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“To give us Yaya’s superpowers.”
I hesitantly tap the ear plugs into my palm and help fit them into Talia’s ear. Next, I do the same. The mush of noise, electric guitars and thumping bass turns to a muted hush.
Talia looks up at me and says something but, with the ear plugs, I don’t hear it. Plucking one out, I gesture for her to speak again.
“How are we supposed to hear each other now?” my niece screams. I don’t think she’s enjoying herself. The words ‘Uncle Dare, I want to go home’ are building on the tip of her tongue. It’s right there in her scrunched nose and knotted eyebrows.
Dejonae looks at my niece. Her eyes soften in a way that tells me she’s really good with children. She takes out her phone and taps a sentence.
We write or we sign.
Talia looks confused, but I feel a zip of warmth in my chest.
After diving into my research of ASL and Deaf culture, I’ve begun to understand how little of the world caters to the deaf community. The lack of understanding, the lack of infrastructure, the lack of basic knowledge from outsiders must be isolating. Especially if, like Yaya, so much of your life is built around hearing people and in hearing industries.
There must be no escaping it.
That feeling of being on the outside.
Of not being understood.
Of having to work extra hard just to be treated equally.
I look past Dejonae, easy enough to do since she’s no obstruction, and notice all the people in the farmhouse are wearing ear plugs.
Yaya’s in the center of the living room, dancing along with the little girl in the tutu that I spotted outside. An elderly woman in a flouncing embroidered skirt is moving along with them. She dances up to a young boy with window glasses and tugs his hand. He reluctantly joins her in the center of the room.
Another boy, who bears a striking resemblance to the first, whips out his cell phone and starts filming.
I stare at Yaya’s smiling face and my heart rearranges.
She’s… okay.
In all the scenarios I ran through my head, this was the one I was hoping for and the one that felt the most out of reach.
“I’ll tell her you’re here,” Dejonae signs.
“Let her have her moment.”
A corner of her lips inches up in approval, and I know I’ve gained some points with her. But that’s not why I did it. I mean every word.
We walk deeper into the house, skirting past a young lady in a mechanic wrench T-shirt sitting next to a small, dark-skinned woman in a pair of oil-stained overalls. Their garage-wear is a startling contrast to the thick woman in an iridescent ball gown and long black hair, holding a tawny-colored baby in her arms.
The two women wave at me and Talia when I pass by. They seem like they want to chat, but Dejonae is still on the move so all I can do is nod and walk past.
As we near the kitchen, I glance through the open balcony doors and see the most influential men in the city gathered around a barbecue grill. And I meanallof them. Alistair, Hastings, Stinton, Mulliez, both Boltons—I guess Clay came back from his honeymoon already. Sazuki’s there too and, on his knee signing enthusiastically, is the little girl who hugged Yaya at school today. Niko.
For months, I’ve been trying to network with these men and here they are. I feel like I entered a secret society without having to knock on the door and say a password.
Talia tugs on my hand. She’d taken scared, little steps behind me this entire time, but now her nose is flaring in interest. She points to her face as if to saydo you smell that?I inhale a deep breath and pick up on the delicious scent.
Three women are in the kitchen. The first has curly hair and is rubbing her pregnant belly. The second has long black hair and dark black eyes. The last woman has long white hair that contrasts her brown skin. She’s flipping crescent-shaped dough with a long fork.
Whatever she was trying to extract plops back into the hot oil. She opens her mouth in a yelp and the other two yell as well. They all jump back at the same time, huddling away from the pan.
Finally, someone braves the stove and takes out the… what is that? Some kind of fried bread?
Dejonae waves at Talia and gestures to her belly.Hungry?