Electra

Above is me in the arms of my father.

Above is proof that my RBF game was always strong. That I am a Nibbs through and through, no matter what. Leaving the Miami International airport 8 years ago a perfect stranger walks up to me ‘ Miss. Miss! Nibbs is your father?’ I respond in the affirmative. ‘ I leave Dominica 23 years ago, haven’t been back since. Girl, you look like your father.’ Riding the 2 train into the Bronx 2 summers ago, ‘Cyphah!’ My head jerks up as if of course my fathers nick name is my own. The man approaching me with knee length dreads has the same reaction as the other stranger before. He hasn’t seen my father in 30 years before today when he saw him etched into my face, riding around New York all casual like. I’m a distant person. I’m emotionally absent. I’m not as close to my family as I would like. I’m affection deficient . I’m a Challenger yes but every divot in my spine from C1 through S5, where one vertebrae sits into the other, where for better or worse, I shoulder my actions and their consequences and the weight of this world with the sort of quiet confidence and indifference and strength that shocks most people, is forged with the internationally immediately identifiable Nibbs seal. So much I got from my mother, but my father gave me my spine. I’m very far from where I want to be. I’m very close to who I want to be. I am grateful for my father. I’m hoping to find myself closer to where I want to be as it would bring me closer to him. Shoutout to my sister, the one on the left cheesing it up for posting the picture.