Ebony Johnson

*Revision*
So Many Obstacles, So Little Time
The car was quiet as the Englands’ headed over to the Nevels’ house. Tiara was nervous and feeling nauseous. She didn’t know if it was the pregnancy or just nervous jitters. When they arrived at the Nevels’ house, Ms. England turned off the car and looked at Tiara. “Don’t worry, baby. Everything will be okay. We are all family now. Everything will work itself out,” Ms. England said to Tiara. They all got out of the car and as soon as they walked on the porch, the front door opened as if someone had been watching them from the front window. It was Jeremy who had opened the door. “Hello, come in. My parents are in the dining room preparing the table,” said Jeremy. He looked at Tiara wanting her to look up at him but instead, she just walked past following her mother. Jeremy led them to the dining room. The Nevels and the Englands exchanged greetings. “Please, have a seat. It was unexpected for you to call wanting to come over to talk, Sheila, but we are glad to have you all here,” said Mrs. Nevels to Ms. England. They all sat down and held hands to pray over the meal. During dinner, they all engaged in casual conversation but Tiara sat there quietly, talking only when someone asked her something directly. Mrs. Nevels and Ms. England cleared the dinner table and loaded the dishwasher while Mr. Nevels, Jeremy, Tiara, and Tiana, Tiara’s younger sister went into the family room to relax. When Mrs. Nevels and Ms. England joined them, Mrs. Nevels didn’t waste any time getting to the purpose of the Englands’ visit. “Ahem,” Mrs. England said clearing her throat, “well, I know that you all came over because there was something that you wanted to discuss concerning Tiara and Jeremy.” Ms. England looked at Tiara as if she was giving her a nonverbal cue to tell her why they were there. “Well, as you all know, Jeremy and I have been spending a lot of time together since school has started. Jeremy and I started exchanging in activities that we had no business doing. Last week, I went to doctor and found out I am six weeks pregnant,” said Tiara
“Pregnant?!?!” Jeremy and his mother screamed in unison. Mrs. Nevels looked like she had seen a ghost.
“By who?!?!” said Mr. Nevels.
“Umm excuse me Mr. Nevels but you know that your son is the baby’s father. I mean Tiara just sat here and stated that she and Jeremy had started exchanging in activities that they had no business doing. I am sure you are smart enough to comprehend that he is the father,” Mrs. England said furiously.
“Now no need to get hostile Ms. England, they’re both teenagers it could be anyone. You know how teenagers are these days,” said Mr. Nevels
“My daughter is not like most teenagers. Yes she made a mistake, but Tiara is pregnant and Jeremy is the father,” said Ms. England, “and we wanted to let you guys know so that we can discuss our plan of action.”
Jeremy and his mom were in shock, and for a moment, which seemed like an eternity neither said a word. Finally, Jeremy’s mom said, “I am so sorry but Jeremy is going to college on a full football scholarship and Tiara, you will not mess that up because he has a bright future ahead of him.”
Tiara burst into tears as she was already in disbelief of the look on both their faces. Tiara’s mother put her arm around her daughter and rocked her slowly.
Ms. England looked at Mrs. Nevels, and calmly said, “Mrs. Nevels, now I understand that you are looking out for your son but don’t use that tone of voice with my daughter. She has a bright future ahead of her as well. They are in this together and are both at fault. They should share the responsibility of caring for the child but you are trying to strip him of his responsibility because of some football scholarship. Do you expect my daughter to take care of this baby alone?! She was not there alone so she should not do this alone.”
“I’m sorry, Sheila, you are right. I’m just in shock over this news and I need some time to get my thoughts together,” said Mrs. Nevels softly.
“That’s fine, but you must realize that your son has a child coming into this world and it’s coming whether you like it or not,” said Ms. England.
For the first time since they had arrived, Tiara looked at Jeremy. He had a look of shame on his face. “Mrs. Nevels, I am so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. Jeremy and I should never have put ourselves in a situation for this to happen.” Tiara began to cry softly.
“Tiara, please don’t cry. Now I understand why you haven’t been answering my calls or talking to me at school. I am to blame for this too,” said Jeremy
Mr. Nevels spoke for the first time after the altercation with Ms. England. “I apologize but I think we all need time to grasp this information and I have to ask that we have time to think about all of this. I hope that is okay with you, Sheila,” he said.
Ms. England looked at Tiara. “Yes, I suppose that is okay. Please call us when you are ready to talk again but we want everyone to be on the same page so that we can all go through this together,” said Ms. England standing up and getting her coat from the arm of the sofa. Tiara and Tiana stood also. The Nevels didn’t even bother to move seeing that they were still in shock.
“Don’t worry, we will see ourselves out,” said Ms. England shortly. The England family walked out of the Nevels’ house without another word or another look back at them. The drive home was completely silent. No one knew what to say about what had taken place. The meeting with the Nevels wasn’t completely bad but it didn’t go really well either. The only thing Tiara and her mom could do was to give the Nevels family time to absorb the information.
A few days later Tiara received a call from Jeremy saying that he wanted to meet with Tiara at the park to talk.
“I have to go to college and fulfill my dreams Tiara and a baby is not going to help me get to where I want to be right now,” said Jeremy.
“Well you know what Jeremy, do whatever you have to do but this baby is coming into the world and we are its parents. I am going to take care of this baby whether you are there or not,” said Tiara.
“Tiara, I’m not saying that I don’t want to be in this child’s life but I have a dream well more like a goal that I have set in my life and a baby coming into it right now is not going to help me get there.”
“Oh!! So you think that I don’t have a goal that I planned to reach?!?! I want to go to school and become a nurse Jeremy, but because WE have made this baby and it is on the way my dreams and goals have to be put on hold so why can’t yours,” said Tiara.
She left the park and went home. Awaiting her mother to get home from work, she put Tiana to bed. Ms. England walked through the door and as soon as she looked at Tiara’s face she knew that something was wrong.
“Mom I am going to have this baby and I am going to take care of it. Jeremy wants to fulfill his dream and I can’t stop him from doing what he wants to do,” said Tiara.
“Well baby I am here for you,” said Ms. England.

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As the months go by, Tiara began to show more and more of her pregnancy. She couldn’t hide it any longer. She finished her junior year at the top of her class but she felt that it was her last time walking the halls of Southside Academy. Reality kicked in and Tiara realized that she would not have any one to keep her baby if she returned to school. The thought of not finishing school really took a toll on her. She knew that her mother would help her but she couldn’t ask her mom to quit her job and take care of her granddaughter while she went to school.
June 27, 2012 was the day that Tiara was supposed to give birth to a beautiful baby girl. Jeremy and his parents had been calling and calling the Englands because they magically want to be in the baby’s life. Tiara and her mother are in the delivery room waiting on the arrival of baby Brianna Arial England.
“Mom, do you think that they are coming? They have been calling and calling for the past week and even though they say that they are going to come and be here for the arrival of Brianna, I just feel like something is going to go wrong,” said Tiara.
“Baby, don’t focus on that right now. You just worry about bringing this baby into the world.”
Tiara was very close to seeing her baby girl. “Give me a really good push this time “Tiara,” said the doctor.
“Your baby girl is here,” said the nurse. As she handed Tiara, her beautiful baby girl, she could do nothing but smile. After a few hours, a knock was heard at the door. “Come in,” said Ms. England.
“Good evening Ms. England and Tiara, is she here yet?” said the Nevels.
“Yes she made her appearance a few hours ago. You can see her she’s over there,” said Tiara.
“She is so beautiful. What is her name?” said Mrs. Nevels.
“Brianna Arial England,’’ said Tiara
“Wait a minute, said Jeremy looking up as he was holding the baby, if she is my baby why didn’t you give her my last name.
“Jeremy let’s not even act like you thought that she was going to have your last name after you told me that you had a dream rather a goal that would not be ruined by a baby. Oh and let us not forget that I have not heard from you or talked to you since that day at the park until maybe a week ago. So, no she does not have your last name and I will not be changing it,” said Tiara.
Everyone in the room was in shock. Tiara has never really taken up for herself in the entire situation except for that one time in the park, but nobody knew about that except Jeremy and Tiara. Having this baby made Tiara realize that she has to put her best foot forward for her and her daughter. She is a mother now and she has more responsibility. Jeremy gently put the baby back in her crib and walked out of the room with his parents following closely behind. Tiara realized what she had said was not by mistake. It had to be done, but now her beautiful baby girl, Brianna. was in the same position as she was in when she was growing up. She didn’t want that for her daughter. She wanted Brianna to have her father in her life but he chose otherwise. She looked into Brianna’s big brown eyes and said, “I am going to take good care of you baby girl, I promise.” This was not going to be an easy process for Tiara. She was used to taking care of her ten year old sister Tiana but adding a newborn baby to the picture was going to be rough. Tiara never complained though. She knew what she had done and what she had to do so that she could take care of her baby girl. Tiara’s mom, Ms. England, was a big help with Brianna. She really gave Tiara a big relief when she was at home but Ms. England had to go back to work from her two week vacation and it was all up to Tiara to take care of her sister and Brianna.

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August was here and she began to wonder about school. She really wanted to finish school but she could not find anyone to keep her baby.
“I just want to finish school mom. Why can’t I have my dream and my baby?” said Tiara. “Honey it doesn’t quite work that way. Being a single mother and also a teen mother, we have to put a lot of stuff aside so that we can take care of our families,” said Ms. England.
“Well mom, I will not be a statistic. I am going to get an education and become that nurse that I always wanted to be,” said Tiara. Tiara started studying for her GED. High school may not be a factor in this situation but I can still receive my GED and get started with college.
Tiara studied and studied and studied to pass the GED test. She knew that if she didn’t pass that she will not only be failing herself but she will be failing her daughter as well. She went to take the test and the results made her the happiest person in the world. “I passed mom!!!” said Tiara. Tiara began thinking of colleges that she could attend. She knew that she could not go far because she would still need the help of her mom. “I think I am going to start off with a junior college first mom. That will be the best thing for me,” said Tiara. She attended Jefferson State Community College. After completing her two years, she decided that she wanted to go further. She applied to several different colleges but the closest that accepted her was the University of Alabama. “I really want to go mom. What do you think?” said Tiara.
“I think that it will be good for you. It has your major and it is somewhat close to home. You should check into it,” said Ms. England.
Tiara started emailing her advisor that was appointed to her. She told her that she had a two year old daughter and that she was a single parent but she wanted to finish school. Her advisor informed her that they had a daycare on campus and it was free to all students. This news was everything that Tiara had been waiting on. She could go to school and her daughter would have a place to go while she is in class. Tiara registered for her classes and started school the next month. She went up and down the road four times a week with her daughter so that she could go to school. She dropped her daughter off at daycare and headed off to class.

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Two years later Tiara received her degree and became a nurse. She was so excited and so were her mother and her sister. She had done everything that she told herself she could do. When she couldn’t finish her senior year in high school she took another alternative and took the GED. She took classes at Jefferson State Community College until she could find a university that would accept her. She graduated with honors with a degree in nursing. Tiara had accomplished her dream. Many obstacles came in her way. Many things tried to tear her down but she was determined and she was going to make it. “It was all in God’s Plan mom. I did it!” said Tiara.
“Yes baby, you did it,” said Ms. England