double negative (brayden weston)

9

★★★

sitting next to brushaundira in canonical studies the two shared their notes for a different class they take together. the door opened revealing tariq who sat down next to lauren.

"almost late again." he said putting his bag down.

"just saved yourself, nigga. professor reynolds been on you all semester." brushaundria said looking up at tariq.

"he's been in a bad mood the whole time." ashley said making remiah nod her head.

"oh, he's not that bad." lauren said making remiah look at her.

"girl yes that creepy nigga is." she said before looking back at her notes.

"not to you. you're his favorite. i gotta actually earn my grade." brushaundria said making lauren look taken aback as tariq smirked at her.

"so, what makes someone a monster?" professor reynolds said as he walked into class with his hands behind his back. "as we deepen our understanding of the minority experience in america, a book like frankenstein is not as clear-cut like the book from the last week. show of hands who here read this in high school?" he asked everyone raised their hands including remiah. "but who noticed the racial undertones?" lauren still had her hand up as did remiah. "go ahead miss baldwin."

"people are scared of the creature based on what he looks like- prejudice against minorities."

"a little remedial. anyone else?"

"crime and then punishment, sir." remiah said looking at him as he nodded.

"white people brought us here. they call us animals, they sell off our children, and when we fight back, we're the monsters." brushaundria said making remiah nod her head.

"yeah we the ones supposed to be scary, but look at them riding around in white hoods, buring crosses on people's lawns." remiah added on.

"very good, miss smith. miss carmichael you're giving the other fellowship semifinalists a run for their money."

"but, bru and remi, some of it does come down to how we fight back." lauren said making remiah turn around confused.

"what is that supposed to mean? if people are set up to fail, they just fucking fail."

"but not all of us fail."

"what about the prison-industrial system? the number of people of color in jail-" khalid said but was cutoff by lauren.

"is a tragedy, yes, but you can't deny that some people made the choices to get them there. some people deserve jail."

"like my father?" remiah asked looking back raising an eyebrow at her.

"like my mother? what you think my mother deserves to be in jail?" tariq asked looking at her with scrunched brows.

"no, that is not what i meant."

"kinda sounded like it." remiah said rolling her eyes and turning back to her seat.

"yeah, it's easy to judge from the outside, just like it's easy to judge the creature."

"the book judged dr. frankenstein-"

"can i finish lauren?" tariq asked making remiah and brushaundria share a look. "everyone thinks the creature is a monster because the way frankenstein made him, but maybe it's the way frankenstein treated him. maybe that's why the creature's a monster."

"that is the exact answer i was looking for." professor reynolds said looking at tariq.

"same shit's happening with the body in the pool. word is, cops only want to talk to the black and brown kids." brushaundria said making remiah look at tariq for a second before going back to her notes.