M'Kaya Mnjama's best friend, Wendie, writes about herself. Like M'Kaya, she worked at the World Trade Centers and was on break across the street, when the World Trade Centers were attacked. Wendie is a person with spina bifida and walks on crutches and leg braces.
My name is Wendie Josephine ("Jo") Malick. I am 35 years old, and I live in New York City, New York. I worked at the World Trade Center, and I had been there for 3 years when they were savagely attacked by foreign terrorists.
The only reason why I wasn't hurt or killed at the time of the attacks was because my best friend and co-worker, M'Kaya Mnjama, happened to be on break with me at the time the attacks occurred. We were across the street, at the delicatessen, getting a bagel and a cup of coffee to eat and drink before we were to head on back to work, only we never made it back to work. We were laughing and talking, just fooling around, when a huge, deafening "BOOOOM!" forced us to look up and back. To our horror, we saw a huge, bright-orangey red fireball come from one of the Twin Towers, and then instant chaos erupted. We didn't know what to think; it scared the hell out of both of us. Instinctively, M'Kaya picked me up into her strong arms, and she carried me as far away from the explosion as her fat legs could carry her (for a hefty woman, she was quick on her feet; she moved like a cheetah!). I could have gotten myself away, too, but it wouldn't have been so easy.
See, I am physically disabled. I was born this way. I have spina bifida, and because of it, I am paralyzed from the waist on down, and I have no feeling from my waist on down. I wear leg braces on my legs, and I walk with Lofstrand (forearm) crutches. Or I use a wheelchair; but my wheelchair was at the World Trade Center, so I couldn't get it. In the meantime, I would just have to "crutch" myself everywhere.
Anyway, back to my story: At the sight of the huge fireball, M'Kaya and I both started screaming and crying, and even though I am not a very religious person, I began to pray to God to help those people in the burning buildings, and we started walking away from the area, at the request of the police and firefighters, who swarmed on the city like cockroaches. People were crying and screaming, and the very air was filled with much confusion and chaos. It only got worse when the buildings collapsed upon themselves and then fell, burying (and killing) those who were still trapped inside, escalating the already high death toll.
This was how M'Kaya Mnjama and I both escaped injury (but then, I heppened to look down, and saw that M'Kaya's leg was bleeding badly; apparently, some glass from the explosion had been imbedded into her leg; only she didn't know it at the time; she was more concerned at getting me to safety). This was why we both survived.
But it turned out that M'Kaya nearly died; she ended up with a very nasty case of necrotizing fasciitis that ended up with the amputation of her leg. She went into the hospital the next day after she got to Nashville, Tennessee, where her mother lived, after complaining of severe leg pain and a very high fever and uncontrollable chills and shaking episodes. She was in the hospital for months, recovering from the fasciitis.
As a result of the terror attacks upon our fair city of New York, both M'Kaya and I are both emotionally traumatized; and we no longer can sleep at night. She spends her time writing or trying to stay busy, so she doesn't have to think of that horror-filled day; but for me, it isn't that easy. At least she has her mama in Tennessee and her husband, Franklin, to support her; I, meanwhile, have nobody. My family is spread all over the country (I have a brother, Wessley, in Washington State, a sister, Wren, in Louisiana, and another sister, Winter, in Ohio, and my parents live in my childhood home in Pennsylvania), and I often spend a lot of my days by myself at my apartment. I am unable to work, and I live on a disability pension each and every month. My days are spent reading, painting or drawing, or stuffing my face with jungle food. I can't afford a lot of food, and I live on food stamps. And I have to depend on others for transportation, seeing I can't drive.
To describe myself, I look like a red-headed version of Velma on "Scooby-Doo": short, dumpy, with stick-straight hair done in a page-boy style cut, black horn-rimmed glasses, brown eyes, and usually wearing sweaters or sweatpants. I am not that attractive at all, and I wonder if anyone ever sees anything special in me because I sure as hell don't! I am 35 years old, as I said earlier, and I have 2 sisters (both younger) named Wren and Winter and a brother, Wessley, who is older. Unlike me, Wess, Wren, and Winter were born perfectly healthy. No spina bifida in THEIR bodies; I happened to be the one who was cursed with it, and now, as a result, I am severely physically disabled and can't get around well except by crutches or leg braces. (I DID have a wheelchair, but now it is toast; it burned up in the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, and I can't afford to get another one.)
Now you know about me. Maybe I'll return and write a story about M'Kaya. Whoo-boy, could I write a BOOK about her; I have some INTERESTING tidbits to share about M'Kaya with you! Stuff that will make your ears turn red! :)
it was nice meeting wendie jo...i'd love to read more about the red headed version of velma! :) very descriptive, great write...well done! (((HUGS))) and love, karla. i'd love to read some juicy gossip about mkaya...come on, burn my ears red! LOL
A page-turning novel about a relationship between best friends that is interrupted because of betrayal , deceit, sexual promiscuity and pregnancy happens!
