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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

HeartBroken!


WARNING:- EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.

HeartBroken! 

No, I didn't just get dumped! I didn't do any dumping either! But yes indeed, I'm heartbroken. The world is broken, and my heart is too. There is so much imbalance, and injustice. I want to change it, I feel like I can change it. Society is not helping either. There are some ridiculous laws/rules that are set in place that most at times prevent people who want to help from helping. This morning, as usual, I was at the Bus-Stop waiting for my final bus to school. 

And my head was buried into a book. I rarely talk, except occasionally say hi, have a few conversation- nothing out of the ordinary. And I don't just converse for the sake of it (which is why I don't most of the time). People think it's socially right to greet people and interact with fellow human beings, but truth is, if I'm not interested, I'm not. I try to not pretend to enjoy a conversation when clearly I don't. Trust me, I TRY!

Anyways... I'm not planning on rambling too much...This family ( A Woman, his two kids - a young boy, and a little girl). They were all Caucasian. From their appearance, I could tell they were from the low class. I continued reading, the boy was holding his little sister, and sat next to me. Next thing I knew, the woman excused herself from her kids, said she'll be back. She went across the street and came back with this black man. The boy was still sitting, when the man looked him in the face and I couldn't believe the words that came out next from his mouth.

He didn't care about you, so tell me why I should give a damn about you?

At first, the boy was silent. But he never stopped pestering the boy with that question. "Tell me, why should I give a damn about you?"

Starting to feel uncomforatable.

The boy replied though, simply he said. "Don't". "Why should I give a damn about you?", his voice raised now. "Don't", he replied again. 

His mom told him to leave him alone. He kept pestering the poor boy. Next words he said were, "Go back to your raggedy ass car, and leave me alone".

"Watch your words! Watch the way you talk to me, or I'm-ma slap the shit outta your face".

Obviously, it was escalating! The woman was like, "Uh uh, no you ain't. No you ain't". At this stage, I couldn't read anymore, I couldn't pretend like I was either. I didn't know what to do, but I was getting concerned.

And at that instance, the hatred for this man, the pain I assume he'd  had to deal with for God-knows-how-long could finally be expressed. He spoke out against him, and the next few seconds became defining. He pushed the poor boy's face against the glass frame at the bus stop seat. I had to stand up.

What could I do? I was like "Sir, Sir!" - Those were the only words I could utter. "Sir". The only words I could say, and they sincerely do mean. "This ain't right, I just ain't", and he should have read that.
He grabbed him by the neck and pushed him a little further away from the scene, and I followed. Normally, I shouldn't. That's what society says anyways. It's a personal issue, a family affair, and here everybody minded their own business. This clearly was none of my business, but then again, it was. I cared too much to pretend like nothing was happening. And there were two other men who stood there and just zoned out; well one of them did, and the other I can sincerely say was slightly concerned. I followed the man, and again the only words that would come out of my mouth were "Sir". His words, "I'm trying to calm down". 

"Sir, Sir",  I continued, each time the inflection of my voice changing (out of my control by the way) from "This is not right" to maybe even silently cursing him. I stood in front of him, and I expected him to at least push me away or punch me, or say some mean words to me. Thankfully, none of that happened!

The little girl started crying! He had smashed him against the poor little girl who was smiling just few seconds ago. She was bleeding.

He picked her up, vowing to take her to the hospital. The little boy went to pick up a long piece of wood, ready to hit him, he dropped it, and started to curse him. The woman was frantic. The bus arrived, he put him on the bus, and told him to go home, and call her. They'll be at Texas Children's Hospital.

Still crying, he entered the bus, as well as I did. I motioned to him to come sit beside me. I tried my best to say the comforting words I knew. "It's OK. Just let it out", "It's going to be alright". 

Shockingly he told me, "No it's not OK! My little sister is hurt now. He hurt her!" That made me realize something! Was I actually just saying those words, or did I mean them when I said them?

The next thing I did was to prove that I was truly concerned. I did not even know how the next words came out. 

"Do you know how to pray?". He nodded yes. "What's your little sister's name?" "Layla", he replied. "OK, we're going to pray that Layla is going to be alright"

We bowed our eyes, and I said a few prayer. I asked of his name, he said "Columbus". I asked how old he was, he said thirteen. We prayed some more, and I felt he was reassured. I asked him if he believed everything was going to be alright, he gave me an affirmative response.

He excused himself, to confirm where the bus was stopping so that he wouldn't miss his stop. He stayed and continued conversation with the driver. The bus dropped him at his stop after a while, and he got off the bus. 

Maybe I'll see Columbus again, ever, maybe I won't, but truth is I can't ever forget this day. He, and his family will constantly be in my prayers. We see people like Columbus everyday, but we just ignore them. We pretend as if everything is alright, but indeed there are problems. "No, it's not OK", his words will forever be remembered. But really, what can we do? Well, I guess we can pray that it becomes OK. The world is broken, and my heart is too.

9 comments:

Myne said...

This is a touching story, at least you intervened. Hmm...

AFalomo said...

Well, I'm hoping that changed something. Thanks for reading. That was super fast though, lol.

Ope Adebayo said...

This is a sad story.

AFalomo said...

Ope, yes indeed it is! The world is a sad place!

Myne said...

What if I tell you I read a book of 200 pages in 3hrs max?

Arlee Bird said...

That was a powerful story. You did a good thing--something that more people should do more often.

Sorry you missed the A to Z Challenge but maybe next year. If you have any thoughts about the A to Z Challenge you can still express your opinion on Monday May 2nd.


Hope you join us in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge Reflections Mega Post on Monday May 2nd.
Lee

AFalomo said...

Thank you Arlee. I will watch out for it next year...and I hope to join on May 2nd as well. Thanks for stopping by here.

@Myne, that's impressive. I could too actually, but the problem is I'm easily distracted.

P.E.T. Projects said...

I can imagine how that would affect the boy and his sis for a long time to come.

Its sad how children get treated unfairly with no one caring to help

AFalomo said...

IT's overwhelming when I think of stuff like that (and I do every single minute) It's trauma built up over the years for kids like that. It won't pass away quickly. That's how the dysfunctional cycle continues...he grows up to be what he was exposed to as a child. My heart still aches....