"What kind of books do you like?" I asked Tiana. She didn't know. "Did you read books in school?" She looked at the library floor.
"No," she answered shamefully. "I dropped out of school in 7th grade. I got pregnant and quit."
I didn't want to pry into her personal life, so we sat quietly in the library. "Let's talk about your interests," I said. "What do you like to do?"
Tiana did not know. No one had ever asked her.
"Where did you grow up," I asked. In a sad voice she said, "I grew up in New York in the Bronx."
I had never been to the Bronx, but I didn't want Tiana to feel sad, so I moved on with other questions. "How about cooking," I said, "Do you like to cook?"
This subject hit a spark of pride in Tiana.
"I know plenty about cooking," she said. "I cooked and cleaned and took care of my whole family most of my life." Again I admired her.
She and I walked up and down the rows of the library looking for the cooking section. Tiana pulled out a book on rice and said she was going to read it at home. Then, she told me a story about all the rice dishes she could cook. I didn't know there were so many. Tiana liked to tell stories. I asked, "Do you have a library card?" "No," she replied.
"Well, let's get one," I said.
We walked to the library counter and her kids ran up and said, "What are you doing, Mom?"
"I'm getting my first library card," said Tiana.
Jasper and Casssandra smiled at Tiana. "We want one too!" they yelled. That day, Tiana and her two children got library cards. Everyone checked out books. I was happy because the library is a great place to take your family or to visit yourself. They all got into Goldie and promised to meet me at the library the next Friday. I wondered if they would come back. Sometimes we make promises we don't keep. Later that night, I thought about this young mother and her family. She was not like anyone I had ever met. She was tough, polite and "street smart," another word that people make assumptions about, like the word ghetto.
I had heard the term "street smart" before, but I had a feeling that Tiana was going to teach me the true meaning.
As I got to know her and her life stories, Tiana taught me some important lessons.
Chapter Questions
1) Why did Tiana quit school?
2) What does "street smart" mean to you?
3) Do you have a library card?