The Diary of Aaliyah Anderson

Randall Barnes Interviews Aaliyah Anderson (Bonus)

As a special treat for reading my first novel, I interview Aaliyah Anderson, who gives more of a deeper look inside look into her life and unique ideology. What makes her tick? What drives and motivates her? Find out in this compelling interview with the star of The Diary of Aaliyah Anderson.

RB: What is your name? For the people reading that don’t know who you are.

AA: My name Is Aaliyah Anderson, I’m 13 and about to turn 14 on January 21st. Everybody calls me ‘Liyah. (smiles) My momma calls me ‘Lili. She's the only person that calls me that too.

RB: What do you think makes you unique?

AA: Well, if I had to say one thing, it would have to be my creativity. I feel as if it’s the only thing that separates me from every other teenage female in Willowsfield.

RB: I totally understand! What are your hobbies?

AA: Piggy backing off of my creativity, I love drawing. I think that’s another thing that sets me apart from everybody else. I believe I really have a talent for it and I could make something out of it one day. I like playing tennis too. Outside of basketball, that’s my favorite sport. I’ve put tons of hours into being the best tennis player I can be and it’s shows in the way I look. That’s my li’l workout! I keep it slim but I’m definitely not skinny. With a sport like tennis, you’re able to keep a shapely figure and still be able to do well. That’s what I like about it. I don’t have to walk around like a walking skeleton! My body is so sexy that it makes most of these high school guys go crazy, as you can see from the book.

RB: Well, Aaliyah, since you brought up the topic of you easily getting the attention of various older guys at your young age, let’s talk about it.

AA: For some reason, I’ve always attracted the attention of older guys. I’ve never understood why; I just enjoy it. It’s pretty obvious what they’re trying to get with me for. They think they can run their li’l game on me and get a quick smash because they’re older and more experienced. (Laughs) Well, unfortunately for them, I shut that down! Even though I made it clear that I’m not going out like a jump-off, they still try their best to talk me into the bed. Some of them even have tried to spend money on me, taking me to the mall and everything. It’s pathetic the lack of good game they have. (Laughs) I’m not trying to be a tease, but they knew they weren’t going there with me. If they wanna trick their money off on me and waste their time, that’s their problem. I’m not a whore!

RB: Have you ever gotten played?

AA: I haven’t gotten exactly played, but I started to catch feelings for two of the older guys that I’ve been with on a relationship level:  Xavier Johnson and Brandon Roberson. Both times, I’ve gotten my heart broken. With both of them, I was one of many girls they were talking to. It’s cool though; I know all guys aren’t like them. They were players and they ran some good game on me, but in the end, I didn’t give them what they wanted.

RB: Who do you wish you were closer to?

AA: That’s easy! There are three people I wish I was closer to:  my dad, my older brother Jeffery, and my younger brother Elijah.

RB: Why aren’t you closer with them?

 AA: (A tear comes from her right eye and runs down. She wipes it with her hand.) They’re the ones that have hurt me the most. I talk about it in the story too. My brother Jeff acts like he hates me for absolutely no reason at all. I try to walk around and act like it doesn’t affect me, but it does. I try my best to stay away from him because he scares me, honestly. He’s really addicted to the street life. He’s a high-ranking member of the Eastside Rydahz. He’s even caught a body before. Elijah wants to be just like Jeff and I blame myself because I was the one that was supposed to keep him on the right track. Read my story. They know about all the shady b.s. he’s done.

RB: Let’s liven up the interview a little bit. Where are you from?

AA: I was born and raised in Willowsfield, GA - Riverstone Creek, to be exact. I’m not saying it proudly or ashamed, it’s just how it is.

RB: In the story, you continually talk about how ratchet and ghetto Willowsfield is. You even said you and Allison babysat during an intense gang shootout. Is it really that bad?

AA: Yes! Willowsfield isn’t ranked the #1 most violent city in the United States for nothing! Now to be clear, Willowsfield isn’t a bad city. North Willowsfield is almost like a totally different city altogether. Everything goes on down there. If all the shooting and fighting between all these different gangs and crews were to stop, things would be great down here in the ‘Field. We’re a great sports town. The high school and college football and basketball seasons get really interesting. There are a lot of black-owned businesses and everything. We’re right on Atlanta’s heels at being the most productive and popular black city in Georgia. But you can’t really hide the fact that we’re, statistically, a dangerous city.

RB: What is it about Clarkson Middle that you hate so much? I know it’s your last year and you’re probably going to Howard-Jones with D and the rest of your cousins when everything is said and done, but you also say in the story that Booker T being called “Gangsta High” is because of the students that came from Clarkson. Could you explain that?

AA: Clarkson is drama central! I said it in the story and I’ll say it here during this interview. There’s so much craziness that goes on at Clarkson! I even give people an example at the very beginning of the story. My former friend Jennifer Watson got caught in the boys’ bathroom with three guys doing something you’re definitely not supposed to do at school last year. On the first day of school this year, the Rydahz were about to start a riot with a Mexican gang called King Street over a lost dime sack of weed. They swear they’re ballin’ and got all this moneybut they were tripping over a dime sack? That’s the problem with Clarkson. These people don’t come here to learn. They pretty much come to fight, start drama, and/or find somebody to hook up with. And let’s not get started on the teachers! They stay trippin’! And it’s mainly the older teachers, who we call the Teacher Mafia. They clique up against the students and newer, younger teachers. They even tried to gang up on Miss Carter a couple of times. (Laughs) She set them straight though! They know she’s not the one to mess with!

RB: But how does the Clarkson kids being bad correlate to Booker T being deemed by students, parents, teachers and school officials as “Gangsta High”, the worst school in Willowsfield?

 AA: Here’s my theory on it.  About 75% of Booker T students are from Clarkson. They bring the craziness from Clarkson over to Booker T to the third degree because of the fact that they have way more freedom. They can go to sleep in class and nothing will be done about it because, by school system and Booker T. High policy, it’s not the responsibility of the teacher to make them do work. Because of that, their test scores drop and the teachers, who partly get paid by the school system based on what their students do on these important tests, stop trying because their students don’t try. They’re too busy trying to fight, skip class, and get in drama, a practice that they did at Clarkson for three years without really any punishment because of Dr. Salvadorian’s new policies and rules. Isn’t that messed up?

Want to hear more from Aaliyah? Get the novel on Amazon today! It's out now! #TDOAABook