PEOPLE ARE NOT UP AT 10:00! ONLY THE OPERATOR!!

Those phrases above are imprinted on Tahari’s mind. Growing up in a haitian household with strict and religious parents, and being a teenager in Brooklyn is not a compound anyone should form. Anything she wanted to do, her mother had to be with her; always. No space to grow up on her own or even experience life as a middle schooler. So when Tahari reached high school, she had been exposed to new customs which were: staying up until 2 am, going to fetes (parties), and leaving the house whenever you want without a two week notice. Unlucky for Tahari, she couldn’t do any those things; legend has it she still struggles with the last two.

But Tahari still tried the attempt of the first teenage custom but with a twist; up until 10:00 pm… on the phone. A reach, she know, but it had to be attempted. She started off slow, on the phone quietly in her room so her parents couldn’t hear. Her walls weren’t insulated or sound proof.

Without tiptoeing around her parents reassurance of their “good kids who don’t have a life”, she took another step, talked a level higher than quiet. terrible mistake. When her father heard her on the phone with one of her girl friends, he was livid.

“ONLY PROSTITUTES STAY UP AT THIS HOUR? WHAT BUSINESS DO YOU HAVE TALKING TO HER AT THIS TIME?!”

She wanted to talk to me cause she’s going through something,…?

YOU DON’T NEED TO TALK TO HER ABOUT ANYTHING! THE ONLY PERSON UP IS THE OPERATOR, AFTER A CERTAIN TIME EVEN THE OPERATOR GOES TO BED!

Her dad had forgotten they were long past the days with phones with cords and if you dialed in the wrong number you heard the dreadful noise. There was no operator on their iPhones to monitor the calls, the year was 2018.

“There’s other people who stay up longer than me, so and so stay called me at 12 just to see what I will where to church. Theres really no issue with staying up.”

“He continued, You still have business on the phone.”

As he was berating Tahari and accusing her of types of forms of whores and hoochie mamas, she thought “Maxime (her brother) is up later than me and on the phone with his girlfriend! I know because when I wake up to go pee I can hear him!!” but of course out of sibling code she didn’t utter a word except “ok” after he was done.

Fast forward a couple months to her brother getting caught late on the phone then also getting berated, they continued to be on the phone but now they know, to now our lights on past 1 am on the phone while doing work or being on live but in her brother’s case on the ps5.

Tahari didn’t really understand their argument for not wanting her on the phone or active past 10, i’ll tell you the real reason why though. Her dad is scared of them growing up, he fears it. It bothers his soul to see his boys moving out and his daughter almost done with college and getting the “When are you going to get a man to marry” talk. Like every mother’s nest that becomes empty, his house will be 3 mouths less to feed hearing less shivering screams that yell; “DAD COMEEEE THERES A… ” that names the insect or rodent; to run too.