Once Upon A Bus Ride

Chapter 32: Epiphany

32. Epiphany

I told MJ I wasn't well enough to go to school the next day. It was Friday, so she didn't mind me skipping. Instead I spent my whole day in my...well Jean's bedroom, using the internet. I was reading stories, watching news clips and doing all I could to inform myself of the broken world I was living in.

I mean, I wasn't completely oblivious, of course I knew that things like that happened. But with the kind of life I lived, the kind of life where I was sheltered in a humungous house since forever ago, I never thought it would happen to me.

Who was I to complain? People had it worse. So you were profiled, get over it Morgan.

I stayed in bed the whole day, only moving to go to the bathroom or to get something to eat. After I was done surfing the internet I closed my laptop and turned on the tv mounted on the wall, watching till evening came.

It grabbed my attention when a live stream footage of an Apollo concert popped up. I noticed that he wasn't in black as usual. Tonight, along with his signature white gloves and mask, he wore a pink hoodie.

I chuckled and kept watching, wondering who the hell could be under that mask. My attention was diverted when the door opened and MJ walked in.

"Now, you said you weren't feeling well, but I think a little movement could do you some good," she remarked.

"Oh um...I've got a headache," I lied.

She shot me a look saying she knew I was faking it.

"Fine, I'm a liar," I said.

She chuckled and walked over to sit on the bed. "Honey, I knew you were lying the moment you told me."

"Then why did you let me stay?" I asked.

"Because the look on your face told me whatever you're suffering from was more mental than physical," she answered. "I've given you enough space for the day child, now tell me what's bothering you."

I sighed and sat up, turning off the tv. "I went to a grocery store yesterday and the clerk there thought I was a criminal."

"You?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, a friend and I," I said. "A friend who happens to look like me."

She caught on and then nodded slowly. "He saw you as a threat because you're black."

Hearing it alone made me angry all over again.

I shrugged. "I mean I was dressed in a black hoodie and all so-"

"No," she stopped me. "Sweetheart it doesn't matter what you were dressed like. Whether it's a hoodie, hijab, turban, nobody should ever blame themselves when something as unfair as that ever happens to them. It's no damn excuse."

I sighed. "Yeah well...now..."

"Let me guess," she chuckled lightly. "Now you feel different in everybody else's eyes, like you never really belonged."

"Kind of," I admitted.

"Oh Morgan dear," she said, squeezing my hand. "This feeling is nothing but your epiphany. It'll get better soon."

"My what?" I asked.

"Your epiphany," she repeated. "Can't speak for everyone, but a lot of people go through that. That one experience that snaps you out of the fairytale you think you're living, and shows you how the world truly sees you."

"Did you have one?" I asked, crossing my legs to pay attention to her.

She chuckled. "Hell yes I did. It was subtle, but it was enough to wake me up. I wasn't far from your age."