Being the colored Girl

Colored

Colored

                Jasmine looked around her room one more time, her memories flooding to the forefront of her mind. Tomorrow she'd be in a new town, a new school full of new people.

"Jasmine!" her mother's voiced drifted up to her.

"Yes Ma'am?" she answered dropping her box and headed to the kitchen.

Her mother was packing up the dishes, stress and frustration heavy in her movements.

"Your principal at Winston Prep called." She explained without turning from her task. "He says that you'll have to come to his office first so you can get your uniform."

"Okay." She said with a sigh. It still makes her head spin at how fast everything in her life was moving. Her Mother had gotten a promotion at the insurance company and would be making triple what she made before. So they're moving out of the projects on west side Baltimore and into the plush and pretty Upper East Side.

Her mother turned and looked at her downcast daughter.

"Baby I know this is hard but better schools means better opportunities." She came over and hugged her child. "It won't be so bad, you'll make new friends in no time." Her mother reassured her with a kiss on the cheek and sent her to put some boxes into the moving truck.

The next day they headed out bright and early.

Jasmine watched as her one story home; with blue siding and rusted white porch metal slowly disappear. Her life slipped away as she watched the houses become bigger and more extravagant. No cheap plastic flamingos in these yards.  They rode in silence as she watched the people in their houses come out to see the new neighbors.

Looked like they were the only black family in this neighborhood.

"Mom are you sure this is the best place to be?" Jasmine asked as she noticed people staring, some with hard expressions.

"Yes, it's in the district and it's affordable." She clipped ending the discussion.

The house they stopped at was a two story with cut manicured grass and neat little bushes. The house was white with cherry red shutters. Her mother backed the truck into the driveway and killed the engine.

"We'll be fine," she said opening her door. "This is where we belong now."

Jasmine shook her head slightly; they belonged here like a polar bear belonged in the desert.

Later that night they had finished taking all the boxes out of the truck and only had to go through the tedious job of unpacking.

                                                                          ***

"Okay baby," her mother said pulling up to Winston Prep. "Be good and have a blessed day."

Jasmine smiled over to her mother even though she had knots in her stomach.

"Bye mama." She kissed her mother's cheek, grabbed her back pack and stepped out of the car.

Her mother tooted the horn quickly before she drove off.

Jasmine looked up at the large school; it was big with a gate surrounding the entire area. Red brown bricks and columns of creamy white that were repeated every few feet.   Winston Prep was more beautiful than any school she had ever seen. Overall it screamed extravagance and luxury.  No wonder it was so expensive, her mother had paid some of the tuition and the school had placed Jasmine on a scholarship that paid the rest.