We Matter

Aaliyah was ready to take on the longest awaited journey of her life. Death. 

She lay on her daughter, Ebony’s,  living room couch, cushioned underneath a mountain of heated blankets. She had always complained about Ebony’s house being too cold. Even under the heap of blankets, she still felt a slight chill. 

There was something different in the atmosphere this morning when she woke up. It was almost as if her almond colored skin could feel the difference as goosebumps rose on her arms, causing the small hairs to stand up against her limbs. She called out for her daughter to come to her, saying, “Ebony, I need you here right now.” 

Ebony was at Aaliyah’s side within seconds. “What is it momma?” She picked up a pillow from the couch and gave it a fluff before placing it back beside her mother. 

“Today’s the day.” Aaliyah said with confidence. “I’m going to die today.” 

Ebony gave her mother a slight smile, “Don’t talk like that, ma.” She told her. “You still have many more years of life to come, you’re just a little sick, that’s all.”

Aaliyah shook her head, “No, no. I can feel it. Can’t you?” She raised her arms above her head, swaying them slightly in the cold draft of the room. “My time has come.” 

Ebony’s daughter, Aaliyah’s granddaughter enters the room holding her stuffed puppy. “Hi mimi!” She greets Aaliyah. “Look!” She smiles, showing off her two missing front teeth.

Ebony moves to the other side of the couch, kneeling down beside her mother on the carpeted floor. She says, “Momma, stop talking like that.” She demands. Her eyes are glistened with tears now. “Why don’t you tell Janie a story?” She offers. 

Janie smiles and runs to the couch, plopping herself next to Aaliyah’s feet. She is holding onto the light brown puppy and positions the pillow to rest her head on it. “Tell me a story, mimi.” 

Aaliyah heaves a sigh. “I guess there is time to tell another story. But after this, I shall join papa in heaven. He is waiting for me.” She says. 

“What story are you going to tell us today?” She asks. 

Aaliyah smiles, her eyes seem to be looking in another time, another world. “It was the greatest movement. The one that changed our lives.” She begins. “Papa and I were, what, sixteen at the time? It was twenty-twenty, just after the riots started.” 

The world was different back then. Racial unrest was a popular topic, the constitution preached of a world where all men were created equal- but that wasn’t exactly the case. This was when the Black Lives Matter movement began. 

Grady and Aaliyah were sixteen at the time that the protests started, and being young, black, Americans, they were passionate on the subject. In their hometown of Mesa, Arizona, many people were saying that the movement was against the white people. It was hard to stand up for what they believed in amongst an ocean of people who believed differently than them. 

Aaliyah’s mother, Nia, would not allow her to join in the protests. So with the help of her best friend, and future husband, they created a blog. They believed that the best way to spread the movement was through the internet. They called the blog, “We Matter.” 

Within days of creating it, there were over ten thousand subscribers and views on her posts. 

Grady stood beside Aaliyah at her small desk in her bedroom as she ferociously typed away on her keyboard. 

“You say, “Black Lives Matter is belittling the white’s.” But it’s the opposite of that. It’s about overcoming ignorance and finding a way to be together. Black lives matter is just about being able to love everyone and not discriminate against others because of their skin color. You say, “All lives matter”, but it’s not about that. The white lives already matter, it’s the black’s who people fail to recognize.” 

Aaliyah turns to Grady.  “What do you think?” She asks. 

Grady smiles at her and says, “I think it’s perfect.” 

“Great,” Aaliyah guides the cursor to the top of the screen where the big blue “publish” button will release her words for the entire world to read. 

She takes a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.” She clicks the button. 

“Congratulations” The screen reads. “Your post has been published!” 

“Shall we celebrate with some ice cream?” Grady suggests. 

Aaliyah’s eyes were glued to the screen. She presses the refresh button at the top, and smiles. “Already has 50 views.” She exclaims. 

Grady pats her on the back, “Ice cream. My treat.” He pries her away from the computer and convinces her to follow him out the door. 

“Out to get a treat, ma! We’ll be back soon!” Aaliyah calls out to Nia. 

“Be back by seven!” Nia answers. 

Aaliyah and Grady head out the door and start walking down the street towards their favorite ice cream place, Sonic. 

“Mimi, what’s sonic?” Janie interrupts the story. 

Aaliyah smiles at the thought, “The most amazing ice cream and slushy spot. Closed down long ago, it’s too bad.” Her eyes gloss over in the memory, as she continues her story.

Grady sits at the bench and scoots to the end to make room for Aaliyah. “Put your phone away,” Grady tells Aaliyah. 

“I’m just checking the blog.” She says in defense. “There’s almost two hundred views already.” 

“That’s great. But let’s focus on ice cream.” 

Aaliyah puts her phone in her pocket and looks at Grady, “Chocolate, Strawberry, oooh reeces? Maybe a snickers blast?” 

Grady laughs, and looks away from Aaliyah, moving his hair from his face with his fingers. “Okay anyway,” He begins, “There’s a protest in Scottsdale tonight…” 

Aaliyah sighs, “Like I’ve said, my mom won’t let me go. But you are welcome to, you don’t need me to be with you.” 

Grady rolls his eyes as if that statement was absolutely ridiculous. “You are my partner. I can’t go to a protest without you! Just sneak out with me and Ebony.” He pleads. 

Ebony was Grady’s little sister. A beautiful girl with almond colored skin and long hair that fell to her hips. 

Aaliyah doesn’t even consider his offer, “Do you know what mom will do to me if she finds out that I snuck out to go to a protest?” 

Grady laughs, “I can imagine the possibilities.” 

“The possibilities go past your imagination.” Aaliyah jokes. 

They’re just finishing up their ice cream as Aaliyah decides, “Okay. I’ll do it.” She says. 

“Do what?” Grady asks, scraping the last bit of strawberry ice cream from the bottom of the styrofoam cup. 

“I’ll sneak out. Go to the protest.” 

Grady’s jaw drops. “Are you serious?” 

“Why would I joke about something this serious?” 

“Okay, okay. Wow. Okay, Ebony and I can pick you up at nine. Does that work?” 

Aaliyah hesitates, and prays to every god she can think of that her mom would be asleep by nine. “Yeah. That works.” 

By the time eight rolled around, Aaliyah was about ready to text Grady and bail. Her mother was wide awake in the parlor drinking a glass of wine and yelling at the news. She did a lot of that lately, it was as if yelling at the spokemen made her feel better. 

Aaliyah goes to the kitchen and asks Nia where the midol was. 

“You’re already going to bed?” her mom asks. 

“Yeah, I need some extra sleep.” 

“In the medicine cabinet like always,” She answers without looking at Aaliyah. 

Aaliyah opens the cabinet, making a scene of taking out two pills, and walks to her room, locking the door behind her. 

At 8:30, her phone lights up with a text from Grady. "See you in 30."

She puts the phone on her stomach and stares at the ceiling. 

She gets up from bed and sits at her desk in front of her computer. She opens the tab to her blog. The top reads, 3,000 views. She allows a smile to come to her lips as she begins typing her next post. 

"Tonight, I'm going to be part of history. By joining the thousands of protesters on the streets, I will be fighting for equality for black lives. Now is the time for change and if we don't make our voices heard, nothing will ever change. We will still be treated like we are less than when the constitution clearly states that all men are created equal. Now is the time to take a stand. Who's with me?" 

She reads over the passage carefully before pressing publish. A light shines through her bedroom window, Ebony and Grady are here. She takes a deep breath, my voice needs to be heard. She tells herself, ignoring the voices in her mind that are screaming this a bad idea. 

Opening her window as quietly as she can, Aaliyah lifts herself over and onto the ground outside. 

In the car, Grady smiles at her and says, "that wasn't so hard, was it?" 

Aaliyah sighs, "The hard part is when we get home and police are surrounding the house because my mom busted down my door and saw I was missing." 

From the front seat, Ebony turns around and laughs. "You two ready?" She asks. 

Ebony brought her boyfriend, Zeke, and he turned around and smiled at Aaliyah. The thing that Aaliyah loved about Ebony was that she treated her like she wasn't an annoying teenager. Ebony was 19 but treated Aaliyah and Grady like they were just some of her friends. Zeke was the same way, Aaliyah guessed Ebony's example wore off on him. 

Scottsdale was only a 15 minute drive from where Aaliyah lived, if they took the freeway. They reach the fashion mall where the protest was being held and have to circle back a few blocks to find parking. 

Aaliyah was in utter shock by the amount of people that showed up to take a stand. Blacks and whites alike were standing in the crowd, holding signs, and shouting chants in a unified group of people who wanted the same thing. 

Aaliyah couldn't conceal the smile that crept to her lips as she stood amongst the crowd with Ebony, Zeke, and Grady at her side. 

"See what we can do when we all come together?" Ebony said to Aaliyah. 

"This is beautiful." Aaliyah says. 

Beautiful it was. But with the beauty, came tragedy. 

Looters had come to the protest, and with the first sound of glass shattering, the unified crowd became chaotic. 

People running in such directions, shouting and screams sounds through the crowd. Ebony grabbed Aaliyah and Grady, pulling them close to her body. "We need to leave. Stay together," she orders.

The needing to leave was a thought they all shared. But the staying together part proved difficult. People tore through their huddle, Grady and Zeke being separated from the girls. 

"Grady!" Ebony called out, but there was no answer, only the sounds of people shouting and glass shattering. Ebony takes Aaliyah's hand and drags her through the crowd, going against the current of people running. 

"What are you doing?" Aaliyah asks. "The car is that way." She points in the opposite direction they were headed. 

"There has to be reporters here. Someone needs to say something that will make this protest meaningful." She continues against the crowd of people running away. 

They reached the front of the crowd where the more devoted protestors stood unwavering against the police who had created a blockade. Ebony pushes through. The two had almost reached the front row when the first gunshot sounded. 

It has been said that the end of the world didn't start with a bang or a whisper, but rather one scream at a time. Aaliyah had never thought much of this saying until now. It was an odd thought to be having, but as the screams rose up around her, her world seemed to stand still. Her eyes were fixed on a poster that read, "we will not be silenced." It was on the floor, footprints were plastered all over it but the black words were still very evident against the white paper. 

That is, until the paper turned red. 

Aaliyah snapped back into reality, her ears ringing with the sounds of screams. The hand in hers grew limp, and the owner of the hand fell to the floor. 

"Ebony?" Aaliyah whispers. Then again, but louder. "Ebony." And a third time, but this time her voice was a scream. An ear piercing, bone shattering scream. "Ebony!" 

She collapsed to the floor on her knees, cradling Ebony's head in her arms as she stared down into her eyes that seemed to be looking somewhere else entirely. 

The noise and chaos around her suddenly fell silent. The people around her disappeared, and it was only her and Ebony. Ebony whose body was covered with a crimson red, her face a pale color, and her eyes that seemed to shift around her in confusion. 

"Hey, hey," Aaliyah whispers. "Hey, you're alright." 

Ebony doesn't answer. 

"Can you hear me?" 

Ebony's eyes connect with Aaliyah's as she takes her final breath. Her entire body grows tense, and her eyes flutter shut. Aaliyah stares at Ebony, as the sounds and chaos around her returns. 

Someone is grabbing her arm, trying to pry her away from Ebony, but she won't let go. Her eyes never leave Ebony as the people around her urge her to stand and walk away. 

Aaliyah strokes Ebony's unnaturally cold temple, as a tear falls down her cheek. She doesn't bother to wipe the drop as another one falls, and then another. 

Finally a strong arm lifts Aaliyah from the ground and carries her away as paramedics arrive on the scene. Too late. Too late. 

Aaliyah looks up to see Grady holding her, his expression as hard as a rock and his face bent in disbelief. He carries Aaliyah to the car where Zeke was waiting. 

Aaliyah hears Zeke ask, "Where's Ebony?" But doesn't hear Grady respond as she is lifted into the car. 

The 15 minute ride back to Aaliyah's house is silent. At least, Aaliyah guessed it was silent. Her ears were still ringing with the screams and the gunshots and the breaking glass, and she barely realized it as Grady carried her back into her room and placed her in her bed. She didn't know when he left or when she fell asleep. All she knew when she woke up the next morning, was that it hadn't all been a terrible dream. 

She gets out of bed and goes straight to her computer. Above the sadness and grief that she felt inside of her, there was anger. She opens her blog and begins typing. 

“Let’s talk about a sensitive topic. I attended the protest last night with my best friend and his sister and her boyfriend. It was beautiful, all the people that came together to join their voices for the same cause. And it was disgusting. The people that used the protest as a way to loot the building and take things for their own personal gain. But most of all, it was tragic. Police brutality is a big part of this movement. History has shown that police officers abuse their power and hurt people and treat people differently because of their skin color. I recognize that this isn’t the case for all of the police officers, but if we don’t address the issue as a whole, we won’t ever make a difference. My best friend's sister was shot last night. An innocent girl who only wanted to make a difference in the world. To make things better for herself and her future children. Because of the unfairness of this world, she will never get to have children. She will never be married. But her death doesn't have to be in vain. She can still make a difference. She can still make the world better for the future generations. We are all in this together, and if we don’t take a stand, then Ebony would have died in vain.” 

“Mimi, this story is sad.” Janie interrupts. 

Aaliyah smiles at her granddaughter and says, “It is a sad story,” She says. “Sometimes that is a part of life. It is a part of why you are treated the same as the white kids in your preschool.” 

“What happens next, mimi?” Janie asks. 

Aaliyah smiles, “The blog blew up. Everyone in the United States had read it. It was featured on the news, and Ebony’s name will be in textbooks. No lives mattered until black lives mattered. And now, all lives matter. The constitution finally preached the truth. All men were created equal.” 

Ebony, Aaliyah’s daughter, wipes the tears from her eyes. She had heard this story countless times before, but it always managed to make her cry. Her namesake died so that she and Janie could be treated the same as any other white person around them. 

Aaliyah stretches, “Mimi needs to take a nap now.” She says to Janie. Janie jumps up and kisses Aaliyah on the cheek. After Janie leaves the room, Aaliyah looks to her daughter. “You feel it too, don’t you?” 

More tears come to Ebony’s eyes. She felt it. She felt her fathers presence, and the presence of her grandmother, Nia. She even felt Ebony in the room. She knew that her mother was ready. She knew it was her time. Ebony only wished that she could rewind the clock and give Aaliyah more time to be with her. But she knew that would be selfish. She was ready. 

There was something oddly beautiful about the inevitable death. Ebony grabs her mothers hand in her own, and brings it to her lips. “You can go mamma. I am letting you go.” 

Aaliyah closes her eyes. She was ready to take on the longest awaited journey of her life. Death.