Before I get into this chapter, I just wanted to share the video attached. 100% of the ad revenue will be donated to bail funds, help pay for family funerals, and advocacy listed at the beginning of the video. Simply watching this video is something that can help donate towards the BLM movement!
Chapter 28
~Zion~
The front door suddenly opened, but I was too lazy to look over to see who it was. I was also too busy being sprawled across the coach, tossing popcorn up in the air and trying to catch it in my mouth. There was a huge mess in the living room because I was constantly missing, but I was too lazy to clean it up right now.
Of course, I was going to clean up the mess eventually; I just didn't want to do it while I was still trying to eat the popcorn.
"You are such a messy person," I heard Ashawn say.
I looked over to see Ashawn standing in the living room. "What are you doing here?" I asked before going back to tossing popcorn in the air and trying to catch it. My most recent toss wasn't a success; the popcorn hit my nose before rolling off my cheek and onto the floor.
"Wow, you don't even seem the slightest bit excited to see me," Ashawn said.
"Meh, I've seen you recently."
"Recently? The last time you saw me was on Thanksgiving. That was over a month ago."
"I still talk to you on the phone. And it's your fault you don't come down here often. Why are you down here? You normally just come here for long weekends."
"Uh, because yesterday you told me that you were officially signed to a record label. I wanted to congratulate you in person. Now come give me a hug."
I got off the coach, brushing all the popcorn off of me before walking over to my oldest brother and giving him a hug. "Thank you. You didn't have to congratulate me in person. You did it enough on the phone yesterday."
"I know," Ashawn said. "I still wanted to, though. And like you said, I don't come down here often even though my university is just a half hour drive away. So, I was about to go to the corner store to get a few snacks for my dorm room. It's a lot cheaper than the store at the university. Want to come? I'll buy you something."
"Ooh, yes, please," I said.
"Clean up the mess first."
I suddenly didn't feel like going anymore.
Well, I was already standing up so I might as well clean up my mess before heading out with Ashawn.
It actually didn't take too long because Ashawn decided to help me clean up. Once all the popcorn was clean up, which included some vacuuming since I made quite the mess, Ashawn and I left the house to head to a nearby corner store.
As we were walking there, Ashawn said, "So I hear you're finally dating Dane."
I couldn't help but smile at the mention of my boyfriend. I had liked Dane for such a long time, and now I was actually dating him. I didn't think I could be any happier than I was right now.
"Yeah, I am," I said.
"Took you long enough," Ashawn said. "But I'm happy for you. I've only met Dane at Thanksgiving, but he seems like a great guy."
"He is," I said. "He's the most amazing person I've ever met. I mean, he's the reason I'm actually getting somewhere with a music career. I definitely wouldn't have gotten signed if it wasn't for him."
"You never know," Ashawn said. "You are extremely talented."
"Not when it comes to songwriting," I said. "The song I wrote for Dane took me weeks, but Dane could write a song in just a night if he wants to. Anyway, I'm definitely not saying it's a bad thing that he's the reason I got signed. I absolutely love working with him, and I love the songs he writes."
"I'm glad you were able to find him," Ashawn said. "And now that you're dating him, you no longer have to be all moody and pouty because you're too in love to do anything."
"That... was just one time. I wasn't moody and pouty all the time."
"It seemed like it to me."
"Liar."
He probably wasn't lying, though. I was a bit moody at times, all because I was hopelessly in love with Dane and I had no idea what to do about it. At least I finally figured out what I could do, and it was a success.
When Ashawn and I got to the corner store, he told me to go choose what I wanted as a sort of celebration for getting signed to Mementos Records. While I was choosing, Ashawn was going around the store, getting the snacks he wanted to take back to his dorm.
It really wasn't smart for me to go to a store because I was horrible at decided what I wanted. I was constantly picked stuff off the shelves to look at it, then putting it back because I decided that I didn't want it.
Maybe I should just get Ashawn to randomly pick something for me. He knew me well enough to know what I would like, and we would probably be here forever if I didn't choose something soon.
Right as I was about to ask Ashawn to choose something for me, I heard the cashier say, "Hey. You better not be planning on stealing anything."
At first, I thought they were talking to me. After all, I was the one who was constantly picking stuff up and putting things back.
But as I looked at the cashier, I realized that I wasn't the person he was talking to.
Because he was looking directly at Ashawn, who just had a few snacks in his arms.
"I'm not," Ashawn said. "I'm just--"
"I don't need to hear your excuse," the cashier said. "If you're going to buy something, hurry up before I call the cops."
I wasn't an idiot. I knew exactly why the cashier was assuming Ashawn was trying to steal something instead of me. And it pissed me off. Here I was, constantly picking things up from the shelf and putting it back, and the cashier didn't even bat an eye.
All because I was white.
All Ashawn was doing was getting a few snacks to buy. Nothing he was doing was suspicious, but the cashier automatically thought he was just because of the colour of his skin.
"He's not even doing anything," I said, knowing well enough that the cashier would probably listen to me and not Ashawn.
What a twisted world this was.
"Stay out of this," the cashier said.
"No, I will not stay out of it," I said. "He's my older brother. He's just waiting for me to pick something out."
"Oh, I'm sorry," the cashier said. "I didn't know that's what he was doing."
"Of course you didn't," Ashawn said. "Because you decided to judge me for the colour of my skin, automatically assuming that I'm going to steal something." He walked over to the counter and dropped the snacks onto it. "I was going to buy these, but I'm not interested in giving my money to a company that hired a racist."
Ashawn immediately headed towards the exit, and I followed him. Once we were outside, I said, "I'm sorry that happened. That it always happens."
"You shouldn't be the one apologizing," Ashawn said. "But thanks, for stepping in. People like him wouldn't have listened to me if I continued to try to tell him I wasn't doing anything."
"You don't have to thank me," I said. "Not for having white privilege and for doing the bare minimum." Not when there was a lot more that I could do.
_______________________
this isn't the end of the racism/blm storyline, btw. i didn't want to use only one chapter to do it.
also, to further explain the youtube video posted: it's a good thing to keep on in the background as you're doing other things! just make sure the ads play, and you'll be helping the video make some revenue!