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Spelman Spotlight
SISTER TO SISTER
Page 6
The Randomness of Tragedy
By Askhari Auset (Carliss Johnson)
I can’t remember the last time she said
goodbye to me. I can remember the last time
I saw her, but I can’t remember her very last
words to me. If I had known what was to
come, I guess I would have cherished that
very last word, and the smile she always
flashed as she walked out of the house.
If 1 could just remember the last goodbye,
I could rest, and stop being so obsessed. Am
I obsessed, or is it normal to still be in a state
of disbelief... normal to be angry at her for
falling asleep... normal to stutter when I say
her name... normal to shiver when I drive past
the spot where it happened... normal to think
about her everyday. And I have thought about
her every day since that day.
I remember going to Femi’s room around
1:00, after my final. We had been up all night
studying, so Femi and I took our usual “sleep
until Jeff gets done with dinner nap.’’ At
about 3:30, I woke up with this cramp in my
stomach. 1 thought I was hungry. I was. I am
always hungry. I shook Femi.
"Femi let's go get some movies and head
home. I'm hungry.” Femi, sweet molasses
personified, got her stuff together and we
walked to the West End. Heather, a Spelman
sister, saw us walking and picked us up. She
took us to get movies and she took us home,
since we lived so close to school. Heather let
us out at the beginning of the complex. I
remember walking down Belmont Drive
watching the sun come out. It had been
raining earlier, I looked at the pool wondering
what it would look like Saturday. We were
having an “after final exams cookout/pool
party.’’ Tammy was bringing two large grills,
and Doug and Jeff were going to supply the
chicken.
We were giggling about always eating
chicken, but before we walked into the house.
Femi tensed. I was in a hurry because I was
very hungry by this time. I opened the door
and my roommate Toshia slammed the door
shut in my face. I was not in the mood. I
started to get angry.
“She probably has a man in there,” I
stated.
“Something is wrong, Carliss,” Femi
whispered. A half-minute later, Toshia came
back and opened the door. I entered and was
about to throw a fit. My purple candles were
lit. Nobody lights my candles. I just couldn't
believe Toshia was burning my candles. She
was always invading my space. Before I
could turn around and confront Toshia, she
spoke.
"You guys better sit down.” I put my
book bag in the recliner, and started to sit
down. I thought Toshia had messed up some
thing in my room or had eaten the last morsel
of food Femi and I had left in the refrigerator.
I didn't know what was wrong. Toshia is so
dramatic. She looked in my eyes and I be
came alarmed. I thought about my other
roommate.
“Where's Tomika? Toshia where’s
Mikk? Is she hurt?” Toshia took my hand and
Femi’s in hers. She did not hesitate.
“Tammy Simmons was killed today."
There was a pause as the words traveled
from my ears to wherever words of this nature
are supposes to go. Femi began to cry.
“Who killed my sister?” 1 guessed that
she had been attacked.
"She was in an automobile accident. It
happened at the Ashby Street exit. That’s all
1 know.” I jumped up and ran to the kitchen.
I called my father as if he could straighten this
mess out. I tried calling campus so someone
could tell me what was going on, but before I
could dial the number, the phone rang.
It was Lore, she was crying. She told me
to come to Manley Center. I said I would. I
couldn’t talk. Cami called. People I didn't
even know were calling and being as insensi
tive as hell.
“Girl did you hear?” Click.
“How did it happen?” Click
“What did she look like?” Click.
"Who the hell was this Tammy girl?”
Click.
How could they talk about her in the past
tense so soon? Joette called, very distraught.
I couldn’t talk to her, not about Tammy. I
went into the corner of the kitchen and started
to cry. After a couple of minutes, I called
Doug. I never got past hello.
“Carliss, we’ll come and get you, okay?”
I nodded as if he could see me. I hung up.
Lorena called immediately after to see if I
needed a ride. I went into the bathroom, got
a roll of toilet tissue, and stuffed it into my
bag. Why was I being so practical at a time
like this?
The phone rang incessantly. Why was
everyone calling? What did they want me to
say? After what seemed like months, Doug
and Mondibo pulled up outside. The last
thing I remember clearly is Mondibo. Doug.
Femi and I embracing in a circle, door open,
heads down, crying.
Everything else is in frozen fragments.
Almost like photographs not actually taken.
Trina running toward me with tears in her
eyes as I walked through the back gate. Heather
laughing hysterically. The psychologist shak
ing her head when I told her that it was
someone else in the car. Aretha standing in
the corner taking deep deliberate breaths.
Akil beating the wall. Lyndrina falling to the
floor. Kevin crumpling up in Sam’s arms.
Ms. Alma Simmons. Tammy's mother, wail
ing over her only child. The pain in Danny's
face when I realized that we never felt Tammy
die. Hanif rocking back and forth, back and
forth, back and forth. Abeni running out of
the chapel. Eric gazing at her physical re
mains as if they were going to once again
going to take on movement. Sonya pacing in
the parking lot of the funeral home. The tear
I know I saw coming from Tammy’s left eye
as she lay in the box. The wax falling of the
wicks of my purple candles as they came to an
end.
Everything past and present whirled
around relentlessly in my head. People were
talking, but nothing made sense.
“I'm going to look for Tammy.”
“She simply fell asleep.”
"Tammy Simmons was killed today."
“I didn’t feel her die."
“Something’s wrong.”
“It wasn’t Tammy.”
“Did you know Tammy died today?”
“Chaurice. I wouldn't lie to you. She’s
gone.”
“Tammy is coming back.”
“But, her voice is on my answering
machine!"
“Be strong.”
“Tammy would want you to cry.”
“I want to touch her.”
“It’s the last thing you can do for her
now.”
What was the last thing I did for you?
Damn Tammy, when was the last time you
said goodbye. I can’t remember.. I can't stop
trying to remember.
Maybe she'll see this one day and whis
per goodbye as the wind blows east toward
the rising sun. And maybe one morning the
wind will rush carelessly through my hair and
her voice will escape and embrace my ear.
And so I’m waiting for that day. when she
says goodby Askhari. I'm waiting for the day
when I can say: Goodbye Tammy.
Just Around the Corner: Europe 1992
has implications for everyone
By Chaurice Corbin
Spelmanites Chaurice Corbin C’90 and
Tara Addison C’90 were both 1989 Time
scholars. Ms. Addison was a publisher of
their in-house publication Time By Interns.
This article is reprinted with permission from
Time.
In the midst of a business environment
that seems to foster corporate mergers and
acquisitions, it comes as no surprise that
numerous companies have merged un the
hope of expanding their sphere of influence.
No one imagined , however, that a group of
European countries with a cross-section of
political and cultural ideologies, would merge
to create a multi-national conglomerate with
the potential of becoming an economic super
power.
In an ambitious attempt to forge a more
united and economically competitive Europe
by 1992, members of the European Economic
Commission (EEC) have devised a plan that
will eliminate barriers to the free flow of
money and financial services between states.
The brainchild behind the massive unifica
tion plan Jacques Delores, president of the
EEC. Delores proposed the “radical” pack
age that called for the restructuring of Eu
rope’s business community. The proposed
package includes a plan which will eliminate
trade barriers and technical standards that
vary within the community, thereby making it
easier and less costly for goods to be traded in
other markets. The plan, if carried through
successfully, will make business a less cum
bersome process for member nations.
Barriers that once existed throughout
Europe will be dismantled in order to create
an environment conducive to inter-European
trade. Trucks will be able to travel from
Denmark to Belgium, and goods and services
which at one time had adhered to several
regulations standards, will be able to flow
easily between Britain and Greece without
penalty or increased cost to the consumer or
acting corporation.
The unification of Europe will certainly
be advantageous for those European firms
existing within the community, but American
firms that are not established before 1992 are
at great risk. According to US representative
Clayton Yeutter, “The implications of 1992
for the US are far more serious than people
realize.” Yeutter finds the plan less benign in
practice than in principle, for it could be a
catalyst for trade disputes.
In light of the proposed unification,
American firms are actively seeking to satu
rate the European market. Stanley Crosick,
chairman of E&L Belmont, a Brussels based
consulting group, encourages American Cor
porations to merge with Europeans. He states,
“If 1992 happens, you’re prepared by merg
ing; if not, you're more competitive in any
case.”
Corporate giant General Electric is lead
ing the pack. GE and their unrelated British
competitor, General Electric Co., announced
plans to merge their European consumer and
medical equipment groups. Coca-Cola re
vised its organizational chart to put more
emphasis on the European community. The
soft drink giant has begun construction in
France on the world’s largest canning plant.
Whirlpool has upped its ante by entering into
a $2 billion European joint venture.
Whatever the outcome of the unification
plan, the changes that have emerged out of
Europe are testimony to the fact that we are
living in a highly competitive and global ori
ented society. No one knows what the future
will bring, but with fierce competition from
Japan and an ambitious Delores who is deter
mined to make Europe economically com
petitive, America can be assured that its posi
tion in the global community will challenged.