Akeelah and the Bee - James W. Ellison [39]
Tanya expelled a deep breath. “He’s just not feeling good, Akeelah. If you want my opinion, something is eating at that man. Something deep. And he’s having a whole lot of trouble dealin’ with it.”
Akeelah looked down, fighting to control her emotions. “He just doesn’t think I can win and he’s backin’ away.”
“No, that’s not true. I’m good at readin’ people, and Dr. Larabee is a good man. But he’s hurting inside. You don’t see it because you’ve got your own concerns.” Tanya turned off the television and sat next to Akeelah, holding her hand.
“Listen, I wanna tell you something. You know why I didn’t want you to do the bee at first? ’Cause I watched that video of yours. And I saw one winner and two hundred losers. I didn’t want you to be one of those losers.” She pinched Akeelah’s cheek, forcing a smile from her. “But when I saw you on that stage, I realized you’d already won. Just by goin’ for your dream, you won. Anything more would be gravy.” She studied Akeelah’s face, but there was no reaction. “Did I ever tell you I went to college right after high school?”
“No,” Akeelah said, looking at her mother with interest. “You never mentioned it.”
“Well, I did. I had a scholarship to USC. My ambition was to be a doctor. But I felt completely out of place at that school. And I convinced myself I was gonna fail. So before that could happen, I dropped out. I felt I was protecting myself from failing, but I was setting my own self up for failure.” She ran her hand through Akeelah’s hair and said softly, “I don’t want you doin’ the same thing with this bee.”
“I don’t wanna drop out, Mama. But I need Dr. Larabee, I really do. I can’t see doing this without him.”
Tanya studied her daughter carefully.
“You’re very fond of that man, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know.”
“I think you know.”
“Well, I do respect him a lot. He can be grumpy and difficult…and yet…well, there’s something about him—he’s really kind underneath and he’s so smart.”
Tanya said softly, “Your father was kind and he was very smart.”
“What are you sayin’?”
“He reminds you of your father, right? Doesn’t he remind you of your father?”
“Yeah, in some ways.” She added bitterly, “But not right now, he doesn’t.”
Tanya opened one of the boxes sitting on the table in front of the TV, carefully removed a card, and studied it. “I’m just gonna have to play Dr. Larabee,” she said. “‘Gabbro.’ A group of dark, heavy rocks. ‘Gabbro.’” She looked up. “Can you spell it?”
“G-a-b-r-o,” Akeelah said.
“Actually, there’s two ‘b’s.’”
Akeelah nodded and sighed. “I guess I’m just not in the mood right now.”
Tanya said, “Y’know, you’re not short on people who’d wanna help you, Akeelah. This is what fame is like—even a little bit of fame. You don’t know these people, but these people know you. They’ve read about you, they’ve seen you on TV. And believe me, they’re pullin’ for you. Look around you: there’s probably fifty thousand folks who’d like to coach you. Starting with me.”
Akeelah smiled and gripped her mother’s hand. “Mama…you ever think you might go back to college? How cool would that be?”
Tanya looked into her daughter’s eyes for a long moment. “I just might,” she said. She pulled out another card. “‘Cedilla….’”
The next day, in a much brighter mood, Akeelah went outside with one of her boxes to study words. Suddenly Terrence appeared beside her.
“Yo,” he said.
Akeelah stopped and turned to him. “Hey, Terrence, you on your way to summer school?”
“Maybe, maybe not. For me to know and you to find out.”
“You better stop skippin’ school, boy. They’re gonna hold you back.”
“Not for the first time.” He gave a wry grin. “Pretty soon you’re gonna pass me and graduate first.”
“That’s not true,” she said. “You’re smart. You can do whatever you want to do.”
“You one of them motivational people now?”
“Only with you, big brother.”
Akeelah always tried to be gentle with Terrence because she knew his history, especially his early academic woes. He had taken his father’s death very hard. When Terrence was ten he was diagnosed as dyslexic (no one in the school