, and with all the time they spent together, Allen felt like he could never get away from her. Tamiko was always moralizing about one thing or another, expounding various rules of conduct and trying to tell everyone what to do. All the kids used to call her “Miss Priss” back then. But one day at school, someone had broken the class’s art project and the teacher was going to cancel the pizza party she planned for the class if she didn’t find out who did it. Miko confessed, even though she hadn’t done a thing. This Allen knew because he was the one who broke the project, only he didn’t say anything because he was afraid of getting into trouble. Tamiko knew this, too, but she took the blame because she knew everyone had worked so hard to earn the party. It was then that Allen realized that Tamiko wasn’t just some stuck up do-gooder, who was one way around adults and another way around the kids. She really believed in all of the things she talked about. Allen admired her courage and selflessness and they had been friends ever since. But there was one thing about Miko that Allen didn’t think he could ever get used to, and that was her prissy style of dress. Her black dress had princess sleeves, a rounded collar, and came down two inches below the knee. Her shoulder length hair was parted to one side with a hint of curl at the ends, and held in place with a wide tortoise shell headband. To Allen, she looked like she belonged on a Disney Channel sitcom.

  “I should be congratulating you, too. Didn’t you just get out of Spelman?” remarked Allen.
>
  “Oh no, you don’t. This is your night and you don’t have to share the spotlight”, answered Miko. “Anyway, what are we doing standing here? Come on over to our table. The rest of the guys are waiting for you.” Tamiko and Jim steered Allen through a hub of guests, and balloons toward one of the larger tables near the head of the room. As they approached, Allen could see the rest of his friends smiling and signaling him to come over and sit down. There was Tim, who stood out conspicuously from the bunch because of his fair complexion, and sandy brown hair. From a distance and in the dim lights of the catering hall, he could have passed for white. Timothy Russell was Allen’s best friend from Harvard who had graduated two years earlier. During his first week at Harvard, Allen suffered some serious culture shock. Allen knew that some of the students at the school were from some of the richest families in America, but this knowledge did not prepare him for his encounters with many of his classmates. A small few went out of their way to be jerks, but most of the kids just ignored him. Then one day, someone walked up to him out of nowhere and asked him if he could make copies of his notes for the open statistics course they were taking. This turned out to be Tim. Tim noticed that Allen was brilliant and Tim always liked to surround himself with intelligent people. So Tim helped Allen navigate the complicated social scene of Harvard. Then there was Callie (which was short for Callilope) Harris. Callie was a girl that Allen met in high school. She was very popular, but because she liked to go to clubs and parties, she had never really noticed Allen who tended to congregate with the geeks. That was until her calculus teacher told her that she was going to flunk the subject. So Callie signed up for a tutor, who turned out to be Allen. Callie ended up with a B+ on the final, which raised her grade to a satisfactory C-. Callie was so happy that she agreed to be Allen’s date for the prom, to the dismay of the “cool guys” in school. Allen and Callie got along well, but they decided that it would be best if they remained friends rather than pursue a romantic relationship. Even though Allen was headed to Harvard, and Callie was headed to nursing school, they stayed in touch regularly and became very close.

  Tonight, both Callie and Tim were eager to share in their friend’s accomplishment. Callie’s tall, dark, slender figure looked absolutely resplendent in the silver silk dress with black flowers embroidered on the bodice. She had her shoulder length hair pinned up to the top of her head in a chignon. Tim looked very handsome as well. He had his sandy colored hair gelled back into waves, and his wire framed glassed made him look like the dapper Wall Street type he so desperately wanted to be. His olive colored linen suit made him look a little less washed out than usual, and more like a real brother. When Miko, Jim, and Allen reached the table, Tim and Callie stood up to greet them.

  “Finally, the man of the hour has arrived”, said Tim putting one arm around Allen.

  “Congratulations, Al”, Callie cut in as she moved over to the other side of Allen to place another lipstick mark, under the one made by Miko. “Were you surprised?”

  “Kind of…”

  “You should have seen the look on his face”, laughed Jim.

  “You guys - I know this is gonna sound kind of cliché, but I really don’t know what to say”, said Allen.

  “How about ‘let’s order’, because I am absolutely starving right about now”, joked Jim taking his seat at the table.

  “That sounds like a good idea to me”, said Tim who helped Allen to seat the ladies before sitting down himself.

  “Oh Snap, look at all this! Fancy silverware, china, menus, that big table of presents over there - this seems more like a wedding reception than a graduation party! Dag!” Allen mused out loud. He was wholly dumbfounded by the expense his parents were driven to in order celebrate this occasion.

  “Don’t tell me you were expecting your mama to put on some little trifling backyard barbecue with a Carvel ice-cream cake, and some Pepsi”, said Callie as she opened her menu.

  “No, but I didn’t think they would go for broke. Tim, I know you had to have a hand in this. Be straight with me brother, did my parents have to re-finance the house for this or what?”

  “Calm down, Allen. Let’s just say that a lot of people chipped in to make this all possible, so your parents are not going broke. Enjoy your night. You’ve earned it, man”, said Tim stretching back in his chair.

  “Yo! Where my Harvard dogs at!” a voice bellowed from across the room. Everyone at the table looked up to see a tall dark skinned man with a goatee, lots of bling, and a navy and white pinstriped Sean Jean suit with matching Stacy Adams shoes walking toward the table. He let loose a wide grin revealing several shiny, gold-capped teeth.

  “Up over here that’s where they at!” Allen responded, a rhythmic cadence marking his voice. He stood to greet him with the familiar man hug and the pound.

  “Congratulations, man! They finally gave you them get out of jail free papers, huh. Now you gon’ set if off out there, ‘ight!” cheered Richard as he playfully jabbed Allen in the arm and then took his seat at the table. Richard was another friend that Jim had introduced Allen to. They had originally met at a street fair while Allen was on Thanksgiving break from Harvard. Richard was selling books in a booth and was able to provide Allen with a copy of a desperately needed textbook that had been sold out everywhere. Later on Allen found out that Richard sold lots of different things in lots of different places. Due to the peripatetic and transient nature of his business enterprises, many tended to call Richard a hustler, however, Allen was always amazed by how a man with only a high school diploma, and a little bit of street cred could manage his life so well. Richard always lived in the nicest places, had the coolest clothes, and never had a lack of women.

  “Look like you settin’ it off right now. This party ain’t no joke man. Ain’t no Chinette and chittlins up in here!” smiled Richard.

  “It’s about time you got here”, sneered Tim. “We were just getting ready to order.”

  “Order! Dag, it’s like that!” said Richard ignoring Tim and opening his menu. Richard always thought that Tim was nothing but an uptight Uncle Tom, and most of the time paid him no attention. “Cold Snap! They even got stuff on here that you can’t pronounce! Like what’s this, this uh...Cock aw vin stuff? What’s that son?”

  “It’s coq au vin”, said Tim with the proper pronunciation, correcting him. And Tim always jumped on any opportunity to correct Richard. “It’s chicken braised in a red wine sauce.”

  “I was down wit’ it until you started talkin’ bout a wine sauce. The only sauce I like on my chicken is hot sauce, youknowwhatI’msayin. I ain’t tryin’ to get high off no chicken.”

  “I feel you”, chuckled Allen.

  Jim and the girls laughed as well, while Tim rolled his eyes in disgust. Jim flagged down a waiter to take their orders and within minutes the food was brought to the table. Soon everyone at the table was caught up in the convivial atmosphere of celebration. They sat and talked about old times, caught up with the present, and discussed their future. It was the future that was their foremost preoccupation, especially for Allen, and everyone was full of anticipation to hear what was next on his agenda.

  “So, Allen now that you’ve got your degree, what’s next?” asked Tim.

  “I definitely want to go into financial consulting and I have a couple of interviews lined up with some really good firms, so we’ll see what happens”, answered Allen with a sort of practiced humility, trying not to make a big deal of his good fortune.

  “Interviews already! You must really be in demand, huh!” cheered Callie.

  “But I don’t want to get ahead of myself. It’s just interviews, nothing’s settled yet.”

  “C’mon Allen, as smart as you are, those companies will be fighting over you before it’s all over with”, Tamiko gloated while picking at her collard greens.

  “As it should be”, said Tim in a matter of fact way.

  “I don’t know if it’s going to be that easy”, Jim said rather gravely.

>   “What do you mean?” asked Allen a bit surprised.

  “I hear what he’s saying”, reasoned Tim. “There’s been a big downturn in the financial sector since the whole subprime mess started to unravel. There aren’t as many jobs as there used to be and it’s starting to get pretty competitive out there. Even so, I don’t see why…”

  “And you know what that means, especially for us”, said Jim cutting Tim off, bitterness seeping into his voice.

  There was a moment of silence at the table, as everyone looked around at each other, but not at Jim. Finally, Allen decided to break the silence.

  “What does it mean? What are you trying to say?”

  “Look, Al, you know I’m your boy and I would never say or do anything to bring you down, especially not tonight. It’s just....I don’t know. Maybe we should talk about this at another time.”

  “C’mon man, say it. You’re my boy. You can be straight with me.”

  “It’s just that everyone is making it seem like good jobs are for the taking. That’s just not how the game works in this country. When I got out of St. John’s I thought everything was going to fall into place. I had my degree in political science so all I had to do was get a job as a law clerk or a paralegal until I finished law school. Then I’d be a big time lawyer with lots of money. But did it happen?”

  “Obviously, no. So what’s your point?” asked Tim.

  “My point is, even if you have a good education and lots of skills, there are other things that you have to be prepared for. Especially during these hard times”, Jim continued.

  “Oh? Like what?” asked Tim with just a hint of sarcasm. Tim knew what was coming. They all knew.

  “Like racism”, Jim blurted out after a few awkward moments. He hated the way his friends always played dumb when he brought up the subject.

  “Here we go again”, said Tamiko under her breath, shaking her head. Tim shot a knowing smirk at Allen, and chuckled lightly to himself before returning his attention to his meal. Callie fidgeted uneasily with her napkin, while Richard looked around at each of them expectantly, wondering where the conversation would lead. All of them expected nothing less than another bitter diatribe from Jim about the perils of the black man in a white Eurocentric society. Jim believed that racism played a big part in his inability to get a legal position when he graduated college, and he spent a lot of time trying to convince the rest of his friends. Everyone had hoped that if they kept silent and didn’t make any eye contact, they could weather the storm of Jim’s whining and go back to having a nice dinner celebration. But by the cross expression on Jim’s face, it didn’t seem likely.

  “Most of the legal jobs I was turned down for, I was more than qualified to do! How else would you explain it?!” He continued, the tense emotions spilling over.

  “C’mon, Jim. This is Allen’s graduation dinner. You should be trying to encourage him, not bring him down with all that racism baggage you’re carrying around”, said Callie sounding a little disappointed in Jim.

  “I’m just tryin’ to keep it real. I’m speaking as a black man with experience and I’m lettin’ Allen know what the deal is. In times like these, we’re the first ones fired and the last ones hired.”

  “Dude, you’re not the only brother in the world and your experience is not the only experience. Despite the fact that you weren’t able to get a job in the clerk’s office, I happen to know a few brothers that have. There are even black lawyers, judges and even Supreme Court justices now, you know. We even have a black presidential candidate, who looks as if he might make it, for goodness sake. It just so happens to be 2008 and not 1908”, argued Tim.

  “I don’t need you of all people to tell me what year it is, Tim. There’s just as much racism today as it was back then. Just look at what’s been happening in the last ten years or so. Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, The Jena Six… and I don’t care if they put this brother in White House. The struggle’s not over.”

  “Look, Jim” said Allen finally speaking for himself. “We’re not saying that racism is dead, but this is the new millennium. Racism can’t stop you unless you let it. Our ancestors taught us that. If Frederick Douglass could publish a black newspaper when blacks weren’t even supposed to be able to read and write, there’s no reason why I can’t have a job as a financial consultant.”

  “Amen to that!” added Miko.

  “Racism may not stop you, but it can still affect you, knowwhatimean. That racism is still out there, yo. As a matter of fact, look at what they’re doing to the black presidential candidate. He can’t even fart without some of these folks turning it into a scandal. White folks ain’t no joke”, warned Richard.

  “But there are a lot of white people who are supporting him, too. Not all white people are evil racists, you know”, Tim shot back.

  “I dare anybody here to name one white person they know that’s not”, Jim challenged.

  “Are you kidding me! If all white people were racists I wouldn’t have even been born!” exclaimed Tim.

  “I know you’re not referrin’ to the dude that’s been keepin’ you and your little sis’ a secret from his whole other family-” Richard began.

  “Don’t even go there, Richard”, Tamiko interrupted with a warning. “Let’s not make this personal.”

  “If he didn’t want it to get personal about his dead-beat, racist pops, he should have kept him out of the conversation.”

  “You don’t know anything about my father!” shouted Tim angrily.

  “And neither do you!” Richard retorted.

  “Oooh, that was cold!” remarked Jim.

  “Don’t let this color fool you. Bright boys can kick-”

  “Tim, chill! You know how Richard is. Just let it go. Richard, you know you were wrong for going there. We weren’t talking about Tim’s family, we were talking about white people in general”, said Allen trying to mollify the situation.

  “Besides, Tim’s right. There are a lot of really nice white people out there who are not racist. If most whites were, none of us would be able to survive”, said Tamiko steering the conversation away from the danger zone.

  “See you guys are still stuck in the mentality that racists run around with white sheets and fiery crosses. It’s far subtler than that. White people don’t have to be particularly evil to be racists, just self-interested”, Jim insisted, vehemently to the point to where he was pounding his fist on the table. He was always surprised by his friends’ blind naiveté about the way the world worked.

  “But that’s just my point. You say that most of them are about preserving white hegemony. But if that’s true, why are so many African-Americans in very high positions of power. I mean Condoleeza Rice is our secretary of state for crying out loud”, continued Tamiko trying to be as sensitive to Jim’s feelings as she could.

  “Because they know that certain African-Americans are not willing to rock the boat if they can have a few crumbs. Those are the only blacks the white power structure is willing to enter into a dialogue with”, retorted Jim.

  “Word, True that! Most black folks that get them big gigs is sell-outs, straight up. They climb the ladder to success and then turn around and burn it down, so no other blacks can get up there. Like that dude, in the Supreme Court. This Tom uses affirmative action to get his education on, then he want to take it out so these up and coming young brothers can’t get nowhere”, added Richard.

  “Why is it that if an African-American is successful, and makes a lot of money, some people get the idea that he or she has to be an Uncle Tom? There are many successful African-Americans who help other African-Americans. Look at Magic Johnson, Chris Rock, and Tyler Perry for example. I mean, that’s where I want to go with mine. If I got a really prestigious job at one of these consulting firms, I would try to use my influence to create some opportunities for these young brothers out there with nothing to do”, said Allen.

  “First of all, they’d drop you like a bad habit before you could even th
ink about something like that. Secondly, even if they did let you make such a program, they would oversee it and make sure the only thing to come out of it is a bunch of pre-programmed brothers who won’t do nothin’ to shake things up in this society”, said Jim bursting Allen’s bubble.

  “Man, you’re negative! You’re just as bad as these gangsta rappers out here. If all you say is true, what are we supposed to do? I guess Allen shouldn’t bother with looking for a job. He should just smoke some crack and die before the white people get him, right?!” exclaimed Callie who by now was fed up with Jim and the whole conversation.

  “See, you guys are too plugged into the system to understand what I’m puttin’ down. I shouldn’t have said anything, like I started to.”

  “Finally, something we can agree on”, snarled Tim.

  Jim gave Tim a “don’t mess with me” look.

  “Well, I know there’s something else that we can all agree on”, said Callie smiling at Allen and raising her glass. “I’d like to take this time to make a toast. To Allen: for whom the best is yet to come. We all believe in you and we all support you; right, Jim?” Everyone at the table gave a hearty “here, here”, with the exception of Jim, who was still sulking over the fact that his friends would not validate his ideas.

  “You know what? I’m ready to get my dance on, but all you got goin’ at this party is church music. When we gonna hear somethin’ with some beats?!” said Richard who was ready for a change of scene.

  Allen blushed a bit at the fact that his mother’s spiritual side was showing again.

  “You know my mom. If she organized this celebration, it’s gonna be gospel all night.”

  “You know what, Allen? Your mom’s so religious, maybe you should get her to put in a good word with The Man Upstairs for you before those interviews”, joked Richard. “It wouldn’t hurt.” With the exception of Tamiko, everyone laughed.

  “I think she’s been doing that all of her life.”

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