From Drama... to Destiny

Chapter 1

Keisha Martin to the human resource office, Keisha Martin to the human resource office, the loud speaker announced.

Yes! This must be the day, the day I’ve been dreaming of, going from temporary to permanent , I thought as I finished having lunch with some of my newly acquired friends here at Computer Mart where I have been Temping in accounting for the past 3 ^ months. Since the big cuts at General Motors 3 years ago, I’ve been going from temporary assignment to temporary assignment, with no possibility of getting in the door anywhere permanently. I will admit, I did enjoy working at GM with all the benefits and, not to mention, the excellent pay; no other place could ever compare. But working here at Computer Mart has been a real learning experience for me. Usually after lunch Cynthia and myself, and some of the other girls from our department would walk on the company’s inside track for about a half hour. Like everyone else, we’re always on that diet trying to lose those few extra pounds and, in my case, there are plenty of extra pounds to lose.

Well Keisha it’s about time! exclaimed Cynthia I thought you would never become permanent.

Hey, now let’s not take the bull by the horn and run with it, I said, We all know that this call could be for a number of things.

Like changing your status from temporary to permanent? said Janea. Let’s face it, we all know that the only time anyone from Human Resources pages a temporary employee to come to the office is usually for one of two reasons, to either let them go or make them permanent.

Janea, please don’t make me think of the other reason, girl I just got nervous, I said as I pretended to faint and sway to the side.

Nervous? Keisha please! You know Ms. Hathaway all but gave you your W2’s to fill out when she was at our last department meeting Janea said as she and Cynthia laughed and high fived each other, as though they knew something I didn’t.

And besides Janea started, how can they let you go when in our last department meeting Ms. Hathaway was just getting on the department heads for having too many temps when the company could just as easily have a regular full time employee? Plus, what about all the praise she gave you in front of the whole department for doing an outstanding job!

Okay, Okay, Okay, you two! I said. Yeah, now that you’ve made me think about it that way I guess I do have a pretty good shot at becoming a regular full time employee I said as I returned the high five.

Ya dang skippy said Janea.

Well gang here goes nothing; say a little prayer for me. As soon as I’m finish in HR I’ll meet you two at the track if there’s still time,

Okay, don’t worry you’ll be fine, Cynthia said trying to reassure me. If for some reason you don’t make it to the track, email us as soon as you return to your desk, you know just too officially congratulate you Cynthia said half laughing.

Now, all of my life I have had a very strong religious background and have been the type of person to not let anything unsettle me or get me down; if I encountered problems that were too big for me to handle I would simply hand it over to the Lord and leave it there. Hey, that’s the way I was taught and now it’s what I believe and practice; but, as I left them I felt a jolt of nervousness in the pit of my stomach, one that only got worse as I got closer to the office. Now as I approached the outside of the office, I was sweaty, my stomach was bubbling, and on top of all that, it felt as though I had diarrhea! Oh no! I thought. If I was the candidate they selected for the position, they may just as well change their minds after taking a look at me in my nervous condition. I couldn’t let them see me like this, so I walked down to the nearest ladies room to get my self together. Generally in times like these I would have my bible with me to get me through tough times, but today the devil sort of snuck up on me. But that’s okay, I said to myself, ‘cause I recalled reading where David said .thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. As I made it to the ladies room I thanked God that there was no one there but Him and me. I quickly went into one of the stalls and just began quietly praying to God about my situation. I said, Lord please either move this mountain, or give me the strength to climb". Yeah I could’ve went into a long drawn out prayer, but what’s the use, all I wanted God to know was that I needed him right now, and besides my bible tells me that the Father knows what you have need of even before you ask him.

Just as I was finishing up in the ladies room, I heard the receptionist page for me again. I quickly threw some water on my face, patted it dry with some tissue, and then took out my make-up sponge to take the shine off my face. As I walked out the bathroom I said to myself, okay Lord it’s me and you.

As I entered the HR office I noticed there was a sistah sitting at the receptionist desk, she looked like she could be in her late 20’s or even maybe early 30’s. She had one of those wild hair styles, the French rolls that had curls attached to curls for days standing on top of her head as tall as the Eiffel tower! Now to me, that seemed a bit inappropriate for work, but who am I to judge. I noticed her name plate so I addressed her by name, Hi Sheila, I’m Keisha Martin I was just paged over head to come to the HR office, I said as politely as possible.

Oh yeah, wait right here she said sounding as ghetto as they come. She turned away from me and called one of the HR representatives, I assumed.

Keisha Martin is here I heard her saying over the phone.

Okay, no problem Sheila said as she wrapped up her call with the HR rep.

Wow! I thought, not Hi how are you today, or, please have a seat, but oh yeah, wait right here, what’s that all about I wondered.

Keisha, Ms. Love will see you now Sheila informed me. After a couple of seconds of waiting for Ms. Love, I simply asked Sheila,

Am I waiting for her to come and get me or is she waiting for me in her office

She’s waiting for you in her office Sheila said as she turned back to her computer to continue working.

Sheila, I don’t mean to bother you but I’ve never been to her office, so could you please direct me to it I said getting a bit agitated by now.

Oh snap, what was I thinkin’ about? My bad, you go down this hall make that first left, go down that hall and she’s the third door on your right. Aight.

’Aight?’ What in the world does Computer Mart have in their Human Resource office greeting their visitors? I thought as I ventured towards Ms. Love’s office. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a sistah, too, and yes I use slang also, especially when I’m in the company of my friends; but on the job? This to me is an absolute no no! Doesn’t she realize that we as African Americans have a hard enough time on jobs with out bringing our culture and bad habits to work with us?

As I reached her office I noticed the door was ajar, so I politely knocked on the door before going in.

Come in, you must be Keisha Martin?

Yes I am, I said trying to be as professional as possible. Ms. Love was a very attractive older white lady who didn’t look a day over forty, although if you heard her before you saw her you would probably very easily guess her age, so I guess what I heard is correct. Rumors have it that two years ago she underwent some type of surgery on her throat due to cancer of the larynx, which is why her voice is so raspy and old sounding now.

Please have a seat, said Ms. Love

As I was taking my seat in front of her desk, I noticed underneath her name on her nameplate was her title, which read Assistant HR Manager. Hmmph I thought

Now Keisha as you know we are in the process of streamlining all of our departments here at Computer Mart, she began, and due to the recent recession, it has become an economical hardship for us to keep all of our temporary helpers. There are, however, two departments that have been approved to keep at a maximum two of their temporary workers, but unfortunately the department you work in, is not one of them, she said.

Was I hearing this right? Were they letting me go? By the time reality hit me, I had so many emotions running inside of me I just didn’t know what to do, or better yet what to say.

Ms. Love am I hearing you right, is Computer Mart letting me go? I asked.

I’m sorry Keisha, but we had no other choice, we simply can not afford to keep all the temporary help

I had so many questions that I wanted to ask but it seemed like when I would open my mouth nothing would come out. I wanted to know why Ms. Hathaway would give me the impression that she wanted me on board, when she knew they were letting me go. I wanted to know who were the ones they kept on to become permanent employees, I wanted to know why wasn’t I considered for a position, I wanted to know how long the other temporaries had been there, oh God! I just had so many questions; but I just sat there taking in everything that was said not really believing any of it.

After I sat there in total disbelief for what seemed like an hour, I finally asked the inevitable so when will my last day be? As soon as I looked up into Ms. Love face and into her eyes I knew my answer, and that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach came.

I have been instructed to end each temporary’s assignment by the end of the day today she said, looking as though it was hurting her as much as it was hurting me.

For a moment I wanted to breakdown and cry, ‘cause all I could think about was my new car that I had just purchased last week, my credit cards that I just maxed out buying new clothes for this job, and Lord how I was supposed to pay for all this without a job? As I grab my purse from the empty chair next to me I nodded to Ms. Love and said in a quiet voice I understand.

I’m sorry Keisha, said Ms. Love,

Not as sorry as I am I thought.

As I walked out of the HR office I thought about how I was going to tell or not tell Cynthia and Janea. Our cubicles were not exactly by each other’s anyway, so maybe I could just go and pack my things and perhaps call them or better yet email them with the news.

As I reached my cubicle, I noticed Ms. Hathaway talking to Mary, one of my co-workers that sit across from me who happens to be a temporary, also. I saw that they were engaged in a quiet conversation so I didn’t interrupt them to speak, I just grab the little items that I had on my desk, my sweater that was hanging on my chair and proceeded to leave.

Keisha?

Yes Ms. Hathaway I said, looking as though I really didn’t want to hear a word she had to say right about now.

I’m really sorry about all of this, I really wanted you on board but I guess my wish was not their command she said trying to sound empathetic. ’Your wish.’ Who did she think she was fooling? I thought. Maybe she doesn’t know that I know that she’s the one in charge of who stays and who goes.

Can we call you if we have another position open up? Ms. Hathaway asked as she was walking towards me.

Yeah, sure I said as I turned and left, not waiting for her to reach me.

I decided not to say anything to Cynthia and Janea; after all, the meeting with Ms. Love and the short confrontation with Ms. Hathaway were about all I could take right now.

On my drive home all I could think about was how was I going to pay my bills? I just kept thinking and saying over and over to myself, Lord I know you’re a provider, and I’m yet trusting in you, but I’m one of the ones you have to show some signs to .

Chapter 2

It’s been three weeks now since my assignment ended at Computer Mart and I still have not found a job. I’ve been searching endlessly through our local paper, through the Internet and through leads to major corporations from friends, but still nothing. It’s the middle of July, it’s hot, I have no air in my apartment, and just barely enough food in my refrigerator, but I refuse to keep complaining or let that get me down; after all I do have an income coming in, thanks to the Unemployment Agency. Although the checks are not half of what I was used to bringing in, I’m still thankful for what I do get, even if I have to eat beans and rice or bologna sandwiches and chips until I get back on my feet.

During the time I was working I just didn’t have the time to do a lot of recreational things that I like to do, so I started using my time off work to do some of the things I just hadn’t had the time to do, like being involved in the church activities, visiting old friends, answering emails and spending time with my nieces and nephews; which always wore me out for the day.

Before my nieces and nephews I’ve always wanted kids of my own, but through the years that feeling has sort of changed, primarily because I’m not as young as I used to be. I know people say that women still have children in their forties and fifties but no thanks, I’m just a year over thirty and feeling like my biological clock is ticking or has ticked for the last time. I promised myself after thirty-five if I didn’t have children by then, oh well, biological clock, on to the next person, that’s just like the old saying if it doesn’t fit, don’t force it.

I think my first problem is that I’m single, I mean I have male friends but that’s all they are, are friends. There are a couple of them that I keep in touch with on a regular basis, but not too regular because I’m into church and they’re not, if you know what I mean and these brothers are the type that like to spend a lot of quiet time together. Now I haven’t been in church all my life, but I do know what happens when the opposite sex spends a lot of time together in quiet places, alone! And God knows I do not want to revisit that period of my life.

I decided to go to Wednesday night bible study tonight since I hadn’t been able to make it while I was working mostly because I was always so tired or always felt the need to bring work home with me. As I was getting my clothes ready to wear to church my phone rang, Hello, I said

Key, on your way to the church house daughter? my girlfriend Geneva asked.

Yeah girl you know I can’t afford to miss any more Wednesday night services with all my petitions I have laid out before the Lord, I said as we both started to laugh.

Hey G, is the pastor there, do you know if he’s out of town this week, I asked silently praying that Pastor was there.

As far as I know he’s here, I haven’t heard anything different, but come on Key that shouldn’t stop you from coming to the church house G said trying to go into her preaching slash mother mode.

Alright girl I’ll be there, I was just finishing up getting my clothes ready to wear when you called. Hey if you get there before I do

I know, I know save you a seat G said finishing up my sentence as we both laughed and hung up the phone.

Geneva was my best friend; we shared everything with each other, there was nothing we kept from each other. If it wasn’t for Geneva God knows I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through some of the things I went through, and just like me G was waiting for her Mr. right also. I met Geneva at our church, Greater Ebenezer Church of God in Christ, approximately five years ago. We just started talking one day and just hit it off and we’ve been friends every since, I mean we have so much in common. We’re both single and trusting God to send us that special someone, but unlike me G does a lot of socializing outside of the church, such as doing things with the people on her job, her male friends saved or unsaved, and classmates from school, plus G and I are both working towards our Masters only hers is in Computer Engineering and mine is in Business Administration, and neither one of us have children of our own.

As I pulled up in front of the church I noticed that the main parking lot was full, so I