Summer & Ray

Summer & Ray

Love, Legacy, History

By Madison Mattison

In the spring of 1984, in Washington, DC, Summer, a high school sophomore, discovers she’s pregnant with her first love’s child. After a plot to escape goes wrong, she tells Ray, the soon-to-be father. Through a collection of short fiction and poetry, we embark with this young couple through their experiences of love, early adulthood, and the neighborhood that raised them.

These stories embrace the culture of Black lives in D.C. and preserve the history of that time. All the while, exploring the importance of legacy and appreciating life’s journey.

Characters The makeup of this small family includes Summer —an inquisitive teen, Ray—athletic royalty, and their daughter, Journey. Summer and Ray are the central characters driving this story, with some perspective from Journey, who experiences life shaped by her parents’ love story. Summer is determined to push against the odds and create a stable home for her family. Her story is shaped by motherhood, resilience, and the pursuit of personal ambition. Ray embraces the events of his life with optimism and ambition.

Initially, he struggles with managing the responsibility of fatherhood, as he strives to hold on to his old identity.

Summer and Rays’ parents bring support and guidance, but not without some resistance. Summer’s mom, driven by her fears, becomes protective and controlling. Through her, we challenge the intergenerational trauma and differing ideas of protection and parenting that she had been accustomed to.

Other characters we meet along the way reflect significant themes of the time period, such as political tensions and issues impacting black neighborhoods.

Personal Narrative Summer and Ray started as a seed. In a short fiction course during my time in undergrad, we were given the prompt to write a story told in the second person. When I started writing, I didn’t know at first who these people were and why they were important to me. It was only in developing the story that it was revealed. The process allowed me to learn more about my own family history. When my mom was in her 20s, she moved to Washington, DC, and lived in a high-rise downtown. The time she spent there was during the 80s. My dad has lived there his whole life, and still does. They would tell me about what D.C was like back then. Growing up, I would often travel to the city, and I was mesmerized by its beauty, but it was very different from what my parents had told me.

Back then, DC was known as Chocolate City, due to its predominantly black and thriving population. When I visit D.C today, I can see traces of that history in some parts, but it’s clear that the narrative has changed drastically. The city has gone through the symptoms of the time we live in, where many black stories of our culture and history are being threatened, challenged, and even erased. In my work as a storyteller, I’m passionate about promoting the truth, history, and legacy of our stories. With the exercise to write from a point of view I wouldn’t typically write from, it opened me up to explore other non-traditional ways of storytelling.

As evenings slowed down, or as we waited for a meal to be ready, it was customary for my family to sit and go through old photo albums. In it, we practiced the ritual of storytelling and passing down memories to the next generation. “This was your great-grandmother, my grandmother. She used to take us to Zion Baptist church on Caroline St. every Sunday,” I remember my mother telling me. I have never met my great-grandmother, but through the pictures and the stories told of her life, her legacy, along with many others, was able to live on. It was a time to laugh, to mourn, to create space for new traditions, and to remind us how far we’ve come. This is a custom known in many households across different cultures, but it means something different to everyone. To me, it was a time to connect with my family history to know where we came from, and to honor the memory of those no longer with us. This became the intention of how I wanted to share Summer and Ray’s story. They are a family beginning their life. One day, they will be photographed in a family album, and their grandchildren and great-grandkids will know their story. Our history will not be lost.

“I Think S o” March 1984 1. Secretly buy a bus ticket and head up to Baltimore, where your Aunt Mia stays.

By then, you’ll start to show, and her home is a vault, what happens within her thin walls, your mother will never know. You’ll live with her until you can afford a place of your own.

2. Until then, stay calm. Act normal. Try to hide the outward changes your body will go through.

You'll have to wear oversized t-shirts like the ones that Ray’s older cousin, Dom, wears. Get one in white, one black, and two other bright colors. Ignore your mother when she asks, “Since when do you dress like a boy?”

Eventually, you’ll have to make up a reason to get out of going to Church.

When the house is empty, go to Ben’s on U Street, around the corner. Order a chocolate milkshake and a chili burger with a side of fries. As you sit at the booth for one, looking out into the streets of North West, check the pager to see if Ray left messages for you. He didn’t, and he won't, but still check. You think back to the day Ray gave it to you. How things were so much different then, even though it was such a short time ago.

3. On Monday, look for Ray. Practice how you’re going to tell him the truth, as you turn the corner to the east wing, where all the athletes hang out.

You’ll spot him there with his left hand braced on the cool metal lockers as Tina Owens leans against them, smiling up at his sweet nothings. Don’t go over. You’ll make a scene if you do. Just ignore him in 4th period as payback.

He’ll try so hard to get your attention by doing all the subtle things you love for him to do. Don’t look at him when he comes in. When he presses his knee into yours, scoot your chair over. When his arm brushes yours, pull away.

When he leans in and whispers, “Hey,” in his deep voice, DON'T cave. Look up at him slowly, this time annoyed. Roll your eyes and continue taking notes.

He’ll leave you alone for the rest of the class. While Ray walks you to your next class, walk close. That way, he knows you aren't completely cold to him. If you see Tina in the halls, make eye contact with her in passing. Enjoy those few seconds where it feels like Ray belongs to you, and people know that.

Wednesday My tears fell on the page as I read over my journal entry from Friday night. I came home to my room recovering from the storm of my mother. She had been cleaning up around the house and moved to my laundry. Around the debris of my teenage bedroom she found my scared words lying open and betrayed one of the many things that kept us close. Who knows what she was looking for, but this is what she found. And I found her on the edge of my bed, wearing the face of a broken heart. “Summer, are you pregnant?” was the first thing she said to me when I entered the room. My body turned to ice.

“Have you been having sex!?” she yelled.

“Why did you go through my things?” I asked, already in tears.

“Your things? This is my house! There is no ‘your things!’”

That wasn’t how I wanted her to find out. If she had to find out at all.

In the coming weeks, I suffered the punishment of long lectures, the painful cries of my mother and Grandmother, and the silence of my still-absent father. The doctor’s appointment we had scheduled was the only moment of peace I received. As the speck grew, so did my hope. Though it was all short-lived when I would turn to my side and see no one there but the nurse. And then I thought about my mother when she was pregnant with me. Where was my father?

I locked myself in my room for the rest of the night, tuning out my mother and grandmother's hissing whispers. I opened the journal I hadn’t touched since the Wednesday, when everything turned on its side. I took a pen and put a large “X” through my original plan as another teardrop stained the page. …

1.Tell Ray you’re pregnant.

Follow

Summer & Rays’ journey

Although the book has not been published yet, there are several ways to engage with this story. Follow Summer & Ray on Threads @summerandray to stay up to date.

Acknowledgements Thank you to my family for your support in the growth of this project. To Day, Pep, Katie, Mom, and Dad. To my cohort in DCOM 610 and Prof. Audick.

Models: Mikael Wilson, Kendall Harris Photography by: Damon Debose II Creative direction by: Madison Mattsion © 2026 Madison Mattison

Share your feedback!

“You were your father’s legacy...

...& your mother’s Journey.”