Isaac, an African American from a humble background, joined the Bauder College in Atlanta with the hope of attaining a degree that would help change his situation at home. He was ridiculed by other students and discriminated against because he came from a poor background. In one incident, Isaac broke into a fight with a group of classmates from the basketball team since he had tried to join the team, but the boys were against it. They ganged up against him, and while he was on his way home, they confronted and beat him, although he was not seriously injured.
Isaac had self-esteem problems and was afraid of girls. He was reticent and rarely interacted with other students in school. However, Isaac was very sharp, and he was considered a genius by his lecturers because he scored highly in class. Sometimes, other students would ridicule him with girls. For instance, they would stuff ladies’ products in his locker so that when he opens it, they fall for other students to laugh. Isaac had an American friend called Jack, who would always console him in tough times. Although they had similar behaviors and traits, Jack was more outspoken than Isaac, and he did not face the humiliation Isaac experienced because he was white.
Despite Isaac being the calmest boy in the school, he had a crush on Grace, a beautiful girl in the school who was from a wealthy family. She had a big shiny forehead and curvy hips; she looked like a goddess, and every man would love to associate with her (Abie 5). Grace was everybody’s dream in college. However, Grace had two choosy and classy friends, and they never allowed anyone to come close to their circle. Like the other boys, Isaac only admired Grace from a distance but never said a word about it.
One day, Grace hosted a party in her house and invited all her classmates except Isaac. Since Isaac was a calm and quiet boy, girls did not consider him fun. The party was stocked with different drugs, such as alcohol, marijuana, tobacco and a few people had cocaine. Grace’s parents had traveled on a business trip to Asia, which would take them one to two weeks, and this gave her leeway to host the party.
It was around 10 pm, and Isaac was in his bedroom when he heard a “tack” sound on the window. Since he was busy reading a novel that he had started over the week, he assumed the sound and didn’t bother to check. A few minutes later, he heard another minor hit on his window, but he decided to check what was hitting his window this time. When he opened his curtain, Jack was standing across the road. He was shocked since it wasn’t usual for Jack to walk during late hours. Jack told him to pass through the window in a whispering voice. Isaac woke up and jumped out of the window to meet his friend.
“Are we going to the party?” Jack asked. Isaac was not aware of the party. He asked, seemingly slightly amazed, “Which party?”. The two boys conversed for some minutes while Jack persuaded Isaac to accompany him to the party. Since they were best friends, Isaac agreed to go to the party; however, he vowed not to take any alcohol. On arrival at the party, there was loud music in the house, dance lights were flashing in the hallways, and some people were drinking as others were conversing, indicating a lively party.
Everyone was amused at seeing Isaac at the party because he was uninvited. Jack was served with his drink, and Isaac denied taking a drink, but later, he agreed to take only one shot. This made him jovial because he had never experienced such a nice feeling before. While drunk, Isaac asked for a second shot, and one of the boys from the basketball team spiked it with some cocaine secretly. After Isaac took the second shot, he danced for a few minutes before falling to the floor, and bubbles started coming out of his mouth. This went unnoticed until Jack, his friend, came looking for him only to find him unconscious when he screamed for help.
Immediately the party was stopped, and everyone surrounded them. Some people blamed Jack for bringing him to the party, while others told him to call an ambulance. Jack immediately reached for his phone and called an ambulance, and Isaac was taken to the hospital. This incident caused the party to end, and everyone had to go home in suspense, not sure what would happen to Jack. The following day, Grace called Jack and accompanied him to the hospital, where they found Isaac still unconscious. On the third day, when they came to the hospital, they found that Jack had regained his conscience and was recovering well. Grace apologized to Isaac and his parents for what happened to him at the party during this period.
Little did Isaac know that his admission to the hospital would be the start of a friendship with Grace. After being discharged from the hospital, Grace became friends with him. He kept inquiring about his feeling and his medical progress. One evening when Isaac was coming from the library heading home, Grace offered him a ride home. Although Isaac was hesitant, he finally agreed on the ride. They had beautiful conversations about their whereabouts, hobbies, and school when Grace held Isaac’s hand. Although Isaac pretended to be surprised, this was one of the moments Isaac had longed for in a long time. He could not believe that the most beautiful girl in school held his hand. Throughout the journey, Grace narrated to Isaac how she was afraid of him dying at the party and liked him as a quiet and sharp boy in class. On arrival at his home, they alighted the car to bid goodbye, and they hugged each other. When Isaac was walking towards the door, he heard a hand grab him, and on turning back, Grace gave him a long sensational kiss.
That kiss marked the start of their relationship. Isaac would not settle down in class the following day as he imagined the previous night’s events. He narrated everything to his friend Jack who was excited by the story. While in class, Grace brought him a note stating, “I want to take you home today; Wait for me at the library.” They continued meeting until it reached a point where the whole school knew that Grace and Isaac were dating. When this news reached Grace’s parents, they were furious at her for dating a broke, African American boy since Grace was White. They advised Grace against dating Isaac, but it was too late for her to stop dating him. Grace would sneak with her father’s car to pick up Isaac so that they could spend some time together.
When Grace’s parents saw that Isaac and Grace’s love had gotten out of hand, they decided to take Grace to another college out of Georgia State to Washington DC. This was the most challenging moment for Isaac as he sobbed and could not afford to visit the girl in the city. However, the two promised to stay in touch through phone calls and emails, and nothing would get between them. One month after going to Washington, Grace called Isaac to inform him that she was pregnant for him. At this moment, Isaac did not know whether to be happy or sad because he knew that Grace’s parents would not love the story. He planned for a visit and collected his savings together with some funds given by Jack, and set out to visit her in Washington. Isaac stayed with Grace for two days and went back to Atlanta.
They kept in touch until Grace gave birth. Grace decided to move from Washington back to Georgia to stay with Isaac as they brought up their child. After staying for two months, Grace decided to visit her parents. Since they did not want Isaac as part of their family, he was left behind to look after the house. A few hours after Grace left, Isaac received a call from a local hospital informing him that she had been involved in a road accident and was in bad condition, although the child had not suffered any injuries. He quickly rushed to the hospital only to find that Grace had passed, and he now had to bring up John on his own.
The first few weeks were hard for him as he did not know how to change diapers, cook, or feed the child. This was stressful for him, but he did not have any option since Grace’s parents could not accept the burden of the child after losing their daughter. Isaac would emulate what Grace was doing to help in raising the child. In addition, he had been assigned a female nurse from the hospital who would once in a while come to the house to show him how to take care of the child. After a few months, Isaac had fully assumed the role of a mother to John and was very comfortable changing the diapers, washing the kid, waking up at night to stay with the kid, and feeding the child.
However, although Isaac was taking good care of John, sometimes he would get into deep thoughts about Grace and her family’s hatred for him. One day, after John had joined the school, he came back home only to find his father very drunk in the house. However, he was lucky that the nurse passed by and cooked and prepared him. However, the nurse noted that John needed more help than they thought as the father was losing it and had developed some mental health challenges. She offered to pass by John’s home every day to ensure that John was okay and give his father some counseling. This went on until his father regained his mental health and continued staying with John. His father tried to be the best version of himself to John by vowing to ensure that he met all the motherly duties that John needed.
Every morning, he would take John to school and pick him up after classes. Sometimes he would attend meetings meant for female parents, such as the cooking parties in school, which made many students make fun of him. In one incident, Isaac attended a cooking party that female parents dominantly attended in the school. The other parents were amused to see him at the party. Jack’s mother, who was available at the party, introduced him to the other parents. Despite being the only male parent in the event, he was very active in the day’s events, including baking cakes, cooking food, and washing the dishes after the event. He showed interest and much dedication to the events to ensure that his son gets the best parental support in school.
On seeing how his father was dedicated to protecting and bringing him up, John did not bow to the pressure. He worked hard in school to ensure that he attained good grades and positively impacted society. He has always obeyed his father and made sure that he excelled in his exams to impress and make him proud. Before being admitted to college, John scored good grades on his latest exams. He was one of the main activists against racism and gender roles because he believed that both males and females were equal in the family setup. John hoped that when he completed his degree in Gender studies, he would start a program aimed at helping single parents raise their children.
Characters
- Isaac – The father of John
- John – Was Isaac’s and Grace’s son
- Grace – Mother of John
- Jack – Isaac’s college friend
Work Cited
Abie, Tsegaye. “Analysis of Literary Techniques Employed in the Novel the Revelation: Flashback in Focus.” Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, vol. 63, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1–7, Web.