Dark Like Me

Sirrah stands in the McDonald's line waiting for her turn to order. She can feel all the eyes on her, she knows that she doesn't have anything on her clothes or face. They are staring at her skin color which is a charcoal black tone. Sirrah continues to hold her head up on the outside, however on the inside she wants to seriously crawl under a rock and hide forever. But, she could not let anyone know how sensitive she is about her skin tone.



        "Next!" The female cashier calls.



Sirrah steps up to the register and orders a bacon ranch salad with a sweet tea. The female rings up the order and says, "5.69."



Sirrah swipes her card and it goes through. The female hands her a medium sized cup.



        "Uh, I think something escaped from the zoo." Someone shouts out.



Sirrah takes the cup and goes to the fountain drink area.



        "Naw, that's an human being, I think. Though, she does look like that thing I saw at the fair last night."



Tears swell up in Sirrah's eyes, not understanding how people can be so cruel to someone they do not know.



        "Really? OMG! It's escaped!" Someone else says and half the restaurant titters.



        "Bacon Ranch Salad?"



Sirrah takes the bag and just about runs out of McDonald's and jumps in the car with her father, whom is the same color as she. The look on his daughter's face slightly disturbs him, "Sirrah, what's wrong?"



She clicks her seat belt and steadies the bag of food on her lap and placesthe cup in the holder. "Nothing, I am okay." She lies and looks out the window.



He backs out of the parking lot and goes down the street. Her father is the high rank of the Military, teh exact same color as she, yet he doesn't get ridiculed or teased. Though, if one does, he is able to pull their rank. He demands respect, Sirrah didn't demand that. She just wants people to see her beyond her skin tone. She has one good friend that doesn't mind and her name is Alchemy White, she gets teased about her name a lot.



Sirrah guesses that is where they had a lot in common. Sirrah asked the history behind Alchemy's name, such as why her mother named her that. But, Alchemy would never say why, Sirrah left that alone.