The Talking Drum by Lisa Braxton

Author:Lisa Braxton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inanna Publications
Published: 2020-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

USING TONGS, Sydney grasped the corner of exposed photographic paper and shook it in the tray of developer until the image of Uncle Mustapha became clear. He was standing in the middle of the gazebo at Petite Africa Green, with his fist thrust in the air. She had two more rolls to develop. After publishing one of her photos from the rally she and Della and Jasmine had stumbled onto, Max wanted more shots to fill a two-page feature on urban renewal for an upcoming issue of Inner City Voice. He assigned her to write a story to accompany her photos.

She loved the hours alone in the darkroom, seeing how her camera technique, using various filters, lighting, and shutter speeds, conveyed visual stories. As she worked, her mind drifted back to her conversation with Uncle Mustapha. She was disturbed by suspicions that property owners would burn down their own buildings for the insurance money, endangering not only people’s homes, but their lives.

“Syd, you in there?”

The Neighborhood Improvement Association meeting must have finally ended. She told Malachi to wait while she squeegeed the front and back of the picture and hung it to dry. Then she removed her black rubber gloves and opened the darkroom door.

“Sorry I missed dinner,” Malachi said.

“It’s all right. I’ve been up here for hours and haven’t eaten yet myself. The food’s still warm in the oven.”

He sighed deeply. “I thought that meeting would go on all night. Kwamé really needs to limit public comment to two minutes or less.”

“Anything interesting happen?”

“We’re trying to get property from the city before the mayor gets too distracted with the redevelopment project. I figure if we can get a large enough parcel, we can build the recreation center, and a couple of baseball fields. We can use the rec center as the home of the little league team. We can start having annual banquets, that sort of thing.”

“You’ll probably get more kids involved,” Sydney said.

He paused for a moment. “And there’s something else.”

“What?”

“Kwamé wants me to run for vice president.”

“Of the Neighborhood Improvement Association? Were you going to talk to me about it?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t say yes without you.” He leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. She crossed her arms and shifted away from him.

“But you said yes to the Taylors without me agreeing on it. You stood there and let Kwamé shove the Taylors down our throats. You never did get their references.”

He exhaled. “I was wrong, Sydney, and I’m sorry. I’ve learned. We’ll discuss the board decision and if you’re not comfortable with it, I won’t take it.”

“I don’t understand you. You want to open a business, sponsor a little league team, and now be vice president of a neighborhood association. What’s next? Mayor?”

He said nothing.

“Why did you let Kwamé force the Taylors on us?”

“I wouldn’t put it that way, Syd. He saw an opportunity for both the Taylors and us to get what we wanted. They needed a place, and we needed tenants.

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