Can You Hear Me Now

My Move Across the World

When I was about six years old my family moved to Europe. The only reason that my family moved was, because my stepfather was in the military and got stationed over there. I remember the long plane ride there. For some reason I could always remember what I was wearing.  I wore a purple dress. My mom had taken me shopping prior to us relocating. I thought I looked real cute with my hair all beaded and braided.

            When we all arrived in Europe, I didn’t know what to think. In Europe there were all these people that spoke a different language. When I started to go to school there was a lady that came to my class and taught the class a different language. This was the language known as German. Boy! Did I hate learning this new language. I would pretend like I didn’t know any answers, when the teacher would call on me. The German people were real nice to me and always would give me snacks. Some of our German neighbors would save me from getting my butt whooped. That’s what I liked the most about German people.

            I began to rebel in Europe. I was always getting into some type of trouble at school. I can recall a time when I hit my teacher a few times. I did this, because I had a bad temper and she was trying to make me go to the end of the lunch line. I apologized to her, only so she wouldn’t call my mother. I knew if my teacher called my mom, she would have tore me a new butt. I was on a baseball team in Europe. My brother would practice with me. I guess you could say I was a tomboy.

            My mom (Unita) had a best friend in Europe named Lisa. Lisa was in the military and had two children. Lisa’s oldest child was named Walter. We called him fats. Her younger child’s name was Rosylnn. We called her Ros for short. Rosylnn was my buddy; she was a tomboy just like me. Later we became so close we started to say we were cousin’s. Rosylnn and I were total opposite in our identity. Rosylnn was thick, I was skinny, I was light skinned, she was dark skinned, she was tall, I was short. Rosylnn was somewhat the bullying type. She never bullied me though, she knew I had a mean streak in me. Walter was into sports. He would pick on us from time to time, but that never bothered me, because I had my own brother to deal with. My family spent most of the holidays with Lisa and her family. I always remember Lisa being the tough type of women that you didn’t want to mess with or she would bust you up in a minute and not think twice about it. I always prayed that she would not whoop me. I wonder if God ever heard them prayers!