Color Blind

Chapter 4

                                                                          MATURE CONTENT AHEAD

WARNING: This chapter contains graphic depictions of dating violence, which may be triggering to survivors. 

I was sitting at the dinner table with my mom a few days later when there was a knock at the door. We both looked expectantly at one another. After a moment of silence, she went to answer it. I could hear my mother's muffled words rise from where I was sitting in the kitchen and went to go see what was going on. Her taut voice shot towards me like a lightning bolt down the hall.

"No, young man, I don't think you are here to see my daughter. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

I wondered what the person could have said to make her jump so crazy and figured only Lucky could have brought that out of her. I'd told her about our break up the weekend before and she was happy to hear it. My mom never did like Lucky and had always thought he was too old for me, anyway. When I rounded the corner, though, I was shocked to see Scott standing there looking more than a little hurt.

"Scott!" I cried. "What are you doing here?"

The poor kid looked like he was afraid to speak to me with my mom standing in the way, but smiled politely at her, then me, and said "Hey beautiful." He always called me that. I used to think it was because he couldn't remember my name. "Tia sent me over here to get you."

"What?" My mother and I said at the same time.

I moved her out of the way and explained, "It's ok. He is one of Tia's friends."

She turned to him and snapped, "Excuse us for a minute." Then she closed the door in his face. "I told you about hanging around those little white boys." I was positive that Scott could hear her through the door.

"But Ma! He's alright. That's just Tia's friend. He knows Lafayette." My mom had always liked Lafayette, and I figured if I threw his name in it, the pill might have been a little easier for her to swallow.

"Look here," she pointed a finger in my face. "I didn't say anything when you joined that cheerleading squad and started swinging your hair around like one of those little white girls, and I didn't even say anything when you and Tia brought one of them home one day after practice. But don't you ever in your life think you can step a white boy up in this house! Do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am. I promise I didn't know he was coming."

She looked at me, not believing a word and sucked her teeth. "Mm-hmm. Picking you up like it's a date. Tia knows better than to send him by here. And don't you get in the car with him either. There's no telling what he'll do to you once he gets you alone."

"Oh, he wouldn't..." I began, but decided that defending him might only make things worse. Instead, now thoroughly embarrassed, I lowered my eyes. "Yes ma'am."

I waited until she had gone back into the kitchen before opening the door.

"I'm so sorry," I said to Scott, feeling both bad for him having to hear all of that, and angry with him for coming to my house after all that I had said a few nights before. "Scott, Tia would never have sent you over here. My mom and I both know that, so what are you doing here?" I whispered.

He shrugged and looked down at the ground. "I just wanted to talk to you." He looked at me and gave a half smile. "Your moms is even worse than my pops, yo! He woulda at least looked you in your face until you walked away."