Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

Tia Townsend is a 14-year-old black girl, and she and her best friend Marcelle are the only religious Christians in their high school, often earning stares from their classmates. One day in Sunday school, Marcelle is drawing in her textbook, and Tia decides that the passages written to appeal to teens are silly. Tia is disillusioned with religion because unlike other girls her age, neither Tia nor Marcelle have been able to speak in tongues, a rite of passage that is meant to demonstrate that the speaker has been taken over by the holy spirit. When Tia laughs at Marcelle’s drawings, the Sunday school teacher punishes her, taking her in the closet and lecturing her. The teacher insists that Tia must pray and then cry for Jesus, but when she finally lets Tia go, there have been no tears. Tia leaves church with her guardian, her great-aunt Roberta. Tia tells her aunt that she wants to go and live with her mother, something that she has been afraid to say. Her aunt pretends not to hear her.

Tia has only seen her mother once since her aunt took custody of her when she was seven. Tia remembers her mother’s kindness, but Roberta tells her that her mother was just high. Tia repeats her desire to live with her mother, but Roberta ignores her. The next day, Tia goes to the bus station with barely enough money to buy a ticket to Atlanta. Tia calls Marcelle, who waits with her. Marcelle reminds Tia that it will be almost impossible to find her mother in such a huge city but doesn’t try to talk her friend into staying. Marcelle gives Tia $42, which is all the money she has saved. Tia worries that someone will recognize Marcelle and expect her to give up Tia’s whereabouts, but Marcelle reassures her, “We all look the same to them anyway” (158). The bus reaches Columbus, Georgia, and everyone gets out to go to Burger King except Tia, who decides to save her money. The driver gives the passengers 15 minutes, and although the other passengers exclaim that one man is still waiting for his food, the driver pulls out.

The passengers yell at the driver, and Tia enjoys the community and enthusiasm, which “was different from church, where everyone felt something she wished she could feel but didn’t” (160). The driver finally lets the man on the bus after he chases it for a while, losing his food along the way. When the man sits next to Tia, she feels like she is sharing a seat with a famous person. When the bus approaches Atlanta, Tia is excited to see the skyline. At the station, she begins to look for her mother in the phone book, calling four numbers with the same last name and first initial. One is busy, one is a house full of college students, and one is answered by a man who tells her that he hasn’t heard of Tia. Tia wonders if her mother could be dead, but then the man comments that his wife is out and suggests that she come over, so Tia hangs up the phone.

Tia tries to find a motel room, but she has almost no money. When she finds a room in a youth hostel, she is turned away because she has no form of ID. Tia goes to McDonald’s and sits there. A man is staring at her. He calls her pretty, tells her to keep smiling, and leaves. Tia learns that his name is Dezi and he has paid for her meal. At first, Tia thinks the cashier is saying that God paid for her meal, but she then realizes that it was the man. Tia marvels that no one had called her pretty since her mother when she was five years old. It starts to get dark outside, and Tia finds a phone to call the number that was busy earlier. A young boy answers and Tia asks to speak to his mother. When a woman finally comes to the phone, Tia is sure she recognizes her mother’s voice. She envisions her mother’s home and a little brother, but when she asks if the woman knows Tia Townsend, the woman pauses for a moment and then says that she doesn’t. Sadly, Tia wanders the street until she finds a car to sleep in.

Tia covers herself with some newspapers, but she doesn’t wake up until she hears the owner of the car, a white woman, get in and start driving. The woman hears Tia in the backseat and pulls over, screaming. Tia runs away and then remembers what Marcel said about black people all looking the same to white people. She stops running and acts confused. When one of the two white men chasing Tia says that Tia attempted to steal the white woman’s car, Tia accuses them of thinking that all black people look the same. They are embarrassed for a moment and then start to chase her again. Tia hides behind a dumpster, noticing blood on her arm from a scrape. That evening, Tia plays her clarinet in the park and earns more than $10. Tia considers what to do with her new wealth, then goes back to McDonald’s. As she enjoys her second burger, Dezi walks in.

Tia thanks Dezi for buying her meal the previous day, although she claims that she didn’t need his help. Dezi comments, “You a modern woman. Independent. […] But a church girl, too” (173). Tia tries to deny this but can’t. Dezi shows her the cross he wears and claims to be “real tight with God” (173). Then Dezi notices the blood on her arm and offers to take her home to clean the wound. Tia balks, and Dezi insists that he isn’t interested in her sexually—she just reminds him of his young niece. Dezi tries to give Tia $50, claiming that he doesn’t want to imagine his niece sleeping in the streets. Tia needs the money but gives it back, and Dezi offers again to take her to his apartment to clean her arm. As they near his apartment, Tia notices what she assumes are prostitutes. A group of kids surrounds Dezi when he gets out of the car, begging for money. A boy named Gerard, who is about seven, demands money, threatening, “I’ll tell. […] I will tell” (180). Good-naturedly, Dezi starts handing out five-dollar bills.

Inside Dezi’s apartment, Tia thinks about Dezi’s wad of cash and whether it signifies that the man is a drug dealer. She panics, realizing that she has taken a ride from a stranger and gone back to his home. She tries to leave, but Dezi corners her and cleans her arm. He then kisses her on the cheek. Tia is confused by what is her first kiss from a man, thinking, “Dezi had taken something away from her when he kissed her, but she could not name it” (182). Dezi cooks dinner, and Tia asks if he carries so much cash because he deals drugs. Dezi acts offended but never explains what he does for a living. Dezi asks why Tia came to Atlanta. She is coy at first, but then she explains everything. Tia asks if Dezi knows Rosalyn Dunlovey, her mother, and Dezi pretends that he does for a moment before admitting that he’s joking. Tia lashes out, hitting him angrily until he pins her down and she gives in.

Dezi tells her about Gerard, whose mother is an addict. Gerard panhandles and uses the money to buy his own clothes. Dezi and Tia watch Home Alone, and she sleeps on the couch. The next morning, Dezi suggests that Tia ought to go back home. Tia dreamed—or she thought it was a dream—that Dezi was staring at her during the night. Dezi leaves, and she showers, but when she comes out, Tia finds a woman named Marie on the couch. Marie introduces herself as Dezi’s business partner, but like Dezi, she remains vague about their work and the nature of her relationship with Dezi. Marie implies that she is a prostitute, however. Tia leaves, writing a note claiming that she has gone home. Although she has no intention of leaving Atlanta, Tia goes to the bus station to store her belongings in a locker. There, she sees a missing person poster with her face on it.

Dezi appears with a bouquet of roses. Tia claims again that she’s going home but finally runs toward Dezi and the roses. In the car, Dezi is offended when Tia asks if he is a pimp. Dezi insists that he only sells “some good herb and maybe a little dope” but not prostitutes (192). Dezi tells Tia that his relationship with Marie is complicated but insists, “I’ma only have time for you from now on” (192). He kisses her. Tia knows that Dezi wants to have sex with her and almost gives in, but then she stops him. Tia says that she is going to find Marie and walks out. Tia wanders around until she locates Marie. Tia tells her what happened with Dezi, and Marie gives her condoms. Marie gets drunk and insists that Dezi isn’t her pimp, although she does pay him, and sometimes he gives her a place to stay. Marie is saving up for an apartment that she can rent with her daughter. Marie tells Tia that Dezi likes her but that Dezi is almost 32 and shouldn’t be interested in a 14-year-old. Tia goes back to Dezi’s apartment. Dezi has a gun, claiming that he had it out to protect himself since he left the door unlocked for her.

This time when Dezi kisses her, Tia lets him touch her and take her clothes off. Before he can have sex with her, she stops him again. Dezi angrily punches a framed poster on the wall. Tia claims that she stopped him because she knows that he has a relationship with Marie. Later, Tia wakes up but can’t remember falling asleep. Dezi is cooking. Tia feels wetness between her legs and screams at Dezi, certain that he raped her in her sleep. Dezi tries to pin her down again, insisting that he didn’t touch her. Tia fights back, stabbing Dezi with the knife he was using to cook and running away. Tia finds Marie and explains what happened. Marie checks Tia’s vagina and says that Dezi was telling the truth and didn’t raped her. Marie insists that it’s time to go home. She gathers money from some other prostitutes. Dezi pulls up in his car, bleeding and angry. Marie fights with him, and the other women join in, one of them spraying mace in Dezi’s face so he falls to the ground. Marie hands Tia some money and tells her to run. Tia does.