The Pandemic Diaries April 17, 2020
Logan here. Tommy promised you’d learn about how we, two white guys, got a black aunt. I’ve asked my brother, Antoine, to join me since he lives in the same building. See, Antoine Jackson moved to our hometown four years ago from New York. He had been in Special Education classes there, not learning much. His Dad’s sister, Kamesha Jackson, told Robert (that’s Antoine’s father) to bring him to Florida, she had some ideas about how to help him. Aunt Kamesha’s a Nurse Practitioner, kind of like a doctor but nicer and less stuck-up.
So, the first thing she did was test his hearing. He was
almost deaf; how was he supposed to learn if he couldn’t hear? Then she got her
special friend, Dr. Gil, to test him. Dr. Gil is a shrink and said Antoine was
dyslexic. He can’t make sense of written words because the letters get all
jumbled up. Tommy and I met Antoine at the beginning of summer and invited him
to play basketball with us. For those of you who aren’t still laughing uncontrollably,
yes, he’s that Antoine Jackson, number one draft pick in the NBA last year from
Duke. Best moves I’ve ever seen. So, Tommy and I got Dr. Gil’s brother, the
basketball coach, out to see him.
Aunt Kamesha got an otolaryngology surgeon to fix his hearing, and Dr. Gil taught me and Tommy how to work with him on reading. By the end of the summer he’d gone from first grade level to fourth grade in reading and writing and math. I worked with him during the school year, and Coach had me and Tommy work with him on how our team played ball. By the end of ninth grade he was ahead of his classmates, and joined the basketball team for the rest of high school.
Our senior year I walked out rather than deal with racist homophobic parents. I came out to them as I was leaving, and was told not to come back. Aunt Kamesha took me in, and said that if I was her nephew’s brother, then she was my aunt. A couple months later Tommy did the same thing. We’ve been family ever since.
Antoine, you got anything to add?
“Yeah. Aunt Kamesha likes you and Tommy better than me. I think it’s ‘cause you two help her for free in the clinic, Tommy doing physical therapy and you helping the patients with insurance companies. I guess it’s a good thing I’m better looking than either of you.
“Oww!! That hurts, Logan. See how you like it.”
SOUNDS OF BREAKING FURNITURE AND GLASS. TWO YOUNG MEN WRESTLING ON THE FLOOR. EVENTUALLY TOMMY COMES IN AND TURNS OFF THE CAMERA.
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