Latoya

Summary

The text recounts the heart-wrenching story of the author's friendship with Latoya, a fellow nursing student who tragically lost her life due to domestic violence.

Abstract

The author recalls a profound friendship with Latoya, a nursing student with a vibrant personality and a strong desire to become a nurse. Latoya, who had a Jamaican accent and lived in a challenging neighborhood, often found solace at the author's home. Despite her tumultuous and abusive relationship with Marcus, Latoya's resilience and dedication to her dreams were evident. Tragically, Latoya was brutally attacked by Marcus, which led to her untimely death. The author, deeply affected by the loss, received a comforting sign in a dream that Latoya was at peace, and later honored her memory by dedicating a brick in her name at a church garden and receiving a heartfelt tribute during a nursing pinning ceremony.

Opinions

The author held Latoya in high regard, emphasizing her positive qualities and unwavering aspiration to be a nurse.
Latoya's relationship with Marcus was perceived as destructive and physically abusive by the author, who urged Latoya to leave him.
The author was deeply troubled by Latoya's absence when she failed to show up to drive the author to the airport, hinting at a premonition of the tragedy that had occurred.
Latoya's sister's revelation of the horrific incident left the author in profound shock and grief.
The dream the author had of Latoya, where she appeared beautiful and at peace, provided a sense of comfort and closure, suggesting a belief in afterlife communication.
The author's decision to memorialize Latoya with a brick at the Unity Church of Peace and the meaningful gesture from the Jamaican professor during the pinning ceremony reflect a deep respect and lasting impact of Latoya's life on the author.

My beloved friend

While I was in nursing school, I had developed a strong friendship with Latoya — who was in the same program as me. Latoya had a strong Jamaican accent and was five-feet tall. She was dark skinned with heavy features and was very feisty. She wore her hair in long corn braids, and she had the true heart of a nurse. All Latoya ever wanted was to be an RN.

Latoya lived in the projects, which was a rough neighborhood. She would come and spend the weekends with me and sleep on my Castro-convertible couch in the living room. She called it her second home.

Latoya introduced me to Marcus, who she was dating. It was a destructive relationship. He was physically abusive, but Latoya could not let him go. I told Latoya to get away from him, but she couldn’t emotionally.

I asked her to take me to the airport to go see my fiancé in Florida when she got off work. I was all packed waiting for Latoya to come in from work and drive me to the airport, but she never showed up. I called her house, but there was no answer. I was running late, so I called a cab to get me to LaGuardia Airport. I was in Florida for two-days and still calling her and wondering what had happened.

Finally, I received a call from her sister, whom she recently had sent for from Jamaica to live with her. I was shocked when I heard her sister’s voice on the phone. She explained the devastating news that she had had a fight with Marcus, and he poured gasoline on her and set her on fire.

I was stunned and mortified and could not believe what I was hearing. My insides ached, and I got off the phone and wept. She gave me the number for the hospital. I called, and spoke to her nurse. She was in ICU — where they had induced her into a coma. I called daily to get the status of her condition. They were only allowing immediate family to see her.

When I went to bed that night after speaking to her nurse, I had a dream about Latoya. She looked breathtakingly beautiful, and she was full of light and smiling, in my dream. I kept searching her body for the burn marks, but I could not see them. It wasn’t a body of flesh, but it was a transparent, illuminating form, and we understood each other on a telepathic level.

Have you ever noticed that when you dream, the outlines of people’s lips never move?

I awoke that morning and instantly called her nurse again to get an update of her status. She told me, “Latoya passed last night.” It was the same time I had dreamt about her, so I knew than she came to visit me and let me know she was alright.

I bought a brick for her at the Unity Church of Peace in Florida that was installed in the garden in memory of her. On my nursing pinning ceremony, my Professor who was Jamaican and close to Latoya, pinned me when I got on stage.

She said to me, “Latoya is watching you.”

It was touching and heartfelt. She understood how much I care about Latoya.

An excerpt from my memoir, “Alexandrine and Me.”