A/N: In honor of black history month, I decided to make this little one shot! Warning, it does contain racial slurs and bullying, but enjoy!
1961
Luke's P.O.V
Mama told me that people aren't always gonna be nice. I knew that, I was one'a the kids they weren't nice to. I tell papa about that mean ol' Russell. That fat old crybaby likes to pick at me, but the minute I try to fight back, he starts a fit! He got me in so much trouble at school, I wanted to run away. Papa says that running from problems won't make them go away. Believe me, I've tried. He says to "use my words" or "ignore Russell". Hey, if a giant was smackin' you upside your head, could you ignore it?
I don't know why all of the other boys at school don't talk to me. I don't smell, mama bathes me every night. I don't look ugly, mama says I look handsome like papa. I'm always nice. I helped Talula find her missing puppy and pounded the chalkboard erasers for Mrs. Green. What was wrong with me?
No one's P.O.V
Luke walked down the hall of school that one morning, holding a happy grin on his face. Just as he stopped to get a drink from the water fountain, he was taken back by a hard shove. The child fell on the floor while roughly hitting the wall. Water dotted his green polo, and his hat had fallen into a mildewy puddle under the fountain. This now exposed his partially curly partially straight, bright indigo hair.
The little seven year old looked up to see his worst enemy. The chubby kid that always picked on him, Russell, and his crew were standing triumphantly over him. Laughing and exchanging dimwitted high fives. Luke glared while attempting to stand up, only to be shoved down by the larger boy again.
"Well if it isn't zebra," the chubby boy snorted, earning encouraging laughs from his cronies, "Aren't you supposed to be picking cotton somewhere in Alabama?"
Luke growled, finally standing,"And aren't you supposed to be going on a diet?"
The larger boy fiercely grabs Luke's shirts and lifts him from the ground, "Zebras like you don't need to give lip to nobody! Not unless you wanna knuckle sandwich!"
Luke pinched Russell's fat fingers, finally being able to squirm out of his grasp. The small boy grabbed his books and silently forwarded in the opposite direction. His lips curled in anger, and his hat dripping freely in his clenched fist.
With another unexpected push, Luke was sent flying downward. His perfect nose whacked harshly on the tiled floors. A bloody glob splattered across the smooth tile, and feel the warm fluid run out of his nasal cavity. The poor boy just wanted to run, so that's what he did. He forgot his many books, grabbed his hat, and made a B-line for the opposite corridor.
"HEY!" Russell called again, wanting to start trouble, "Get back here and fight ya dumb half bred! Or are you a coward like your colored daddy?"
Luke stopped. His fist clenched even harder, just enough for his nails to dig into his palms.
Don't turn 're better than that, don't fight him or you'll regret it.
Luke had to continuously tell himself that. Though he wanted to stay strong, he couldn't let that little tele-tubby disrespect his hard working father like that. Goby was the best father a kid could ask for. He was supportive and brilliant in every way. He worked eight straight hours a day on a construction cite and hardly earned a decent pay just for his skin color. Yet he still was able to support his wife and son while buying them spectacular things. Disrespecting him was like disrespecting the president or some sort of war veteran.
"Shut your mouth," Luke growled silently.
"I'm not gonna-"
"I SAID SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH!"
The mixed child's scream echoed through the halls. His face was boiling with anger as he gazed at Russel with eyes full of hate. He had heard his parents curse a few times, but was repeatedly reminded that it was wrong. At this point, he didn't care. The long years of past torment were finally coming out.
Luke then thought of just walking away and forgetting about the bully, that's when something inside of him cracked;
"It's not my fault your UGLY mama got knocked up by a NIGGER!"
That tore it. Luke furiously turned on his heel to face the fat little bully. He threw his wet beanie onto the ground and charged toward his abuser. The small boy jumped onto Russell with such a force to knock him on the floor. Luke straddled the boy's fat arms under his legs and started furiously scratching at him. He punched, scratched, and slapped the bully until too tired to do it anymore. The other boys tried to attack him, but Luke rolled off of Rusell, picked up a nearby broom left from the janitor and whacked them with it.
The cronies quickly ran as Luke held the broom menacingly. He was breathing rather hard as he could see Russell trying getting up. As the mixed child turned and started walking away, he slipped on a patch of water on the floor. The indigo haired child smashed his head on the floor. His vision blurred dramatically, and he could see other people round the opposite corner as the world went black.
"The doctor said he hit his head pretty hard."
"I know. What's gotten into him? He's been acting all screwy ever since he transferred to that white school."
"It's overwhelming him. That boy, Russell I think, keeps picking on him just because he's black and white. It's becoming too much for my poor baby."
The mixed child was surrounded by darkness, but slowly shook himself back into reality. He looked up and saw his parents talking to each other. His mother, Deema, was talking rather seriously to her husband Goby. The pale mother had her curly blonde hair tied back into a poofy ponytail and wore a pretty blue dress to match. Goby, on the other hand, was still in his dirty work clothes and yellow hard hat.
Luke groaned from the deep throbbing in his head, "M-mama? Papa?"
"Oh, are you alright, sweetie," the mother asked, stroking the cheek of her child.
"My head hurts," the child complained, putting a hand up to his hair to feel ridged gauze wrapped around his cranium.
"You should be okay, but the doctor said that you hit it pretty badly. It's best for you to stay in bed for a few days," his father added.
Great. More time at home, less time with Russell.
"We also talked to your principal," Deema slightly crossed her arms,"He said you "beat up" that boy Russell at School today when he went for a drink at the fountain."
"He's lying," Luke exclaimed, feeling the pain inside his head intensify.
"So you didn't hurt him?"
Luke picked at his fingers, "Well.. Uh..No."
The two parents gave their son disappointed looks.
"Luke, you know your not supposed to hurt people like that," his mother said sternly, "even if you don't like him there was no reason to attack him!"
The poor child could feel tears returning to his eyes. The feeling of being somewhat wrongly accused was too much. His lip quivered as he let the tears fall.
"It wasn't my fault! He's lying!" The child screamed, interrupting his blonde mother, "I didn't come up to him, he came up to me! He pushed me down and I hurt my nose! I was gonna walk away like you and papa told me to but then.."
The child paused as his voice became low, "He called you ugly, and called papa an...um...I don't really know what that word is, but it started with an 'n'. I got mad."
As the child finished, his parents sat there in utter shock. Now knowing what the child went through, they became more understanding. Deema attacked her son with multiple kisses, while his father patted him on the back with his hard hands.
"That was sweet. I'm sorry we didn't believe you, baby," the mother cooed apologetically.
"You're mother is right. Russell may not know it, but skin color is only skin deep. A real person would look at others on the inside. And by the looks of you, I say you have a very big heart. Keep being who you are, and don't let anyone stop you from sticking up for the ones you love."
The parents gave their son a few more goodnight kisses before leaving him to go to sleep. As Luke snuggled into his comfortable blankets, he silently started to drift.
Maybe there were a few perks to being a zebra.
I'm BACK! I'm trying to update and do the whole one shot thing I said I was going to do! I knew I never wrote about Goby so I decided to do a quick one since lat months was black history month! I jut get random ideas an write them! If anyone has any requests, I'm open for them! Amber, out!