The lift has stopped on the second floor. Black boy walks in. Stands next to me and knods, I knod back. I figure this is a rather peculiar greeting since there is no one else in the lift but us. But I’m cool with it.
From the corner of my eye, I begin to trace the shape of Black boy’s face, his statue, his shoes. Black boy is looking dapper. Black boy knows this. Black boy also knows that I am ticking boxes in my head from the way he looks. A smile begins to shape on Black boy’s face. I notice he has a beautiful set of ivories too. Words come out of his mouth and he looses me again with the power in his voice. Black boy could be reading guidlines about what to do when stuck in an elevator and I would still be bathing in the thickness of his accent. Black boy has said something about my earrings, I smile because I haven’t heard a word from the rest of the sentence but I figure its a compliment by the way his eyes light up. By the way, Black boy has small lazy eyes but they come alive when he speaks. I figure I have to say something, some sort of acknowledgment for this random but grand encounter, I have to break the fantastical romanticized journey my mind is taking me to. But my thank you is interupped by the sound of the lift reaching the fourth floor. So what comes out of my mouth is a tongue twisted, impromptu improvisation of a rushed “thank you”. Im not even sure he has understood what i was trying to say but I have to get out. I stress that Black boy did not hear the true weight of my gratitude. I hear him try to tell me his name, but my mind goes on a tangent again. Black boy is certain that this exchange has been a successful one. I render it a dream. Black boy had hypnotized me with the colour of his skin and the rest is a daze.
The lift closes and my mind comes back to me again once I am out of the elevator. I still don’t know Black boy’s name. I conclude that Black boy and I will run into each other in the lift again. Someday. I also conclude that I need to pay more attention and actually be present in the same time frame and embodiment as all beautiful black girls.
Comments