Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America

Garry is a recent high school graduate who lives in Rochester. He spent the first 10 years of his life living in Brooklyn with his mom, who often verbally abused him and neglected him to be with men, before Garry moved to live with his father. He returns to the NYU campus each summer for the Hackathon—a programming competition for high school students.

While he is at the welcome dinner for incoming NYU Computer Science majors, he searches everywhere for a girl, Inaaya, with whom he had spent the last three summers at the Hackathon. The two had agreed that they were coming to NYU for school and would meet each other there at the start of freshman year.

Garry remembers the first three hackathons, where he met Inaaya and grew his relationship with her. At the first, he sees Inaaya with her mother—who wears a hijab—but never works up the courage to speak with her. At the second, Garry decides he needs to speak with her, going up to her with her friends and asking her for a walk. Inaaya tells Garry about how her mother wants her to be a strict Muslim and wear a hijab, but she instead practices religion in her own way. When they return to campus and the competition concludes, she leaves and Garry regrets not getting her number.

At the third Hackathon, a news crew is there doing a story on the event and they interview Garry. After it airs, Garry gets a text from his mother, who tells him she saw him on TV, texting simply “I want to say I’m proud of you, that’s it” (331). Garry does not answer, and the message bothers him throughout the event. He feels that he owes her nothing and even if she thinks she has “changed,” he is not interested after all the abuse he has suffered.

On the second night, Inaaya comes and finds Garry and they again go for a walk. Garry tells her about his mother, while she tells him about hers—who did not come to the event this year. She feels as though she is getting too much pressure from her mother, and her “coder” brain needs time to experiment and think before she can make decisions. The two agree that they are both going to NYU and will meet at next year’s orientation.

After their walk, Garry falls asleep in a closet and is woken up by Inaaya. The two kiss, as Inaaya reveals that he is the first guy she has kissed. They take off their shirts, but don’t go any further, as Garry thinks she is too “special” to do anything more now.

At the closing of the Hackathon, Gary’s mother shows up. She tells him that she is working at a nursing home and apologizes for the way that she treated him. He is unsure how to respond, as it is too much for him to handle right now. Instead, he tries to find Inaaya and get her attention, but realizes that she has already left without seeing him again.

Back in the present, Garry receives a text from his mother letting him know to call or text if he needs anything while he is moving into his dorm. He responds to her, thanking her, revealing that he has stayed in touch with her.

Garry continues to search for Inaaya until he finally finds her sitting with a friend. However, she is wearing a hijab, and she gives Garry a look that stops him from going over to her. Garry thinks about her decision to wear the hijab, marking her choice to follow the path of a “traditional” Muslim like her mother wanted. He realizes that he has to move on and let her go, as “she made her decision. And it wasn’t him” (343).