• This is the story of my best friend, Damian. Before we do anything, my child, you really should know a bit more about Damian. He was 4 foot, 8 inches when this story took place. He had the most intense eyes that would sparkle and snap at you when you looked directly into them. He had black hair like his dad and ocean gray eyes like his mom. About his personality, he was the most fun loving 12 years old I had ever met. He also almost never got angry with anyone. Almost everyone felt happy when he was around. To most, he was known as Cowboy because he used to live on a ranch with his uncle. I just called him Damian. I loved him like a brother. Although grownups hated it when their children were around him, some kid stuck to their guns and played with him anyway. But, if living on the streets didn’t get him picked on, another problem did. You see, Damian was black…


    Chapter 1
    “Weird boy, strange boy!” The bullies from the local school ran past me, chasing Damian down the street. I sighed and ran after them. At that time I didn’t know Damian at all. But, I hated it when the bullies pick on someone just because they’re different. So, I ran over to defend him and call off the bullies. Most boys would think that a girl defending them would be the most embarrassing thing in the world but I didn’t think about that as I pulled one of the bullies off Damian. The others got off and Damian looked up.
    “Jeez, Jaden!” The leader of the bullies, Dalman Richers screamed at me. “What? Do you have a crush on a black boy? ‘cause that’s against the law in this city.”
    “NO!” I screamed back. “I just don’t like it when a couple of idiots pick on someone who’s different than all of you stupids and your dumb daddypoos. So why don’t you and your weird little friends go home.”
    “Don’t you ever say anything about my dad, Jaden Wilcons.” Dalman said with his teeth clenched and his hands balled up into fists. “If you keep talking like that, I’m gonna forget the fact that you’re a girl and beat your guts out.”
    “Hey!” I shouted at him. “Don’t you call me a girl. ‘cause you’re more of a girl than I ever will be.”
    I hit him in the nose and he fell to the ground. He got up and gave me the biggest death stare I have ever seen. He jumped at me, sending us both to the ground. We both punched and kicked as much as we could. But, before we knew it, Damian was pulling us apart. It took all the bullies to hold Dalman back; Damian was holding on to my forearm.
    “You might not want to listen to me because of my color,’ Damian whispered in my ear. “But, you might want to just want to forget about it. It works for me since I’m not dead yet”
    He laughed a little but stopped when he realized that I wasn’t laughing with him. He cleared his throat and let go of me. I guess he didn’t want to get in the fight. But, to everyone’s surprise, I grabbed Damian’s hand and dragged him away.
    I didn’t let go until we were on the small bridge that was over the river. We stopped walking when we were right in the middle of the bridge. Damian was blushing slightly; I was still fuming. Damian tried to talk but stopped himself. I just kept thinking about two things, one, how I was going to get back at Dalman and two, how I was going to use Damian to get revenge. I sighed and told myself to calm down.
    “So,” I said slowly. “I’m sorry about dragging you all the way over here. I just had a feeling that if I left you there, they would keep beating you up… and that would of sucked. So, yeah.”
    “Oh,” Damian blushed all the harder. “It’s fine.” He hesitated. “Um, are you going to call the cops or something because I touched you?”
    I laughed a little bit. “No. Of course not. I don’t do things like that. Why would I? How are you any different than me? Sheesh.”
    “Oh,” Damian looked really surprised. “But, we are different in a way.”
    “In what way?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
    “Um,” Damian looked at me a little funny. “I have a bit darker skin than you do.”
    “So,” I gave him a look. “Why does the color of your skin matter? It’s not like I go around saying, I’m different because I have white skin. Stay away ‘cause I’m white. I just think that’s weird.” Damian looked a little hurt. “Um,” I sighed and felt a small feeling of guilt. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make fun of you. I’m always told that I have a big mouth. I really didn’t mean it in a mean way. I’m sorry.” I blushed a little bit and looked down at the river.
    “It’s fine,” Damian said. “I’m used to it. But, you’re the first person to apologize. Thanks for that.”
    “Oh,” I was a little surprise. “You’re welcome.” We stopped and looked down at the river. A boat was coming and that was when Damian did the strangest thing ever.
    He ducked.
    And he didn’t come back up until the boat was almost out of sight behind us.
    “What was that?” I asked in surprise.
    “I just thought,” he hesitated. “I just thought that you might not want to be seen with me. It might start a few rumors around town.”
    “Do I look like I care about rumors?” I said angrily. “I just beat up a bully for goodness sake. You would think that I really don’t care about rumors. Look.” I pointed down the river. “Here comes a boat. Stay standing or I’m throwing you off the bridge.” Damian looked lightly uncomfortable but he stayed standing anyway. As the boat past under us I saw something unusual. The boat was filled with water and someone was lying face down in the boat.
    “Um,” I said. “Is that guy breathing?” We looked at each other in confusion.
    “I don’t think so.” Damian looked down at the boat slowly passing by. “Nope. He’s not even moving.”
    “Oh no!” I climbed over the railing and dove into the water. I could hear Damian saying something in surprise. I swam over to the boat and shook the guy.
    “Hey!” I screamed at him. “Hey! Wake up!” The guy didn’t move. I grabbed his arm and started pulling him out of the boat. Then I realized something.
    He was too heavy for me to move.
    “Damian!” I screamed up at him. “Help me out and jump in! The guys too heavy for me to move.” Damian looked at me like I was crazy. “Come on!” I screamed again.
    “I’m coming.” Damian said. He gingerly eased himself off the bridge and was soon right next to me.
    “Help me move this guy.” I said.
    “How?” Damian said. He looked extremely unhappy to be in the water.
    “O.K.”I said calmly. “Grab his other arm and pull him out of the boat. Then, we’ll pull him to shore and see if he’s breathing or not.”
    “O.K.” Damian grabbed his arm and we pulled the guy to shore. The guy was about 15 and really skinny. He was wearing really ratty clothes and had a tattered knapsack around his shoulder. I didn’t recognize him but I didn’t care about that right then. Instead, I check to see if he was dead or not. He was unconscious but breathing. I shook his shoulder to see if he would wake up. He did.
    “Whoa,” He sat up like he expected for us to attack us.
    “Um,” I looked at Damian, silently hoping he would say something. He didn’t. “Are you alright?” I looked down and realized he was bleeding. “Oh my gosh.” I bent down towards him to see his wound. He backed away by a little. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just trying to see how your arm is. It’s bleeding pretty badly.” I grabbed his arm and looked at the wound. It was bleeding pretty hard.
    “Whoa.” I looked at the guy. “How did that happen? It looks terrible. Does it hurt?” The guy still looked like he was really scared of us but he shook his head in a no. I touched it and he gasped in pain. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said to the guy. “Here, let me try this.” I ripped off a strip of cloth from my shirt and tied it extremely tight around his arm.
    But wait grandma. If you just jumped in the river, wouldn’t your shirt have a million billion germs on it and then the wound would get infected?
    Well, at that time, we didn’t know all the medical stuff that most people go today.
    Oh. Well, I knew that.
    Of course you do. Now, do you mind if I keep going with my story?
    No, I’m sorry. Please keep going, Grandma.
    All right.
    After the guy’s arm was wrapped up, he struggled up and ran away, into the woods.
    “Hey!” I shouted at him. “Where are you going?” The guy just kept running. So, I left him alone.
    “Um,” I jumped. Damian was looking at me. I had almost forgotten he was there. “I should get going.” He said, shaking some of his hair out of his face. “My grandma’s going to worry about me and Mr. Smith will get angry if I don’t help in his tobacco fields. I, um, I guess I’ll see you later.”
    I smiled at him and said, “I’ll see you! Bye!”
    He looked the happiest I had seen him, and I haven’t seen him that much. “O.K.” He said. “Bye.” He ran over to the bridge, ran across it and was soon gone. I walked into the woods to see if I could find the guy that I helped. It took a while but all of the sudden, a hand grasped over my mouth and another grabbed my shoulder. I screamed swung my elbow back, trying to hit whoever was holding me in the stomach. It worked and I tried to run but another pair of hands grabbed me and through me over their shoulder, like a sack of flour. Another person put a drawstring bag over my head. I was carried away.
    I fell asleep on the way to where ever we were going. I had tried screaming for help but with no answer. There was no one but my captures. I awoke to find to find that I was tied to a tree in the middle of a village.
    And the boy I saved was standing right in front of me.
    I started trying to kick him or hurt him in anyway but without success. I swore at him through the gag but not a whole lot got out. Luckily for me, by the look on his face, he got the picture. He gave me a pity- filled face and walked away. I screamed a few things after him.
    Soon, the boy came back with a man. The man had gray hair, an old, ratty, gray suit, and had a dream catcher around his neck. I was too stunned to do anything. I just sat there like a frog caught in a beam of sunlight. The man kneeled down next to me and looked straight into my eyes. I starred back. He looked me up and down, prodding my stomach, cheek, and leg, as though he was trying to figure out how strong or fat I was. But, he soon got up and walked back over to the boy. They spoke softly to each other and then walked away, I was left alone, except for the glances I got from a few people who walked past. They all looked like they had been living in the forest for many years, maybe even their entire life. I fell asleep again after I got over the fact that I could feel many pairs of eyes on me everywhere I turned.
    I awoke to someone’s hand touching my face. My eyes flew open. Damian was standing over me. I tried to say something but his hand covered my mouth. He had freed me! I raised my arm to pry away his hand. But, when I touched his hand, he let go without saying a word. I rose quietly. He followed me out of the camp. It was night so the moon gave us a nice light. When we finally reached the edge of the woods, I turned to Damian and asked, “How did you know where I was?” He looked a little uncomfortable as he tried to answer.
    “Well,” He said. “When I left, I realized that I ran away in the wrong direction. When I went back to the bridge, I saw you entering the forest. I followed and saw them take you away. I waited until it was dark and then I found a knife of one of the homeless men to cut you loss. And the rest you know.” I smiled.
    “Well, thanks,” I said. “That was nice of you!” As we walked towards the plantation were Damian worked, I realized something horrible. I turned towards Damian, grabbing him by the shoulders and turning him to face me. “Oh my god.” I said. “Are you gonna get in a lot of trouble for being this late?” I studied his face for any answer just in case he didn’t give it to me. He simply nodded. I groaned. “Dang it!” I said angrily. “Why did you do that? Which family do you work for?”
    “Um…” He stopped. “I work for Dalman’s family.”
    “WHAT?!?!?!” I screamed. “Oh my god! I’m gonna kill that little weasel! I swear I will! He’s gonna DIE!!!!!!! AURGH!!!!!!!!!!” I grabbed Damian’s hand for the second time that day, tromping over many fields until we finally reached Dalman’s family plantation. I could see Dalman and his parents sitting on their huge porch, waiting for Damian to come back. They all rose in surprise when they saw me and Damian walking along the path. I was going to trample some crops but I refrained, knowing that Damian would be punished on the extreme. “What are you DOING?” Dalman’s father, Richy, screamed. I screamed right back. “What are YOU doing? I said angrily. “Why are you all ready to punish a kid who just saved my life?”
    Damian’s hand was sweaty in mine, probably scared out of his mind. I squeezed his hand in comfort. He smiled in comfort. But the smile was wiped off his face when Richy went into the house. He tensed and I followed his lead. Richy came back with a long leather whip. I stepped in front of him; my bravery level as high as I thought it could go. “If you try that I will, well, I will totally kill you!”
    “Jaden!” Richy said angrily. “You should know that in your age I am legally aloud to whip you as well as Damian!”
    “WHAT!!!!!” I screamed back! “No you fricken can’t! I didn’t do anything although I was extremely considering trampling your crops but I pitied your poor workers and decided to not give them any more work. NOW TELL MY WHAT THE HECK I DID?!”
    Richy smiled. “My son told my that you have the hots for my slave, which happens to be the young piece of trash you’re holding hands with.” He grinned again and made a motion. A sort of gesture. I turned just in time to see two men coming towards us. One grabbed me and the other grabbed Damian. They ripped us apart, smiling coldly. Damian was silent but I was swearing and screaming at the top of my lungs. I was tied to a pole, Damian was right next to me on another pole. I could hear Richy screaming orders to another helper he had. I heard a swishing sound and felt a stinging pain right across the arch in my lower back. I bit my lip and trapped a scream in my throat. The stinging pain spread all over my back until it was everywhere. But, they didn’t care. They kept going until I almost blanked out. But I forced myself to stay awake and stay strong. A scream escaped and I couldn’t stop it from coming. I saw Damian out of the corner of my eye; he had passed out and was leaning on the pole, shirt in shreds and back all bloody. I screamed his name, not really knowing what I was doing. Then, I was in the same position, too beat up and bloody to stay awake.
    I awoke to a young black women leaning over me. She smiled the warmest smile in the world. I tried to rise but she gently held me down. I turned my head when I saw some movement to my left. Damian was lying on a cot next to me. I looked up at the women and asked if he was all right. She nodded. Sighing happily relieved that he was ok. He woke up and the women moved to his bedside. “Wait!” He said. “Is Jaden ok?” He sat up and looked around.
    “Hey!” I said. “Blind person! I’m right here!” Damian’s face lit up when he saw me. I sat up before the women could do anything. I swung my legs over and sat on the side of the bed, facing him. He did the same. “Are you alright?” I tried to look at my back, trying to see what the heck was wrong with it. I didn’t need to turn my head all around to see that I had the worst kind of wound in the world for a white girl. I blushed and leapt up. “How long have I been out?”
    “About four hours.” She said. “It’s only five in the morning.”
    “Oh thank God!” I said. I leapt up and walked out of the room.
    “Wait!” The women ran up and gently touched my arm. “I don’t think your mother will like it if you come home with that shirt on.” I blushed harder.
    “Is it that bad?” I asked. “And tell as though I’m related to you.”
    Damian smiled and then laughed. “It looks pretty bad.” His expression turned from happy to curious. “I have a question… if that’s alright.” I nodded, rolling my eyes. He tilted his head slightly, like he was curious about something. “How did you stay awake longer than I did? I don’t mean to sound rude but you hardly seem the type to be able to stand that kind of punishment.”
    “Well,” I said. “That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve already had that type of treatment. My dad’s a drunk and my mum’s dead. I get a beatin’ like that almost every day. So, it wasn’t so hard not to scream. I just wanted to keep my mind clear and I can’t do that while screaming my bloody head off. That’s the reason I have to go. I’m really gonna get it if I’m not home by six and it’s five already. I’ll see ya, Damian.”
    I ran out the door and all most made it before Damian came up behind me, carrying a shirt that looked a bit like mine. I shrugged it on and hugged him. He stepped away, surprised. “What was that?” He said, looking ready to pass out. I looked him straight in the eye.
    “Damian,” I said seriously. “I need you to do something for me.”
    “What?” He said, suddenly sounding a bit frightened.
    “When you talk to me,” I said. “Talk like we have to same colored skin.” I ran and left him standing there with a huge grin plastered on his face.