I want to write a story about my work and friends.
 
I work at SPARC. SPARC is a disability program. I go five days a week. I take the R and the 33 bus to work. I catch it early at 8:30am. I sit and have my music on. I listen to R&B songs and I sing along when I listen.
 
I have to be at work by 9am. I do packaging and assembly. I package prison kits and stuff. It’s like a hygiene supplies and stuff. They get envelopes, paper, toothbrush, deodorant. Me and my friends sit together. We don’t have music; we talk with each other while working. At the end of the day, right before I go home, I clean up my workstation. I have to put it back where I had it - the work that I took out.

My last day of work March 16th. That’s when we were told Corona virus was started. It was on the news. One of the supervisors told me they don’t know how long it’s going to be.
 
SPARC is a big building and it’s like right across the street from KIPP Academy. I love working there – I’ve been there 13 years. It’s, like, the best job I could have. I didn’t think when I started that I would make a of friends and be there for so long. Its big on the inside – music class, cultural arts. There are windows – they big windows. It gets sunny.
 
My friends are Michelle, Makiko, Shanda, Shaquilla, Cara. My supervisor is Selina. We work to make money, which is good, but when we don’t have work, we hang out - it’s like a hang-out spot. Michele - she’s my best friend. know her a long time. Six years. She was my friend before I started SPARC. She was silly just like me – still is. That’s my boo. She’s dark skinned, she wears glasses, she funny, she’s funny to be around. She in residential. When she laughs, it sounds like she’s contagious. She really is funny, that’s my bestie. She was telling me like, with relationships, she tells me to move on and stuff.
 
Shanda, she’s just like Michelle. I know her since I started SPARC, too. I met Shanda the second day I started working at Sparc. She came to me and said, “Hi!” She was really nice. I told her I didn’t know nobody, and she told me we was going to be close friends. I kept that with me ever since. She’s light skinned, she got curly hair she’s fun to be around. She’s funny when she wants to be. She’s like Michelle, the best friend I’ve ever asked for. She like to hang out with me on my lunch breaks and snack breaks. We like Bonnie and Clyde – the three amigos. That’s my bestie.
 
SPARC have events and stuff – talent shows, Christmas parties, picnics and stuff.  At Christmas, we have, like, a party and they feed us, and we have a DJ and stuff. Sometimes we do Pollyanna. Sometimes they serve macaroni salad and string beans and stuff, and we have like sodas and tea and dessert, like cake. Sometimes chocolate, sometimes vanilla, sometimes we get pie to go with it.

We hung out with each other in the community; we went to the Philadelphia Zoo. It was, like, in the middle of April or May last year.  It was windy but it was nice. It was good seeing the animals and stuff. We went to see the lions, the elephants, the goats the flamingos, then we went to the reptile house to see the lizards and stuff. We could see the lions from the back - they were laying down - and then we went to see the hippos, just sleeping underwater. I love the flamingos – they so cute. The color of their fur. If it was me, I would fall – I can’t be sleeping on one leg like that! We brought our lunch. We ate outside where they had the picnic areas. We had fun – we really enjoyed ourselves.

We hang out together at work; we play cards, we play UNO. I talk to them outside of work and I talk to Shanda when I get home form work, and I talk to Michelle, but it’s been a while since I talk to Shanda. We talk about how we really like stay friends with each other and how much we enjoy each other’s company. Their friendship means everything to me – we’ve been friends for years. I wouldn’t want to break that.
 
I don’t go outside after work. I just chill in the house. I live with my mom and I have one cat named Precious. She‘s tan and grey with black patches on it. She likes to be in my room. My mom cooks my food. She cooks mac and cheese, that’s my favorite, and chicken and broccoli. She used to make lasagna, but she doesn’t make that no more.
 
It was good to see friends before this all started. We didn’t know the last day of work would be the last time we saw each other this year. We didn’t have Coronavirus last year. I didn’t think it was going to be bad like it was. I hope SPARC opens soon. I don’t like being home but, being that we’re in this pandemic, it’s the best. I’m in the house and won’t catch it. When I do go out, I wear my mask to go to the grocery store and stuff.  When I seen how many people losing their lives from it, it hit me like “wow!” I’m glad it’s not as bad as it was. I’m grateful that I’m still here – people be losing their lives. I pray, like, it gives me peace.
 
I call Michelle and Shanda I still talk to them on face time. I call the both of them to make sure how they doing since Coronavirus- I check in on them. We look at for each other and we do things for each other. We stay friends; I think our relationship will stay the same. When we go back, I be happy to see them – I’ll be happy to see all my friends. We need a little bit of hope.