It had been a couple of days since the embarrassing interruption from Jimmy's friends, preventing him from making a move on Cheruma.
Since then, he'd been thinking a lot about her. In fact, he hadn't really been able to get her out of his head.
He'd thought about how nice she was, thinking about a moment of her being very close to him, and about how much he wanted to go out with her.
He was currently standing on the sidewalk, still thinking about her. As he was deep in thought, he heard a small noise nearby him, and looked up.
On the sidewalk he saw Cheruma, walking alone. She hadn't spotted him yet. Jimmy froze in place, his heart beginning to beat rapidly. He had been hoping to talk to her again after the incident when his friends ruined his moment, and now here she was, walking by herself on the sidewalk.
He watched as Cheruma continued walking, completely unaware that Jimmy was standing nearby. He finally took a deep breath and swallowed his nervousness.
__Jimmy: "Hey, Cher..."
Cheruma stopped walking and looked back. Her mood immediately lifted a bit when she saw that it was him. She gave a smile and waited for him to catch up to her.
After a few seconds, Jimmy caught up to her and stopped in front of her. He had a slight smile on his face as he looked down at her.
__Jimmy: "It's nice seeing you again, Cher…"
__Cheruma: "It's nice seeing you too, Jimmy." She smiled up at him with an amused tone.
She looked at him for a moment before speaking up again.
__Cheruma: "I was actually on my way to buy a few things at the store. Mind coming with me?"
Jimmy felt his heart skip a beat upon her asking that.
__Jimmy" "Sure, I'll come with you. What do you need to get"
He tried to hide his excitement at the fact she seemed to be initiating spending time together.
Cheruma began leading the way down the sidewalk, motioning for him to walk with her.
__Cheruma: "Just a few things. Some milk, some eggs, a couple other things I've been needing to get....So how've you been?"
She looks up at him with an amused expression.
Jimmy began walking with Cheruma, putting his hands in his pockets.
__Jimmy: "I've been fine. Things have been a bit quiet since I saw you last. My friends have been giving me a hard time ever since our last meeting. They keep asking me about you…"
__Cheruma: "Yeah? And what did you told them about me?"
Jimmy gave a sheepish look, and responded in an embarrassed tone.
__Jimmy: "I told them you're really nice, and pretty, and a good cook, and a good person."
Cheruma smiled amused at that, and chuckled.
__Cheruma: "It's nice to know you think so highly of me."
On their way, they discussed casual subjects for a little while.
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Once they had entered the store and were walking through the aisles, Cheruma and Jimmy continued talking.
Suddenly, as they approached the meat section, they passed by an older white couple in their 60s. The couple looked at the pair of them, and the wife muttered "disgraceful" under her breath as they passed.
Jimmy froze for a moment, his mood instantly dampened by the snide comment. Cheruma had also heard the comment, and tensed up as well, her good mood gone and a more guarded expression on her face.
The old woman continued: "How can he even near...that thing?"
She said with disgust in her voice and her gaze
Jimmy's heart sank and rage filled filled him completely upon hearing the woman's insulting words towards Cheruma. She was shocked wearing such degrading words towards her when she was just minding her business.
Jimmy's heart sank and rage filled filled him completely upon hearing the woman's insulting words towards Cheruma.
However the older husband spoke up in defense of them.
__ Old man: "Hey, stop that. Don't be so disrespectful towards the kids."
The wife just mumbled something else, and the couple went on to keep shopping, still sending hateful glances in the direction of Cheruma and Jimmy.
Hearing that stranger insulting Cheruma with such a hateful tone was the last straw for him. He clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white, and he whirled around to face the couple, a look of anger on his face.
__Jimmy: "The fuck?!!! Shut your fucking mouth!!! You old hag! What gives you the right to act like that?!"
The old woman widened her eyes in shock upon being reprimanded by him.
__ Old woman: "EXCUSE ME?!"
The woman's husband put a hand on her shoulder, looking slightly uncomfortable being in the middle of this situation.
__Old man: "Honey, calm down, you're making a scene…"
Jimmy angrily walked up to the woman, his face turning red.
__Jimmy: "Yeah, excuse you. You and your disgusting racist mouth. You really think you can just call my friend a slur right infront of me, huh?"
The woman looked flabbergasted at being confronted like this, and muttered under her breath, seeming taken aback by not being able to get away with her rude comment.
She was about to angrily respond, but was interrupted by her husband. He was trying to get her behind him, clearly embarrassed at his wife's behavior.
__Old man: "Listen kids, I know she shouldn't have said that, but let's not escalate the situation more than necessary… Just ignore her. She's from a different time. She doesn't get it."
Jimmy ignored the man, still focusing his anger on the woman.
__Jimmy: "The fuck I'm gonna ignore her. What the hell is her problem? Why'd she call my friend 'that thing'?"
The woman looked increasingly angry at him addressing her directly and being confronted for a "lowly colored person".
__Old woman: "This is America and I have all the right to say my opinion."
__Jimmy: "No one wants to hear any comment coming from your filfy mouth! This girl is a better human than you can never be. You're just a fucking piece of shit who think she's better because you're white... But guess what? You're just a dumb shit. You ain't it."
Meanwhile, Cheruma just lowered her head silently, an expression of hurt and sadness on her face that this was happening.
The husband had his hands raised in a submissive manor, desperately trying to calm the situation.
__Old man: "Listen kid, just don't pay attention to her. I apologize for my wife, she's just a product of her time…"
Jimmy continued to glare at the woman, his anger not at all being cooled by the man's attempts to calm him down.
__Jimmy: "Being 'a product of her time' isn't an excuse! She doesn't get to call my friend a slur, and I don't give a damn if she 'doesn't get it'!"
Still angrily focused on the old woman and her husband, Jimmy felt Cheruma grab his arm and give it a slight tug. He looked at her, and saw her giving him a pleading expression. He could see the small, slightly hurt look on her face.
__Cheruma: "Please, Jimmy….just let it go. It doesn't worth it…"
After a few seconds of looking at her, he slowly nodded in agreement. He looked away from her, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths.
He tried to calm his anger, and the fact that Cheruma was trying to calm him down made the anger subside a little more. With a final exhale, he looked back at Cheruma, and gave a slight nod.
__Jimmy: " Alright, alright…I'm calm. I'll let it go…"
After a few moments of calming himself, Jimmy gave a slight glare over at the older couple again. The husband was still attempting to calm his wife, but she still looked absolutely pissed.
Jimmy gave one more glare to the woman, and let out a slight scoff.
"Next time, keep your ugly comments to yourself, old bitch."
He then looked at the man, and said "Next time, try teaching your wife some manners. She clearly doesn't have them."