Kyzion knew that life wasn't about becoming someone better, but about finally allowing himself to accept who he'd always been. The only person he could thank for his 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭, was Nalani.
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"I'm weird. That's what everyone says. I just sit and-fidget. Which is what I call my self-stimulatory behavior. Like this," Kyzion held up his fingers that were currently flicking quickly as he made a bracelet out of multiple mini rubber bands.
"I don't know.. I wanna go to the anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis. It's the quietest place in the world. Did you know that if you had a conversation there, your speech would measure around 60 decibels on a sound-level meter?"
"I'm finished with my answer." He looked down at the blue rubber bands, interlocking them occasionally to create a pattern while his therapist listened attentively to his rant.
The question was the most general 'how are you feeling today' type of question, but he'd ended up going on a ten minute tangent about every subject that entered his brain cloud. Which was a lot.
"Wow, that was a lot, Kazi. I actually didn't know that. How'd you find that out?" She indulged in his rant, watching him fidget.
"I read a lot of books. Google is free, you know? You could've found that out yourself." He told her, unintentionally being satirical. It was just his character.
"Well I don't particularly like quiet places," She chuckled, "but you're right. I could've searched it on google. But why do that when you're here?"
"I won't be here forever. I was given a life expectancy of 30 to 45 years. That's not too far. I'm 22. Which means I'll die soon, so you need to use google next time." He said without looking up, shrugging his shoulders.
"Kazi what did I tell you about the D word?"
"D word? Are you talking about, you know.. like," He grimaced a bit, not wanting to say the actual curse word, and her eyes widened once he pointed to his middle area.
"No! I'm talking about 'die'. Not the other D word." She face palmed herself for not using better vocabulary, and he shrugged again.
"Oh. Well, I'm not afraid of dying. You'll die soon too. You're already half expired. White women are expected to live only 80 years, what are you, 40?" He looked up, and she held a shocked expression.
"I am. Is it that obvious?" She frowned, genuinely questioning her own appearance.
"Yes." He answered, not aware of how harsh he was being as he continued to build a bracelet.
"Wow. I guess I should take some tips from you then, huh? What are you doing to stay young?" She chuckled, not taking his words to heart because she knew he didn't interpret them the same way she did.
"I'm black."
"Nice..guess I can't take too many tips then.." She trailed off, unsure of how to respond as she wrote in her notepad.
Kyzion looked down at his watch, seeing that it had just turned three in the afternoon. It would be 3:01 soon, which meant that he'd only have nine minutes to get to the bus stop if he didn't leave right at this moment.
