Jeff looked down at the man kneeling on the floor in front of him. He smirked down at him. “Not so tough now, huh slave?” He went back to his computer, sitting. He looked through the man’s profile. “So you’re Jamal Luther Rock. Pregnant girlfriend. Unpaid bills. Behind on rent. You have a lot debt.” Jeff looked at the man. “You can’t move, just talk, but other than that you’re free from the slave program.”
“Slave? You fucking gonna die!”
“Sorry, bad choice of words,” Jeff realized. “But you broke into my house and threatened my life.”
“What the fuck did you do to me?” Jamal asked, his eyes glossy with angry unshed tears. He wanted to strangle this kid, kill him… the humiliation and disrespect was unforgivable. But he couldn’t move.
“Hey, you’re the one who broke in here, I wasn’t looking for any trouble.”
“Yeah, well you’re lucky I can’t move or you'd be dead, you privileged white-ass punk.”
“That’s no way to win over someone who could actually help you.”
“What do you know? You don’t know suffering, you don’t know shit!” Jamal spat. “You don’t know anything about how hard it is out there, living in your nice white life of privilege.”
Jeff just listened as Jamal continued for ten minutes. Finally when Jamal stopped, Jeff considered the man’s words. He looked over Jamal’s file history. “You talk as if you’re a victim. No doubt in ways you have been. But I see here you’ve hurt a lot of people too, Jamal.”
Jamal glowered at Jeff. “What the hell is that thing? How are you doing all of this? And how can you know anything about me?”
“It’s a device I’m lucky to have, or or I probably would be dead now by your hand.”
“I’m just trying to save my family. We don’t have the money to make ends meet, while people like you live your fancy, pain-free lives without any worries or problems.”
“You actually believe that?” Jeff asked, annoyed. “You seriously think you and your race are the only ones with suffering and problems?”
“Just open your eyes - look around! I’m discriminated against every day of my life, everywhere I go!”
“You don’t think I have any problems?”
Jamal laughed. “I suppose it’s tough deciding which ivy-league school to go to.”
“Are you kidding me?” Jeff asked. “I can’t afford to go to college! I’m working already and I’ll be glad just to have work after I graduate high school. You think all white people are rich, entitled bigots?”
Jamal snarled, but not quite as bitter. “If the shoe fits.”
“Yeah, well, Jamal, that’s as insightful as saying all blacks are thieves.”
Jamal sneered. “You think I like doing this? If I didn’t, we’d be on the street with only our clothes on our backs.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Some of us human beings are willing to help, and understand we’re all in this together.”
“I don’t see you living on my street in poverty, working two jobs to pay bills that keep coming and keep going up!”
“Okay, let me fill you in a little about myself.” Jeff turned his chair, fully facing the would-be robber. “I’m a straight white boy, currently the most hated demographic on the planet.”
“Stop, you’re gonna make me cry,” Jamal spat.
“I’m not denying I have white privilege. At the same time, my ancestors never owned slaves. We’re not the good ol’ white boys you are so determined to hate and seem to assume all white people are. And my ancestors were part of the underground railroad, and tried to help blacks to the freedom they deserved.”
“So I guess now I’m supposed to thank you.”
Jeff shook his head no. “No one should have to thank anyone for trying to be a decent human being, doing the right thing. And I agree that a lot of white people are entitled, rich, bigoted, horrible people.”
“Praise the Lord, he’s seen the light!” Jamal said sarcastically.
Jeff sighed, sliding a chair over to Jamal. “The chair will be more comfortable – you won’t be able to walk past it, so no point in even trying to jump me.”
“So you don’t trust me because I’m black?” Jamal got up and sat in the chair, rubbing his knees.
Jeff did a double-take. “I don’t trust you because you broke into my house, tried to rob me, and when things didn’t go the way you wanted, you pinned me down and threatened to kill me.”
“Oh, that,” Jamal smiled. “Can’t you take a joke?”
“Whatever.” Jeff looked at Jamal’s history, cross-reverencing the people Jamal had robbed. “You made a lot of assumptions about me.”
“Like you don’t?” Jamal retorted.
“My parents are behind on bills too.”
“Aw, can’t make payments on the Mercedes?”
“My dad drives a used pickup that he needs for his work, and my mom’s civic is older than I am. I’m working trying to help.”
“Look at you, so proud,” Jamal taunted.
Jeff ignored the comment. “I’m bullied in school, a few years ago it was so bad a kid broke my nose and I ended up in the hospital. I have one friend, and I hardly ever see him anymore because he’s always high and I won’t go there. I tried to help him but all he wants his money for his next fix.”
“So you better than your friend, huh? Better than people who need a little something extra to get by?”
“I don’t want to die of overdose like my other friend did.”
Jamal muttered something, shrugging it off.
“My grandfather was robbed at gunpoint and killed a year ago. It devastated my mom. So forgive me if I don’t trust someone who breaks into my home and threatens me.”
“Yeah well, we all have our burdens.” Jamal shifted in the chair. “We all do what we have to, to survive.”
“My girlfriend was raped by her grandfather, and now every time I’m with her she looks at me different – like I’m ‘the enemy’. And now you come in here and tell me to my face I am the enemy – I’m the big bad bigot white boy responsible for all of your problems and everything wrong with the world… and you don’t even know me.”
“Welcome to reality, kid,” Jamal said. “People tell me I’m the problem with the world every day.”
“I’ve been living in reality, just like you have. The difference is, I’m not going to be a victim, and I’m not going to blame everyone else for my problems. I’m going to do my best to fix them, and help people when I can. Even you.”
“Oh, well lucky me,” Jamal dripped with sarcasm.
“Yes… lucky you.” Jeff turned back to the computer. “Miss Henderson – the woman you robbed last week – is a widow, and the only thing she has left in the world is her cat. You hurt her cat when you almost got caught and ran out with what little money she did have. Now she’s in debt with vet bills, and lives in fear of being robbed again.”
“Yeah well where I come from, we can’t afford pets.”
“The Kumars lost their daughter to cancer five years ago. You stoke a necklace that belonged to her, and smashed one of the few remaining pictures they had of her. The Abaras had her elderly mother living at home, and you pushed her down the stairs…” Jeff turned and looked at Jamal.
“It was an accident,” Jamal defended himself.
“You killed her for $25 and some cheap jewelry?”
“I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Jamal said defensively.
Jeff kept reading through the history, then stopped. “Oh my God.”
Jamal just looked.
Jeff turned and looked at Jamal. “You’re the man who robbed my grandfather at gunpoint and killed him.”
“Shit," Jamal looked scared for a change. "It wasn’t my fault - I can explain.”