Darker Than Black

Chapter 1 - Darkness Ain't Black

Caleb sat on the floor of the cell, eyes closed, but aware of the surroundings. An officer unlocked the door and dragged him roughly out.

"You could just have told me to walk", Caleb shrugged as he protested. The officer hit his mouth with a baton and pushed him roughly against a nearby wall, pressing his face hard on it.

"Shut the heck up or I'll make sure you go home with a finger less, I don't care for your black ass at all, if it were up to me and the boys back there, we'd have shot the hell outta you the very moment you came here, stupid ass nigga", the officer said and hit his head with the baton. He scowled and shoved Caleb roughly to continue walking in front of him.

Caleb sighed. When was this going to end? He lived in Holando, a small town which was greatly populated by whites. In his school, the black students there were always dealt with more than the whites. He came from an average family, not too rich, not too poor. He knew who had come to bail him. It was Bethany. The rich white girl who had a major crush on him. He loved her too but didn't want to rush into things yet, so he took it rather coolly. Now Bethany was spoilt, so spoilt that she got whatever she wanted, all the times. Her parents didn't know of their relationship and that was why he was still somewhat safe.

He sighed as the police officer shoved him out the door of the station. The officer used his fingers to symbolize a gun and shot it at Caleb. He grinned then turned back and entered the station.

Caleb entered the limousine and sat opposite Bethany. This was her personal vehicle, as her parents had no time to be driving her around. Bethany had asked him the month before to be her boyfriend and he had said yes.

"Hunny, did that officer hurt you this bad?" She started as she came closer to him. He looked the other way and fidgeted with a nearby iPod. Bethany came over to his side and turned his face to hers. She planted a soft kiss on him and placed her head on his chest.

He sighed and embraced her. He loved her so much but was scared of what her parents would say if they found out that they were dating. He closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep as thoughts of what had happened earlier that day floated in his mind.

It all started during recess. Their class teacher, Mr Griffin had barged into their class angrily saying that his wallet had been stolen. He had brought in three policemen and they started rounding up all the black students except Caleb. Mr Griffin and all other teachers in Milton High exempted him because of Bethany. She had the resources to demolish the school and build another one on the very spot. Caleb felt annoyed, especially when they started rough handling Matthew, who used a wheelchair.

Although Caleb was not so close to Matthew, he knew this was injustice. He squashed the sandwich he was holding angrily. The police officers started pulling Matthew away from his wheelchair. "Stop that!" Caleb yelled as he saw Matthew wincing in pain. An officer came nearby and hit Caleb with a baton. Caleb pushed the officer away and rushed for the policeman harassing Matthew. With two successive mid jabs, he plunged himself on top of the officer as they both landed on the floor. Matthew sat on his wheelchair groaning in pain and wheeled backwards.

The other two policemen rushed over to where Caleb scuffled with the officer on the floor. They hit him all over with the baton. "You bloody fool", one of them said as they pushed Caleb away.

Mr Griffin rushed to where Caleb lay on the floor but was stopped by a policeman. "What are you doing Caleb?" He managed to ask. Caleb sighed and tried to stand up.

"I......I'm the one that took your wallet", he said. He couldn't believe what was coming out from his mouth. Mr Griffin frowned. Even though he didn't like Caleb, he knew in his heart that Caleb was an honest person and was not capable of theft.

"You heard the runt", the police who Caleb had floored said and hit Caleb with his baton. The other police officers did the same and then they cuffed him.

"Why won't he do that, when his color is that of darkness", a nearby white boy said. Caleb knew it was he who hid the wallet to sabotage him. Josh was racist to the core. He had planned it well. He knew Mr Griffin would have lost his cool and contacted the police. He also knew the officers would be prone to harass Matthew, and Caleb unable to stand it would have taken the blame.

He sneered. He was angry because Caleb was dating Bethany, he had ditched her for Emilia, a richer girl but Emilia had travelled out of the country, and Bethany wouldn't accept him back, that was the major reason he hated Caleb and the rest of the black people in their school. To him, black people were gold diggers and cheats.

"There's darkness in every color, darkness ain't black", Caleb said and gave Josh a hard look. The policemen hit Caleb again with their baton and pushed him out the door.