Karamo mediates between Myasia and her mother Markeitha over 100 school suspensions and a strained relationship. Myasia says she has to yell to be heard. Markeitha found a text about a party with weed and alcohol, and threatens to send Myasia to live with her father, whom Myasia met only two years ago.
Chapters
Hi. May I have a hug?
Yeah.
How are you doing?
I'm good, how are you?
Nice to meet you. You look very pretty today.
Thank you.
Yes, you're welcome. Why do you feel like you have to yell to be heard?
Because every time I try to talk or something, I can't get my side out. Like people always talking over me.
And what is it that you're trying to say that you feel like they don't listen to you about?
When I'm trying to get my side of the story out, they just don't wanna listen and they just wanna take it they way.
Okay. Do you think you get along with your mom?
Sometimes I can, but sometimes no.
Do you think your mom loves you?
Yeah, I know she do.
So do you get along with your dad?
I don't really talk to him that much.
How did you feel when you found out about your dad? 'Cause I know that was 2 years ago, right?
Yeah, I was kind of happy. It's just like, oh my dad, like I never like knew him until now.
So for you to find out about this man, it was like I finally have my father?
Yeah.
Okay. Markeitha, do you tell Myasia that you're going to send her to live with her dad?
Mm-hmm.
Why do you do that?
Because the way she talked to me, like I'm not finna tolerate that in my house. She'll argue back with me. She'll cuss, call me names, like all that, slam her doors, punch walls. Like, you know, I just need a break sometimes. It's overwhelming.
Yeah.
And—
How does it make you feel when your mom says she's gonna send you to your dad?
All her stuff and was sitting there with her door open waiting for me like, "Am I leaving yet?" That's called a test.
Sending me to my dad's house is my dad. I wouldn't really care. So I just packed up all my stuff.
Do you really wanna leave your mom for a man you just met 2 years ago?
No.
Then what is it that you care about? What does it make you feel?
Like, oh, she just want me gone.
And how does that make you feel thinking that she just wants you gone?
Sad. Like, oh, you want me outta the house? I'm gonna leave.
And I'm not by far trying to make her feel like that. It's just she don't care how nobody else feel. Like my feelings get hurt too.
Why do you feel like you have trouble in school?
The way I act and then like with teachers, it's like, 'cause they already know me. It's like I can't just start on a new path. They already know me. It's like bringing on old stuff, expecting it from me.
So, but I'm gonna challenge that 'cause you're a smart woman. You went to a second school and your teachers didn't know you there. So what happened at the second school?
At the second school, I was doing good there. I only got in trouble once. But I had to switch back from where we moved.
So the second school, you didn't have the behavior issues. Is that true, Mom?
This new school that she just got kicked out of the third week, she did what, 4 different things? One of the things that they said she did, the teacher was telling her that you can't have your hoodie on inside the class. She refused to take it off. So the teacher asked her again and she told her, "Ugh, you're irritating me. You get on my nerves." So that was, you can't do that. Then some other girl that was there, she asked her about her sexuality and if she date girls or boys and that offended her and they don't tolerate that.
I don't feel like that doing nothing wrong, asking a question.
But it is. If you're not listening to the teachers and talking back, that's being disrespectful and they're not gonna tolerate that and they let you know that when you first came. So that's where we at with that.
'Cause I wanna hear you, 'cause your thing was no one hears me. So I wanna hear you because why do you think that it wasn't too bad?
All I did was ask a question and she took it her way and I just got wrote up for it. The teacher ain't even asked me nothing about it. I didn't even know I got wrote up for it.
So did you apologize?
I couldn't. I was the last one where I got wrote up for that. I came in the office and she was there and then they told me I was going to line.
Okay, but you told your teacher she was annoying.
No, I wasn't talking to her.
Irritating. You weren't talking to her?
She told me to take my hood off and I was, it like I was talking to somebody else when she was telling me that and I was talking to the person. I wasn't talking to the teacher.
Mm-hmm. But you said those words outta your mouth and she took it that way?
Yeah.
Why did you have your hood on?
Because my hair was messed up and it's cold.
So let's get to drinking with friends.
This is a text that I read when I took her phone from her that they were saying, we're gonna party this weekend. Come over, we got weed, we got drink, we finna get lit. I don't know if she ever drunk before, but I know that she's smoking.
