The Diary of Aaliyah Anderson Read online

  The thing that really confuses me is when these guys sag with skinny jeans on. Really? How can they move?

  What made it worse was that this boy was saggin’ with his red Killa flag hanging out his back pocket - and this is in church now! Like I said, people have no respect.

  So, D and I walked into the church at nine-thirty. Hailey brought us over. I love Hailey too! I’m a very appreciative person. She woke up at eight o’clock on a Saturday, got dressed, waited for Allison to get ready, drove all the way down to east Willowsfield from Brentwood to get D and me (which is a lot of gas), and drove us all the way downtown to Mt. Zion. It’s really cool for her to do that for us.

  When we got in, D immediately went over to chill with his homeboys who were sitting over in the back of the church, Polo and Jay.

  Vincent “Polo” Wright is one of D’s number one homeboys. They’ve been cool ever since they were in pre-K. Polo is like the freshest boy I know outside of D. Why do you think they call him Polo? He always has some Ralph Lauren on him, whether it’s actual apparel or their cologne. Today he had on a red classic Polo shirt, tan Levis, and red Polo sneakers. His waves were spinning too!

  Another thing about Polo is that he’s a true to life player. I swear, Polo spits straight up game! He has these girls around Willowsfield going crazy. He’s so confident too. He believes that he can pull any girl in the city no matter how old they are. He probably can too! A boy with confidence and swag is so sexy to me! He’s already cute with his muscular, 5’9”, athletic build and light chocolate brown skin. That’s just an added bonus to what he already has to bring.

  Then there’s Jay’von “Jay” Bonner, with his tall, swole, sexy self! Jay is six feet tall and one of the most known names in the streets of Willowsfield. He’s only fifteen too! Jay’s fighting skills are unmatchable.

  Back in 8th grade when he was at Clarkson, Jay literally beat up on three people at the same time! They were Bernard Street gang members that felt that he disrespected their set. Jay had all of them on the floor in less than two minutes!

  I’ve had a crush on him for the longest time. Jay is like the only gang member that I know that can actually keep the streets and school as two separate priorities. Even though he’s one of the best and most feared fighters in the city, he doesn’t go looking for trouble.

  Back in the day when he lived on the east side in Riverstone Creek and first got jumped into the Rydahz, Jay was about as out of control as Jeff and Elijah are now. He was a heavy weed smoker that stayed fighting and getting in trouble with the police. Now, he’s way more level-headed. He lives in Brentwood with his mom and twelve-year-old sister Cassandra.

  He’s stopped smoking and makes straight A’s and B’s in school. If you were to hang around him, you couldn’t even tell that he still gangbangs. He says that D’s the one that got him back on track. D is so inspirational - not just to me but to everybody!

  “Look at li’l Liyah!” Polo said as he gave me a hug.

  “What’s up, Polo?” I said with a smile.

  “You already know I’m just chillin’. But what’s going on with you? I heard you and Mrs. Conner got into it. When I heard about it I was like, really? ‘Liyah got wrote up? The world is definitely about to end soon if Aaliyah Anderson got wrote up!”

  I laughed. Does everybody know about that situation?

  “Yeah, we have a little bit of a problem, but everything’s cool for now. Miss Carter handled it and the write up was voided.” I feel like I’ve told that story about one hundred times!

  “Don’t worry about that bitter ol’ woman. Back last year, I wanted to tell Mrs. Conner a few things that I definitely can’t say in church, you feel me? That lady was really in the way!”

  We both started laughing. Polo’s such a fool!

  I looked at Jay up and down. He had on his Beats by Dre headphones on, seemingly in another world. Although Jay isn’t a fashion trend-setter like Polo, he still looks cute without even trying. His incredible physique makes his outfits pop! Today, he had on a black Jordan hoodie with baggy black Levis and white and black Jordan Concords.

  I went to give him a hug. As he hugged me, I was crushed by his rock hard muscles! I swear, that boy is all types of fine!

  ♠♠♠♠

  Church Drama

  You know one thing that really frustrates me about Mt. Zion, one of the biggest mega churches in the south? They claim that they’ll accept anybody into their congregation no matter what age, gender, sexual preference, race, or past you may have. Yup, they say that Mt. Zion is truly the church of God.

  Whatever!

  Yeah, I know this is the church that I’ve grew up in and it really is one of the best places to get a good word in Willowsfield, but I have to keep it real. As it slowly built into a mega church with thousands of members, things started getting corrupt. There are a lot of ungodly things going on behind the scenes of this church and it’s getting really aggravating.

  For example, the Pivots are loyal members at the church. They’ve been going to Mt. Zion for as long as I can remember. That’s actually where I first saw Allison. They really stuck out because this is a predominately black church. But, nevertheless, I didn’t judge them.

  This is church! I’m not here to judge anybody. I have my own problems I have to deal with and my own personal demons I have to fight against. That’s just how I think. However, the rest of the “religious congregation” doesn’t have the same thoughts and feelings towards Allison’s family. They haven’t been treated fairly over the past year or so, especially with the presidential election coming up.

  Allison’s family is high income while most of the other families are really feeling the pain of the U.S. economic trouble, so people just assume that they’re voting for Mitt Romney. The craziest thing about it is that Allison’s parents are registered Democrats. They voted for President Obama the first time and they’re gonna vote for him again. Allison’s mom even threw a Democratic National Convention party at her health food restaurant. I got a chance to go. She started crying during President Obama’s speech. I swear, these people need to tighten up.

  That’s not the real problem, though.

  The true problem is the fact they’re white in an predominately African American church. I thought we progressed farther than this as a people! Not every white person is a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Allison’s family is far from that. They’re about as white/black as you can get. I mean, look at Wyatt!

  Anyways, the whole entire little drama between the Pivots and most of this hating church folk spilled over into teen choir practice. We were practicing singing Tamela Mann’s new hit gospel song “Take Me to the King”, a song that our youth music director specifically picked out for us to sing. Usually Mariah, who’s like my church Latasha, is always the one that sings solo on songs, but today things were different.

  “Alright, the vocals need a little bit of work, but it sounds pretty good as it is. Now, who’s gonna be the star for this Sunday?” said our music director Mr. White. I’m not even gonna lie; he’s a little sweet. But, as I said, I’m not here to judge anybody. Mr. White has a talent for music and he makes things fun.

  “‘Take Me to the King’ can be sung in a group or with a main vocalist and background singers. To change things up, we’re gonna do the version with the solo. With that said, who’s the lucky person that’s gonna lead the choir and be our star tomorrow?”

  When he asked that, everything got silent.

  He smacked his lips and rolled his eyes. “Well, don’t everybody answer at once!”

  Mariah smiled a cocky smile and raised her hand. “Well, since no one else wants to volunteer and I’m by far the best solo singer in this choir, I’ll do it!”

  Everybody smacked their lips and sighed. Mariah’s arrogance really gets on our nerves! I’m not gonna flex or hate, the girl has talent. But come on, she could be a little humble about it!

  “Well, don’t smack your lips. Nobody else has volunteered to sing and M
ariah has!” Mr. White said with a little bit of an attitude. I held back a laugh.

  I nudged Allison on the arm. We were standing in the front row with the rest of the sopranos.

  “Hey, why don’t you sing solo this one time?”

  She nervously smiled and said, “’Liyah, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I already feel like I don’t need to be here. I think that Mariah has things held down.”

  I smacked my lips. “Forget her, Allison. Do you remember that I’ve heard you sing? I know for sure you’ll murder Mariah.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Come on, Allie! You’re gonna talk yourself out of it! You’re one of the best singers I’ve heard and this is like your favorite song. Do you wanna do it?”

  “Well, maybe I can---”

  That’s all I needed to hear!

  “Alright, last call for anybody that wants to volunteer. We don’t have time to wait forever. Mariah’s gonna wind up singing again!”

  After he said that, I immediately raised my hand.

  Mr. White smiled. He was shocked that I raised my hand.

  “Aaliyah? You wanna sing solo? God is good, God is good! We had to almost beg you to get into the choir and now you wanna sing solo? Halleluiah, the Lord is here! You’re about to make me start speaking in tongues, girl.”

  Everybody laughed at his reaction to me raising my hand. D, who was sitting in the chairs facing the pulpit on his iPhone, even raised his head when Mr. White said that.

  Just as a side note, I noticed that there were females all around D, Polo, and Jay - about seven that I could count! Two girls were even trying to talk to D at the same time. He wasn’t really paying them any attention though, as he was messing with his phone. They were no doubt the best-looking out of the seven. But, looking at how the girls were dressed, they were probably attention-seeking jump-offs.

  D doesn’t go crazy over sex like all the other boys in Willowsfield. He sees women as more than something he can exploit and conquer. You really don’t find many dudes like that now days. To be honest, D doesn’t even really worry about females like that. He’s trying to get his priorities straight.

  His boys tease him because he’s a virgin and not running through every girl that comes his way. They really can’t knock him for having his head on straight. But, D doesn’t let it faze him. D not worrying about sex, dating and all that actually makes the girls just try harder and throw it at him more.

  To me and a lot of the other real females around here, him still being a virgin with every slut and jump-off probably in Georgia ready to give it up to him at any time really makes him look mature. D has standards! He’s not gonna let any peer pressure break him. He appreciates a real young woman that can keep her legs closed and that’s all that matters.

  Anyway, I said to Mr. White, “Oh no! I don’t wanna sing! Allison wants to give it a try though.”

  After I said that, everything just got silent. Mariah glared at Allison with hatred and venom.

  Mr. White was super cool with it. “Okay, everybody! We have a sing-off going on! It’s gonna be Mariah vs. Allison for the solo spot this Sunday. Mariah’s been the star almost every Sunday we’ve led praise and worship, but now she may have a little competition. This is so exciting! Go on and sing first, Mariah!”

  Mariah walked to the front with the microphone with confidence as the musicians started playing the instrumental to the song. It sounded really nice too!

  Mariah started singing. She sounded pretty good; I’m not even gonna lie. As I said, homegirl really has talent. When she was done, everybody started clapping. I even clapped out of respect. Her cocky smile immediately came back.

  As she walked over and gave the microphone to Allison, I heard her say, “Don’t choke, white girl.” Boy that got me so mad! Allison was already scared out her mind, doubting if she really should sing in front of all these judgmental people. Now, Mariah’s trying to get into her head?

  As the musicians started playing the instrumental again and Allison looked back at me. I smiled and gave her thumbs up. I thought to myself, She can do this, I know it. Allie just needed someone to push her.

  Allison sang that song too! She put her heart into it! She tore the house down! Allison sang it so well that Mr. White just went with the momentum and started directing the choir to sing background. When she was done, everybody in the church was on their feet clapping - well, except Mariah of course. She’s such a hater!

  Mr. White was super hyped! He even signaled for the musicians to play an up-tempo beat so he could praise dance. It was so funny too! Honestly, it always trips me out when people do catch the Holy Ghost, especially at Mt. Zion!

  The people at this church don’t play! They’ll catch the Holy Ghost and start “beefin’ it up” and doing “the biker’s shuffle”. They’ll try to run the church, and then realize halfway the church is too big and run right back sweating like crazy. I guess that’s how much the Word speaks to them.

  “My God, my God, my God! That moved me right there! Allison, you have an anointing on you, baby girl! The spirit of Tina Marie took you over! Y’all give her another hand; this is our lead soloist tomorrow morning. Praise God, praise God!”

  As everybody clapped louder, all Allison could do was blush and grin. After practice, everybody came to tell her how good she sang and how she really has a future in music. Finally, she was being recognized outside of what color she was or how much money her family made.

  Or so we thought…

  Mariah came up to Allison straight up hating, “You know the only reason why they gave you that solo was because they felt sorry for you. A white girl in an all-black church? Where does that happen? You don’t even belong here! Everybody thinks that.”

  Allison was speechless. It looked as if she was holding back tears too.

  So I went over to set things straight. “Excuse me? What did you just say to her?”

  “This is between me and her, Aaliyah. Stay out of it!”

  This girl was crazy if she thought I was gonna just stand by and let her diss my girl like that!

  “Stay out of it? If you got beef with Allison, you got beef with me! It’s as simple as that!”

  “Are you serious? You’re gonna side with this white girl? This is a black church and a black choir! She needs to walk her pale self back to the north side, and you can too if you have a problem with it.”

  As I said a dozen times, no respect for the church!

  Mr. White walked over as he heard us getting into it and came to stop us. “Is everything alright, ladies?”

  Mariah sighed and said, “Yeah, everything’s cool.”

  As they walked away, I worried about Allison. “You alright, girl?”

  She sighed, still holding back tears. “No, Aaliyah, I’m not alright! I knew I shouldn’t have joined this choir. Mariah’s right; I really am out of place. I mean, what was I thinking? I am white in a mainly black church, that’s totally true. But I thought the God we both believe in and pray to isn’t black or white. I’ll see you Monday, Aaliyah. I probably won’t come tomorrow. You can tell Mariah that, too. She can have that solo if she wants it so much.”

  See what I’m saying about Mt. Zion? Allison’s spirit is crushed because she happened to be white in a black choir. And we’re supposed to be the church where they’ll accept anybody? Please!

  I have to find some way to help Allison get over this!

  ♠♠♠♠

  Roxanne Steele

  As we rode to Carswell Radio Studios on the north side of Willowsfield with Polo’s sixteen-year-old sister Jalia, I couldn’t stop thinking about the situation with Allison. It’s really unfair how they treat her family just because she’s different from everybody else in the congregation. We’re supposed to be Christians, but we’re the most judgmental, hateful people ever! And that’s after Sunday…

  Anyways, Jalia dropped us off at the studio at about 12:40. When I saw the building, it was definitely different from what I expected. W
hen we walked through the front door, I thought we had stepped into a doctor’s office! They had a comfy sitting area with two huge flat screen TV’s both turned to Carswell TV channels. There were three little coffee tables with magazines spread all across them. As D and Polo signed in, I sat and read Hip Hop Report. The cover story was “Exclusive: Chris Brown and Rihanna back together?” After I read that sentence, I immediately turned to the page that article was on.

  I know my future husband Chris Brown isn’t back with her! Yeah, I know Chris was wrong for beating her and everything, but didn’t she say that she provoked it? Chris really needs to chill! This girl started a club fight between him and Drake that hurt a lot of people, almost got him put in jail, and she supposedly gave him an STD and he still wants her?

  As I said before, guys get crazy when it comes to sex. And it seems like the more money you have, the crazier you get over it! I know Rihanna’s goodies aren’t worth the drama he went through the first time they started going out. I hope this is just another crazy rumor that got blown way out of proportion.

  Another thing that caught my eye is that Terrence J and Rocsi are leaving 106 & Park to go do other projects. What? I stop watching for about a month and they wanna leave? It’s just not gonna be the same without them around. They were just there too long for me to see anybody else just taking over and hosting out of nowhere, unless they get A.J. and Free back. Nevertheless, I wish both of them the best at what they do in the future.

  From what I read, they’re gonna have auditions similar to what Terrence and Rocsi did when they got discovered. It’s gonna be online this time, so anybody from around the U.S. can try out. Maybe I’ll send out a video! Naw, they probably won’t even look at my junk. Plus, I’m afraid of speaking in front of a crowd. I get nervous in class when we have do presentations for projects! I can’t even imagine being on live TV with millions of people watching from around the world. I’d probably go into shock!