In Virginia, high school football is a way of life. It's bigger than Christmas day.
Up until 1971, in Alexandria, there was no race-mixing. Then the school board forced us to integrate. They combined the white school and the black school into one ca...
I sat in my room with Julius, doing homework listening to music on the radio.
"This song goes out to the undefeated Titans. This city is alive with school spirit. Go get 'em, Titans! Whoo!" The announcer said before playing the next song. I looked up at Julius.
"That's you," I said, poking him with my pencil. Julius gave me an amused look before swatting my pencil away from his face.
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"Yeah yeah." He said dismissively, holding back a laugh.
"You have to admit, it's pretty cool," I say. Julius turns to look at me.
"You think so?" He asks. I nod my head.
"Yeah, you guys are like the kings of TC Williams," I said, jokingly.
Julius smiled, throwing his hand up in the air and hitting his chest. I laughed.
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"Okay, don't let it get to your head," I say. Julius laughs.
"Wouldn't dream of it." He responds.
The conversation fell into a comfortable silence as we both continued doing our homework. After a few minutes, I felt Julius' eyes on me. I glance up from my textbook to see him already looking at me.
"Can I help you?" I ask.
"Wanna go to a party?" He asks. I look at him fully.
"What?" I say.
"It's Petey's birthday this weekend," Julius says, not answering my question.
"Yeah I know what about it?" I ask.
"They're throwing a party for him down in the Berge. The team is gonna be there too. Wanna go?"
"I don't know Julius . Parties aren't really my thing." I say softly. I start pulling on my sleeve as I feel my anxiety begin to set in. Julius notices and puts his hand over mine.
"I know. But I'll be right with you the whole time." He says reassuringly. I look at him.
"Promise?"
"Absolutely." He says. I smile.
"Yeah sure sounds fun," I say. Julius smiles before he leans in and kisses me on the cheek. I hum, "What a softy."
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"Yeah, don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold," he says stoically. I smirk.
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," I say dramatically. Julius throws his pencil at me before letting out a small laugh. I threw it back at him before diving into my textbook once again.
~Julius' POV~
Grace and I were hanging out downtown with some of the boys. Sunshine suggested we get something to eat a ways back, to which Petey and Blue agreed.We walked with the boys down the street, Grace's hand in mine.
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Sunshine stopped and pointed at the sign for the diner, silently asking for our opinions.
"This a good place?" He said. Petey looked at me concerned.
"You sure Sunshine? Remember what happened last time?" He asked cautiously.
"Relax, it'll be okay. I got it covered." Sunshine said confidently. We all shrugged and followed him in.
As we filed through the door, the whole place became quiet. Sunshine walked up to the stand where a man was standing. I watched him pull a bat out and place it on the counter. I squeezed Grace's hand.
"You know son, I don't care how many games y'all win. Them boys ain't never comin' in here." The man said bitterly.
"You see that guy back there?" Sunshine asked. "Dude with the gray hair and the jacket. That's my old man." The owner scoffed.
"Well, I don't give a popcorn fart if he's Richard Q. Nixon." He spat. Sunshine remained unfazed.
"I bet you don't." Ronnie said, "But Colonel Bass just put a call into his buddies at the justice department, as kind of a favor to me for winning the game and all. See, they pretty much agreed to make an example of you," I watched the owner's face drop white as Ronnie continued, "They'll slap so many civil rights violations on you, it'll make your head spin. And you can fight it too. Or... you can be reasonable." He sassed.
"Louanne. If they can find a table, they can sit in it." The owner said, caving in. As we walked in, a man stood up.
"Great game, Titans. Great game. Keep it up." He said. I nodded to him as a thank you.
Families started to get up and leave, mumbling their grievances about us sitting down.
I felt Grace glide her thumb across the back of my hand as I tried to ignore the comments. As I continued tuning everything out, I felt her tug on my arm. I leaned down to Grace's height to listen to what she had to say.
"Listen to them," She whispered with a soft smile. I looked around at the families that remained sitting. They were singing to the people leaving.
