CHAPTER TWELVE,
narrative ( saturday )
back to present time...
zara placed her hand on vinnies shoulder letting him know he could be 100% honest and truthful with her. she was here to listen.
"i told them about you" he mumbled as he looked up into her eyes. he watched as her facial expression slowly changed, morphing into a sad, confused look.
zara was never at a lost for words. in all honesty she was a smart mouth and always knew what to say in every situation. but this was something that she was not prepared for. in fact no preparation could ever make her ready for a conversation like this.
the browskin fell to sit beside vinnie on the edge of the tub, her eyes filling with hot tears. "s-so your saying..." she took a breath as she closed her eyes, "... your parents kicked you out because of me?"
she opened back up her eyes, her attention set forward. vinnie tried to find the right words to answer her but there was no way he could put it lightly. no way to sugarcoat things.
"it's because i'm black isn't it?" she allowed herself to look over at the boy beside her. vinnie felt like shit when she looked into his eyes. he couldn't even try to imagine how it must feel like for her. being told you're not enough because of your race, and it upset him that his parents were able to do that without even laying an eye on her.
he took her hand in his, "my parents don't understand we live in a different time" was all he could figure to say.
"so their racist". zara of course knew the answer to her questions but she was still hoping it wasn't true. vinnie slowly nodded.
"fuck vinnie" she cursed out as she put her head into her hands. the room fell silent, minus the sound of the pattering rain on the glass windows.
as per usual vinnie didn't know what to say. all he could think of doing was pulling her into a tight hug to let her know it would be fine.
"why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked while looking down onto the tile. vinnie sighed "i didn't want to scare you away" he admitted.
"scare me away?" zara looked over at him as she sat hunched over into her bare legs. vinnie nodded, "my parents aren't easy people bab-" he cleared his throat, "-zara. i knew if they found out, things wouldn't end well... for either of us. they have money, they have privilege, and they have power in our county. so does dustin and his folks... that's why he doesn't get in trouble, and that's why i never end up getting suspensions."
he took a moment before he continued, "i was just hoping we could graduate without any problems and once we started school in LA things would be exactly how we want it."
zara started to feel bad. she felt as if she pressured him into doing this. getting them into this situation. she believed him when he said his parents weren't easy people, and that's what scared her.
she had countless experiences with racist throughout her lifetime and she knew best that they would do anything and everything in their power to ruin your life and get their point across. and as white people in america... their power was endless.
"i'm sorry for being so pushy" her eyes began to tear up again, "i should've trusted you when you said you had a good reason... i should've known you were just trying to protect me" zara professed
"baby don't cry" vinnie hushed her as he wiped the tears off her face with his thumb, "this isn't your fault okay? please please don't blame yourself."
he softly caressed her cheek, as he held her face in his hand, "i'm scared vinnie" zara cried as she looked into his face.
vinnie wanted to tell her she had nothing to worry about. that everything was going to be okay. that at the end of the day that's still his family and they would never do anything to hurt him. but he knew he would be lying.
it took the pair two months before they could make things public within their school. interracial dating was unheard of in their small town, so that alone would be a big risk. they were lucky majority of the kids at school were understanding and knew how to keep their mouths shut.
the adults on the other hand would be a whole other story. they weren't as understanding and open to new things. they wanted things to remain how it was during the 60s, when a large amount of them grew up. change wasn't an option for them. if it wasn't white it wasn't right in their minds.
only god would know what would happen if word got out to his parents companions. they weren't the nicest people... minus all the racist stuff.
he knew if his parents didn't take matters into their own hands, then their friends surely would, and they would show not one ounce of mercy.
vinnie truly didn't understand why it was such a big deal if he dated a black girl. he wouldn't ever believe that grown adults would be so angered by it. so angered that they would want to put pain onto two teens.
vinnie pulled zara into a tight hug, "i'll sort things out with them soon... i promise" he kissed the top of her head, allowing her to get the rest of her tears out
onto his clothed chest.
"we'll be okay baby" he whispered, "we'll be okay"
𝐣𝐨𝐭𝐬
things weren't supposed to
go so far down this path...
but i do the most for absolutely
no reason so i guess there will
be more sappy, racist, violent
chapters 🥰💓😫😎🤪😌✨
