October 29, 2018 Manhattan, New York — — — — — — — — — — Ivy Jones
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—————————————— I could hear an annoying voice coming closer and closer in my dreams.
"Ivy..." It said. Whoever the hell it was, was getting on my damn nerves.
"Ivy... wake up. We have to be at work in two hours and your damn alarm sounds like a siren. It's the first thing I heard when I woke up and I live downstairs for petes sake,"
I laid there with my eyes closed wondering two things. One, why was my best friend, Lilah, trying to wake me up and two, what on earth possessed me to give this woman a key to my apartment. Work and the damn alarm could wait if you asked me. Sleep was just too important to miss.
"If you do not wake up right the fuck now, I'm going next door to Toby's house to tell him you're the one who ran over his dog last summer." With that sentence right there I hopped my ass out the bed with a quickness. The guilt was real.
"Now that's what I'm talking about. Get up and get pretty as usual bestie. We have to be at work in two hours and you know how this Manhattan traffic is."
Every morning. Every single morning was like this. Lilah coming to wake me up due to me oversleeping because I decided last minute to finally get some papers graded. This was a two times a week kind of thing. Thank God we are having our school building remodeled in the winter so I could catch up on my sleep.
Working as a Kindergarten teacher at Marshall Elementary was literally the greatest aspect of my life besides graduating college with honors. I loved working with children and helping them better themselves so that they'd grow up to do great things. After all, the younger generation was definitely our future.
"You're way too happy this fine early in the morning. Tone it down like a thousand notches Lili." I grumbled.
"Girl you better be happy God woke yo' ugly ass up this fine morning. Oh I said ass and God in the same sentence. Sorry Father, but you know how Ivy gets."
"Whatever," I said. "Get out my room and go get ready. We have to be at work in two hours remember?"
"Bitch fuck you. I'm the one who woke you up." She mumbled, going back downstairs to her own home. Yes we lived in the same apartment and yes I regret living so close some days.
I walked to my bathroom in my room and just laid down on the rug for ten minutes before getting in the shower. I was so damn tired but I had to make this money some way and the only way I know how. Life was rough but when life gives you lemons, you squeeze those suckers in someone's eyes and move on with your day as if it never happened. I washed up then got out of the shower and went back to lay in my bed for another ten minutes.
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My room was basically like my little sanctuary. Not too much of everything and not too little of anything. My room spoke in volumes and showed my inner spirit in more ways than one. I just loved the prospect of peacefulness and tranquility. On top of the fact that my apartment was on the second floor, away from the commotion and far away from Lilah so she couldn't just barge in.
Eventually I got out of my awfully comfortable bed and did my daily routine. Taking my hair out of my bonnet, I parted my hair into a middle part then flat ironed it. Every teacher at Marshall thought my hair was real til they walked in and seen my wig on the chair and my jail braids to the back. It gets tiring feeling people run their fingers in your hair looking for the lace now. That was the point of a lace front. It was supposed to look like your real hair. I wonder how they would act if I wore my long natural curls. It ran in my family and I was proud of that.
After getting dressed, I grabbed my work bag and iPhone and ran upstairs to see Lilah grabbing a bottle of orange juice and bagels for me and her to eat on our journey to work.
"We're gonna' have a great day. Teach a lot, tell kids to pay attention, and tell each other 'I love you. We won't let those other teachers get to us with their slick comments. They're not signing our paychecks or putting clothes on our backs."
This was Lilah's sometime helpful but overly dramatic mantra every morning.
"Say that honey. No guts no glory!"
Lilah cringed at the lame mantra I chanted back for her. She hated when I said that and always wanted me to come up with something else.
"Don't say that. Now lets go before we end up right in rush hour."
With that we walked away towards our cars and hopped in. I plugged in my aux and turned on Iyla Blue's album 'War + Raindrops'. It was the best album I heard all year. Especially her song F**k Flowers. It reminded me of many things that shall go unnamed.
As I neared the school, a car turned and nearly clipped the side of my precious vehicle. I hated people who didn't know how to drive. Like where the fuck did you get your license bozo? I blew my horn, stuck up my middle finger and went around them.
Pulling into my parking space, I seen Lilah pull up on the other side of me. She hopped out with a coffee and a croissant. She was literally unbelievable. Like did she even think to get me any? I see where our friendship was. I glared at her and she just laughed while walking behind me into the school. I stopped at the main office to get my mail and to see if they had any new prerequisites that they wanted me to follow.
"Good morning Ms. Ivy and Ms. Lilah, what a wonderful morning we are having so far isn't it?" My favorite receptionist, Mrs. Traci, said.
I smiled at her and went around her desk to hug her. Mrs. Traci was a sweet old woman who worked in the Main Office. She was so sweet to everyone except, Kendra. Kendra was like the bitch in high school that everyone loved but secretly hated. However, because this is not high school, I'll say that she was the inconvenience of the work world. A gorgeous woman with the personality of nails. We all pray for her.
"Good morning Mrs. Traci! So tell me, how is my favorite mail man doing today?" I asked Mrs. Traci about her husband, Mr. Traci. He worked as a mail man for the post office across the street. He was just as sweet and loved Mrs. Traci more than anything in the world.
"He's good dear! He asked about you and Ms. Lilah here yesterday. He's retiring Sunday and we're throwing him a party to celebrate. Should we expect to see you guys there?" She looked to me and Lilah.
"Of course Mrs. T. We wouldn't miss it for the world." Lili and I replied simultaneously.
"Oh stop that non-sense. Y'all creep me out with that stuff girly's."
Lilah and I laughed and hugged Mrs. Traci before collecting our agenda's for the day and walking to our classroom. Once we got to our designated rooms, Lilah turned to me and gave a thumbs up before going in to get her class ready for the day. I smiled a half smile and went in my room ready for the day to start.
