The Diary of Aaliyah Anderson Read online

  There go those negative thoughts again!

  But for real, I don’t know how Momma does it! She’s in front of millions of people on a daily basis. She never freezes up and she seems so comfortable. I swear, Momma is the best woman on TV! She’s even better than Oprah!

  Yeah, I said it! Momma is better at hosting a talk show than Oprah! She makes me so proud! She’s is a true inspiration to black women everywhere.

  So, D and Polo signed in and signaled for me to cross over to the actual studio. It’s like a TV studio without the cameras! When we walked through the doors, I had a flashback to when I was four and mom was working as a morning news anchor at one of Willowsfield’s TV news stations called WKNL back in the summer of 2002. It was Take Your Daughter To Work Day. I almost had a heart attack when I saw all those lights, computers, and cameras. I’d never seen anything like that before in my life!

  D was giving me a mini tour of the studio while Polo went to listen in on the music meeting. They were debating what songs needed to be added to the station’s rotation and what songs needed to be dropped. They only allow one intern in per meeting and D was usually the one picked. That’s where the whole “Natasha Anderson is your mom” thing comes in handy, I guess.

  We eventually walked into the room where mom does her morning show. It was different from all the other recording rooms because it had her show posters and logos everywhere on the wall. They even had her logo made into the middle of the floor. The main colors were purple and gold, Sigma Beta colors.

  I could tell right off that she had a hand in designing the studio. Momma doesn’t play when it comes to her sorority! Instead of the traditional hanging microphones, DJ’ing section with a futuristic-looking turntable connected to the computer that mixes the songs digitally, and nonstop wires everywhere like in the other studio rooms, there was just a purple and yellow table curved in a huge C shape with headphones and microphones held down by stands built into the table.

  “So this is where Momma does her magic?” I asked as I looked around the room.

  D nodded. “Yup. This is gonna be me one day too. I promise that.”

  I smiled at D and said, “No doubt about that, big bro.”

  “I knew your sister would like this room, D. That Sigma Beta is in her blood!” somebody said from behind us.

  When I turned, I was in shock. If Momma is the best woman on TV, Roxanne Steele has to be the best woman in radio. She co-hosts the syndicated mid-day show DJ & Roxanne’s Hip Hop Takeover for Carswell that comes on Hot 97.3 in Willowsfield and also co-hosts Hip Hop Today, a two hour live television show that’s really similar to 106 & Park, only it’s more mature and gets way more exclusive with the interviews, drama, performances, freestyles, and issues that affect the community.

  On Hip Hop Today, they’re more-so journalists than VJ’s. Personally, even though I love 106 & Park and everything, I think that Hip Hop Today is better. You actually hear important news stories and great interviews with artists, politicians, entertainers, and newsmakers that go past “what’s your favorite color?” and “what cartoon did you like when you were little”? Plus, DJ and Roxanne are way better hosts than Terrence and Rocsi were and they will be better than whatever other new hosts they get (unless they bring A.J. and Free back). They have great chemistry and always keep things going smooth.

  “Wow! I’m a huge fan of your shows!” I said as I extended my hand for her to shake it.

  She had a huge smile on her face. “Thanks! I’m a huge fan of your art. Your brother showed me some of the pictures you’ve done. You really have talent, Aaliyah. Your sketches are so lifelike!”

  I looked at D and grinned. He laughed and said, “You’re welcome!”

  “So what brings you down her today, Aaliyah?”

  D answered for me. “She wanted to see what it’s like behind the scenes. I told her it gets real slow on my end, but she still wanted to come.”

  Roxanne smiled. “Well, she can stick with me. As an employee at Carswell, things are never boring. I promise you that! I move around a lot though. You feel up to it?”

  All I could do was nod yes. Wow! In only about a week, I’ve gotten cool with Brianna Carter and Roxanne Reynolds. It’s funny how I’m always in the right place at the right time. It seems like God’s really been on my side as of late, for real!

  ♠♠♠♠

  Opportunities

  When Roxanne said she moves around a lot, I quickly found out she wasn’t lying! When we finally got to her office after visiting every floor, I was sweating extremely hard. And I thought tennis was hard work… Who knew a program director did so much? I thought it was a laid back job, something similar to being the CEO or president of a huge company. I thought they just stayed in their office and ducked off while the DJ’s did their shows and ran the station.

  Well, I thought wrong!

  Carswell Radio Studios Willowsfield, called The Golden Heart Center, is built like a mini hotel. It has five main levels: the newsroom, V102.5 studios, WKUL Sports Talk 100.3 studios, Hot 97.3 studios, and the office floor. Roxanne takes the stairs to every floor. That explains why she’s so in shape!

  She also dresses really cute and casual. Her pretty long, wavy hair was put into a ponytail with a purple gold flower rubber band holding it back. She had on a purple and gold Sigma Beta logo T-shirt that made her light brown skin glow, light blue Levis, and some clean, fresh out the box-looking purple and white Jordan “Son of Mars”.

  When we got to her office on the last floor, I thought I was gonna pass out. I was breathing all hard like I had asthma or something. She went to her mini refrigerator and gave me a bottle of water.

  I finished it off in like one swallow! She laughed as she walked to sit at her desk. The office wasn’t all that big, but it was really cool. She had a huge window directly behind her desk that you could look out and see almost everything going on in the north side. Like Miss Carter, she had awards hanging around everywhere, mainly for her broadcasting and leadership skills.

  “It must be cool being the main woman running things down here,” I said as I reached in my Gucci handbag and pulled out my mirror to make sure the sweat hadn’t messed up my make-up.

  She smiled. “Well no, I think your mom is really the main woman running things down here. She’s the one that has her own custom-made studio and syndicated morning drive show. That’s like the most important spot on a radio station’s schedule.”

  “But you are the program director. That means you’re like the CEO of the station, right?”

  “If you put it like that, then yes. I’m the head of day to day operations for all Carswell affiliates in Willowsfield and the other surrounding cities in Georgia like Macon, Augusta, Athens, Savannah, Worthington, and Atlanta. So anything related to on-air personalities, programs, music, marketing, and advertising comes directly to me.”

  I smiled and readjusted myself in the seat. “That sounds like my type of job. It’s my dream to be the head of a company or something.”

  “So you’re a leadership, organizational type person?”

  I nodded.

  “Well, if you wanna be a CEO of a big name company, you have to have prior leading experience. How would you like to be an executive intern? You’ll be doing the same things as your brother, but you work more closely with me. I can really teach you some things about leadership. You have to be serious about this now. You can actually put this on your college application and work résumés in the future.”

  “Don’t you have to be in college for that?”

  She smiled. “Not if I personally pick you.”

  I was ecstatic. “Yeah, that’d be great! Thank you for the opportunity!”

  And just like that, I’m an executive intern with Roxanne Reynolds and Carswell Media. Another step closer to my dream of being a big name CEO at a company!

  A few seconds later, her program assistant came in and said, “Roxanne, we have a major problem. Big Jake, at the last minute, called in and said th
at he won’t be able to make it to the studio to do The Weekend Jump-off and it goes live in ten minutes! That’s one of our highest-rated shows on all of our affiliates. What do we do? Do you want me to send the message to re-air the Friday episode of one of our syndicated shows?”

  “That won’t be necessary. I have an idea that I think will work. I’ll meet you down on the second floor.”

  This time we took the elevator down to the second floor. As we first got on, Roxanne turned and dropped some knowledge on me.

  “Aaliyah, the first major lesson I can teach about leadership and being a successful boss is that you have to make tough decisions. We have a situation right now where one of our top shows, The Weekend Jump-off with Big Jake, is without an on-air personality. I have an idea that may turn out to be productive or hurt us in the long run and make us lose valuable listenership. Big Jake has held that weekend DJ spot here for years and has a cult-like following. We don’t know how his show listeners will respond to hearing another voice on his airways, especially if it’s the wrong one. But being in charge means you have to take risks and be confident and satisfied in the decision you made at the end of the day.”

  “So what’s your decision?” I asked.

  She turned to me and said, “I’m gonna let D host the show.”

  My eyes lit up. “Really?”

  “That’s what I’m thinking about as we speak. D’s been working with Big Jake over the past few months, so he knows how to work the DJ board. Plus, I’ve heard his show at Howard-Jones and he sounds really good. It seems like D has the same natural charismatic ability and voice that your mom has. I believe he can do it. It’s time to give him a push and see if he can deliver.”

  I fully agreed with her, excitedly proclaiming, “Oh, no doubt he can do it! D’s been waiting on an opportunity like this for a while. He’d definitely about to show out.”

  ♠♠♠♠

  The Weekend Jump-off

  “What’s going on, everybody? You already know what it is. This is The Weekend Jump-off! This is your man Damon Anderson holding it down for everybody listening. Big Jake couldn’t make it today because he’s having family issues. We’re gonna keep him in our thoughts and prayers. But nevertheless, we’re gonna get things started.

  “The phone lines will be open all show so we can talk about this football, man. The most anticipated high school season in recent memory is starting in a few weeks and I wanna hear your opinion on it. As for me, you already know I’m down with the Howard-Jones Falcons, but let me know how you feel. Here’s “Turn on the Lights” by Future. You’re listening to The Weekend Jump-off on Hot 97.3!”

  I was with Roxanne in the newsroom on the first floor in awe as I listened to D do his thing on the air. As D was on air, the researchers were calculating how many listeners were tuning in and how the individual show was doing compared to the other programs that were on other radio stations at that specific time. I didn’t even know that was possible to do while the actual show was going on.

  To put in simple terms, D was making history! As D hosted the show, he set Carswell Media records for total listenership and total amount of calls to a Carswell show. The callers actually overloaded the switchboard! D’s version of The Weekend Jump-off was also the most listened to show for affiliates in Atlanta, Willowsfield, Worthington, and Macon, GA for the four hours it was on. D even got bigger numbers than Momma did for those cities!

  Wyatt even called in to give his take on the region’s football landscape and even got into it with D and Polo about who was better between Howard-Jones and Jefferson.

  “Tell me this then: how are you guys gonna stop Blaze? My man’s already quick, and then I’ma be the one throwing to him. Are you serious? That’s like automatic touchdowns!” Wyatt said.

  D broke it down. “But our defense is nice! You may not even get a chance to throw it to Blaze. You keep talking about Blaze and how he’s just gonna destroy us, but you forget to mention that, on paper, Howard-Jones has the best players in the region. Even the freshman varsity players have superstar potential!

  “Back last year at Clarkson, Sean was ranked number one in every major regional Quarterback stat. Not to be cocky or overconfident, but I was the number one receiver in the region. We got three freshman players on our defensive line that were in the state’s top five for the most sacks list last year. Plus we have Mario, the best defensive player in the region according to his stats from last year.”

  “Hey, I go hard on defense too. Blaze may not even score if I get put on him!” Polo added.

  D laughed. “Oh yeah, let’s not forget about my man Polo. He was number three in the region in interceptions, the only player from Georgia on that list. And let me remind you that all that this was back in middle school! Imagine what we can do now! For Blaze to do anything on the field, he’d have to get past our tough defensive line, Polo and Mario.”

  “See, man, you keep talking about statistics. All of that’s just math to me. You know that the only numbers that matter at the end of the day are on the scoreboard. Who has the most points at the end of the day is the only stat that matters to me, and it’s gonna be Jefferson that does that. We’ll be in the championship picture, just like last year.”

  “Well, I guess we’ll see in October,” D said.

  “I know we will. Jefferson’s gonna be undefeated when it’s all said and done. Bet on it.”

  It was really entertaining hearing them going back and forth and it really made you more eager to finally see them face off! The people that called in thought so too, as this was the segment with the highest amount of calls in Carswell history. The funny thing is that I am not even that big of a football fan. Wyatt talks a lot of trash and, even though I like him and everything, it’ll make me happy to see him get what he deserves.

  Bottom line is this: D proved that he actually does have what it takes to host his own show. Now, it was up to the heads of Carswell Media and Roxanne to make it happen. Obviously, having a huge local celebrity like D on your station will really boost your ratings. Roxanne just told me about making decisions. She really needs to go on make the right choice and sign D on. Real talk!

  ♠♠♠♠

  Allison’s Breakdown

  After the visit to the radio station, I had Polo’s sister drop me off in Brentwood by Allison’s house. I thought about just calling her when we got home but I decided it’ll be better if we talk face to face. I have to let her know that I’m here for her and that she can’t let people like Mariah get her down!

  Allison’s house is huge! It’s almost like one of those houses you used to see on MTV Cribs. Even though I’d been to her house hundreds of times, it still amazes me. Momma’s house is probably big too. The last time I saw her, she was living in a condo that’s far north towards the outskirts of Atlanta. She had her house built and designed from the ground up and they just finished a few months ago.

  I would’ve gone to try and find it but I didn’t because it was real dark outside and I didn’t know my way around Brentwood. As I said, crazy things happen in Willowsfield at night (especially on weekends) and I definitely don’t need to get lost in a neighborhood I don’t know well.

  Anyways, I walked up to their porch and rang the doorbell. To my surprise, Wyatt answered the door.

  “Aye, ‘Liyah, what’s up with Allison? She came in heated after choir practice today,” he immediately said as he opened the door and saw that it was me.

  I sighed. “One of the girls down there was hating on her because she sang a song better. It’s straight though. I’ll go talk to her.”

  He nodded. “Alright, cool. Last time I checked, she was upstairs in her room.”

  I jogged up the stairs to Allison’s room on the second floor of the house. She had her door closed and locked and I heard her crying.

  “Allison, open up! It’s Aaliyah, open up!” I said, knocking on the door.

  “Go away,” she weakly shouted in between breaths. “I told you I wasn’t singing
tomorrow. I just wanna be left alone!”

  “Come on, Allison, let me in. This has to be more than just what happened at choir practice. You’re worrying me with how you’re acting. What’s wrong?”

  “You really don’t understand all that I’ve been going through and I really don’t wanna explain. Go home!”

  “Now Allison, you know that’s not an option. I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s happening with you. You’re my best friend and I can’t stand to see you like this. Let me help you.”

  Allison finally opened the door. Her face was soaking wet and her eyes were extremely red. I almost started crying too. I’ve never seen Allison like this. She’s always so energetic and positive! I couldn’t cry though. What would that solve? I had to be strong and help Allison with whatever she was going through.

  I led her to her bed. Tears were still streaming down her face.

  “Now, tell me what’s wrong. I know this isn’t about the church thing. You already know that Mariah’s isn’t even worth the tears.”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s not about that. It feels like I’m just an emotional wreck. Nothing goes right for me now days. Recently, I’ve been feeling the pain of the passing of my grandmother. You know she died of cancer a few months back. It’s just hard coming to terms with the fact that my Nana is gone.

  “At first, I thought I’d be able to move on, but now I realize I can’t. I’m just not that strong. Even though I have the love of my immediate family, I still feel alone. I just feel like something’s missing. I miss her so much and it’s really starting to hit that I’ll never see again.” Tears were starting to stream down her eyes again.

  “Allison, don’t think like that! You’ll see her again. Your grandmother’s is in a better place in heaven.”