Pay it forward

“…You’re fired.” Was all that I could focus on. I knew the company was downsizing, and they were getting rid of what they considered to be dead weight and a twenty-four-year-old Black woman who was 4 months pregnant would no doubt be considered dead weight if they would have to cover the costs of my maternity leave in a few months.

“Please Sir, I need this job!” I pleaded hoping that if he could just hear how much I wanted to stay at this job, he would reconsider.

“I’m sorry Marie, it’s above me now. The people at the top are making the decisions, and it falls on me to do the hard part of informing the employees. If it were up to me, you would be able to stay, but unfortunately there’s nothing that I can do.” My supervisor informed me.

I could feel myself zoning out and my heart racing. I knew I had to calm down or it would only make the situation worse and they might not write me a letter of recommendation for my next job. I took three deep breaths. In through the nose for a count of four seconds, hold it for seven seconds, and exhale through the mouth, and hold that exhale for a count of eight seconds. My body relaxed.

“Thank you for at least allowing me to work my shift today so that I would be able to get my full hours from this pay period.” I told him, resigned to my situation. I got up, and made my way out of My supervisor’s office, went to my desk, clocked out one last time on the computer, and gathered my things to leave. I shot my husband a text to let him know what happened.

As I was leaving the building and heading out to my car an older black woman with locs who was in a rush bumped into me and dropped her little black notebook. I bent over to pick it up and called out to her “Excuse me Ma’am, you dropped your notebook.” I extended my hand out to her for her to come and get it back.

“Oh no, it’s yours now, you keep it.” She told me and continued to go wherever it is that she seemed to be in a rush to get to.

The sunlight glistening off of the cover of the notebook made me very curious about what was in it. It was like it was calling for me to open it and see what the contents of it were. I wanted to know if it was blank or if there was something important inside. My curiosity got the better of me, and since I honestly had nothing else left to lose today, I might as well go on ahead and open the notebook. If only to appease my curiosity.

I opened the notebook to the first page, and at the very top of the first page in large print was CONGRATULATIONS. Congratulations? Why was a notebook congratulating me? I just lost my job now isn’t really a time for celebration. So, I kept reading to see what the book was congratulating me for. If this notebook has fallen into your possession, you dear reader, have been selected. Selected for what? You have been given the opportunity to have one wish granted in either of these categories: Money, Love, Success, and Fame. I let out a laugh. How can a notebook grant me a wish? What’s the catch? I kept reading; The only caveat is that you must pass this book along to the next person once your wish has been granted. If you fail to do so, you will lose everything that has been granted to you.

Well, that explains why the woman left the book with me. She didn’t want to take any chances on losing whatever it was that she wished for. I thought it over. I already have love, and I don’t want fame. Success is kind of open ended because everyone has their own interpretation or version of success so it doesn’t seem worth the risk. Who’s standard of Success would they be basing things on anyway? I just lost my job, and I have a child on the way. My need right now, is money.

I flipped to the next page, and saw MONEY at the top in all capitals. Beneath that it read as follows: For your money wish to be granted you will need these things: Cinnamon, two eggs, basil, and High John root. I already have Cinnamon, eggs, and basil at home. The only thing I would need to find is High John root.

I walked the rest of my way over to my car, and got in my car. Once in the car, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and opened the web browser. I went to google and typed in “Botanica near me” There was one that was relatively close by so I tapped on the phone number to the Botanica and called it.

It rang three times before someone answered “Hello this is Ascendant Botanica; how may I help you?”

“Hi, I was wondering if you guys happen to have something called High John Root?”

“Let me check for you.” I could hear them set the phone down, and waited for a few moments. I could feel my anxiety rising but I told myself to calm down and be patient.

They came back to the phone, “You’re in luck Ma’am, we only have one left. Would you like me to set it aside for you?”

Relief washed through me. “Yes please. I’m not too far from you guys. I will be there shortly. My name is Marie.”

“Sure thing. Just come right on up to the counter and it will be here waiting for you.” They told me.

“Thank you”. I hung up the phone and went back into my web browser to get the address loaded into my maps. Connected my phone to the Bluetooth of my car, and set off to the Botanica.

When I got there, I walked straight up to the counter “Hi, my name is Marie, I called not too long ago about the High John root”.

The attendant looked to be around my age and she also had locs, but her white headwrap was covering it. She reached below the counter and pulled out a bag with it in it. “That will be $11.79.”

I grabbed my wallet out of my purse and grabbed a $10 bill and two $1 bills and paid for the root. I told them to “Keep the change”. I left the Botanica, got back in my car, and drove home.

When I got home, I noticed that my husband wasn’t home yet, so that meant I had some time to see what else I needed to do to have this wish granted. I grabbed the little black notebook and opened it back up to the MONEY page, and skimmed back down to where I left off. Once you have all of your ingredients together, you’re going to mix them all up. You want to make sure that you grate your High John Root before you add them all together in the mixture. You want to mix 2 tablespoons of Cinnamon, the 2 Eggs, 2 tablespoons of Basil, and 2 tablespoons of High John Root really well. While you are mixing, you must state out loud your intentions. For example, “This mixture is to bring me money”. I stopped reading right there, and did what the notebook told me to do.

I grated the High John root, grabbed a bowl, and measured out two tablespoons of the High John root and added it to the bowl. I then measured out two tablespoons of Cinnamon, and Basil, and added those to the bowl as well. I then cracked the eggs into the bowl and began the process of mixing. As I mixed it all together, I spoke my intentions out loud. “I am creating this mixture to attract money to me, so that I can provide for my child.” I repeated that until the eggs were completely mixed in, and everything moved smoothly in the bowl.

I grabbed the little black notebook and opened it back to where I had left off. I began to read for the rest of the directions. Once the mixture is completely mixed, you’re going to run yourself a bath, dump all of the contents into the tub, and take a bath. While you are in the bath you want to say aloud “Money, Money, Comes to me. Money, Money, Flows to me. Money flows abundantly. So, Mote it be.” Say it four times, take a deep breath into your belly, and then submerge yourself completely in the mixture. Keep your head covered for as long as you possibly can. When you are done, you are not to rinse the mixture off. Keep it on you to air dry, and then after an hour you can clean yourself properly. Timing for success may vary.

So, I did what the little black notebook told me to do. I ran myself a bath, added the contents of the bowl, stripped down, and got in. While I was in the bath, I grabbed the little black notebook from the side of the tub, and read aloud “Money, Money, comes to me. Money, Money Flows to me. Money Flows Abundantly. So, mote it be.” I read it four times, submerged myself for as long as I could hold my breath, got out, air dried, and stayed covered in the mixture for an hour before I washed off.

About an hour later, I heard my husband come home, calling to me, sounding very excited. “Marie, where are you!?”

I made my way out of the bedroom to go find him downstairs. “What is it, honey?”

“You’re not going to believe this, but my Mom just called me when I got off of work. Apparently, my great-uncle found out we were pregnant, and he’s decided to gift us with $20,000 dollars so that we can take care of the next generation without the stress that he watched my Mom and Dad go through when raising me.”

“Wait, what?” I asked. I felt my heart begin to race. I took a few deep breaths. There’s no way that worked. It must just be some crazy coincidence.

“Yeah, he said he had it, and since he didn’t have any kids of his own, he wanted to do something to help the family.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“No way!” Was all that I could say.

“Yes. Isn’t it a blessing? With you losing your job today, we really needed this win today.

“That’s really something.” I told my husband before excusing myself to go back upstairs. I grabbed the little black notebook from where I had hidden it in my dresser drawer, and frantically flipped through the rest of the pages. There had to be some sort of explanation, or a catch. Something. This was just too good to be true.

I got to the last page of the little black notebook, and saw a note written in all caps. KEEP YOUR END OF THE AGREEMENT AND PASS IT ON TO THE NEXT PERSON.

Part of me wanted to be selfish and keep the book. If that one wish worked, imagine what else I could accomplish? But then I remembered the terms of the agreement. If I kept the book, I would lose what we just gained.

With that in mind, I told my husband that I would be back. I walked across the street to the park that was near our house, and walked over to the park bench. I set the little black book down on the park bench and went back home. May it bless someone else like it blessed me.