"Thunderbird"

Thunderbird followed Khadi-jah out of Bessie Davis Hudson's house and shouted, "Hold up! You got a minute?""  Khadi-jah turned around, glancing at her wrist-watch. "Sure, but I am in a hurry!  I have to get to this meeting about the school budget cuts. Your name's Thunderbird, isn't it?".   "Yes", Thunderbird put out her right hand and Khadi-jah returned her squeeze of introduction.  "Khadi-jah."   Their hands parted and Khadi-jah said,  "Look, I'm in a hurry and can't talk now.  I usually take the bus, but it's such a beautiful day, so I'm walking."  "I bus it too!  I'm heading towards downtown.  I live off Teall Ave.  Where's your meeting?", Thunderbird asked.  "Downtown." Khadi-jah again glanced at her watch.  "Why don't I walk with you?   I wanted to talk to you about the Book Woman Club", answered Thunderbird.  "O.K.",  Khadi-jah replied and began to walk briskly down Sunny Street, her urgent pace challenging Thunderbird to keep up with her in the humid summer heat.  Khadi-jah's 5'11" frame towered over 5 foot Thunderbird, engulfing her in the rise and fall of her shadow.  They walked in silence the half block to James Street and then turned left onto James, heading for downtown Syracuse.  Thunderbird broke the silence with a flurry of words.  "I'm a writer and I think I want to write a blog about the women in the club...I mean,  I've been coming to meetings for three months now and I just find the whole thing so fascinating!...you know, not just reading the books...I mean, don't get me wrong, I love reading and I love the discussions that take place, but, what really fascinates me are the women that are in the club...I mean, wow!...there are truly some interesting characters attending these meetings...don't you think???...I mean I don't want to spy on anyone or anything, but I just think these meetings would  make a great story!"  Thunderbird's words flew through air, making Khadi-jah's ears pop, as air rushed in to fill the vacuum created by their lightning speed.   Khadi-jah spoke slowly as she tried to regain her barrings.  "You want to write a blog about the Book Woman Club?"  "Yes, I do! See, I just moved back to Syracuse from NY City...I haven't lived here since high school and, I mean,  I've wanted to connect with people interested in art and culture..I mean, in New York you can just step out your door and there's a concert in the park or a violinist playing on a street corner...and then there's all kind of theaters and plays going everyday somewhere in the city...and  I saw an announcement in the Syracuse New Times about the Book Woman Club and I thought, wow, that would be a great way to find out about the cultural offerings of Syracuse, so I started coming, but I need to know some background about the women that attend and I thought you might be able to help me...I mean...you seem to have a pulse on the the inner workings of Syracuse life...could tell me about some of the woman - where they're from...how they came to be in the club, I mean, some of the dynamics in the group, some of the secrets...You lived here long?"  Khadi-jah stopped walking.  "What?"  "Have you lived in Syracuse long?" Thunderbird asked.  "All my life." Khadi-jah shook Thunderbird's splatter of words off her face.  "Wait!", she said as she turned to face Thunderbird.  She put both hands on her hips and her neck began to roll.  "Let me get this straight!  You want to write a blog about the Book Woman Club and you want me to what?...be your spy?  I don't betray the people I associate with.  Who the hell do you think you are - McCarthy?"  Khadi-jah felt her anger beginning to heat up inside of her.  Who was this Thunderbird girl and why did she think I would  be her spy?  I don't even know her,  Khadi-jah fumed, the heat of her anger bursting into flames!  She turned and began to walk away from Thunderbird, her long legs eating up the sidewalk as she tried to distance herself from this Nazi fascist!  "Wait, wait!  It's not like that.  I don't want you to be a spy!  I just wanted to ask you a few questions!  Wait, Khadi-jah, wait!  I didn't mean to offend you!"  Khadi-jah ignored Thunderbird's pleas, crossing the street as the light changed to red, just making it across the street as cars began to turn behind her.  Thunderbird stopped walking, trapped across the street from Khadi-jah by the barrier of turning cars.  Khadi-jah picked up her pace, speeding down James Street as if the devil himself was pursuing her.  "The nerve of that bitch!", Khadi-jah muttered to herself.  "She better not get up in my face again!"  Thunderbird stood on the corner, watching Khadi-jah's fading form.  She looked up into the sky, tilting her head back at an impossible angle.  She spread her arms out to her sides like wings...and flew off into the air!