38. P O W E R : Tower, Part II

CHAPTER I - The Tomb.

2008

"Hey, redskin!"

Eve Black Horn was a student at Lumpkin County High School.

"Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi! C'mon, Indian, we're tryna talk to ya here!"

She was a freshman—a big history buff and aspiring archeologist.

"Tribe girl! What's the rush?"

She was Tsalagi and very, very proud of her heritage. She had no time to waste on ignorant bullies and racists.

Unfortunately, they had plenty of time to waste on her.

"Haha, too slow, Big Chief!"

Eve stopped walking.

She had been on her way home from school, her backpack slung over one shoulder and eyes aimed straight ahead. Now, however, she was surrounded by four other high schoolers—two guys, two girls, two white, two black.

All bigger, hotter, and/or stupider than her.

"What'sa matter, Pocahontas? We just wanna ask you a question."

The leader of the group was a lanky, bug-eyed kid who was feared mostly for his bony 6'6" frame, which had left many a mite bruised and bloodied from preschool until this very day. His name was Ted, but everyone called him "Bones"—for obvious reasons.

"We were all just wondering, y'know... and it's been on my mind for a pretty long time," Bones went on, leaning toward Eve with a leer on his face. "It's just, like... what made the red man red?"

The other three Boneheads (as Eve liked to call them) burst out laughing as if this was the most hilarious thing they'd ever heard. Eve fought the urge to smack herself in the forehead from the sheer stupidity of it.

Instead, she decided to take the annoyingly diplomatic route and, to the surprise of the bullies, offered a coolheaded response.

"Well, typically," Eve answered in a casual tone, "redness in the skin is caused by a rush of blood to an area affected by overexposure to sunlight or cold. It can also be caused by allergic reactions or adrenaline release, which causes dilation in blood vessels near to the surface of the epidermis." She put on a falsely sweet smile and asked, "Does that answer your question?"

Bones blinked, lost for words momentarily.

"Great! See you guys tomorrow!" Eve said cheerfully, brushing past Bones and continuing on her way.

Bones scowled, his face ironically turning red with anger. "Guess you think that was pretty savage, huh?" he muttered as Eve walked past, deciding (against his better judgement) to give her a parting slap on the rear end.

Eve froze.

The Boneheads snorted and giggled, showering Bones with "Nice one's" and "got 'em's".

Eve remained where she was, not looking over her shoulder or moving or reacting in any visible way besides standing perfectly still.

"Aw, what'sa matter, Indian? Gonna cry?" Bones taunted. "You wanna make another Trail of Tears, huh?"

"She's probably thinking of all the ways she could scalp you," one of the girls sneered.

Eve let out an inward sigh, refusing to show how much her blood was boiling. She should've known this would happen when they started teaching Native American history this semester; instead of taking it as an opportunity to learn and sympathize, these idiots chose to use their newfound knowledge as ammunition. Typical.