"Would you like a bag?" He questioned teasingly as she was walking away.
Zadia turned around and stuck her middle finger at him. "Fuck off." She held her finger high so that he could see. "And by the way, from one POC to the other, I hope you know that you'll regret acting this way towards me one day."
He shrugged. "Yeah? Well, maybe when hell freezes." Zadia rolled her eyes and walked away, not even sparing him another glance.
It irked her nerves when people of color treated someone else of color like shit. She didn't get the reasoning behind it. Did it make themselves feel good or something? Did it fill a void in their hearts?
"So much for taking the bus home." She mumbled underneath her breath while opening the pack of nerds. She leaned against the bodega wall and put a good amount of candy in her mouth. "Fuck this taste good."
Zadia hardly ever ate candy, but when she did, she enjoyed it. Because of her diabetes, she was always on a pretty strict diet. Some days she'd eat, brown rice and some vegetables and on other days she'd eat oatmeal, fruit, and lentils. Nothing more and nothing less. Water was her to go to drink, she hated milk with a passion.
That and red meat.
Well, she didn't exactly hate red meat, she just feared it since animal protein increases insulin resistance.
Zadia could feel the effects of the candy taking place and she smiled a bit. It wasn't a full smile, but hell she considered it as one. She sadly couldn't remember the last time she did it and the only reason why she was doing it now, was because she was grateful to be alive.
Life was one thing she never took for granted, no matter how hard it was.
"Aye Mami, what you doing around these streets?" A brown-skin boy asked, coming into her line of vision. He had three guys behind him, all of them with the signature sagging pants.
Zadia rolled her eyes, before tilting her head to the side to stare at the Mexican teen. "Little boy, take your ass to school."
The boy smirked, as his friends burst out laughing. "Damn ma, it was just a question. No need to be hostel. But for your information, school is already out. Now how come you out here, all sweaty and shit? You got dumped or something? Ya man ain't treating you right?"
Zadia sighed, annoyed. "I'm guessing your mother never taught you how to mind your business."
"Nope." He said with a shrug. "She dead."
"That's tuff," Zadia responded, with a blank expression.
He looked at her with a raised brow. "Damn, you not gon say sorry for your loss or nothing. That's cold. Most people would've already been all sentimental and shit. Probably even give me a dollar."
Zadia shrugged, not really caring. "I'm not most people and as far as I'm concerned, people die everyday kid. Do you want pity? Do you want money? If so, go find it somewhere else. Because you're not going to get it from me."
He chuckled. "I like you Mami, you is funny."
Zadia shook her head and leaned off the wall. "It's, you are funny. Not you is funny." She corrected. "You in school and you don't know that?" The other boys started to laugh again, which caused her to look their way. "Shut that shit up, I'm pretty sure you guys all talk the same way. Especially if you're hanging around him."
One of the boys stepped up, clearly angered by what she had said. He was a dark skin African American boy. "What the fuck you said to me bitch?" He asked, only to be pushed away by the Mexican teen. "Say that shit again?"
ChApTeR - 1 pT. 2
Start from the beginning
