Hey Guys! I know, I know, it's been a very long time since I updated this one but I did say I'd update eventually. Now that schools done (which I actually managed to pass all my classes despite it being a tough semester) I'll be able to update a lot quicker. Anyways with the story, in this chapter you'll meet my character Elaina (pronounced a-lane-a). Here we'll get a sense of who she is and also what her world is like.
Now on with the chapter...
Elaina's POV
After a three hour and 46 min train ride and a two hour bus ride with a bunch of sloppy, overweight guys that smelled like they took a bath in a trash compactor, I finally made it to Woodcrest.
As the bus drove off, I took it all in and made the realization that there really was no turning back. Feeling a bit overwhelmed I took a deep breath and calmed myself down
"Alright" I said calmly but determined "Here we go" Then I started to walk down the street
As I walked down the street, I looked around at my new suburban home and I gotta say it's a lot bigger than what was said online. There are so many restaurants, department stores, fast food places, jewelry parlors, no wonder this place is considered one of the best tourist spots. This place is so upscale and glitzy a tourist would probably go broke within 2hrs or better yet based on what I'm seeing probably 20mins. I also couldn't believe how green it is here. With all the stores they have here and having them all including the entire town being owned by Ed Wuncler; who is probably one of the shadiest and most despicable businessman on this earth; I honestly thought this place was gonna be an industrial town. I thought there would be a factory hidden somewhere and the toxic fumes would have been killing the plants and then slowly killing the people too. However the people would be so blinded by all the glitz and glam around them they wouldn't even notice or even care for that matter. Call me a skeptic but I thought the online brochure of this place was just a front. I honestly thought that this place was going to be some dump with snobby and ignorant people.
At that same exact moment, a middle aged white women walks towards me. She looked at me and had a confused look on her face and then it quickly change to what looked like disgust. When she got closer, her expression became fear, and she quickly passed me nearly falling flat on her face in the process. I simply ignored her and just kept on walking.
Well I was half right. These people are definitely spoiled and some of them look snobbish, but this place wasn't a dump. This place was so damn green which was amazing and it's so clean here. Being from the city, I'm not used to streets being this clean. There wasn't one sign of litter on these sidewalks, not even a candy wrapper. This place was unbelievable, but I guess the one thing that I am in most awe of is that there's so many white people here. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against white people and of course I was fully aware that this was a predominately white neighborhood but I have been walking for 12mins now and I have yet to see a black person. I know there are people of color who do live here somewhere, but I wish one would just show up already. I am the only black person on these streets right now and I can't help but feel like the odd one out.
[Sadly Sighs]
Oh well, what are you gonna do?
I turned at the corner and after a couple more blocks I finally made it to my destination, 179 Wilson Way which was the address of a brick house apartment complex. On the left side of the building, I saw an overweight looking black man tending the garden; Finally! A black person. He had grayish hair tied back in a ponytail, which was hidden underneath a tan color hat. He was wearing a completely tan colored gardening outfit and had a white shirt underneath that didn't fit him well as I could see half of his big white haired belly and belly button.
Gross, but none the less I approached him.
"Excuse me?" I said calmly. He seemingly grumbled in response "Hi, I'm looking for Mr. Needlemier, my name is Elaina McCarter, I called about an apartment"
He didn't seem to hear me as he continued to tend to the garden
"Excuse me? Excuse me!?" I said louder
"Huh?" He grumbled
"Hi, I'm sorry to bother you I'm not sure if you heard me or not…"
He looked up at me and then at my suitcase
"See, I'm here about the..."
"Oh…no!" He groaned in despair cutting me off "No lord not another one!" He said as he threw his hands up
"Huh?" I said in confusion
"Why? Why lord? Why does this keep hanpenin'? We don't need any more of your kind here!" He said in annoyance as he looked at me
My kind?
"What?" I said still confused
"You heard me nigra. We don't any more of your kind here. This here is a nice town filled with wonderful nice white folks and the last thing we need is more of you monkeys movin' in and disturbin' the peace"
"Excuse me?" Is this guy for real? And did he just call me a monkey!?
"Oh please nigra, don't act all innocent"
"What are you talking about?" I said calmly but annoyed "All I'm doing is asking for some help with finding somebody"
[Scoffs] "You think you slick. Oh, I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't do anything" He said in a high pitched voice "Your innocent act ain't gonna work with me nigra." He said back in his normal voice "See I know what you up to. I know exactly what you and your monkey kind is capable of" He said as he stood up
I then crossed my arms. Oh, I couldn't wait to hear this
"See first you come in and act all innocent and nice like to win over the sweet white folk. Then when you move in and get all settled you start partyin' all day and night, dancin' to that gorilla noise that ya'll call music and then ya'll start stealing from the same good white folks that took your broke ass in to begin with"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing
"Ya'll nappy headed monkeys think you so smart, comin' here and takin' advantage of the good white folks and taking those big ass monkey hands and taking all of their hard work and good stuff and making it in to some trashy, bull shit gorilla project"
I could feel my blood boiling
"I always thought that niggas were good for nothin' dumb ass coons and they are, but you nigra's are no better. Bunch of hussy's using that temple of doom of a body to get what you want instead of working hard like the beautiful white women. Bunch of lazy ass nigras"
That's it!
"Look Mr." I said in a calm but cold tone "Despite the fact that you're a self-hating black man hating on other black people and..."
"Ruckus"
"I really don't know what your problem is and I think you should…wait what?"
"Ruckus, my name is Uncle Ruckus, no relation and I for one young nigra am not black"
[Scoffs] "Really? Then what are you?" I asked in a sarcastic tone
"Young nigra, what you see before you is a man who is suffering from revitiligo"
"Revitiligo? Don't you mean vitiligo?"
"No you dumb monkey, I mean revitiligo!" He exclaimed in annoyance "It's the opposite of what Michael Jackson had" He said calmly
"No such disease"
"Now hush your mouth, you don't know what you talkin' about"
"Look, your really starting to get annoying. There's no such thing as revitiligo its just made u…"
[Achoo!]
"Whoa, excuse me" I sniffled as I rubbed my nose
Ruckus' eyes widened and stared at me with fear
"Whaa…..whaa…what…what was that?" He asked with a trembling tone
"Huh? Oh its nothing, I just have a…" [Achoo] "Allergies…" I sniffled again
"No, no, I aint stupid. I know exactly what it is, you got that African monkey virus. That ebonya or eboka or whatever you monkeys call it in your monkey language"
I raised an eyebrow in confusion "You mean Ebola?"
"Yes that monkey disease"
"Look Ruckus I don't have Ebola, I just have pollen allergies. Y'know pollen, like flowers the same flowers that you're standing in right now"
"No, no you can't fool me nigra, I know a contagious monkey when I see one" He said sounding more freaked out
I moved towards him "Look I do not have-"
"Stay back monkey! Back! Back I say!" He said frantically as he swung his garden tool like a crazy person and backed away from me "I don't wanna catch your monkey flu!" He then started to run away screaming
"HELP! HELP! 911! CDC! THERES AN OUTBREAK MONKEY INFECTING THE STREETS WITH HER MONKEY DISEASE! HELP!"
And with that, he was gone shouting the same thing over and over. The few people that were in the area stared in his direction then they all looked over at me for a moment and then just went about their business, unphased by what just happened. I stood there dumbfounded at what I just witnessed. I've been here for less than 15min and I already met the village idiot
[Sighs]
I took a breath and look back at the apartment complex and saw a short white man with a bald spot wearing a blue jacket leaving the building, maybe he's who I'm looking for. I quickly ran over to him.
"Hey! Excuse me!" I shouted
Luckily he actually heard me and turned around. I stopped in front of him and took a second to catch my breath. Once I relaxed a bit I asked
"Hi sorry to bother you but are you Hank Needlemier?"
"Who wants to know?" He answered looking annoyed.
Which means I found the right guy
"My name's Elaina McCarter, I called about the apartment"
"Oh McCarter…" He said in a lighter tone "Yeah I remember you, you called about the furnished apartment right?"
"Yeah" I replied calmly
He then looked at his watch
"Well I was about to go on my lunch break" He then looked back up at me "But, I've got some time to spare" He then unlocked the door "Follow me" He entered the building with me tagging behind him.
After two flights of stairs, we walked down the rusty looking hall and made it to our destination Apt 2D. Hank put the key in to the knob and unlocked the door and we both entered the apartment.
"Here it is, welcome to Apt 2D your one bedroom apartment" He said cheerfully
It really wasn't that big, but it wasn't so small either. The ceiling was just as rusty looking as the hallway and the walls were a fading pale blue. The place as a whole was really, well….not that great.
"See you got everything here. You got your kitchen" I looked ahead of me and saw a medium sized sink, a counter, an oven and a small sized fridge aligned across in a straight line. They all looked somewhat clean but they all looked old and used
"You've got your dining room" I look over to my left and see a large party table with two chairs
"And you got a livingroom" I looked to my right (which is really just the center of the room) and saw a worn out gray medium sized couch. In front of it was a small, old, worn and dusty coffee table with a sad looking little plant and a filthy goldfish bowl on top of it
A gold fish bowl? Dare I even ask why it's still here? Or what happen to the fish that lived in it?
"Look at this!" He exclaimed loudly startling me out of my thoughts "There's even a TV here"
I look over at him. He was standing in front of a medium sized television with two antennas. Hank then took the remote from the dining room table and open the TV. It opened but it only showed static. He flipped the channel again but it still showed static
"Hang on" He went over to the TV, balled up his fist and gave it two hits. It still showed static "Blasted Thing" He grumbled in annoyance and proceeded to hit it more.
After several hits he got it to work and it was on the news channel. However there was still static so it sounded really scratchy
"There we go, now you get to see the weather" He said happily
"Great…" I said unamused
It's a good thing I have my phone and laptop
"Whelp, you got everything you could ever need. You got your kitchen, you got your dining room, your TV, you got your bed room which is through the hall on you left," He points to a somewhat small opening "You got a great view up here, plus you even got yourself a big closet" He approaches me but then heads to the door that was next to the entrance and revealed a rather big closet then he closed it.
"So what'd ya think? You like the apartment?"
"Oh it's nice" I said hesitantly "I'll take it"
"Alright!" He said bringing his hands together "So I'm gonna need this month's rent which as you know is $1,400"
"Okay" I said calmly. I brought my backpack in front of me and started looking for what I needed. I took out the envelope and handed it to Hank
"Here you go, it's the rent for the first 3mths" Hank then had a huge smile on his face and took the envelope from me
"Excellent" He said happily but then immediately pulled back and nervously cleared his throat as he realized that he sounded too happy
"Uh…You got any questions?" He said as he put the envelope in his pocket
"No, I'm good"
"Alright then" He looks at his watch then back up at me "Well I'm gonna leave you here to get settled. Just remember if you need any fixing around here the maintenance man's office downstairs in 1A and if you need me I'm over by Orange Way which is two blocks down" He said as he walked towards the door
"Wait, you don't live here?"
"Ha! Are you kidding why the hell would I…I mean no, there's not a lot of space here for me. So I thought it'd be easier to live by Orange Way"
"I see" I said in an uninterested tone. Of course I knew that was a lie but why call him out on it
"Well I'm off"
"Okay, thanks a lot" I said as I put my backpack down
"No my dear, thank you" He said snickering and then left the room
I rolled my eyes at the meaning behind his comment and then started to look around my apartment. Well it's not so bad I guess. I walked over to the sink and turned the knob and out came a dark brown sewage looking water
"Well I'll be seeing the maintenance man tonight" I said aloud
I calmly turned off the facet and went over to the fridge. I opened it and was met with a horrible aroma. By the looks of it, whoever was here before me forgot to eat their Chinese takeout
"Eww, that's just disgusting" I immediately closed the door and went over to open the window and get some air. Hank was right it was a great view alright, a great view of channel 6's new blonde big boobed weather girl wearing nothing but panties in a seductive pose promoting the new "Want Milk" ad. Another example of the media promoting a simple item by unnecessarily exploiting women. I shook my head in disappointment and went over to the couch. I felt the cushions and it felt pretty soft. Maybe it was the bit of curiosity in me but something told me to further investigate. So I lifted one of the cushions and…
[Gasp!] Then I immediately put the cushion down. I really don't want to go in to detail of what I saw under there, but I will say this I definitely won't ever be sitting on the couch.
Okay, this place really is a shit hole and it's definitely not what I'm used to. But despite being the shit hole that it is, its home and it's also all I can afford. Besides it's not like I'll be here most of the time anyway I just need a place to sleep and put my stuff. Plus I think with a few cleaning products I think this place could actually look decent but I'll deal with that later. Right now I just want to get settled in and get started on my errands. As tired as I am, I still have a lot to do.
A few hours later…
After unpacking and getting a little bit of rest, I started with my errands. First I had to get myself a car:
At the car shop…
"Here you are" The dealer said as he handed me the keys and the lot number "Your car is outside over by section A" He said as he pointed towards the right to section A
I nodded "Thank you" I said calmly with a small smile
"No problem, happy driving" He said cheerfully before walking away
I went outside and made my way to section A, then started looking for lot #15. When I got to it, I got to see my brand new car in person, a 2005 Volvo. Of course it was a used car and it wasn't really that fancy looking but at least it was in good shape and it could get me to places which was all that matters.
Then I had to get a job:
At Miss Chows…
"Well here's your uniform Ms. McCarter" Mr. Chow (the owner) said as he handed me my new uniform "You'll start tomorrow afternoon at 4 and you'll meet with the manager Dave and he'll help speed you up on all the basics"
"Alright" I said as I took it from him
"Do you have any questions?"
I shook my head "No, I'm good"
"Alright then, welcome to the Chow family" He brought out his hand, then I brought out mine
"Thank you so much Mr. Chow" I said with a smile as I shook his hand
"It's no problem" We then separated "We'll see you tomorrow" He said cheerfully with a smile
"Alright, take care" I said as I headed for the exit
"You too" He replied back
I then left the store and got in to my car and started to get lost in my thoughts. I now have my first job, now I need to find a second one. Living on your own definitely isn't cheap (especially when you live in an upscale neighborhood) and also having to deal with college on top of it, makes it even more stressful. Speaking of college, that was actually my next stop.
Getting my books:
At Wuncler's University…
I just came from the campus bookstore and I was feeling tired and drained and I really wasn't in the best mood at all. I just spent over $250 on a bunch of books I'm never gonna use again. The most expensive book which was one of the two books for history class cost me $273 and it was filled with material I already knew off hand. I should have just left it but our professor emailed the students and said that it was mandatory and he wouldn't even let us in the classroom if we didn't have it. Being the new girl, I really don't want to have any tension or additional stress at my new school, life was stressful enough. So I figured it was better for me to just bite my tongue, suck it up and just go with it. But I'm still not happy.
[Yawns]
I really wasn't in the mood for anything at all. All I want to do now is just go home and sleep. I was walking through Wuncler U's parking lot(which was huge) to get to my car which was parked in the middle section of the lot but because it was so huge it was a lot further than it should be.
As I was walking I passed by a black man who looked around my age. He was about 5'11, scrawny not lean and he was wearing a wrinkled pale green shirt and dark blue jeans with one of the cuffs of his pants up to his knee, he was wearing a cheap looking gold chain around his neck and he was also sporting a very ugly looking mustache. As I passed him, I think he smiled at me but with the mood I was in, I really didn't care.
"M-hm, M-hm, M-hm, dam baby you lookin' good girl!" He said as he passed me. I rolled my eyes and just kept on walking
"Aye! Aye, yo wait up girl!" I could hear his footsteps behind me
[Sighs] Why do I always attract the punks and dumbasses?
He finally caught up to me then tapped my shoulder which caused me to stop walking
"Aye girl" I rolled my eyes then turned around
"You talking to me?" I said in an uninterested tone playing dumb
"Yeah I'm takin' to you"
"Oh, sorry" I said blankly
"Sooo, what's up?"
"Nothing" I replied in the same ton. At this point he looked nervous
"Um…sooo, what'chu doin'?"
"Minding my own business" I said in the same blank tone then I turned to leave but he grabbed my arm causing me to turn back around
"Wait, I'm just tryin' to be nice and say hi"
"Hello and goodbye" I turn to leave again
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait" He rapidly says as I turn back to him
"Is there something I can help you with?" I said in a calm but annoyed tone
"Yeah, there's somethin' you can help me with" I sighed and prepared myself for what I was about to hear because I knew that he was about to use his go to pick-up line to impress me
[Scoffs] This is gonna be good
"Look girl" He said confidently "You fine, I'm fine so why don't we just cut the chit chat and just go out already?"
"No" I simply said not changing my tone then I turned around and was again about to leave but once again he grabs my arm and I turn back around
"Aye wait, wait, I don't think you heard me right. I said why don't we go to dinner to get to know each other and shit"
"No I heard you correctly" I said blankly "And my answer is still no" I was about to walk away
"Wait but-"
"Let me stop you right there" He stopped and stared at me "I know what your about to say so let me save you the trouble of wasting your breath. No. The answer is no and it always will be no. Sorry that you wasted your time but I'm just not interested in whatever it is you had planned and I have no interest in you, sorry. So goodbye and have a nice life" I said in a calm blank tone then walked away probably leaving him in shock.
"Y…Yeah well…I aint need you anyway! Imma fine ass motha-fucka. You probably can't handle all this fineness. I got a lot bitches who want a piece of this fineness and they smart enough to know what to do with it" I rolled my eyes and kept on walking as he continued with his ridiculous rant
"So go! I don't want ya! I don't need ya either! You ain't nothin' but a dumbass bitch!"
I immediately stopped walking and felt my body tense up and my fists tighten. I then turned towards him as he continued to rant
"What?" I said in a calm but cold tone
"I said you can't handle a real nigga like me and y-"
"Not that" I said cutting him off "What'd you just call me?" I said in that same tone
He paused for a moment
"Oh, you mean the part where I called you a dumbass bitch" I tensed up again
"Yeah I said it, what? You don't like it when I call you a dumb bitch"
I then calmly bent down and put my bags on the ground. When I got back up I started to slowly approach him as he continued
"Now why you approaching me? Oh what? You mad now cause I called you a dumb bitch?" [Laughs] "Oh I don't believe dis, a bitch doesn't like being called a bitch. Ha! Ain't that something" [Laughs]
I didn't change my facial expression which at this point was a scowl nor did I change my speed or even my demeanor. The only thing that was changing as I walked toward him was my anger and although it wasn't completely showing, it was slowly rising and it was boiling within me
"Damn you really are a dumb bitch" [Laughs]
My anger had become fury
"And yet you still comin' over here, what'chu gonna do bitch? You gonna cry? You gonna come over and slap me and try to look all tough?" [Laughs]
My fury had turned in to rage
"This bitch think she tough. Shoo, this bitch must be stupid or just plain crazy if she think she can scare somebody" He laughs again
I finally made it over to him and stood 3ft away from him. He smirked and then approached me
"Well? You got anything you wanna say bitch?"
I didn't say a word, I just stared at him as he gave me a smug smile
"See, that's what I thought. You aint scarin' nobody, if you so tough do somethin' then, do somethin" I still said nothing
"That's what I thought, bitch you aint nothin'. See I'm callin' you a bitch, what'chu gonna do about it bitch? What'chu gonna do?"
Still, I didn't say or do anything
"See? You ain't gonna do s-" Before he could finish I quickly punched him in the stomach, hard. He immediately leaned forward and grabbed his stomach and groaned in pain
"SON OF A BITCH!" [Groans Loudly] "YOU A DAMN SHE-MALE!" Before he could stand back up, I kneed him in his private parts which caused him to squeal as he grabbed his private parts and turned away from me. I took a couple steps back and stared at him with the same facial expression and demeanor I had when I approached him as he continued to groan in pain. He then partially turned and stared at me with a snarl and a bit of tears in his eyes.
"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" He then fully turned and gave a pitiful battle cry as he lunged at me with his fist. But I dodged it and then quickly grabbed his punching arm and twisted it behind his back causing him to scream in agony
"AH! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" He yelled in agony
I kept the arm behind him and gave a slight tug which hurt him even more. He then went to his knees, still with his arm twisted behind his back. I tugged on his arm again and he fell face flat on the ground with me partially kneeling on his back with me still holding his arm. With each tug he screamed, which actually grabbed the attention of all the people who were passing by or were in the parking lot or in front of the campus.
"AH! Okay! Okay! I give! I give!" He shouted
I then let go of his arm and stood up. He then sighed of relief and then rolled on his back and stared at me with fear. He looked as if he wanted to say something but decided not to. Still not changing my demeanor, I looked down at the frightened man. I bent down and leaned on my knees and looked him straight in the eye. He probably thought I was gonna do something to him again because he started to back away in fear. But rather than do something, I just stared at him
"I really hate that word" I said in a blank and cold tone. Then I got up and walked away leaving him and the shocked looking crowd that was staring at us behind. I picked up my stuff and started to make my way to my car
"Oh my God can you believe that" A male voice said
"My gosh what happened?" One female voice said
"That was crazy" One voice said
"Did she break any thing?" Another voice said
As I kept on walking, all the commotion I was hearing was starting to fade. I don't regret doing what I did, that guy deserved it and I do not like being made a fool of. If there is one thing I hate than being laughed at, it being called a bitch. I seriously can't stand that word, it's insulting, degrading and very offensive to women. The fact that people, especially back people, black women in particular use that word so casually is ridiculous. I know these days' people are trying to change the meaning behind it and make it in to something positive but to me it's just a waste of time. I mean let's face the facts, just because you change the meaning of something to your liking doesn't mean that the true meaning behind it will go away. Its true meaning will always be that whether you like it or not. I really wish people could just see and understand that, but oh well. All in all, I don't care what you call yourself, your friends or even mom, just don't call me a bitch. If you dare call me the b-word, I'll show you what one really looks like and trust me it won't be pretty.
I finally made it to my car. I opened the door and put all my stuff in the back seat then got in to the driver's seat. I started the car then drove out of the parking lot. As I drove, I started to get lost on my thoughts as I was beginning to wonder what was to come. Well whatever it was I'm sure I'll be ready for it, my new life was about to begin and I can only imagine what's in store for me.
Now what do you guys think? How do you guys feel about my character Elaina? There's more to come for her. Sorry that the Freeman's weren't in this chapter but no worries they'll be back sooner than you think ;) Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and as always…
Thanks for reading :) xoxo
