Nettie: To Be Loved and Loved Back
Nettie is that older, industrious, black lady you see trying to get her heavy cart up the steep subway stairs, the one who rolls the whole loaded thing past the seat-free zone at the front of the car and settles herself on the floor by the door at the back of the train because she knows if she doesn't sit, she's going to be falling on the laps of the people who did get seats. Today, though, jackpot, she finds two seats together on a bench. She takes one and her heavy backpacks, filled to splitting with her favorite things, toy computers, books, food, receipts, and so many notes, is safely beside her. Too many fraying plastic bags are arranged around her feet, filled with similar, less precious items, held close by the toes of her white crocs. Nettie pulls her plastic soprano recorder out of the backpack and begins to silently practice for the evening's class, her eyes following her homemade drill cards while her fingers rise and fall, slowly and deliberately over the keys. ...
