So I woke up. Like any normal day. Happy, as always. Smiling, as usual. I was ready. Well ready for school that is. I loved school! I go to Gem Creek Elementary in a city called Jasper in Georgia. I’m also in the 3rd grade! I liked my teachers and my friends, and I really liked the little girl with the fluffy hair, pretty eyes, and light brown skin that sat next to me in art class. You can’t tell anyone though, it’s a secret. Anyway, my name is James. James Rashawn Marlon to be exact. Today, school was different. Today we had a new kid in our class. He had red hair and freckles all over his face. He kinda looked like the girl Emily in my music class, but way bigger, meaner, and with more freckles.

My teacher, Mrs.  made him stand in front of her with her hands on both his shoulders. “Class, we have a new student! This is Billy Crawford. Say “Hi Billy!” ” said Mrs. Darling. “Hi Billy!” said the class. After we said hi she put him right beside me. At first Billy didn’t say anything but when he looked at me he looked like he’d just seen a giant booger! Which is nasty by the way. Billy didn’t say anything to the teacher though, but he stomped and stomped all the way to my table where me, Mia ,and my best friend Carlos sat. He sat down hard in the empty seat next to me. As soon has he sat down Mrs. Darlene passed out some color-by-number sheets and crayons. I thought Billy looked mean but I thought I should ask him to be my friend first and see. “Hi, my name’s James! This is Mia and -”, but I didn’t get to finish because Billy interrupted me and said “I don’t care what your names are. Don’t talk to me."

"I don't care what your names are. Don't talk to me.

We all became silent very quickly. “That’s not nice Billy! We just want to be your friends.” said Mia very calmly. But Billy didn’t care. He looked at her with angry eyes and said “Well maybe I don’t want to be your friend!” “Why?!” said Mia. I could tell she was getting upset , sure could. “Because you’re friends with him!” and Billy. Just then he pointed at me right after he said that. Now this is where we all got confused. Billy went on though, “ You can’t trust them! They shouldn’t even be here! My daddy even told me that they’re supposed to be our servants, picking cotton and stuff!” Now when Billy said “us” he pointed to himself and Mia. I couldn’t say they looked like each other enough to be an “us” but they both were caucasian. Mama taught me that word. She says that calling them white is rude. Both also had light brown eyes, I think Mrs.Darlene called it hazel. But other than that they looked nothing alike.

Why are you being so mean!?

Because you can't trust them! My dad told me that they’re supposed to be our servants too!

Billy got so mad that the teacher had to come calm him down. For the rest of the day I was thinking about what Billy said. When I got home I told Mama what happened today and when I did she and Daddy kept looking at each other like they were worried about something. They didn’t say anything though just listened. The next day Mama took me to school herself, she almost never had time to drop me off at school because of work. Mama also got out of the car with me and walked with me  to the lady at the front desk. When Mama was talking to the lady she started to tell her the same story I told her and Daddy. When she finished the lady said she would tell my teacher to move Billy’s seat away from mine. Mama wasn’t okay with it because she made that faced where she would frown and make her eyebrows move kind of low on her forehead like she was mad but not really.

That would be great!

He could move seats if you would like?

Mama smiled suddenly and said “That would be great!” She then turned to me and said “Go on to class baby.” “Okay.” I said. I walked into class. As I sat down I noticed Billy was glaring at me. “What?” I said. “Nothing.” he replied. “Just that my dad says that black people are really dumb because they didn’t know how to read or write.” “But...I know how to read and write.” I replied with a whimper. Billy chuckled, “Yeah right.” he said. “I bet your as dumb as a doorknob.” “No I’m not!” I shouted. I was mad as a bull is what I was. Just then Carlos stood up and raised his hand. Mrs. Darlene came over and said “Carlos is everything okay?” Carlos shook head and told Mrs.Darling everything. He told her how Billy said I wasn’t smart, and how I said I could read and write but he still called me dumb. The teacher took Billy into the hallway  and the talked for about five to ten minutes. After he came back in she brought me into the hallway too.

I bet your as dumb as a doorknob!

No I'm not!

Suddenly my eyes got hot and blurry, and I walked out the door into the hallway. As Mrs.Darlene closed the door very slowly so it wouldn’t slam, I started thinking about what Billy said today and yesterday. I was thinking in my head for a good five seconds. Am I really dumb? Mama says I’m smart. Was she telling the truth? Why is Billy so mean to me? Is there something wrong with me to make him hate me? Why is Billy so mean to me? Why? When I got out of my head and back into the hallway, I looked up at Mrs.Darline who was staring at me the way Mama did when I was sick or got hurt. She bent down and gave me a warm hug and wiped the tears off my face that I hadn’t noticed were there. It almost felt like Mama but not really. I wanted her with me. I wanted her warm hugs and her worried eyes.

When the teacher finished hugging me she told me that when I go home today to tell my Mama to talk to me about bullying and racism. She wrote it down on a bright pink sticky note pad she always kept in her back pocket if she had one. I didn’t know what either of those words meant, just that I heard that second word, racism, while Daddy was watching the news. After I took the pink sticky note Mrs.Darlene hugged me one more time and told me over my shoulder “If anything happens with Billy again, you make sure you come to me alright?” “Yes ma’am.” I replied. “And Billy is also having a talk with his father so I’m sure you both can become good friends soon enough!” I wasn’t so sure about that. Billy always said his daddy told him all that stuff about African Americans anyway. When got back into the classroom Mrs. Darlene’s phone rang. As usual, we all sang “The phone, the phone is ringing!” one time each time the phone rang. Everytime it made Mrs.Darlene smile.

The phone, the phone is ringing!

RING RING RING!!!

It was a little jingle the class made up on the first day of the school. After Mrs. Darlene smiled her usual smile we stopped singing and got back to work. None of us paid attention cause we really didn’t want to know who Mrs.Darlene was talking to or what it was about. When she hung up she came over to Billy and told him to go sit at another table that was all the way across the room. When she moved him, Billy smiled so big that he seemed nice for just a moment. After class I heard Billy talking to Mia about how he was glad he didn’t have to sit by me anymore, looking up every once in a while to make sure I was watching. Mia rolled her eyes in response and ran to catch up with me and Carlos. Outside the school Mama was waiting in her dark red car. My music teacher led me too her car as soon as she saw Mama. That’s because she and Mama are good friends from high school, I don’t know what that is but I’ll be going there one day.

?

So I got in the car with Mama, she asked me how school was and I told her everything. With each sentence she got a little bit more tense. Finally when we got home I showed Mama the sticky note Mrs. Darlene gave me. I told her that Mrs. Darlene told her to talk to me about these two words. She stared at the paper for a while, suddenly she looked up from the paper and down at me who was patiently staring at her the entire time. “We’ll talk about it when Daddy gets home okay?” she said “Okay.” I answered. I wasn’t really bothered by it but Mama sure was. “Mama!” I shouted. My family always did that. Yelling at each other so we wouldn’t have to walk all the way to where they are just to say one thing. “What?” she shouted back. “We got any more Pizza Spins or did Daddy eat them all?” I asked. “Their in the pantry on the bottom shelf! I bought some more yesterday” she replied, hiding her smile know she ate the last few. “Okay!” As I hugged the party size bag of crunchy, pizza flavored chips, I heard jingling keys and the front door opening. “Daddy!” I shouted as I ran into his arms.