Stranger to Me

~Two~

Sajana's P.O.V.

My bedroom would have been a quiet and clean place. It had potential, because I am quite an organized person. However, my room was not entirely mine. I shared it with my older sister, and for now, best friend, Luxshana.

My sister is the most disorganized person I've ever met. I cringe at they way she can just leave her stuff lying around, but it fascinates me how she can always find what she needs. Then again, she doesn't have a lot of stuff, and neither do I. It would be nice to have so much stuff that you can't find where something is. Well, there is nothing much I could do about it anyways.

I was lying on the bed in my half messy half clean room after a particularly long and tedious afternoon. I could hear the shower running in the bathroom just down the hall. Luxshana and I had been out trying to help our neighbours, but none of them wanted help. Since it was hot, we came back sweaty, which was why we both showered. There I lay, face-up, my wet hair strewn across the blue flowered sheets that I slept on each night. There I lay, until Luxshana came into the room with her hair wrapped in a towel. I sat up.

She looked at me, as if she was waiting for me to say something. I did have something to ask her, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. Luxshana seemed to understand this and starts to move things around in her small pile of stuff.

"Why don't they like us here?" I blurted out.

Luxshana strode over to the bed and sat down next to me. Her arm reached around me and I put my head on her shoulder. She didn't say anything, she just rubbed my arm. Finally, she responded.

"I suppose it will take a while before we will be used to this community."

"But we've been here for two months! You would think we would be okay by now."

"I know, but maybe there's more to it than meets the eye."

I lifted my head and looked up at her.

"Like what?" I asked, knowing what the answer probably was.

Luxshana sighed, and I knew she was thinking what I was thinking . She just didn't want to say it, let alone believe it.

"Like our race," she finished smoothly. That's what I assumed as well. There was one man who had shoplifted in a store nearby, and he just happened to be Indian. Of course, that triggered a reputation. I was being judged for something I didn't do, but there was nothing I could do to stop it.

People looked at us funny in public, and school was a nightmare. In a sea of white people, Luxshana and I were like the two proverbial specks of dust in a perfect atmosphere. It was like we had a disease. A disease with no cure.

My lip began to quiver. A single tear rolled down my cheek as I recalled it all. Luxshana saw it and pulled me tighter. I know she was trying to be strong, but it wasn't long before she had a tear-stained face as well.  Two months filled with nothing but judgment and persecution was hard for us. But I had a feeling things were going to get much worse.

Finally Luxshana broke our pattern of gasps and sobs.

"At least we have church," she reminded me. I nodded in agreement. The only place we were accepted was at church, which was like a safe haven to us. We sat in silence for a while, thanking God for the church and all the people there who didn't care what colour we were.

Eventually, my sister got up, saying, " I need to go dry my hair."

I nodded, and as soon as she left the room, I flopped back onto the bed. I looked up at the ceiling, then closed my eyes.

 Please help us.