Stormz on the Horizon

Into The Woods

It seemed I had zoned out and paused in disbelief. The next thing I knew, I was being shaken by Brandy to snap out of it.

"Diamond! Come on!" she shouted.

I blinked back to reality, where the entire band hastily departed from the sidelines. I could see Dr. Whitlock and his staff sweeping us toward the exit of the stadium, very adamant about one order. "Let's go!" They yelled it out over and over, making the pack of us move faster. I guess they had played nice long enough. Our fans were on the same energy, clearing the bleachers so quick I barely saw them get up. Things were moving so rapidly that I just had to go with the flow. Taylor and her two had come out of nowhere shoving capes into our arms and encouraging us to speed to the buses at this point. "Come on y'all we getting the hell up outta here, move. To the buses, now!" she bellowed. Her words faded to me being that she made her way to the head of the group. Meanwhile, Davis was trying the round up the remainder of his players who weren't trying to leave. I looked back and the opposing football team decided they wanted to run out and get buck with ours. He and his staff did enough to keep them controlled and transitioning the other way, but I'm not sure how long that would last. Tensions had been building up throughout the game and now seemed like a perfect time to address them, violently I guess.

It was a pretty crowded game. I had to squeeze through people to get to the restroom. Imagine how tough it is to get past them all when they are angry and ready to start trouble. We came upon the exit of the stadium where their fans and townspeople berated us with boos and curses. They were the only things standing between us and some sort of safety. I then remembered that the buses were parked so far down the road because we were late. I was too short to even see them in the distance over these people. They were ballistically taunting us, who were just high school kids. Many of them were our age, kids themselves contributing to the taunting. We didn't have a choice but to take in the yelling and declarations of how we weren't shit and never would be. I was trying to keep my grip on Brandy's hand, but my nervous, sweaty palms were making me lose it. Seeing trash and God knows what else hurled toward us is something that I saw coming, but it was still shocking. Not only was I not able to see through the vast tornado of half-eaten concessions and litter, but I also couldn't feel Brandy's hand either.

Just like that.

Mine slipped out of hers so quick I hardly noticed. Just like that the turquoise and white started to fade and I was becoming accosted by the black and yellow of the raging colonizers. "Look at these niggers runnin' outta here!", "Get the fuck off our property!" they yelled, accompanied by particles of spit and acidic breath. With my best effort, I was trying to scoot through the tight area that was becoming more like a ball pit that was being rocked back and forth. I couldn't see anyone I recognized, given my height and I couldn't look up because my head might be taken off. I had no choice, but to shield my head with my arms, looking helpless, but still trying to move in this chaos. Without pissing myself in fear. I so happened to glance up when a glass Sprite bottle was coming right for my noggin, BUT someone who belonged to us, one of the Arabia players, quickly hit it out of the way. "I got you, hold onto me," he instructed. I didn't know him from a can of paint but I latched the hell onto his muscle-y arm. He did his best to pull us both through the shoving and tossing. The closer we inched out of the mob, it seemed like we were getting further away from where we were going. Blue and red lights started flashing. It was only a matter of time before the police appeared. There were a lot of them. I guess they needed to be on deck for the niggas huh? Still ducking and dodging the debris, I could hear the boy curse, scared. "Shit..." Shit ain't even the word. He looked down at me. "Imma get you outta he----Ya look scared boy, nowhere to go huh?" one of those hillbillies cut him off. He looked to be a student about the same height. "Ain't nobody scared cracker," my new friend said quick. He put me behind him, almost naturally. "Watch your mouth boy, 'fore I have to embarrass ya in front of your lil' negress." He looked at me grinning. My jaw dropped. Did he really say that? Without hesitation, my protector popped shit off just for calling me that. He was not a wuss that's for certain. His fist flying through the air was like a domino effect. Five more fists turned to ten, ten turned to thirty, then fifty, and worse. It had become a brawl, something so out of control and violent I was on the verge of having a panic attack. Suddenly the people in our colors started to surface again once hands started being thrown. It was the definition of one fight, we all fight. I suppose it's the same for the opposing side. Sounds of clothing ripping to shreds, hollering, and broken glass were deafening. I'm trapped in the middle of it all. If I step a toe out of line, I'm liable to be knocked out. Officers had managed to break into the turmoil, but I couldn't tell if they were trying to stop it or if they were getting in on the action. These policemen are from here, that meant we were fucked. Arabia people were the only ones being tossed to the ground and knelt down on, yet the devil fans were in hot pursuit with no halts. Had I ever felt real fear this was it. There's just no way I'm living what airs on the news and floods articles. Every which way I looked, there was savagery that was now more so coming from the police to any Black person who was defending themselves. And all Black folk who were temporary bystanders chose not to be anymore as they launched themselves into the altercation. Risking their lives for the sake of doing what's right and protecting their people. I wish I was that brave. Please God don't let the cops kill anybody. Lord knows they'd get away with it seeing as everyone is losing their shit. How I could even think straight between the yells and flashes of recording phones, I don't know. I could only be logical right now, but there was no room for logic in this life-and-death moment. I shrunk to the ground in last-minute thought, thinking I would crawl out of this shit. It was even more terrible to see down here. It was only legs galore and black asphalt, so I still couldn't know where the hell I was going. My hands being trampled on didn't help. The bleachers weren't too far, I might make it unharmed. Might. However, the second I thought I was getting away, my ankle was grabbed and I'm being dragged in the opposite direction like a rag doll. My breath was caught in my throat and I couldn't even scream. I scratched at the concrete and I could feel my acrylics fucking up by the finger. I flipped on my back in panic and Damien was already pulling me to stand.