LibraryLady
Emeritus
I’ve probably mentioned a few times one these forums, sometime in the past, that I have a co-worker who is aggressively religious. When I say aggressive, I mean shaking her fist in my face and saying, “God will punish you!” I worked in the same department with her for eleven years and she was part of the reason for my becoming agnostic/atheist.
She had one saving grace, her only child.
I first met Donte when he was about ten, and saw him grow up through his awkward years. I remember him at about 15 years old, with more elbows and knees than he knew what to do with.
She worked hard at raising him. She made sure every school day that he actually walked into his classroom. He made so-so grades, but plugged away at it with his mother at his back. Raising a black kid in downtown Baltimore in the 1980s was tough, and she was a single mother. I don’t know if his father was involved in his life; I never heard a father mentioned, that I recall.
There were rough times for this kid. When he was about 15, some gang members jumped him and broke his jaw. Apparently he wasn’t polite enough to the gang leader’s girlfriend. When he was about 18, he was shot and lost a kidney. They took his tennis shoes.
However, he graduated high school, when there was about a 30% graduation rate. He got a job with a catering firm, and at about that time I was transferred to another department. I made a conscious decision never to ask his mother about him, since most of the time, anything I said to her would trigger a stream of holy invective. However, we did have a pleasant exchange about six months ago when she brought around her 18 month old grandson, Donte’s son, Dominique.
Donte was murdered last week at the age of 36. He was living with a girlfriend, not Dominique’s mother, and the girlfriend has a daughter. The daughter has a boyfriend who brought his laundry to their house. Donte objected to the laundry being done there. A few days later the boyfriend allegedly shot Donte several times as he was diving on the way to work. His car overturned and his body found inside.
So little Dominique grows up without a father too. And Donte’s mother is left to mourn. And a 22 year old is likely to go to jail for a long time. Because of laundry and the instinct to solve temporary problems with permanent solutions.
She had one saving grace, her only child.
I first met Donte when he was about ten, and saw him grow up through his awkward years. I remember him at about 15 years old, with more elbows and knees than he knew what to do with.
She worked hard at raising him. She made sure every school day that he actually walked into his classroom. He made so-so grades, but plugged away at it with his mother at his back. Raising a black kid in downtown Baltimore in the 1980s was tough, and she was a single mother. I don’t know if his father was involved in his life; I never heard a father mentioned, that I recall.
There were rough times for this kid. When he was about 15, some gang members jumped him and broke his jaw. Apparently he wasn’t polite enough to the gang leader’s girlfriend. When he was about 18, he was shot and lost a kidney. They took his tennis shoes.
However, he graduated high school, when there was about a 30% graduation rate. He got a job with a catering firm, and at about that time I was transferred to another department. I made a conscious decision never to ask his mother about him, since most of the time, anything I said to her would trigger a stream of holy invective. However, we did have a pleasant exchange about six months ago when she brought around her 18 month old grandson, Donte’s son, Dominique.
Donte was murdered last week at the age of 36. He was living with a girlfriend, not Dominique’s mother, and the girlfriend has a daughter. The daughter has a boyfriend who brought his laundry to their house. Donte objected to the laundry being done there. A few days later the boyfriend allegedly shot Donte several times as he was diving on the way to work. His car overturned and his body found inside.
So little Dominique grows up without a father too. And Donte’s mother is left to mourn. And a 22 year old is likely to go to jail for a long time. Because of laundry and the instinct to solve temporary problems with permanent solutions.
