Maya's Choice by Earl Sewell Page A

stairwell, and left through the rear exit. Without giving much thought to what I was going to do or where I was headed, I started walking east toward the lakefront. Mindlessly, I walked, not really thinking about much of anything except that I had to keep moving. I made it to the shoreline of Lake Michigan and sat on a sandy beach near the Museum of Science and Industry. Kicking my shoes off, I placed my feet on the hot sand. I coiled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. Listening to the roar of the water as it crashed against the shoreline was calming. I glanced around at all of the people there. It was mostly parents playing with their kids and the family dog. I thought about my father again and about how much I missed him and how I wished I could turn back the hands of time and talk to him. How I longed to hear his voice laughing. I wanted to dance with him in the middle of the floor and hug him so I could feel safe and protected.
    I pulled out my cell phone and scrolled through my photos until I found one of the two of us together. It had been taken several years before. Around the time our lives begun to spiral out of control. He didn’t smile as much as he used to. In fact, he hated for anyone to take a photo of him, but he took one for me because it was my birthday. I scrolled to the next picture I had of us. I was about eight years old. My mom came into my bedroom and took a picture of my dad and me playing with my Lilo and Stitch dolls. We were both sitting on the floor making the dolls walk and run and jump and play. He always made the dolls talk for me, and he was talented in giving them different voices. I scrolled through and found one last family photo taken at Walmart. I was two years old, and my parents and I were wearing matching Chicago Bulls championship T-shirts from 1996. I remember my dad being a huge Michael Jordan fan. I forced back tears by shutting my eyes and took a deep breath. After a moment I opened my eyes and closed my phone and forced myself to stop thinking about my dad. He was gone and no amount of wishing was going to ever bring him back.
    The following day I caught up with Toya, who wanted to know how much money and merchandise I’d scored. We went into her bedroom so that I could give her the details of how I’d gotten jacked up. When I told her what had gone down, her mouth opened as wide as the ocean.
    â€œAre you serious? Two chicks chased you onto a city bus and jumped you?” Toya was intrigued by the brawl I had.
    â€œYeah, and if it hadn’t been for the stun gun you gave me, I’d probably be in an emergency room all messed up.”
    â€œDamn. That’s jacked up,” Toya said sympathetically.“Sometimes stuff like that happens, though. You just have to learn from your mistake and move on, that’s all.”
    â€œYeah, that’s easier said than done,” I said. Toya moved closer to inspect my bruises.
    â€œWhat did your mother say about your face?” she asked me.
    â€œNothing. She doesn’t know. Even if she did notice, I don’t think she’d care much. She’s too busy trying to keep her new man happy. She’s not very concerned about me, and I can pretty much do anything I want to as long as I don’t bring another mouth in the house to feed.” I paused in thought for a moment. “I wish there was a way for me to have a normal life.”
    Toya chuckled. “People like us will never have a normal life. We’re from the ’hood. The moment we were born, our lives jumped on an express elevator to hell. We’re never going to get out of here, so we’ve got to make the best of it and do what we’ve gotta do in order to survive. Don’t you agree?” Toya asked.
    â€œOf course I do. My father told me the same thing,” I said.
    â€œYou want to know what I was thinking?” The tone of Toya’s voice was suddenly upbeat.
    â€œNo?” I