Hakeem started to grow more bored of the lecture his professor was giving as he tapped his mechanical pencil against the desk and watched the clock on the wall. He stayed up all night, working on a project for his other class that was due the following morning.
Before the teacher could finish her sentence, the bell rang making the kids stand up and rush to pack their stuff then leave. Hakeem pushed the door open, getting ready to walk out until he was stopped by his name being called.
"Yes?" Hakeem responded, trying to mask his exhaustion with a polite tone as he faced his professor, Mrs. Jenkins.
"I noticed that you've started slacking in my class a little bit and I wanted to get you back on track before it was too late" Mrs. Jenkins expressed her concern.
Hakeem nodded, acknowledging Mrs. Jenkins' concern. "I appreciate you looking out, Mrs. Jenkins. I'll make sure to put in hard work and catch up on my missed assignments. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."
"Wait!" Mrs. Jenkins stopped him again, causing Hayden to discreetly roll his eyes before turning back to her. "Yes?" he responded.
"I don't want you to fail, so I've arranged for you to have a tutor" she told him, her usual sweet smile on her face.
Hakeem's expression dropped. "Come on, Mrs. J, I don't need it!" he tried to reason, but she shook her head in insistence.
"It's too late, they start tomorrow" she replied, packing her stuff up.
Hakeem rolled his eyes, feeling frustrated as he stormed out of her class and headed to his last class of the day.
He maneuvered down the hallway, still visibly mad at what he'd just been told. He couldn't believe that he, of all people, was failing. He didn't understand how or why, and he couldn't think of how he could possibly be failing.
↴
Hakeem sighed as he walked into his grandmother's house, placing his house keys in the bowl on the table.
He took off his shoes at the door, placing them on the mat as his grandmother insisted when they first moved into her new house. Hakeem was always respectful of his elders, as long as they were respectful to him.
As he walked further into the house, the smell of food filled his nostrils, making his stomach growl. A smirk appeared on his face as he headed to the kitchen, where his grandmother Alice was.
"Granny!" Hakeem called out, announcing his presence.
"Boy! What did I tell you about all that damn yelling?" Alice replied, holding her hip as she turned to look at him.
"I'm sorry, Granny. I just came to see my favorite grandma in the world," Hakeem apologized, a bright smile on his face as he hugged her.
"I'm your only grandmother, and don't you forget it, neither," Alice gritted through her teeth, pointing her finger at Hakeem, who sat in the chair in front of the kitchen table.
Soon, Alice finished cooking dinner and brought Hakeem his plate along with hers. She sat their plates down while he got up to pour them something to drink.
Hakeem returned to the table with their cups and some juice. He poured Alice's first, then his, and put the juice back in the refrigerator before sitting back down.
"Thank you, baby. How was your day? How was school?" Alice smiled, carefully chewing her food to avoid burning herself.
Hakeem discreetly rolled his eyes, silently wishing she hadn't asked today because if she found out about him needing tutoring, she would be mad.
"To answer both of your questions, it was good. How was your day?" Hakeem replied, eating his food.
Alice made some macaroni & cheese, collard greens, cornbread, and chicken. To say she could cook was an understatement.
"Hakeem?" Alice called out, catching his attention.
"Yes, ma'am?" Hakeem responded, looking up from his plate.
"I'm only going to ask this one time and see if you're going to lie to me," Alice said, glancing at Hakeem, whose face showed confusion.
"What is it?" Hakeem asked, growing even more confused than before. He hoped she didn't already know about him needing tutoring.
His heart dropped at her next words. "Do you need tutoring?"
He sighed softly, nodding his head slowly. "I don't speak nodding, boy, talk," Alice demanded.
"Yes, ma'am, I do," Hakeem began. "But I didn't find out until today. I thought my grades were good and I was passing," he expressed.
"How did you let your grades slip, 'Keem? You know you need to make good grades," Alice sighed, disappointed in her grandson.
"I'm sorry, Grandma. I'm trying. I'm working ten times harder to make sure my grades are good, but I guess it wasn't enough," Hakeem said, putting his fork down, no longer hungry.
"Obviously, you weren't! You better have your grades picked up by the end of the school year or that's it" Alice pointed her finger at Hakeem, cleaning the table.
Hakeem sat there, a sad expression on his face. He never knew why his grandmother was so hard on him about making good grades. He always put a hundred and one percent into everything he did just to make sure he maintained an A in every class.
Hakeem pushed his chair back, walked up the stairs, and entered his room. He sat on his bed as tears he didn't know he had finally rolled down his face.
He tried to wipe his tears, but they continued to roll down his face. Hakeem turned his body, laying face-first onto his bed, his tears wetting up his pillow. From then on out, he promised himself he was going to work extra hard to bring his grades up, no matter what it took.
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third chapter of "Philophobia", how y'all feeling so far?
