Hi. My name is Beauty Bay Gibson and I was raised in a poor family in Nigeria with a single mother, my older brother Prince and my grandmother who looked fairly young, about forty than sixty. I was getting ready for my first day back to school, until my mother called for me.
"Beauty. Come here please." She said in her Nigerian accent.
"Yes mama." I said walking in the kichten.
"I have to talk to you."
"Yes."
"You're not going to go to school today."
"What? Why?"
"Because..." she starts to cry. I walk over to her and sit her down. I sit down too.
"Because, you're going to live in American with your aunt."
"Aunt Rosa? Wha...why me why not me and Prince?"
"Prince is going to be in Army."
I was speechless. I wanted to yell but I kept it to myself. "So what do I do now?" I asked looking up at her.
"Start packing your clothes. You have a long journey ahead of you."
"O...ok." she kisses my forehead. "Why do I have to leave?" she sighs.
"I have nothing. No money, no food. You go to bed every night hungry. I have no job and you need to be in a safer environment."
"Oh mama, is this about when the girls at school stole my clothes at gym? Prince gave me his. It was...fine. I'm fine."
"No Beauty. It's for the best."
"Mom I'm 17 now i don't need protection. I'm fine."
"Go and get ready please." I get up and walk to the door of the kitchen and stop.
"Where's grandma and Prince?"
"Ma is at a nursing home and Prince is on his was the Paris." I sigh and start to tear up, but she doesn't notice. I go to my room and start packing. Why do I have to go to America? What if they don't like me? I just turned 17. I'm almost an adult. I hate my life.
I pack all of my clothes and a special note and pen. I head down stairs and see my mother standing there. She had a box in her hands.
"What's this?"
"Just some stuff i want you to have. But don't open it until you get to America. Ok?"
"Ok." I open the door and outside is a limo. I gasp. An Asian man that was standing beside the car, grabs my bag and puts it in the trunk. I walk down the stairs with a smile on my face.
"Send me a postcard and," she leans into my ear," stay away from the white men, the women are OK. I will miss you Beauty. So much."
"OK and I will miss you too mama." I give her a goodbye hug and get in the limo. The limo takes off as I wave goodbye. I start to tear up. I will miss mama a lot. So much.
At The Airport
We arrive at the airport. A black man gets out the limo and opens the door for me. It was very windy. My curls hit my face to the point it covers my eyes. One of the men unexpectedly put his coat around my shoulders.
"Thank you." I say smiling. He nods smiling back. We enter the airport. It was huge. I have never seen such a big place. We walk up to some seats and sit down. We were told the next flight leaves in four hours. That's long enough it took two hours to get here. I pull out my notebook and my special pen and start to write........the beginning of my new life.
