Once Upon A Time in 2016

Into the Hood: Chapter 1

Into the Hood

Sam kicked a can out of the way as he watched his friends continue to kick the cowering figure on the ground. He felt sick, but standing watching was definitely better than being there on the ground like the poor soul. "What makes you think you can laugh at us? Huh?" Sam winced as he watched his best friend. After a rocky start to high school, things had started looking up for him when his mom made friends with their new neighbours, one of whom happened to be Eric Smith's mom. Sam hated moving around, but was thankful that he had left south Alabama behind. Having different skin in a predominantly white neighbourhood was hard enough, but with his mom intent on giving him the best education money could buy, his 'red' skin (as his bullies loved to call it) stuck out like a sore thumb in Crickleville High.

It wasn't until the day that Mrs Lawrence had given his mother the afternoon off and she came across him being hunted down by the white jocks of his school that she realised that her son was being bullied. It took her less than two weeks to quit her job and find a poxy flat in New York. Although the move hit them hard economically, Shane was glad. They had moved a total of 6 times before Crickleville, and his mom had really wanted to make it their permanent home. She had managed to a decent sized house, and was able to pay for his education with little strain. He knew how hard she worked, and the last thing he wanted was for her to worry.

The first couple of days at his new school were better than what he was used to, the kids didn't bother him, and despite not having the time to make him feel welcome, they were sure to direct him in the right way when he asked for help. After two weeks of being able to keep his lunch money and not be hunted by rich jocks for sport, Sam felt lonely. It may seem absurd, a boy who was bullied, was not happy with just not being bullied. He wanted more, he wanted friends. His wish was granted the day his mother invited Ms Smith from next door over for dinner. Imagine his surprise when she turned up with her son in tow, who was none other than his class bully, Eric Smith. He remembered his heart pounding and sweat starting to drip from his forehead as he shook Eric's hand. He had wondered exactly how painful the evening was going to be for him. So imagine his surprise when Eric was lovely. Not just lovely in front of their mothers, but he was actually quite nice when they had gone up to Sam's room too. 

It turned out that Eric's mother had already told him a bit about their new neighbours, how Ms Deloria was a single mom just like her, how she worked multiple jobs, and wanted to send her son to a really good school, and how racist bullies made them relocate to New York. 

"That's messed up dude. No one should be allowed to crap like that. Don't worry. Here in Brooklyn we don't roll like that." Sam thought back to earlier on that day when Eric had punched a kid so badly he had to be taken away on a stretcher. Brooklyn seemed to be a lot like Crickleville, but he held his tongue.

Since that day Eric had welcomed him into his social group. He was glad, but whenever the others decided to teach the weaker kids 'lessons' he hung back. He was not about to torment a poor soul like he had been tormented in Crickleville. Standing back and watching was fine, wasn't it?

Hi guys!! So it's finally here, Chapter 1 of Into the Hood. I think a lot of you were/are expecting a re-telling of Little Red Riding Hood, and to a certain extent you guys are right, but you will deffo see other fairy tale characters in the story. Sam is Native American by the way, hence the usage of 'mom' instead of 'mum'. I have attempted to research as much as I can about Native American people before writing this, so hopefully I won't offend anyone. I do know the use of the colour red towards skin tone is offensive, hence the ''. Again, I hope I have not offended anyone, I just wanted to show the extent of Sam's racist bullying (I don't think that makes sense, but oh well). Other news: my instagram page is up and running!! If you want to have a look at other projects I'm working on, artwork for my stories or what I'm getting up to, follow: kittyinbookworld. This chapter is relatively short compared to my usual chapter lengths, but don't worry, the next one will be long :) As usual vote and comment if you liked the chapter, and any constructive criticism is very much welcome.

Kitty

xxx