“The Cocktail”

Dress in a denim dress with a fresh pair of black and white Jordans, hair braided with jewels to match and in my hand is my invitation to the table of Fate. At this table only the chosen are invited where cocktails are mixed with invitees past, present and future. As I stand at the door waiting for Fate to sit me at the table, I look around at those who look like me, are dress like me and talk like me, but are not me! My happy hour mingling with guests are those abandonment and alone, but pinned with resilient and a book filled with phenomenal stories of their lived experiences. This culture of dire circumstances thriving in a system that is divided into 2 social classes, equality and inequality! Although, we pretend to mirror what we see outside of Fate, the invitation is limited to a chosen few.

The “invisible veil” that massacres my woven costume that is designed equally on both sides, black and white, validates my status and position at the table. White is the education that conditions my behavior into my future. Black are the scars covered to protect my children and me.

Yet, it is not about the cloth or costume worn at the table, but it is the chosen few with the cocktail to match.

The cocktail ingredients are different from all those at the table, but the veil is the same. My urge to drink from my neighbor’s cup because of the curiosity and urge to connect. Yet, it is The intensity of my future that invisibly pulls me back, holding me still to patiently wait for Fate.My “wait” is asking what and why is this cocktail addictive? The addiction is a hunger to feed a void, but later leaves me with a unbearable hangover with tireless thoughts of my past and present steering my drive into slow motion.

Finally, Fate approaches to greet me and take me to my seat. Seated on my right is my “shadow” of humility, and left is my reality. As the 3 of talk exchanging stories of “me, myself and I,” Fate enters apologizing for the wait and welcomes ALL the “cocktails.”

It is no surprise that the ingredients surrounding the room are made up of a culture/community of wealth. The power to move about and celebrate using invisibility and resiliency is a cocktail that only Fate can deliver!