Straight Out The Ordinary

“Oumey Oumey un lelat pour ecole!” I woke up in such a hurry, the alarm going off, my nene yelling saying we are going to be late for the first day of school. I was somewhat over it already, but once I got into my dark blue skirt with my bright yellow top. I was feeling like that girl and honestly ready for the first day. My baba, who is dad in English, dropped me off from school. We lived right up the block so it wasn’t too far. I ran into the park and I could see my baba in the corner of  my eyes cheesing ( I know he was hiding back tears because I didn’t say bye though). I was honestly ready to start third grade in a brand new school. 

Entering the school seeing everyone look alike with their long straight hair and their cute headband made me feel so different. I loved the feeling of being different though it made me feel extraordinary and I love my braided ponytail. It was lunch time and everyone was clicked up in their little groups of friends so I decided to sit by myself. As I was sitting down I heard someone say “african booty scratcher” echoing from the right side of my ear. I didn’t really think of anything because I haven’t done anything to anyone and I sure didn’t see any shirley temple looking kid in the lunchroom. 

I was eating my lunch. My mom prepared cassava leaf sauce with white rice. I was enjoying my meal until I looked up and a group of older kids were heading towards me. The three of them sat right across from me. I started to smile because they might be my future friends. “Hey what’s your name?” one of them asked. “Coumba How about you guys?” I said. “Cucumber” “Cucumber” they started to chant Cucumber. My smile turned upside down and my heart sank into my stomach. I had realized I was being made front of. I didnt let it get to me. I just kept

eating my food and holding in my tears like I was swimming underwater holding on to my last breath. 

After the lunch incident time went by so fast. Must be god on my side today. I felt happier leaving than coming in. I seem my dad with his throbe ( it’s basically a men’s dress) . I grabbed him so fast by his hand tightly and started dragging him towards the exit. I didn’t want to be bullied even more because of what he was wearing. “ Ecole welly walla wellani?” My baba asked . “School was amazing” I said lying so fast I didn’t want to tell him what really happened. That question made me realize about the incident even more and how come I was bullied over my name. Maybe my name wasn’t too modern. Or maybe my name wasn’t common, but in my head I started to blame my parents for the name they gave me. Either way I couldn’t even bring it up to my parents. They wouldn’t even understand what bullying even means. So I just brushed off the whole thought of it and enjoyed the rest of the day with my baba.

The next day I woke up so early my nene didn’t have to yell this time. “ aun ah daybed ya da ecole wanna” she says while she’s walking into my room and seeing that I’m already up. “Yes” I said, cheesing from ear to ear. Today I decided to wear my african print sweatshirt that was made directly from africa. Since I’m the “african girl” in school I might as well embrace it. I said my mom looked so confused she doesn’t really catch on to my English. She says it’s the Complex version too hard to understand. “Show off de culture” my nene said my mouth opened wide. I was so shocked my mom was able to speak English back to me. Even though I thought she couldn’t understand, she proved me wrong. That just made me realize so much about not taking people for granted or there too less to know things.

My baba dropped me off again but this time I gave him a hug. I ran into the building with my light up sneakers and my hannah montana book bag feeling so confident. Diingggggg the bell rings. It was my first period English class. I hate English and everything about it. Today wasn’t any better because she announced we were gonna go talk about background and names. I hit my head into the palm of my hand and sighed so loudly. “Why me?” I mumbled under my breath. “Was there something you wanted to say, Coumba?” The teacher said I felt all heads moving towards me. “ Yes, may I be an excuse to the nurses office”. This was just my way to escape this prison hole of class. Nothing was wrong with me, I just needed to catch a minute to myself. As I was walking into the nurses office I saw one of the girls that approached me yesterday in the cafeteria. I dropped my head to the floor to not make any eye contact. The only empty seat was the one next to her. I sat down and kept making side eye looks to see if she noticed me. It looked like her stomach was hurting. She had her hands around her waist and a cup of water next to her. I wanted to ask if she was okay  but she would probably ignore me. Five minutes went by and I still wasn’t able to see the nurse but I was pretty happy about it. I didn’t want to go back to class. I was playing with my fingers when a tall man with a throne came into the nurses office. He looked just like my dad and I thought I was dreaming. “Djenabou” the tall man said. II looked around the room trying to find a Djenabou that’s when the girl from yesterday stood up and followed the tall man. “Coming baba” the girl from yesterday said. My mind exploded. I was so shocked that I decided to get up and leave. All of a sudden I was feeling way better and I didn’t need to see the nurse. I headed back to class in my mind with a stop thinking about Djenabou and realizing that she might be African like me. I I had so many questions running through my head. The only answer that I came up with is that I’m a confident person and some people aren’t. I realize my culture shouldn’t be hidden from anyone and I should always be proud of who I am.