14. Honesty

My mind spins with all kinds of answers to the sudden question. No one had ever asked me that before, except my sister. I answered Sydnie with a heartfelt reason why and I realized she was not really paying attention when I answered her question. Too, busy texting her boyfriend at the time.

"I don't know." I begin to play with the black rubber bands on the bed. Then pulling at the lint on the comforter. I know exactly why people treat me bad.

Andy sighs, "Well, you can't let people do that to you, Sirrah. I mean-."

"I am darker than the average black person, Andy," I confess, spilling my guts everywhere. "Everyone just bullies me because of that and I don't understand why I can't be treated like a normal person, like all the other people. They sit there and bully me because I am darker than they are. Or because of another reason, if it's not my skin color then it's because of the color of family I have been adopted into."

"It is not okay that they bully you because of your skin color. Or because a certain family chose you to stay with them. That is never a good enough reason to put someone down. We have many people with so many issues at that school and some that are visible. So, when they are picked on, they follow the bullies to the other victims. So, the bullied become the bullies, it's an on-going cycle." Andy explains moving to the next strands of hair to braid.

"I don't even have the heart or the courage to really stand up to them," I hang my head.

"You stood up to Alchemy, that has got to count for something." She adds. The comment catches me off guard, I didn't think she would have brought that up.

"Yeah, I guess. But that was totally a reflex thing. I just got tired of her pushing me and pushing me for no reason at all."

"We all have our breaking point, Sirrah. That was yours."

"I just don't understand why-." I begin.

"There is nothing to understand, Sirrah." She interrupts me and continues braiding my hair, "The bullies were once teased and then they turned into bullies themselves. It is an on-going cycle. A very vicious cycle to be honest. Sometimes there are things we can do and other times there isn't anything we can do." Andy explained to me.

"I don't want to be like that. Maybe, we can start some kind of club for the ones that are been teased." I say throwing an idea out there, not really thinking about it.

Andy giggles, "That is a great idea. However, I don't think it would be a good club for the school."

"How come?" I arch my brow at Andy.

"Because all of the people that are being bullied in one area, then the bullies find out about it. That is going to something horrible waiting to happen or a lot of black eyes."

I chuckle and think about the idea. Andy is right about the black eye business. I know Andy is thinking about the idea as well because her braiding starts to slow down.

"Well, we can think about it later or something," Andy says. I nod agreeing with that idea. "But, don't let people get you down just because you are different than they are. Some of the bullies ain't shit anyway."

I had to bust out laughing at that comment.

"Dinner!" My mom calls from the kitchen.

At the time, Andy was done with the last of my braids. They hurt my head because they were so tight, but it looked good on me.

I stand up and look at the single braids in the vanity mirror, my hair stops at my elbows when it is straight. "Thank you, Andy."

"No, problem."

"We can clean up the mess when we come back from dinner," I tell her.

She nods and we head out down the hallway to the dining room.

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We go to the kitchen and Sydnie is already sitting down with her face in her phone. Texting Brent as always.

Then Nick and Zander, lastly father and mother. Nick is staring at Andy like a buffoon. Zander is chowing down on his greens and rice. Sydnie is into her phone, slowly eating.

"So, Andy, how is Alchemy?" My father asks.

My heart jumps into my throat, I had not told them what I had done, and why I had done it. I do not plan to tell them what happened until I can figure out what to do about the situation. The day I did what I had done, I unwrapped my hand before I got off the bus and walked in the house as if my hand wasn't throbbing in pain.

"She is doing okay. There was no nerve damage or anything seriously wrong with her. She just has some bruising. Her ego may be bruised, but I am sure she will get over that." Andy answers cutting into her steak.

"Oh. Well, that is great that nothing is seriously wrong with her. Medical bills can be so high these days without the proper health care." My mother jumps in.

"Stop staring at Andy, Nick!" Sydnie busts Nick out.

Nick snaps out of it and chuckles, "I was not staring. I zoned out and was looking past her." He fronts as he digs into his greens and proceeds to stuff them into his mouth and chews loudly. He shifts his eyesight to the painting on the east side of the house with a look of determination on his face.

My parents shake their heads at Nick and his sudden weird behavior. I have already figured out what Nick was doing and I knew he would come to me about it, eventually.

Dinner went on with my parents asking Andy questions about her mother and father. Also, questions about school and what kind of colleges Andy wanted to get into. Andy answered some of them while she could not really answer the college questions. My parents did not push her about that matter. Nick kept peering at Andy every once in a while, other than that, dinner went smoothly.