WARNING: UPSETTING CONTENT.
Includes rácism, rácial abüse, bullying, aśsault, colorism, violence, hospitalisation and more emotional content. This is also a warning for the interactive part too.

NOTE: These next two chapters are quite lengthy, but please try to read it all because very important topics are discussed. And please read the interactive note at the end of Part 2, it is really important.

Luka and KJ jogged towards Sutton, with Bolin closely behind them.

"Bolin?
I didn't know you were at the protest!", exclaimed Sutton.

"Hey, Sutton!
Yeah, I came earlier.
I try to go to any protests that I can, if I get time off work and don't have much homework to do."

"Well, thanks for coming.
I was thinking, we should buy water bottles and chocolates bars to distribute to protestors.
It's going to be a long day, and it's surprisingly quite hot today", said Sutton.

"That's a great idea!", beamed Luka.

"I would love to help", said Bolin.
"Will we be able to carry them though?"

"Well, I had a look, and the biggest crate has sixteen water bottles.
It'll be a struggle, but we could probably carry about two each?"

"I'll text Anvi to see if she, Jace and Tabitha can help carry some too", said KJ.

"Just tell them to wait at the traffic lights so they can help distribute them."

Sutton walked over to the till, a nervous smile on her face.
The cashier nodded his head at her.
"Hello, can I help you?"

"Hey there.
Um, this is a bit of an odd request, but we want to buy eight crates of water bottles. Could we keep them here whilst we get other supplies too please?"

"Uh, sure.
Are you having a party or something?", he asked.

"No, uh, there's a protest going on in the Town Square.
It's for a boy who was racially abused.
We want want to give water bottles to the protestors."

The cashier smiled.
"Oh, that's a really nice thing to do!
Here, I can't give them all for free but I'll give you fifty percent off."

Sutton's eyes widened.
"Oh, no, no you don't have to do that."

"It's fine, I want to.
Are you getting anything for yourselves?"

Sutton turned to the others, who shook their heads.
Sutton walked over to the drinks section and grabbed a small carton of orange juice. She smiled as she walked over and handed it to the cashier.

"Just this for me please."

"Ok, that's on the house."

"What?
Are you sure?"

The boy nodded.
"Yeah.
Good luck at the protest guys."

Back at the protest, Jace and Tabitha were talking to an elderly lady.
Jace had found a place for her to sit.
She gripped Jace's arm as she sat down, before giving him a warm smile.

"Ah, thank you, love."

"Do you know the family personally, um Mrs...?", asked Tabitha.

The woman shook her head.
"Call me Celia.
And no, dear, I don't.
I've seen his mother in the supermarket a few times, but we've never spoken.
No, I'm just like a lot of other people here.
A concerned mother and grandma.
I've seen many tragedies in my time... it's always the worst when it's children who are the ones getting hurt."

Tabitha and Jace sat down beside her.

"I can't imagine the things you've seen", said Jace.
"My parents talk about it a lot.
What life used to be like for black people."

"That's good.
Too many people have told us our stories aren't worth telling.
But they are.
I'm sure your parents are very proud to have raised a lovely son like you, and with such a beautiful girlfriend too!"

Tabitha and Jace laughed.
Tabitha trailed her hand along Jace's leg, before placing it over his hand.
Jace smiled and intertwined their fingers.

"If I can ask you to do anything, it's to keep that hope alive.
I see it in you.
Keep being yourself regardless of what other people think.
That's the best way to show people who we truly are", said Celia.

Jace smiled.
"Of course I will.
And can I ask you to do something?"

"Well, if I can.
What is it, dear?"

"Keep telling your story."

¤¤¤

After regrouping, the roommates started handing out water bottles and chocolates. After handing out the last of her bottles, Sutton couldn't help but look for the woman she saw earlier.
There wasn't a crowd around her anymore, but she looked just as broken as before.
She took a deep breath, her nerves threatening to take over.
She walked over to her, a nervous but warm smile on her face.

"Hello... are you Zulfi's mother?"

The woman's brows furrowed, and Sutton saw a sliver of sadness in her eyes.
She sobbed, quickly covering her mouth with her hand.
She just nodded.
Sutton knelt down beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry..."

The woman shook her head.
"No, no, it's just... I've heard a lot of people call him 'my son.'
But, hearing his name?
Oh, I'm sorry, I'm not making any sense."

"It's ok, it's ok.
I can't imagine what you're going through right now.
I read that they caught the person who did it though.
That's good, right?"

"I already knew who did it.
The same boys who stole his P.E kit and tried to drown him in their swimming lessons."

"Drown him?"

The woman nodded.
"Yes.
The school gave them detention for a week and said that it wasn't done with
'malicious intent', like it was just childish behaviour."

"That's disgusting."

"I couldn't even bring myself to leave his hospital room.
My husband had to drag me here.
He wanted me to see all the people who were supporting Zulfi. I
think he wanted to give me hope."

"Well, I think it'd be pretty hard to be hopeful after everything Zulfi has been through.
Still, did coming here help at all?"

"A little.
Do you know, a few people came here to offer their support, but not many sat with me and actually asked me how I was doing."

"Well, I mean, this protest might be about Zulfi but we can't forget about his family. This is hard for you too.
Behind every racial attack, or false incarceration, there's a family in pieces.
You spend all your time looking after your kids.
Someone should be looking after you too."

The woman smiled.
She pulled Sutton in for a hug.
She trembled as she hugged Sutton, and Sutton realised just how much she needed this hug.
She gently rubbed her back, and the woman rested her head against Sutton's shoulder. When she pulled away, she wiped away the tears that had fallen down her face.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't get your name."

"Oh, it's Sutton.
What's your name?"

"Delphine."

"That's a beautiful name."

"Thank you, sweetheart.
If I could just ask you... what made you come to this protest?
I'll admit, I've asked a lot of people that today—mainly in anger.
I couldn't really believe that people actually came here for my baby.
I suppose it's because no one really helped us before.
But with you, I'm actually quite curious to know why."

"Well, honestly?
I've always felt like I don't do enough to help the Black community.
But then I feel like no matter what I do, it'll never be enough.
But what I was really angry about, was that I wasn't standing up for young Black kids the way my parents stood up for me.
That's when I saw Zulfi's story, and that there was a protest on."

Delphine smiled.
"Thank you.
Thank you for standing up for my baby."

Sutton shook her head.
"There's nothing you need to thank me for, Delphine.
I wish I would've done this sooner."

"Hey, you're doing it now.
That's what matters."

¤¤¤

Zephyr was sat on the ground, leaning against the wall of the abandoned church. Sutton walked over to him and held out a water bottle.
Zephyr rolled his eyes when he looked up, but took the water bottle.
Taking that as a sign that he wouldn't kick off if she remained in his presence, Sutton sat down next to him.

"Great protest", she said.

"I know."

"I mean it.
I spoke to Delphine, Zulfi's mother.
She's so strong, and I don't even think she realises it.
What you did today, I really believe it helped her."

Zephyr waited for an insult or a comment wrapped in ten layers of sarcasm.
When Sutton didn't continue, Zephyr looked at her.

"Thank you.
I... I just kept thinking about my mother.
She was attacked, but in a different way.
She applied for so many different jobs, desperate to earn some money.
She moved here from Zimbabwe, and didn't have any family here.
All she wanted was to work so she could eat."

"It's appalling how they treat immigrants, and people of colour in general.
Did you know that some people of colour use more 'White' sounding names when applying for jobs, to give them a fighting chance of actually getting a job?"

"I... yeah, I knew that.
How did you know that?"

"I did research.
After you told me about your mother and sisters.
I couldn't get it out of my head.
I hate how people here are always like
'these immigrants stole our jobs'.
Well if you had the skillset and weren't a lazy sh*t, they wouldn't give the job to someone else, would they?"

"Oh my Go–exactly!", exclaimed Zephyr, turning to face Sutton.

After a couple seconds, Zephyr looked down at the ground.
He turned back again.

"You know, my roommate said they should just dump all racists on an island somewhere.
I reckon they should call it
'The Racist Hotel' or something", said Sutton.

Zephyr snorted, and Sutton's eyes widened. Zephyr's rock-hard exterior began to soften, and he exhaled softly.

"'Racist A-hole Hotel' sounds better."

Sutton chuckled.
"Yep, definitely.
That's the one."

Zephyr laughed, shaking his head a little.

"Zephyr... your family must be really proud of everything you've achieved.
They should be."

Zephyr gave Sutton a half-smile, and this time it was a genuine one.

"Thank you, Sutton."

"I'm sorry about all that stuff I said earlier. You know, in the megaphone."

"I'm sorry too.
I know... I know I've been quite harsh lately. I just, well I've always had this need to help. Life was awful for my family, and I want to do everything I can to make sure no one else has to go through that.
I want to make real change, actual change."

"You were right.
I felt insecure about not doing enough, but after talking to so many people here, I realised that sometimes it's not about big actions like getting schools to own up to their part in bullying.
Don't get me wrong, those actions are very important, but so is talking to people and listening to their stories.
I want to make the world better for kids like us, Zephyr.

"Then it looks like you and I want the same thing."

"It looks like we do.
That's why I think we should ask Isaiah if we can be co-leaders."

Zephyr's eyes widened.
"What?
Co-leaders?"

Sutton nodded.
"We're the only two running anyway!
Come on, think about it.
You organised this entire protest, and made sure everything ran smoothly.
I want to focus on the people.
Hearing what they have to say and how we can help them.
We'd make the perfect team."

Zephyr still looked hesitant.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he looked back out at the crowd.
He noticed Delphine.
She was standing up and talking to people. She still looked upset, but her shoulders weren't as tense.
Zephyr looked back at Sutton.

"Well... we would make a pretty bad*ss team."

- - - -

Hi.

I was so excited to write this chapter, but I also knew that it had to be done sensitively and appropriately. I hope I achieved these aims. The reason for the protest was inspired by an actual event that happened. I read a news article about it a few weeks ago. A year 11 year old boy Black boy called Raheem Bailey was brutally beaten up by his peers. The bullying had been going on for a while, but the school treated him like he was the problem. It got really bad, so the boy ran away from school to protect himself. He accidentally injured his finger badly. The school said they had to wait two hours for an ambulance, so the school bus took him to the minor injuries unit, even though it was a very serious injury. He was in surgery for six hours, but it was unsuccessful, and he ended up losing one of his fingers. The school failed him. He's terrified to leave his home.

If we put race aside for a second, this is still a horrific way to deal with bullying. This hits home for me, because a girl in my school was bullied, and instead of doing something to the bullies, they said she could stay inside during break and lunch times to avoid them. Why should the victims be locked up? Why should they be treated like they are in the wrong? I'd see stuff in school about anti-bullying campaigns and I'd just roll my eyes because it's all words. It was all just words to them.

I can't know for sure, but I do not believe that this was just bullying. I think it was racially motivated. Now, I'm not just trying to speculate here, that\s not the point of this. The point is to highlight that racist views are learned. And if a child is beating someone up to the point of them potentially losing a finger, there is something seriously wrong. Children are the future, so their parents should be raising them right.

A few things to talk about:

Isaac Woodard, the Harlem Renaissance, Jim Crow laws-they're all things I learned in history class, but only a few years ago. These topics should've been embedded into our curriculum from the start. Learning about the Civil Rights movement and time period was the most I've enjoyed history. History is something I've always loved, but learning about this time period was incredible. It was heartbreaking, frustrating, confusing, inspiring-all in one. There are so many incredible stories in relation to Black history and culture, and the history of ethnic minorities in general. We should be learning about them. Harriett Tubman, Sojourner Truth, W.E.B Du Bois, Malcolm X, Mary Bethune, Septima Clark, Ella Baker— so many incredible people with stories that we can learn a lot from. So why is no one telling us about them?

The Isaac Woodard case really upset me when I learned about it. The atmosphere in the classroom-we all felt sick to our stomachs. Even now, I get angry and upset thinking about it.

I hope you were able to learn some things by reading this, and I also hope that it got you interested in learning more about Black history, and the history of ethnic minorities as a whole.

In terms of Zephyr- I thought it was important not to have them pitted against each other. It's so easy to dislike Zephyr, but when we actually get to know him, we see that he is just a determined young man that is frustrated with how his family have been treated. Being subjected to that much racism ands prejudice on a daily basis, well it's enough to make anyone turn a little cold.

I really liked that the group were giving out water bottles. It shows that you can show your support in many ways.

Celia's part was really important. Like I mentioned above, it's so important that we listen to people's life stories with open minds and open hearts.

Tabitha and Sutton made up! But Sutton still doesn't know that Tabitha and Jace are dating. Do you think the pair will be able to keep it a secret, or will someone find out?

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

LeMystical-Puffle

ruesbennett

1-800-LANCEMCCLAIN-

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