𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔.

𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚.

𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍. 𝒔𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔. 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒔. 𝒔𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏. 𝒔𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅. 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝒔𝒉𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚. 𝒔𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒊 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅. 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕. 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒚.

;

"Imani! Get in here now, girl!" I hurried into my mom's room. If I didn't she'd probably throw something at me. "Yes ma'am?" She looked at me with disgust. A look that I'm used to.

"Did you do the dishes?" I nodded. "And that food better be done." I looked down at the floor and braced myself for flying objects. "I'm still waiting on the corn." I heard her sigh and some shuffling. "I should've swallowed you. You're a useless idiot."

I continued to look at the floor. "Sorry. May I be excused?" I looked up and she waved her hand. I scurried out of her room and back into the kitchen. I finished cooking while cleaning along the way and set the table. I set three spots.

I called everyone to eat and went to get ready for work. I work the graveyard shift. 12AM-8AM. I usually eat at work. I waited in my room until they finished and cleaned up after them.

I grabbed my mace and headed out the door for the bus stop. I have to leave early because it's a 45 minute walk to the bus stop and the bus only takes me to the other one. It's 30 minutes away from the restaurant by car so, imagine the walk I have to make.

;

It was the morning rush and there was only two waitress'. Me and Cassie. The morning rush usually starts around six and ends around nine. Sally's was the restaurant all the rich folk came to.

You'd think I'd be happy about that because of the tips I would get but, these people are racist. They hate 'colored folk'. Or at least that's what they call us. Me and Cassie are the only black waiters and we're the only ones that work rush.

Stupid right? But the boss thinks we draw attention to the restaurant. "Imani, can you take the big table? I've got three already." I groaned. "Yeah." I walk up to the table nervously.

"Hello. My name is Imani and I'll be your server today. Can I start you off with some drinks?" I smiled at the boys.

"Your name is Imani?" I nodded. "That's so ghetto." All the boys laughed except one. "Name fits the person." Another boy said and they laughed again.

"What does it mean?" The boy that didn't laugh asked. "Um, it's means faith." He smiled at me. "I think it's beautiful." I shyly smiled back. "Thanks."

"Anyway. I'll take a Diet Coke." The first guy said. Then everyone gave their drink orders. I wrote it down and went back to get their drinks. When I came back I got everyone's food orders and did the same.

I went back to check on them every 10 minutes and every time there was a new joke about me being black. After about an hour they left and I took up everyone's money. The guy that was nice to me left a tip and a note.

'Hey. I'm so sorry about my friends. They're complete idiots. I gave you a tip to make up for their stupidity. Oh and by the way, my name is Sam. :)'

I smiled at the note and picked up the cash. I put the money they owed in the register and kept what he left me. "What are you grinning about?" I stopped in my tracks. It was my boss. She hated when customers would flirt with me.

"Uh, I just remembered something from a show I was watching yesterday." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Stop daydreaming and get to work." I nodded. "Yes ma'am."

;

"Thanks for letting me stay here. I don't have the energy to go home." I plopped onto Cassie's bed and kicked my shoes off. "I don't know why you don't just move in. My mom already said you could." I sighed.

"I know but I can't leave Isaya." I could hear her rolling her eyes. "He's 10. He knows how to do things for himself. Plus he doesn't even like you." I scoffed. "Yes he does." She looked at me.

"No. He doesn't." I huffed and sat up. "You're right." She sat down next to me. "Are you gonna move in? Give me a sister?" I smiled. "How can I move without my parents killing me?" She laid back in thought.

"How about after work everyday, you just come here and we'll take you to get a brand new wardrobe?" I looked at her. "Really?" She nodded. "My parents love you. Or maybe it's the fact that I finally have a friend." She shrugged and I laughed.

"Anyway, what happened at work today? I saw you got a tip." I smiled at the thought. "The table you sent me to was full of privileged white guys who were making jokes. But one was nice to me and left me a tip." She was staring at me.

"What?"

"Tell me more. Was he cute?" I bit my lip trying to hide my smile. "Yeah I guess. But, it doesn't matter because we'll probably never see each other again and I have no way to contact him." She sighed.

"It's tough being a white mans whore when the white men don't even like you." We looked at each other and started laughing.

"We have work in the morning. We should probably go to bed." She nodded and we got into bed. "Goodnight, Imani. I love you." She turned off the light. I laid still and quiet. I had never heard that.

"Goodnight. Sleep tight." I thought about Sam until I finally dosed off.