Chapter 9

Flashback: Lyndda and LynorIn the era, full of bell bottoms and platforms that were the craze at the time. The home computer was just invented for the "everyday people" . The thick air was full of musk, gasoline, and linoleum. It was also a time full of racial tensions, bigotry, segregation, and protests. Change was always happening around the corner. It was never a dull moment. Well change seems to always follow Lyndda whether or not she wanted it to.... On July 23rd in 1970, Lyndda was sunbathing at the Jazz festival when a tall gentleman walked up and said "ma'am, this is my spot. The ticket says north lot, part A, section 5." Lyndda sarcastically said "what.. Are you going to take it from me? Look... I'll scoot over a little and we can share. It's more than enough room for both of us. Umm what's your name?" He looked at her and annoyingly replied "Lynor.... And I did not buy a ticket to share my spot so please leave." Lyndda muttered "fine, but word of advice, stop being so stiff! You won't get anywhere with that personality. Also my name is Lyndda." Lynor scoffed and said "well thankfully I don't have to try to get anywhere since my family already accomplished that..... Look, do I have to call the cops on you?"  Lyndda gave him a disgusting look and said "this is why I don't like coming to these events because of the privilege pampering little boys. Don't worry, I'm leaving you to your little Jazz concert....BUT I would like to say this."  Lynor gave her an annoying look and uttered "go on." Lyndda took a deep breath and said "it's because of families like you, the system is the way it is now. You act like your family actually did hard labor to get to this point...No, it was because of the enslaved people that was forcibly taken from their homeland."  Lynor laughingly replied "wait, don't tell me you're one of THOSE PEOPLE...look, I did not enslave nobody. I can't go back in time and tell my great- great-grandfather to let the slaves go." Lyndda took a deep breath and gave him a piece of paper with an address on it.  She confidingly muttered "if you want to learn how to help the black people, then come to this rally...your little brain might grow an inch, if you listen, but don't take this as a joke..it involves people's lives and some people aren't living as good you." Lynor looked at the paper and mockingly said " you mean as well as me... some people aren't living as well as me." Lynor smiled and laid on the grass while Lyndda blazed through the exit sign of the Jazz concert. A week later, Lynor was eating breakfast while his father came in with a cup of coffee. His father nonchalantly asked "son, how are you?"  Lynor looked up and said "doing good dad." He looked at the piece of paper that Lyndda gave him.  His father looked at him and asked "what's that?" Lynor hesitantly replied "Um, someone wants me to go see a protest on Friday. It's in front of the bank." He sees his father furrowed his brows and asked "what's wrong?"  His father looked him in the eyes and said "son, don't waste your time on trivial things. Soon those people will be behind bars asking for a plea deal." Lynor looked at his father questionably and asked "what did those people do to end up behind bars...aren't they just asking for equal rights?" His father laughingly responded "why would I even consider that notion when they are below me. Now finish your breakfast, I'm going to work." As Lynor watched his dad leave the room, he couldn't help, but think about Lyndda from the Jazz Festival.  As the day for the protest arrived, he couldn't decide on an outfit to wear to it. If I wear white, then they will automatically think that I am some privileged boy...I mean..I am. If I wear black, then they may think that I am down for the cause....wait. I need to wear something that is not noticeable. After he picked his outfit, he drove to the parking lot near the bank and walked to the protest. As he was walked to the protest, everyone started staring at him in shock. He nodded his head at a few people and waved at the rest. He looked ahead and saw Lyndda talking through a bullhorn.  Lyndda started to see the crowd getting bigger so she stepped on the crate and began her speech. She assertively said "first, I would like to thank each of you for coming and supporting this cause. This bank is making it harder for black people to maintain a stable living. Every time, a black person comes in to ask for a loan to buy a house, store, or even a car....the interest is at least 50%. Interest that high will make us pay back for the rest of our lives. Only one representative is willing to even help us and the rest just spit on us. This have to change or else our kids will be dealing with this discrimination."  An old man in the crowd yelled out "my kin folk and I will be getting kicked out of our house because the owners sold it. I can't have my family living on the street. I need help." A middle aged woman from the crowd yelled out "They don't care about us, we need our own banks. That is the only way for us to go forward."  A young man from the crowd yelled "we need to be educated on every level. We need to have our own people representing us in the government."  Lynor took everything in, but couldn't understand why they were getting so much resistance from the government. Lyndda stepped down and gave the mic to the young man.  She walked toward Lynor and said "I'm surprised that you actually came so did you learn anything?"  Lynor gave her a confused look and asked "why is the interest on the loans so high? And now that I think about it...there's no black person working in the government unless they are cleaning. I know that I'm saying the obvious and asking redundant questions. It's just ....I have never seen my dad actually pay a bill and I get everything from my dad. I never...." Lyndda interrupted him and said "the people that are running the show don't want black people to create something for themselves so they use different means to keep them down. I bet you don't even understand what I just said?"  Lynor gave her a smirk and said "well, you can't just blame it all on white people. We are not all racist." Lyndda interrupted him and replied "uh uh you still benefit from it! You could walk into any company and get a job. I have to pray to get through the application process, then pray that they accept me to finish the interview. It's not the same!"  Lynor shrugged it off and said "well I can't change that, but I can stand here and listen." Lynor stopped talking and saw his father standing across the street from him. His father started to walk toward him so Lynor ran toward him to stop him from stopping the protest. His father furiously yelled "what are you doing here with those people? I told you to not come..now I have to fix your mess. I already called the authorities."  Lynor anxiously replied "wait..what did you do? They just want the same thing we want."  Police sirens sound wee woo wee woo.....Lynor turns around to see the police drive up to the protest. He sees the officers prepare to take out their guns. Lynor ran to Lyndda and pushed her to the ground.  Lynor whispered "stay on the ground, they are about to shoot." Lyndda yelled "down on the ground" to the crowd. The crowd started dispersing by running away, but the police already shot at least 5 people. Lynor and Lyndda started crawling to the other side of the building. Lyndda grabbed Lynor and pulled him through a side door. Lynor anxiously said "turn on the lights, I can't see!"  Lyndda annoyingly replied "I'm trying to right now..you could also help by the way." When the light came on, he is face to face with Lyndda. Lyndda made an awkward noise and slowly walked backward until she fell over a chair. Lyndda tried to pick herself up until she saw a crack in the wall. She accidentally touched the crack in the wall and part of the wall fell through. Lynor tried to shield his eyes because a bright shiny light is spilled through the hole. Lynor squinted his eyes and asked "where is that light coming from? Is it from the next room?" Lyndda tried to squeeze through the hole and yelled "what is this place? I know this can't be part of the building." Lynor awkwardly said "um let's not trespass on someone's property."  Lyndda snorted and said"fine then, I'll go myself."  Lyndda's whole body disappeared into the hole. As she crawled through the hole, she saw that the sun has a pink tint to it. The grass has a deep blue color. The trees looked like they came from the dinosaur era. The snails had wings and there were green ants on the ground. The bushes were cut up in different animal shapes. She happily yelled "what is this place? This can't be earth, it's heaven. The sun looks totally different. It smelled like fresh apple pie that just came out of the oven. Those bushes look weird. Lynor, come see this!"  Lynor poked his head out and said "this can't be real? Where are we?? This looks amazing. The colors and the insects are even different." As he fully left the hole, the hole closes up within seconds. They tried to go back inside the hole, but they just end up hitting a wall. As they felt for weak spots in the wall, Lyndda gave up and started exploring the area.  Lyndda turned around to look at Lynor and said "well we might as well look around to find out a way to get out of here.... It's better than staying here and starving!"Make sure to like, comment, and follow!Italics-Internal Dialogue