The Last People on Earth IV – Miriam

The Hotel Westborough was a beautiful old place, completely made of bricks, with beautiful antique furniture in the dining room. When he pulled up, there was no one around. He was early, so he went inside to spruce up. He noticed there were no piles of clothing in the lobby, or in the dining room. “Thankfully”, he said out loud. After combing his hair and straightening his tie, he hung out in the lobby for a while. He tried texting her, to see where she was, but he heard a noise outside, and knew immediately it was a car door!

He headed for the front door, and saw a mini-van parked in the loading zone. It wasn’t until he got outside that he had the shock of his life. When she came around the van, and headed towards him, he was stunned. His jaw fell open, his eyes popped out, and he dropped his cell phone, which broke into at least 5 pieces. He actually stumbled as if he’d been struck. She stopped in her tracks.

“Oh God!”, he said out loud. She was tall, very, very tall, and thin. So thin, he wondered silently, if she was sick. She appeared to be African, complete with  traditional African clothing, including a huge headdress on top of her head, the size of a small basket. He wondered if she was Muslim, and fell to his knees, covering his face with his hands. “Oh God!” he said again, not realizing how this was affecting her.

She felt anger boiling in her chest, and head, coming down her arms and into her hands, forming into fists. She thought, “He hates me!!!” Everything in her was repulsed, she could kill him right here, but instead she shouted, “You pig!!” “You hateful, racist pig!!” Still clueless, he stood up saying, “What?….what do you mean?”

He took a step forward, and she backed up. “No! Stay away from me!”, she yelled. “You racist!” He was beginning to understand now and said, “No, no, that’s not it…..no, I’m not a racist!” He took another step towards her. “Don’t you touch me! Stay away…..” she was backing up when one of her heals got caught in a hole on the sidewalk. She was still backing up and began falling. He lunged forward to help her, she screamed, “No!” She went down hard, scraping her right arm, and her upper right leg, on the pavement.

He reached for her, but she lifted one of her very long arms, and said, “Don’t you DARE touch me!!” She was seething with anger, as she laid there bleeding and in pain. She had experienced abuse before from racist white people, and she wanted nothing to do with him. He didn’t know what to do or say, it had all gone wrong. “I’ll get the first aid kit!” he said, and he took off towards the Mercedes.

“Just leave it”, she said, when he returned. It was his turn now, and he knew what to say. “Listen, I’ll leave it here, but you need to know this – yes I was shocked.” “You are very, very tall, and that was a huge surprise.” “Yes, I was expecting you to be white, but that’s only because I’m white”. “And you’re from Canada!” He began yelling, “I don’t hate anyone!” “I was just surprised, and that’s all!” And with that, he stormed away, into the hotel lobby.

To be continued.

Writing and Image © Copyright 2015, nicodemasplusthree

Peace and blessings to everyone.

“If you love nature, you will love people.”