Picked~A Melanin Tale

9~Back

At the breakfast table before school, I pick the remote up and turn the channel to the news. Mom is cooking pancakes and father is reading the newspaper. Zaida is eating oatmeal while Zakia is reading on the sofa. I am eating pancakes and thinking about what I had done yesterday. 

"Back to you, Becky." The news anchor says. 

"Thank you, Johnny." She looks into the camera. "Today we found Seth Mills nearly clinging to life in an alley just a few miles from his school. He was shot in both knees and passed out when two locals found him." She then goes to interview the two locals, a man and a woman. Zakia is now by my side engrossed in what the news reporter is saying. 

"Seth Mills? Doesn't he go to your school, Nubia?" My mom asks me. 

"I think so. But, I never heard of him until now." I keep a straight face, but my heart is beating out of my chest. 

"That's just awful. Who would do such a thing to him?" My mom places her hand over her chest as she continues to watch the television. 

Zaida whispers, "He got what he deserved." I glance at her sideways while she goes to put her empty bowl in the sink. 

"Alright, kiddies," father says putting down the newspaper, "time for school. Pack your things and let's go." He claps and grabs his coat. 

We arrive at Zakia's school first, I volunteer to walk her to the entrance of her school. She turns to me, "Nubia, you didn't have anything to do with Seth being shot, did you?"

Her face is serious and the question catches me off guard. I look into her eyes, "Of course not, Zakia. I mean...what he did was messed up, but I wouldn't go as far as to shoot anyone."

Zakia stares at me for a few minutes, the first bell rings. "Alright, Nubia." She hugs me with a smile. "I believe you." 

"Thanks." 

Zakia runs off to class and I return to the car. Father drives off and we are at my school within ten minutes. "Have a good day, sweeties." He waves to Zaida and I as we get out of the car. We wave back to him and walk into the school. 

The commons area is eerily silent as the students are huddled in their groups, some crying others are whispering. Zaida and I walk in our groups, Zaida's being the nerdy people and mine being...I don't have a certain group I go to. But, when I see Tilly, Morissa, or Taz that is where I head.

"Did you hear about Seth Mills, Nubia?" Tilly asks me waving her arms all about. 

"No," I lie. "What about him?" I look from Tilly to Taz.

"He was shot last night," Taz informs me. 

I raise my eyebrows for a more worried affect even though I don't care about him. "Oh my Gawd," I place my hand on my chest, "is he alright?" 

"They say he is stabilized but can't identify who shot him." Morissa scrolls through the newsfeed on her phone. I am guessing that is where she is getting her information from. She looks up at me, "There was a party last night and the cops are ruling everyone out who went to that party." 

"I didn't know there was a party going on," I tell them. "But, I went home after school." I look at my friends. 

"Well, the cops are on it around here. The football star gets shot for no reason in the alley." Tilly shakes her head. "Someone had to hate him for some reason or another."

The bell rings for us to go to our first-period classes. The students disburse and start to slowly move to their lockers and classes. I go to my locker and exchange books. 

Seth got what he deserved for doing what he did to my sister. There is no reason to be worried about anything, besides, no one would suspect me because I am new here and I don't know anyone.

I smile at the thought that makes me feel a little calmer than I was when Tilly told me about Seth and about the cops going to interview everyone that was not at that party. That means I have to get create a story and keep it straight. I thought about the story I was going to tell the cops if they did decide to interview me.