That Day

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           The Ripple in Race            


            Even the smallest of dew drops can create a ripple in the lake, and the fragile balance of everything close to your heart can burst into frenzy.


The final bell after 7th period drifted me onwards towards my car, friends all around me and the sun boasting its glamorous aura as it tinted the road a yolky, golden yellow. I drifted off the path towards the restroom and nature’s calling, content with the day and cozily sinking within the soft leather fabric of my friends and family’s shelter. Suddenly, my sanctuary was breached, as a 200 pound motorized bulk of navy blue bludgeoned me from the side, and I was sent sprawling to the pavement.


“Watch where you’re going, idiot,” the profanity spewed from a burly, light-skinned senior student like vomit.


“Yeah, take your curry-eating mouth and jam it into another person’s bike. Now there’s blood all over my baby!” another boy, darker-skinned, fumed in bursts of spit and post-vape smoke.


Suddenly, a hand grappled my shirt and heaved me off the ground. Finally, someone to help treat my wounds, I naively surmised. Then, what felt like a thousand fists rained down on me simultaneously, and pain like no other whiplashed me from all angles, like a bullet passing through my core, curling around, and shooting me again. I wailed and cried out for help, but my calls were smoothly suppressed by the grunting and rabid barking of this uncouth gang of children of all different races coming together for one sole purpose; my agony. Blood gushed out from my nose and my muscles spurred from beatings, and with every drive of a club or hurdling of a kick, the pain slowly encircled all around me until it sucked away my consciousness like a vacuum cleaner to a particularly stubborn stain on a carpet.


As I woke up, I noticed these funny sorts of contraptions placed within my nostrils, and quickly fumbled them out. Similar things, long, transparent noodles as I’d referred to them in ignorance of proper medical terminology, stuck out from my arms and legs, so I lurched forwards in an attempt to remove them as well. Big mistake. A wave of nausea hit me, and for the second time that day, I felt like I wanted to faint and throw up at the same time. A medical assistant in a sleek white coat quickly hurried to my bedside, and a wave of relief slowly fought to replace the earlier nausea.


That day, I was submitted with 3 broken bones and almost 10 cuts and bruises across my body. That day, the color of my skin ignited the impurities of their mind, and those boys acted on pure hatred and impulse. That day, and for many more in the future, I pledged to never let racism take away the fundamental values in my heart and will me to hurt those who deserve a fate far less cruel.

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