The Adopted Daughter

CHAPTER 1: NEW NEIGHBORHOOD, NEW FRIENDS

I guess growing up in a mixed race family with strict rules was part of my upbringing….can't complain as I was still a middle school student trying to ensure that I got good grades, was well behaved, had a small social circle which also meant small number of friends. My mum was from an upper class mixed race family raised by a black father and white mother, while my dad was raised in a white upper class family. When you saw the way I looked, a lot of the resemblance was from both mum and dad. Although there were times I would hear from people who visited our family that I didn't look at all like my parents, others would say I looked a lot of like my father or a lot like my mum. It didn't bother me much because I always knew that my mum and dad were loving, kind, friendly and the most supportive parents I ever had.

As a middle school student, I knew it was never going to be easy especially being a mixed colored student, but that wasn't going to interfere with my learning or making friends at all! As long as I studied well, listened to the teachers and didn't cause any trouble, and most importantly minded my own business, all was going to be just fine. Nevertheless, middle school had been fun starting at sixth grade then seventh grade and finally eighth grade, although I must say it was a fun carefree school life in sixth grade, lots of in class activities, not that much homework (quite surprisingly) but tons of after school activities. I had to make sure that I was present and active in something which of course had to be decisions made by my parents. Nonetheless, they made good choices for me….I joined the debate club, journalism club and my favorite two sports being badminton and archery club…they knew I was a sports person and enjoyed writing and actively participating in debates.

Moving on to seventh grade at the Chicago Middle School, the studies started becoming a bit challenging especially the math class…what was that subject again…mathematics 7? Algebra!!? No thanks!! And the sciences….but hey its middle school so why not enjoy it and the surprises that will be on the way….funny thing about seventh grade being bullied was no exception…guessing it was cause of being a mixed colored student…no surprises but as long as I didn't get into any trouble, grades were good that was good enough for my parents to never be called into school.

However, it was not always glamorous especially in my case, apparently something unexpected happened to me on Friday afternoon, right as I was about to leave for my after school activities and was already very late, trouble came knocking on my door in the middle school corridor…..two body built guys, and one pretty blond haired girl…knew they were seventh graders as well but was never my concern to know their names as they were never in my social circle but I noticed they were never the friendly type and they looked serious business which was not looking good at all…I told myself here we go.

Bully A: Where are you off to?

Diana (Me): None of your business

Bully A: Say what? (Interrupted by Bully B (female)

Bully B: what do we have here? (Takes my backpack, opens it and throws out everything on the floor)

Diana: Give me back my backpack…bitch!!

Bully B: What did you say to me? I am going to teach you a good lesson today

(Diana, almost in tears, not sure what do say….she wants to badly fight back but she knows that once she does, it will be the end and would be doomed with my parents….so she plays it cool)

Bully B: Says to Bully A and Bully C, get her up against the lockers...take off her jacket….(slaps Diana back and forth on her face)

Diana tries to control her temper and allows herself to take the beating and hitting.

Diana: Listen guys, I ain't got any beef with you, so why don't we settle this in another way…I got cash, take my electronics whatever you find valuable in my backpack take, just let me go please please...(almost in tears).

Bully B: You called me a bitch….we have a score to settle….

As Bully B was about to hit Diana, Diana took hold of her hand and shoved it aside, stood firm, pushed them aside saying "I am late for my activity practice session, now unless you wanna see me going to my activity session in bruises, then when asked all I go to do is show them your pictures on the school security cameras, I mean you are on the school camera (pointing at the camera), your choice."

They let go of Diana, warning her 'we ain't done….we will find you!!'

I panicked, got my stuff, shoved them into my backpack and went straight for my debate club. I was already late twenty five minutes!!

(Knocking on the door) Mr. Johnson: Come in! Well, well, if it isn't Diana…you are late twenty five minutes…what happened?

Diana: I got delayed with some personal issues…(I couldn't and wasn't about to say what happened at the locker area, that I was bullied by two big tough guys and a blond girl…didn't even know they names….wasn't about to get myself into any trouble.

Diana: I am truly and very sorry Mr. Johnson, it will never happen again!!

Mr. Johnson: It better be! I will excuse you but let this be the first and last time being late, don’t let it happen again, otherwise you will be dismissed from this club, understood?

Diana: Yes, Mr. Johnson.

Mr. Johnson: Take your seat! Alright, so where were we?

Jaime and Chris: What happened to you?

Diana: I don't want to talk about it…will explain later. To be honest, I was not ready or willing to talk or share any details of what happened. I know the entire incident was recorded on camera but whether the security caught it or not, only time will tell. For now, I was off the hook with them bullies but I knew it was not for long. My only way was to avoid them no matter what, in school and out of school which meant this weekend I was to find myself staying indoors at home, no outings, no meeting friends.

I just needed to figure out what I was going to do when Monday came around. I started thinking to myself 'should I tell my folks'? 'Should I tell Jaime and Chris'? 'Should I tell my teacher or my counselor'? In a confused state of mind, Diana decided to focus on her activity, get on the school bus and go home, and continue like nothing happened.

(After school activity class ended at 5:30 PM Friday afternoon)

(Students heading to the school bus going home)

Diana, Jaime and Chris: (on the school bus going home) (Jaime and Chris lived a block away from Diana's home; they have been friends since kindergarten.

Jaime: Girl, what happened to you today?

Chris: Yeah, what happened?

Diana: Nothing…

Jaime: You looked pretty roughed up when you walked into the classroom and you gonna tell me that NOTHING (voice getting loud on the bus) happened?

Chris: (just looking, no comment, motioning to Jaime to calm down) listen, you know we here for you Diana, so whenever you are ready to talk about it, let us know.

Jaime and Chris have been my best of best friends since kindergarten. When we first met in my neighborhood, it was actually quite a huge neighborhood in Chicago, huge houses (very elegant and quite expensive, huge playgrounds, large yards that could host birthday parties and dates nights with friends. In the beginning it was just myself hanging out in the neighborhood, didn't have much friends, and if I did, they were not quite friendly (if you know what I mean), which didn't really bother me at all! Every year the neighborhood would have famous parties, dinner parties, wedding parties, birthday parties which my parents were never invited and neither was I…but we didn't care as it was less trouble and headaches for us, cause we already knew what them parties were ALL about!!

If it wasn't talking about 'marriages', 'what kind of jobs your husbands or wives did', 'schools your kids went to', 'whose house is the biggest,' 'who can or has had the most parties and guests'…can you imagine going to every party and that's all you ever talked about? Seriously!! What kind of life is that? I am just glad my parents would always mind their own business and just enjoy chilling at home. We actually enjoyed missing out on the gossip. Funny thing about the people in this neighborhood, always in your business! Always wanting to know where you going, who you with, who coming to your house, what you be talking about, what did you eat….Good heavens…might as well call them CNN or BBC reporters and stations and have them build a station in our neighborhood so as they can advertise and dramatize and exaggerate the lives of the so called 'family neighborhood!!- Rich and famous'

It was kind of difficult trying to stay away from everyone in this neighborhood and I knew our family was ALWAYS on their radar, every single thing we did was on their watch. I sometimes asked my parents, "mum, dad, is this the only neighborhood available for us to live in, aren't there any better places we can move to avoid all this drama?" In return I got the same response: (me mimicking my mum) "honey, this is very close to your school and your father's company and its quite cheap and easy to get around"-that was the end of that topic, which I chose never to ask again, so just had to learn and get used to living in this neighborhood and it's never ending lifestyle. Although I have to admit they were right cause it was quite convenient going to school, getting to school early, getting home early, dad going to work early and being able to come back on time, security seemed good can't complain, supermarkets, malls, universities were also in plenty around where we lived….as I said couldn't complain at all!!

In the summer of 2007, (will never forget this day) a very hot summer weekend, I had been chilling at home, when I heard sounds of trucks driving into our neighborhood. At first thought it was construction going on but when I looked through the window it was four huge moving trucks. I told mum about it and she came to see as well saying "looks like we got two new neighbors moving into our neighborhood." I was like "cool" with excitement.

It became a routine every day to look through the window and check out our new neighbors, they lived one block away from our house, would see people moving stuff in and out of the house, doing the cleaning and washing. I saw the parents but didn't see any kids which I found strange that new neighbors moving into such a large community neighborhood but no kids…was quite interesting I thought. But then again I thought, maybe the parents don't have kids or maybe their kids are with friends and will come by later. I didn't want to think about it too much in case I was being too hopeful and then get disappointed, so decided to wait a few days and see what happens.

Three weeks later, I looked out the window to see the new neighbors and saw their kids playing around in their yards; my heart was filled with so much excitement. I immediately ran out the door (without telling mum where I was going) went straight up to the first new neighbor, watched the little boy playing by himself, I then introduced myself.

Diana: Hi, I am Diana, your neighbor across the street, what's your name?

Jaime: He answered Jaime. I answered cool name. I kind of sensed that Jaime didn't look like he was interested in playing or talking to me. A few seconds later another boy came along saying 'hi'

I looked and saw him standing right next to Jaime.

Diana: Hi, what's your name?

Chris: I am Chris, I live next door.

Diana: shook hands and smiled. I then noticed Jaime looking at both of us. I then asked do you guys wanna play some games.

Chris and Jaime: Yes

Diana: Let's play the Lego games or hide and seek, (saying with excitement).

At Jaime's place we played games, had lots of fun, played with the sprinkler pipe water, laughing and enjoying ourselves, it was then I saw for the first time the beautiful and cute laughter and smile on Jaime's. We played games the entire afternoon.

At around 5pm, we all went home, but before that Jaime introduced us to his parents, they were friendly, kind and the most loving parents I had ever met. They wanted us to stay and have dinner but I told them I needed to get home soon as I had not told my parents anything of my whereabouts. Jaime's parents said "no problem, maybe next time we could meet your parents and have dinner together." "I said, cool, no problem," and rushed home, while Chris also rushed home. We each said goodbye and went home.

When I got home, I was filled with so much excitement, I knew I would get into trouble for not having told my parents where I had been, but to distract them from yelling and getting angry at me…I used my afternoon story and adventure as the best dinner story.

Diana: Mum, dad, guess what happened to me today? (Seeing my parents already unhappy)

Mum and Dad: Where have you been? We have been looking all over for you, where did you go?

Diana: I was across the street at our new neighbor's house!! I made new friends called Jaime and Chris, their parents are so so cool, super nice and super friendly (speaking with excitement, almost out of breathe). Continues speaking…First I met Jaime, he didn't seem to want to talk, then another kid came and introduced himself as Chris, they live just a block from where we live. We played Lego games, and hide and seek all afternoon. I met Jaime's parents and they were very kind to me, they wanted me to stay for dinner but I couldn't as I knew you would be worried about me since I left the house without telling you guys. I am sorry mum and dad.

Mum: That's alright, as long as you had a good day and you were safe, that's important.

Dad: Yeah, as long as you returned home safely, that's important, but next time make sure you let your mum and I know where you are going so that it will be easy to find you or pick you up, alright?

Diana: Yes dad, I am sorry.

Mum and Dad: That's alright, (both give me a hug and I returned to my seat to have dinner)

During dinner, mum and dad were asking me questions about my two new friends, schooling, parents job…I am like "we didn't get that far," was too excited meeting new friends that I forgot to ask them that part….(mum and dad laughing saying, "no worries")

While having dinner I noticed my parents talking and discussing something else but I couldn't hear clearly what they were talking about. I thought to myself must about work or other issues, I didn't pay too much attention, just continued eating my dinner, which was quite delicious as always, had spaghetti with meat sauce then had ice cream and fruits for dessert was so so good. After eating dinner at around 8:30 PM, said "thank you to mum" then went to watch some TV, as I watched mum and dad clear the table. My bed time was usually 8:30 PM during school days but as it was the summer holiday, my sleeping time was 9:30 PM (great privilege, I would say). I enjoyed watching some great cartoon movies and funny comedy movies with my parents until I feel asleep and was tucked into bed.

The next day and for the reminder of the summer, I hung out with my new friends Jaime and Chris; we went from playing games to having sleepovers and to going camping together. Our families got to meet each other during dinner parties and weekends, which were always fun times. What was interesting to note was that it was always Jaime's parents, Chris's parents and my parents that would get together all the time, never saw other kids being invited. I took the initiative to ask both Jaime and Chris how come they never invited other kids; they simply answered "we don't like them." Not sure what was going on, and thought best not to ask any more questions. As a five year old child, you will always get curious about anything and anyone but for me having new friends and being able to hang out with them were all that mattered. I finally felt happier, excited, full of joy and grateful!! My parents also seemed quite happy being around Jaime and Chris's parents; I am guessing they were simple people, not complicated, with no expectations, very welcoming, caring and very friendly people. I also noticed that their parents were very classy and elegant people always wore fine clothing and always enjoyed the finer things of life, which was the same for my parents but they always kept it very simple and low-key.

In comparison to the other neighbors in our neighborhood Jaime and Chris's parents were by far the most respected, friendly and loved families and the best part for me was having Jaime and Chris as my new friends living in the same neighborhood, something that all children always dream of having and longing to have not only as they are growing up but also in their childhood lives. For me living in such an awesome neighborhood was a given, coming with everything a child ever dreamed of which of course as we all know is a child's dream to have friends whom they can play with, have great weekend sleepovers, do great activities together and even go to the same school. I never thought in my wildest dreams all of these wishes would come true for me at the age of five!!

As the summer came to an end, was time to start preparing for the new school year, new semester going to Kindergarten. It had been my hope that I would see Jaime and Chris again and get to enjoy more fun times together and even better if all three of us would be in the same school . I grew sad when the summer vacation ended and even though we didn't know whether we would see each other during the week, but I knew my weekends, our weekends would not only be fun and full of adventure but also very exciting.