If I Have To

I Ain't Worried

New York, New York
April 22nd

Kasey L.

"Mr. and Mr. Langston, what do I owe the pleasure?" Mayor Grant asked while Calvin and I entered the office.

"No need for the formal greeting, Muhammad." Calvin said, walking in front of me and heading to the desk. Mayor Grant stood to his feet and shook Calvin's hand.

"It's nice to see you again, Calvin. Nice to see you too Kasey." Mayor Grant shook my hand after.

"What do I owe the pleasure?" He repeated, signaling for us to sit down.

"Well before my boy says his proposal, I want to inform you that Pearl will not be coming to your dinner tonight. I'm bringing Kasey along instead." Calvin informed, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Pearl won't be missed. Now, proposal?" Mayor Grant questioned, turning to face me.

"Yes." I sat up and leaned forward. "An issue has been brought to my attention in our city." I started, his eyebrows raising.

"What kinda of issue are we talking about? Better trash collecting? More country clubs? Better dog parks?" He threw out these ridiculous problems that I didn't care much about.

"None of those are an issue in my humble opinion." I let him know and he furrowed his brows.

"I would think those would be major issues. Right?" Mayor Grant asked Calvin and he nodded.

"They aren't. Anyway, can we talk about the real problem?" I brought him back.

"Proceed."

I cleared my throat then went on. "I noticed that the shelters that's located in the urban areas in New York aren't up to par as they should be. They're understaffed. They're lacking the most basic necessities to help these people. They sleep on a hard cold floor or a cot with ripped up blankets and no pillow. The living conditions for homeless people is terrible and it's concerning because our own mayor isn't helping out with it."

"The urban areas?" Mayor Grant questioned with a head tilt. I didn't expect a white guy to understand the wording.

"The black neighborhoods." Calvin helped him out. He glanced back at me with an excited expression on his face. He just learned the word too. I helped him understand while we drove over here.

"The black neighborhoods." Mayor Grant repeated with a slow head nod. I sensed the confusion that was still on the tip of his tongue. I don't understand why he was the mayor when he barely knew his cities.

"Areas like Harlem, Queens, Brooklyn." I helped him out some more.

He looked more confident. "I know those areas, so what exactly is the problem with them?"

"There's plenty of problems but the one I'm addressing now is the shelter issue. Like I said the homeless shelters out there are understaffed and lacking the appropriate resources to help out." I reiterated.

He threw his hands out, pressing his lips together. "How come you're mentioning this now? It never been an issue before to people, so I don't understand." He addressed.