Michael Toribio

10/25/17

Realistic Fiction #2

Idec-Lilly

Racism

“Run Sean run!” Will yelled. “He is gaining on you!” Will exclaimed louder.                 

“Get over here Sean!” Tom exclaimed behind me. If Tom caught me I didn’t know what he would do. I needed to keep running. I kept my legs pumping up and down, my feet slapping against the wet pavement. I wanted the friction, grit, and traction of my shoes to keep me from falling. I couldn’t though, I felt as slippery  as an eel. We passed by houses and trees, and even a water fountain. It was silent except for my heartbeat. It was screaming at me like a kid who got their phone taken away. I stopped distracting myself and started focusing on my running. I was pumping my legs up and down as fast as I could until I felt something hit my foot and go thump. Before I knew it I was flying through the air, the last thing I heard was my head slap against the pavement. I could not do anything, I just layed there motionless until I blacked out.

I stood in the mirror and looked at my black skin. When I looked in the mirror all I saw was shame. My usual strait and short black hair was consumed entirely by bed head. I put on my blue jacket and put up my hood to hide my identity. I quickly snagged my Pokemon Sun and Moon hat off of my bed. I put on my shoes and walked out the door to go to school. As I slowly walked to school people pointed and stared at me like I was an alien from a different planet. When I got to school I saw everyone crowding in the front and talking to all of their friends. Must be fun, I thought to myself. I saw Lilia, my sister talking to her friends. I guess she got the good side of the family, I decided. My mom is white and my dad is not. My sister gets to live a normal life while I'm stuck here being worried and not knowing what will happen every day. I looked at the school and saw the giant clock, and for me it was like a Happy New Year countdown timer. It might sound weird but looking at the clocks was the favorite part of my day. It was a countdown until I didn’t have to deal with anyone anymore. I looked at the clock, it read eight-o'clock A.M. That meant only a few more minutes until school started.  I looked at the rest of the school. It was snobby with it’s clean, white, smooth brick. The bell rang and I waited for everyone to go in. Very soon I walked into the hallway and Will was waiting there for me. I looked around and I saw all the lockers in perfect symmetry, all straight like statues. It smelled of fresh brewed coffee and maple syrup. The school speaked to me, it told me to run and hide and don’t come back. Suddenly Will stopped my thoughts and dragged me back into reality.

“I just heard that Tom is trying to find you,” Will explained.    

“Just another Wednesday,” I told Will. “It won’t be any different,” I added. We said our goodbyes and went to our first periods. First I had to stop at my locker, I had already memorized my combination, 36-22-15. I took off my jacket revealing a red skeleton Tony Hawk shirt. All of a sudden I felt a push against my shoulder, suddenly I was in my locker with the door slammed behind me. It was very cluttered inside and it smelled like school. I heard Tom’s laugh slowly fade away. For this reason I always carry a bobby pin in my pocket. 11 seconds. Wow my personal record,  I thought. I opened the locker and slowly peeked my head out. The coast is clear, I thought to myself with uncertainty. I jumped out and I realized the first bell already rang so I hung up my hat and ran. I booked it down the hallway and I sneaked in to class so I didn’t get in trouble. I was lined up with books as old as the world itself, they might as well have had cobwebs. Wow this is ironic usually kids are trying to sneak out of class, I said to myself. I got in to class and sat down for first period.

Very soon it was lunch and I sat down, waiting for Will, at my table. I looked and there was lines and lines of people getting lunch. They looked as hungry as lions. It had row and rows of circular tables, with kids laughing and having fun. I sat there waiting and waiting but he never came. I sat there cleaning my glasses waiting for him to come. My head was conflicted with thoughts. Maybe he is sitting at another table. Maybe he did not know I was here today, but he promised to play Pokemon Sun and Moon with me. I poked around and looked at different tables without looking like a weirdo. I saw him sitting with my sister and they were having….fun. “EW,” I thought to myself, wait they obviously liked each other, I pondered. I went over to him and practically lifted him out of his seat. I brought him back to the table.

“What are you doing?” I asked him. I was very confused at the moment and I didn’t know what to think. My head felt like and empty husk with a bouncy ball bouncing inside of it, I was so confused.

“I was changing up my day,” he responded. With a look of shame in his eyes. The kind of eyes you make when you flunked a test or something.

“You didn’t even think about telling me!” I complained. Because of my skin tone I don’t have a lot of friends.

“I don’t have to consult you every time I make a choice!” he explained. The raising of his voice slowly crippled and chipped away at my confidence.

“Alright let’s cut to the chase, are you dating my sister?” I inquired. I tried to get the information I wanted out of him. Like I was a cop and he is the criminal. He is in my interrogation room. I am trying to bust the info out of him.

“Pffffff of course not. Why would I date your sister?” He lied. I know when he is lying because when he does he blinks.

“Ok you’re dating my sister. Leave now. I need a break from you,” I stated. He lied and could have told me the truth.

“Bu..But,” he tried to respond.

“Just go!” I yelled at him. I knew that I really wasn’t mad at him for dating my sister. I secretly knew down inside me that I had alternative motives for being angry at this and it made me feel bad. The bell rang and I left the lunchroom.

The rest of the day I didn’t feel good. I knew I should not have got mad at Will just because I’m jealous of my sister. She does not have to fear what might happen to hear in passing periods, or the bathroom, or after school. I also was a little mad that he did not just come out and tell me. For the rest of the day I felt sick to my stomach, I didn’t get the chance in any of my classes to tell him I’m sorry for getting mad. During seventh period the teacher asked

“Who wants to pass out papers?” I raised my hand despite my fears and better judgement. I walked up to get the papers when Tom stuck out his leg and I tripped and fell right onto the floor. I got up and I grabbed the papers and started handing them out. After I was done I sat down and waited for the class to end. This class was filled with maps and social studies books. Everything was just filled with pages and pages of history. It gave me a sense of calmness that what happens today will just become history,  things will change. Soon class was over and the bell rang I almost got out the door when Mrs. Patterson the teacher called me.

“Could you please stay behind for a second, Deshaun?”

“What is it Mrs. P?” I responded. I was probably about to get an unfair undeserving lunch detention. I was very surprised when she asked,

“Did Tom trip you, Deshaun?” She asked, I didn’t know how to respond. This could be my moment to end it all with Tom. Then I thought he would only target me more after school. Anyways I rather have been labeled the useless black kid or the discrace of the school then be labeled as a snitch. Plus as the saying goes snitches get stitches.

Soon the final bell rang and school ended. I could not wait to apologize. I went up to Will and tried to apologize but all he said was

“Just go away, I don’t want to talk to you,”  he said angrily. I didn’t want to cause any more problems so I walked away as it started to rain. I heard shouting from behind me followed by pounding footsteps. “Run Sean run,” Will yelled. “He is gaining on you,” Will exclaimed louder.                 

“Get over here Sean,” Tom yelled behind me. If Tom caught me I didn’t know what he would do. I needed to keep running. I kept my legs pumping up and down, my feet slapping against the wet pavement. I wanted to keep the friction, grit, and traction of my shoes to keep me from falling. I couldn’t though, I felt as slippery as a slug. We passed by houses and trees, and even a water fountain. It was silent except for my heartbeat, it was screaming at me like a kid who got their phone taken away. I stopped distracting myself and started focusing on my running. I was pumping my legs up and down as fast as I could until I felt something hit my foot and go thump. Before I knew it I was flying through the air, the last thing I heard was my head slap against the pavement and my glasses break and slide on the ground. I could not do anything, I just layed there motionless until I blacked out. While I was blacked out I felt my heart beating faster and faster. I felt a rush of adrenaline in my blood and a well of voices saying get up, get up, get up. My eyes flashed open rain still pounding against my face. Tom was standing over me he grabbed my shirt and raised his fist.

“Wait you don’t have to do this, what did I ever do to you!” I screamed. He then punched me in the stomach. It felt like a fire burning inside of me.

“You came in my school, a school were people like you do not belong!” he yelled back. Another punch, this one hurt way more than the first one. He raised his arm for the last time obviously going for the face. I closed my waiting for the pain to come. I opened my eyes just in time to see a blurry version of Will kick Tom in between the legs and Tom collapsed to the ground. I got up to see people were recording this and Tom was still on the ground. This gave me an idea; we needed to embarrass Tom to not make him feel as big. So we took art supplies from out of our bags. I needed glitter for one of my projects so we poured glitter and glue all over him. After that we took off running, he got up and tried to chase us but we were already close enough to my house to be safe. We just wanted to relax for the rest of the day. I got bandages and ice packs for my head. My parents gave me my back-up glasses so I could see again. My mom told me that we would take me to the doctor after school on Monday. I was happy that we knew as long as we were in my house we were safe. My house was kind of cluttered but it smelled of well made food. It was the place that kept me safe. It was my sanctuary, my nuclear bomb shelter. When everything went down I could hide here to protect myself. Eventually he had to leave, we said our sorrys, thank you’s, and goodbyes, until he left. After that I went to bed and waited for the next morning.

I woke up on the opposite side of my bed. It was a tired Saturday morning and I heard a knock on my door.

“It’s me Will. Shaun open the door,” he yelled.

“Hmmm, what is it,” I replied as I stretch.

“What happened is all over the internet,” he exclaimed. I saw the title Racist Bully Beats Up African American Kid:The Result Is Amazing.

“No way,” I shouted. We hung out the rest of that day celebrating our victory. I wondered what would happen next, I couldn’t wait until it was Monday. Soon enough Monday came Tom didn’t come to school the next day, no one was mean to me, I even actually got high fives. I had a good feeling my problems with Tom were over. This thought made me happy. No more problems, no more fear. I could have fun. I thought about that day as we drove to the doctor’s office after school. I thought about what happened and why it happened. I knew I would remember that day for the rest of my life, and no matter what happened I would remember that day as a good memory. That was the last thing I thought before I let the rocking of the car take me into a relaxing silent sleep.