Words Speak Louder Than Actions - Eric Loth
“Hello Mr. Chris, how are you today?” I said. Once I
had opened my mouth and talked, my whole mind just turned pitch black. If a
person were in a room with a bunch of special people knowing that they are
focusing on every single move someone is to do, anybody would feel awkward.
“Good day nice weather, come. Come take a seat with
us” He said. It was not that noticeable but my legs felt like springs when he
had told me to sit down. In my mind I was so happy but meanwhile my nervous
side was blocking most of this.
“Calm down, remember he is just human like you.” The
lady said I thought to myself and said, “Yea she’s right. Let me just get this
done and over with.
“So I was told that you really, really want to come
to this school.” Mr. Chris said. I was afraid to answer because he might
counter back with another question that I probably won’t be able to answer
right. So I just left it off with a simple, but surprising yes. This was my
biggest achievement of the year 2010.
Sitting down in the super comfortable chair really
helps calm my nerves down. I have to say the way I felt coming in has changed
in like only 5 minutes. I felt like I was at home for a second. Then I was
knocked back into reality.
“Eric if you could just sign a couple of papers then
you would be good to go.” Mr. Chris said. My hand grabbed for the pen, this felt
like a good moment. If I would ever write a story of my life this would be in
it. The pen went on the paper and
so did my name. I was ready for what was coming up for me. I can tell by my mom
face she was proud. Even though she kept the same face on I’m pretty sure this
was how I felt.
After
everything was done I went home, relieved of what I just did. Then I called up
some friends to go play ball.
“Yo homie, trina go play some ball today down smith.”
I said. I went to go take a shower and packed up all of my stuff and I was out
the house. I was happy to tell them some good news but I don’t know how they
will take it.
“Yo, guess what. I got accepted to the high school I
applied to.” I said.
“Forrr reallll, yo that’s cool”. Friend said.
I could
tell he wasn’t happy but I had to do what was best for me. Back in the 8th
grade we applied to the same high schools but we didn’t get accepted to the
ones we wanted to. Our only choose left was to go to a neighbor hood school. We
told each other that in high school no matter what we got each other’s back.
But I guess this wasn’t going to be happening anymore. I can tell by his face
expression that he was mad but I’m pretty sure at some point he would be like
“Well, ya know if ya think it’s the right way to go, then go”.
We
played ball until the end of the day then we all just left. On my way home my
phone rang, it was my mother.
“Hello
Eric.” Mom said
“Yes
Mother.” I said
“Where
are you at?”
“I’m
still at the park playing ball.”
“Well
hurry up its 8 o’clock.”
“Ard
mom I’ll be home when ever I want.” I said.
“What
did you just say, are you suppose to be talking to me like that son.”
“Oh
sorry, I meant ill be home in a couple of minutes.”
“Okay
well hurry up.”
Honestly
I couldn’t understand a word my mom was saying. Knowing two languages and
mixing them up gets confusing at times. But that is just how she normally
speaks. I feel that we speak almost alike because we both know two of the same
languages. Some times my other accent comes out when I speak English and I just
have that awkward moment. During my interview this was one of my biggest fear,
but I guess being scared of something happening makes it not happen.
Once
I read a quote from James Baldwin’s essay “If Black English isn’t a Language,
Then Tell me, What is?” the quote stated “there have been, and are times and
places when to speak a certain language could be dangerous even fatal” This
quote is told me to be careful of what I say and where I say it. Just like the
dialogue with my mom and I. It is not fatal but dangerous because it could lead
to a habit. What is fatal is me speaking Khmer in front of a bunch of people
that don’t know it. The first thing that will go to their mind is that I’m
talking about them and could lead to some serious problems.
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