Abi

Day 29 Part 2

Coach Keller blew her whistle. Great...now my ears are ringing. "Alright, everybody! Listen up! Today, we're going to play a good ol' game of kickball! Billy, you're Team A. Kiwi, you're Team B."

Kiwi and Billy chose their teammates. I was on Kiwi's team.

"So, how good are you at kickball?" she asked me.

"I've never worked out a day in my life."

"Man, I wish I was pitcher. That's the laziest position in the game."

"Faaccctttts."

Shay was pitcher for Team A. She gulped and tossed the ball. Billy kicked it and she shrieked. Poor girl. I'd feel sorry for her but that gringa thought it was funny to twist my arm.

Karma sucks! Unfortunately, that meant I had to catch it before Billy can get a home run. That meant running...

And I don't chase anything that isn't a check (how ironic since I don't have a job). It's either fail gym class or be out of breath and show that I'm out of shape.

Embarrass myself it is, then. I ran across the field to catch the ball but Kiwi practically sprinted! Correction: she did sprint. She caught the ball and threw it at the third baseman, who caught it and thus, Billy was out. I high-fived Kiwi. "Man, you saved us!"

"Ah, it was nothing."

"No, that was something. You do sports?"

"I'm on the basketball team here. I haven't properly introduced myself to you. My name is Kiwidinok Dustu. I realize that might be a bit hard to pronounce, so just call me Kiwi."

"Girl, I know the feeling. My full name is Abidemi Dias but just call me Abi. What kind of name is Kiwidinok, if you don't mind me asking."

"Chippewa girl here. You?"

"Brazilian, Nigerian, and Jamaican. And out of shape."

"Haha, it's okay. Push ups are my worst enemy." I looked at her arms, which were mega toned like Qimmah Russo's. Ohhh, she lifts. "Push ups? What are those?"

"Hey, girls!" Stephanie walked over to us, wiping some sweat from her forehead. I rolled my eyes , scrunching my face. "That was a good catch, Kiwi."

"Thanks, Steph. You know Abi, right?"

"Unfortunately," I muttered to myself. I coughed and looked away. Kiwi looked confused. Shay walked towards us. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Women of color problems," she said. Steph rose her perfectly arched brow. "Women of color? You're a woman of color?"

"Yeah, I'm Native American."

"But...you don't look it," Shay said.

😲😲😲😲 it's about to go down.

"Um...how are Native American girls supposed to look?"

"I mean...you don't have any feathers in your hair! And you have nice, blonde hair like us! And you're skin is...light."

My eyes widened. No...they...didn't. "Hey, watch your mouth--"

"It's okay, Abi. I got this one. I don't have feathers in my hair because, big shocker, I only wear them during ceremonies...and no, Coachella is not an authentic Native American ceremony. My hair is blonde because bleach exists. And just because my skin isn't as tan as a generalized Native person does not make me less Native American, mkah? Ankiinuk!"

"Okay, whoa, princess. Calm down. It's not like white people are enslaving you r*dskins again. Oh, I'm sorry. Did I say slave? Sorry, Abi, that must've been triggering for something that happened centuries ago."

Oh.

She wants to fight. Kiwi took out a hair tie and aggressively put her hair in a topknot. I grabbed her and held her down. She's like six inches taller than me though, so that didn't do much. She got all up in Steph's face and she shrieked. Coach Keller ran up to us and separated the two.

"Alright, break it up! Break it up!" She scolded at Kiwi and beckoned to the door. "Dustu, straight to the principal's office, NOW!"

"What about Stephanie? She called Kiwi a--"

"Do you want to go with her?"

"SHE called Kiwi a racial slur! What about--"

"Fine, then. You can run five laps around the field, elbows and knees as you go!"

"What?!"

"I can make you do ten!"

I couldn't believe this. She didn't even try listening to me. I cross my arms and stood my ground. "No."

"Excuse me, Miss Dias?"

"I said, I'm not doing any laps."

She put her finger in my face, pointing at me. "Well, you either do the laps or you can go to the principal's office."

I looked behind Coach Keller to see Headphanie and Shay giving me evil grins. They were enjoying this. I shrugged and decided that maybe the principal will understand. So I joined Kiwi.