"You niggers think you're so smart huh, trying to block traffic with your foolish ideas. I'll show you an idea." The man spits at her and she grows angry, punching him full in his face with her free hand. She gets him in his eye.
Outraged, the officer cocks back the hand with the baton, tightening his fingers around the smooth metal. He has the nerve to smirk at her before he whips his hand forward striking her on the side of her head hard. Tears springs to her eyes and her mouth drops open.
She whimpers then closes her mouth, holding her weakness inside.
The officer acts like he's going to hit her again when suddenly a black blur rushes at him and the weight is miraculously gone.
"DONT YOU EVER PUT YOUR HANDS ON HER YA HEAR ME!!! COP OR NOT, I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN." It was Roxxanne and she was currently on top of the officer, trying to choke the life out of him with her right arm.
Head spinning Afrika struggles to her feet, reaching out a hand to her. She knows that once the cop finds his bearings, it'll be over for them. He was twice their size.
A hand steadies her and she meets eyes with the man from the truck.
"Roxx...Lets go. Now, let's go!" Her voice at first comes out stilted but then stronger as she sees the moment the man becomes aware.
Roxxanne counts her blessings and hops away from the officer, kicking him while he was still down in the process. Roxxanne resumes her position in taking half of the weight from the man, and then they were on their way, four black young people in a sea of black and white racing away from this horror that is their reality.
Has always been their reality.
It was tough escaping the police. They were everywhere, in every ally threatening with their words and looks. It was evil and it hurt. Why were they like this?
They make it to the white truck as the sun was setting. Marcus( the one with the fractured leg) was still holding up okay and he was putting up a awe inspiring front, though she could see the pain in his eyes.
"Here, set him in carefully." The man directs hoarsely, opening the door and placing him inside with Roxxanne's help. Roxxanne gets in next and she follows, hauling herself up with the help of the hook. The man shuts the door firmly after her and she drops her head against the seat, closing her eyes.
She was silent the whole ride.
The man drops Marcus off at the hospital, going in to get him settled and then they were off, presumably on the way to her and Roxxanne's home. When they pull up in front of their small two story house she gets out, not caring that the man now knows where she lives.
Footsteps sound behind her as she walks up the path, getting her key out of her pocket and sticking it in the gold knob. Her hand shakes as she twists it to the right and she opens the door and crosses the threshold, trembling.
The cold air greets her wet skin.
"Mae." Roxxanne calls Afrika's middle name as she goes into the bathroom, leaving the door open and sitting on the closed toilet. She stares at the wall.
Roxxanne peeks around the corner, finding her in a still position. "Hey...."
Roxxanne walks further in and kneels in front of her, placing her forearms on Afrika's lap. It was silent then--
"Why!? Why they treat us like this Rox?" Afrika cries out, tears tumbling out down her cheeks, mixing with the water dripping from her soaked hair.
Roxxanne wraps her arms around her and she cries into her shoulder, feeling Roxxanne's damp shirt against her skin and crying even harder at that.
Roxxanne lets her release her frustration, rubbing her back softly and cooing into her ear.
"That's just how it is."
She pulls back and uses a hand to wipe her face, looking into her friends dark eyes. "But why?"
She wasn't looking for her to actually provide a answer because she knows that she didn't have it. Neither of them did.
Roxxanne uses the back of her hand and wipes her remaining tears, quirking her lips to the side. "It's the way they are. Only God can change them."
Afrika takes a deep breath and registers Roxxanne's haggard appearance. She recalls her getting blasted with water.
"Are you okay? I saw what they did with that hose. Is your face hurting?"
"Nah they didn't get me that bad." Roxxanne tries to brush her off but she makes her sit still while she examines her whole body. A few scratches but overall she was passable.
Roxxanne cleans up the blood from when that man hit Afrika and helps pull her hair back in a loose bun. It was no longer an Afro but a soppy curly mess.
"Is that man still out there?" Afrika remembers, tilting her face in the mirror. Her light skin looks pale in the fluorescent light and it makes her sick.
It reminds her of them.
"Who, the one that took us home? Yeah I think he is." Roxxanne leaves the bathroom and she follows.
Sure enough the man was standing in the middle of the living room, looking deep in thought. He glances up when they enter.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, I was fixing her face up." Roxxanne says, directing his eyes to her bandaged forehead. His bushy brows furrows.
"That's fine. Everything okay?" He asks causing her to shrug. She drops down onto the couch, tired.
"Well I think it's best if I go." The man sticks his hands in his pockets, looking at Roxxanne then her. "Names Jonathan by the way. In case you were...wondering."
She wasn't.
Roxxanne was always the more friendlier out of the two of them and she smiles warmly at him. "Nice to meet you Jonathan, thanks for the help you've provided."
Jonathan smiles briefly then turns around and leaves.
Roxxanne flops down next to her and sighs.
"He's nice. Kind of weird looking but nice."
Afrika closes her eyes.
~
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