1 The Meeting

I sat at my desk waiting for Mr. Barnes to call me into his office. He told me earlier that morning that he wanted to speak to me. Being that I was still a rookie in journalism, I was a bit nervous about what it was that he needed to speak to me about. Was my writing up to par? Did I screw up on the last article that I had written? I knew I was walking on thin ice for not turning my reports in on time, but I told him that I would work on that. So far, I had been owning up to my promise. It wasn't long before my train of thought was interrupted by Mr. Barnes calling me! "Monica London, I'm ready to speak to you, now," he said with a face that showed no emotion. That made me even more nervous. I slowly got up from my desk and walked right into his office. I barely had a chance to even sit down when I noticed him staring at me. I looked down at my hands to avoid doing the stare off with him. His eyes were a bit too intense for me to even try. "Monica, I've been noticing that your articles have not been very interesting for the past three printouts. I know I should have turned them down, but you're always kind of late with turning in your work. You seem to do it minutes before we start printing. Which, leaves me with no other choice but to print it. Today, that will not happen. I'm giving you one month to come up with an article that will grab the readers' attention. Something that will grab my attention. It will be featured in the 200th Anniversary edition of the paper for this wonderful town of Baymont, North Carolina. You have one month. Now, get out of my office and get back to work," Mr. Barnes said. I walked out of his office not knowing what I was going to do. Since my articles weren't so interesting, how was I supposed to find one that was interesting? I had one month to figure it out. I sat down at my desk and started brainstorming. After thirty minutes of sitting at my desk in complete silence, I picked up a picture of my late grandmother and her best friend, Miss Nettie Rose Mason. Grandma told me a little bit about Miss Nettie, and from the little bit of what she told me, Miss Nettie had a rough life. Maybe, I could interview her for the next couple of weeks. I pulled out my grandmother's old address book and found Miss Nettie's number. Fifteen minutes later, I was on my way to interview her.

Miss Nettie lived on the outskirts of Baymont in an old farmhouse. Her nephew, Joshua kept the grounds looking immaculate. The grass was neatly cut. Rows of pink chrysanthemums were planted neatly in flowerbeds that surrounded her closed in front porch. The smell of collard greens being cooked gently brushed my nose as I stepped onto the porch. "Miss Nettie, it's me, Monica London. I'm Alice London's granddaughter. May I come in," I asked while knocking on her door? It wasn't long before I heard the shuffling of a pair of feet coming to open the door. "I'm trying to cook my supper, but you're welcome to come in," she said. She held the door open for me to come inside. I was amazed at how beautiful her home was. Most of her furniture was antique, and it was kept very well. It was apparent that Miss Nettie believed in keeping her possessions looking good. "Baby, have a seat. Make yourself comfortable while I make us some tea", she said. I pulled out my recorder to prepare for my first interview session. I wasn't sure how much she would be willing to talk about or whether this article would catch the readers' attention, nor was I sure if I was going to pull this off. However, I did know that Miss Nettie was my only hope to keeping my job. "Here's your tea. I brought out the sugar bowl for you to put your own sugar in your tea. Now, what can I do for you, Baby," she asked? I explained to her my reason for coming to see her and about this being my last chance to getting an article that would keep me from losing my job. She smiled, "Well, I'm glad you thought about me. I've been wanting to tell my story for a long time. I hope you have enough room on that recorder because I have a lot to tell."