Filth

Chapter 10

Chapter 10! I hope you enjoy!

*

'Nowhere. I'm not going anywhere.' Gaze averted, I tried to rush away from Sammy. I winced at my tone, it was obvious I had plans to go somewhere but I never was good at lying.

Sammy spoke firmly, 'Dani.' I slowly turned on my heels, dragging my gaze to his. 'Where are you going?'

Should I tell him? I had plans to go with Tommy to a civil rights movement meeting. I had been getting along with Sammy recently and I didn't feel like ruining that just yet. Forcing my eyes to meet his, I held his gaze and calmly answered, 'I'm just going to the forest, okay?' Sammy nodded but eyes told me he saw straight through my lie. I gulped guiltily and walked away, trying to ignore the urge to whip round and blurt the truth. I didn't want to hurt him. That's why I wasn't telling him, of course. But some reason it felt as though I was trying to convince myself.

'You know, if you're meeting Tommy, it's okay. Remember, we talked about this at the hospital?' I silently nodded and rushed from the house, barely catching his disappointed sigh. At the same street corner I had gone to before the dance, I met Tommy once again.

'Hey, how are you?' I asked, examining his face as he grinned.

'You just wait, Dani, you'll love it! It's amazing, just you wait.' His excited attitude immediately radiated off him, my mood suddenly lifting. I followed as he chatted full of energy, leading the way to the meeting. Soon enough, we found ourselves outside a seemingly common building with no significance. Without drawing any attention, we slipped in the door. Walking straight forward, we approached a giant wooden door. I was filled with anticipation, but nothing Tommy told me had prepared me for the overwhelming sight that we met as we slowly opened the door. Crowds of people were gathered in the huge room, crushed together and chatting away. Their faces shone with joy as they spoke to one another.

I braced myself for some weird looks for coming here, too many people had emphasised this divide between us but as we waded though the crowd, I began to realise I was far from the only person with fair skin. This made me grin; from the way everyone spoke I was beginning to think everyone here was racist.

'So when is it starting?' I had barely asked when my answer came in the form of a booming voice. A man stood on a sort of stage. I examined his narrow features, a comically thick moustache resting on his upper lip.

'Today,' he started, 'Today we will be doing some exercises. Standing up for what you believe in is not all rainbows and happiness. It's pain. It's anger. It's hard.'

My eyes widened as I turned to Tommy, wrongly believing that this whole meeting would be full of laughter. Tommy was enraptured in the man's speech, eyes sparkling like they did every time he spoke of the Civil Rights Movement.

The man called for a few volunteers and a trio of people stepped forward. All three were relatively young men, maybe around twenty-something, and they looked a little nervous. They settled on three chairs in the middle of the room with no idea what was about to hit them. We all stared, waiting for the man to expand on what was to happen. He did not say a thing. He stepped down from the stage agonizingly slowly, the room having quietened completely.

I made sure my voice would be quiet as I nudged Tommy, 'what's going on?' He just shrugged slightly, training his gaze on the three men who were growing gradually more nervous. I opened my mouth to say something else when suddenly –

'YOU'RE DISGUSTING! HOW DARE YOU SIT IN THOSE SEATS? THOSE SEATS ARE NOT FOR FILTH, GET OUT!'

I nearly screamed as the man started roaring at the men. One suddenly jumped up with an expression of fury on his face.