“It is wrong of you to pick on guys on the basis of color. So what if I am dark-skinned? Do you think you can just sit there and mock me? I wouldn’t have said anything to you; but over there, that girl, you broke her heart and she is my friend, almost like my sister. I am sorry but you can’t do this. You can call me names, even though it hurts, because you are beautiful. I like you so much.”
I stood there with my mouth wide-open. I was so dumbstruck at the way he changed his speech, and I had no way of knowing that he actually had a crush on her.
I was sure that the girls were going to make fun of him, and I jumped up to rescue him; but before I could even reach them, the beautiful girl said, “What! Do you like me? For real? I mean, I wasn’t mocking you. You look sexy. I was just asking my friends if I should go to your table and ask you, but I thought you two were together.”
“Oh! Who, Lacie? We’re like siblings. Nothing romantic between us. I am Adam by the way,” he said as he reached out for a handshake.
“I am Leslie. Call me Les. Do you mind having a cup of coffee?”
The rest, as they say, was history.
It was a very cute story, and my heart melted. We three started hanging out, and I found a great friend in Les. She was really sweet and had a very beautiful heart. It was so wrong of us to judge and say that she would discriminate people on the basis of color. She was in the humanities department and was doing a research paper. She decided to rope the two of us in, as she would cover the paper on the ethnic mix. Our friendship started from there, and even today, there has been no looking back.
***
Knowing that Les was in tears made my heart sad. If there was one person that truly deserved to be happy, it had to be her. I quickly parked my car and walked inside the coffee shop. They were both seated at the same table we often frequented. Les was crying, and her eyes were swollen.
“Hey Les, What happened? You look so...” I started.
I couldn’t even complete my sentence as she enveloped me in a big hug and broke down. I didn’t know what the problem was yet, but I swore that I would fix it, no matter what.
Adam later told me that the orphanage at Borough Street was being taken down. There was a huge business firm that had bought the whole land. They decided to take down the orphanage and expand their business by constructing an office there. Les had written to them because the orphanage was the legacy of her grandfather and remained the only memory she had of him. However, she didn’t hear back from them, and yesterday evening, she had received a letter asking her to evacuate the place in a month.
I was shattered to hear the news and was equally devastated. I had been to the Borough street orphanage myself and spent quite a lot of time there, volunteering to be around the kids. The little kids would become homeless, and even though they could be moved to some other place, it was a huge orphanage, and the kids would be separated from each other. There was so much at stake, and I couldn’t understand how some people could be so blind just because all they really cared about was money.
I promised that I would take care of it. I had some connections in the real estate market and even knew a few lawyers. Even if I had to make use of all my connections, I promised to do it, because this is what really mattered. Friends needed to stand up for friends, and I was willing to walk through hell because I knew how hard it was to grow up without parents.
On my way back to the orphanage, I couldn’t stop myself from reliving the pain of the times after I lost my parents, when I had to grow up alone. Les and Adam had a flight to catch, as they were going to see Adam’s parents for Thanksgiving. I promised them that I would not let the orphanage go down so easily. Les was hesitant to leave New York; but Adam’s parents, whom had yet to meet Les, had already gone to great lengths to prepare
I stood there with my mouth wide-open. I was so dumbstruck at the way he changed his speech, and I had no way of knowing that he actually had a crush on her.
I was sure that the girls were going to make fun of him, and I jumped up to rescue him; but before I could even reach them, the beautiful girl said, “What! Do you like me? For real? I mean, I wasn’t mocking you. You look sexy. I was just asking my friends if I should go to your table and ask you, but I thought you two were together.”
“Oh! Who, Lacie? We’re like siblings. Nothing romantic between us. I am Adam by the way,” he said as he reached out for a handshake.
“I am Leslie. Call me Les. Do you mind having a cup of coffee?”
The rest, as they say, was history.
It was a very cute story, and my heart melted. We three started hanging out, and I found a great friend in Les. She was really sweet and had a very beautiful heart. It was so wrong of us to judge and say that she would discriminate people on the basis of color. She was in the humanities department and was doing a research paper. She decided to rope the two of us in, as she would cover the paper on the ethnic mix. Our friendship started from there, and even today, there has been no looking back.
***
Knowing that Les was in tears made my heart sad. If there was one person that truly deserved to be happy, it had to be her. I quickly parked my car and walked inside the coffee shop. They were both seated at the same table we often frequented. Les was crying, and her eyes were swollen.
“Hey Les, What happened? You look so...” I started.
I couldn’t even complete my sentence as she enveloped me in a big hug and broke down. I didn’t know what the problem was yet, but I swore that I would fix it, no matter what.
Adam later told me that the orphanage at Borough Street was being taken down. There was a huge business firm that had bought the whole land. They decided to take down the orphanage and expand their business by constructing an office there. Les had written to them because the orphanage was the legacy of her grandfather and remained the only memory she had of him. However, she didn’t hear back from them, and yesterday evening, she had received a letter asking her to evacuate the place in a month.
I was shattered to hear the news and was equally devastated. I had been to the Borough street orphanage myself and spent quite a lot of time there, volunteering to be around the kids. The little kids would become homeless, and even though they could be moved to some other place, it was a huge orphanage, and the kids would be separated from each other. There was so much at stake, and I couldn’t understand how some people could be so blind just because all they really cared about was money.
I promised that I would take care of it. I had some connections in the real estate market and even knew a few lawyers. Even if I had to make use of all my connections, I promised to do it, because this is what really mattered. Friends needed to stand up for friends, and I was willing to walk through hell because I knew how hard it was to grow up without parents.
On my way back to the orphanage, I couldn’t stop myself from reliving the pain of the times after I lost my parents, when I had to grow up alone. Les and Adam had a flight to catch, as they were going to see Adam’s parents for Thanksgiving. I promised them that I would not let the orphanage go down so easily. Les was hesitant to leave New York; but Adam’s parents, whom had yet to meet Les, had already gone to great lengths to prepare
Similar Books
