Posted 24 February 2008 - 02:06 AM
Ok, here's the next part!
Chapter 3: Discrimination Nation (part 2)
In the morning, Cindy waved her mother good-by as she drove away, leaving Cindy standing on a street corner in the middle of town. When the car was out of sight, she looked up at the street sign beside her to confirm that she was in the right place.
"Ok, let's go." she said to herself, taking out a notepad and sticking a pencil behind her ear, to look more professional. Her pad already had some notes on it, which she had gotten from a book at her house called The History of Retroville.
Encompassing the roads of Turner Street and Andrew Jeffrey Street, Turnersville as a neighborhood was developed just after the turn of the last century. It was originally a separated village for the African American community, but after the Civil Rights movement in mid-century, it was integrated into the town.
Today, many of the same families live in this rustic neighborhood, living in the same homes as their ancestors did in the 1900's. The neighborhood is of mostly African American descent, with a small minority of Asian groups....
Cindy immediately saw that 'rustic' was not a good description for the neighborhood. More like 'rusty'. Trash everywhere, the streets were cracked beyond recognition, and buildings looked ready to collapse. It was a real ghetto, so to speak.
She spotted two elderly men sitting in chairs outside a store, and made towards them.
"Um, hi. I'm sorry to bother you, but..." she started to say, but was interrupted by one of the men.
"Are you lost, girly?" Cindy gave a small laugh.
"No, I..." She was once again interrupted, this time by the other man.
"Of course she's lost, you idiot. A girl like her in this neighborhood? She must be really lost if she ended up here."
"But I'm here on purpose!" Cindy said, pointed down to the ground to emphasize her point. But both men shook their heads and one wagged a finger at her.
"Don't try fibbin' to us, girly. None of your kind ever come down this way. Now you just go up the street there, and take a right, and you'll be up at Main Street in no time." And with that, the two men got shakily out of their chairs and went into the store.
"Your kind?" Cindy thought as she continued down the street. "What's that supposed to mean?" She thought she had and idea, but people can't still be thinking like that, can they?
"Maybe if I try someone younger..." she thought. She spotted a middle aged man walking towards her down the street, and tried to get his attention.
"Um, excuse me mister, can I..." He walked past her without a glance. She tried again with a woman wearing a green babushka gracefully on her head.
"Miss, excuse me, but..." The lady looked rudely down at her and walked on past. She tried again and again with every other adult that went by, all with similar results.
"This is ridiculous! Why won't anyone talk to me?" Cindy murmured to herself. She sighed exasperatedly as she said down on a creaky old bench. Suddenly, she heard a small giggle, and saw a stroller parked beside the bench, a cute baby girl sitting up and looking at her with the first friendly face she'd seen all day. Cindy gave a small laugh.
"At least you don't mind me." she said to the baby, tickling her under the chin, making her laugh. Suddenly, the mother of the baby, with a look of astonished disgust, quickly wheeled the baby away, leaving Cindy speechless.
"What's the matter with these people? That lady took her baby away from me like I had some kind of disease." she thought to herself. "Now that I think about it, lots of people have been looking at me like that." She suddenly notice the tiny hints of distaste and hatred from the men and women who glanced at her as she sat alone on the bench.
She heard laughter behind her, and turned her head to see a weed-choked basketball court across the street. Getting up from the bench, she quickly crossed the street.
"Finally, kids." she said as she walked through the chain fence opening. She spied a small group of kids around her age playing a game of 3-on-3, and made towards them. The game stopped suddenly as they noticed her approach, and formed a protective group. A boy in front, obviously the leader, leaned to one side, the basketball held on his hip.
"What do you want, whitey?" he said.
"Excuse me?" Cindy said, putting her hands on her hips.
"You heard me, whitey. Just tell us what you want, and go away." Cindy heaved a great sigh.
"Not you too! Look, I'm just trying to interview people for my stupid school newspaper article, but everyone won't even talk to me!"
"Man, are you dumb! It's cause you're a whitey!" the boy said. "Everyone around here hates people like you. You all don't mind black folks being store cashiers, secretaries, or babysitters, but you whities won't even consider black people as friends."
"Hey, that's not true! My best friend happens to be black, for your information!"
"That don't matter to most people around here." the boy said. "Look, whitey, I suggest you get out of Turnersville right quick, before you get jumped by someone, or something." And with that, the group of kids went back to their game.
Cindy, not knowing what else to do, took the boy's advice, and started towards Main Street.
There has to be a way to get them to talk to me." she thought as she walked.
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Ok, there's part 2 of chapter 3! Long enough for ya? Oh, and don't worry, I will still do my other fanfics. I will never neglect them or my wonderful readers!
