Judged by my cover

It was a sunny weekend, perfect weather to visit distant relative. Lancaster, the town populated by suburbia. How it terrifies me! I loathe walking in its streets at night. So many buildings look alike? Where do I go? This house looks like my cousins, but is this it? Ah, but I have my younger cousin, Joel, to guide me. Well now off to the story. The event occurred during the day at a local mall in Lancaster. To this day, I cannot remember its name. Such a calm place, with a few inconsiderate civilians. How they judge you? Their eyes judge by color, not by intention. It was during this event that I realized how racist stereotypes still prevail.
Saturday, a day filled with sun and random behaviors. My mother decided to visit the relatives who longed to see our presence, and here we are, the sixth day of a week’s stay at my aunt’s house. Her name is Rebecca and she has an older daughter, a younger son, and a husband. This Saturday, my cousin Rebecca ,nicknamed Cuty, and my cousin Joel decided to introduce us to the local mall. How I loathe malls! Too much commercialism is bound to be wrong, however the food is always the exception. I love the variety of food offered in such a large enclosed space. That morning, my mother, my siblings, my cousins, and I got ready. I wore a typical jean, sweater, shirt combo. Everyone else was casual as well, excluding my cousin, who had a breezy flowery dress. We all boarded the car and off we went into a journey I shall never forget.
We arrived at the mall, and wow, it was huge! I did not know what to do. I was intimidated, yet astonished. Being the individual that I am, my mind went straight to the food options. There was only one problem, my cousin, Cuty, locked the keys in the car. This event soon crushed my dreams of eating a variety of food available. All the fragrant aromas were teasing me as we all walked inside the mall trying to find a security guard who could open the car door. Our failure to find one led to frustration. In an act of desperation, Cuty called her father to bring supplies to open the car. He came fast, with a coat hanger and a wooden stick, but unfortunately he had to leave in order to get to work on time.
There we were, stranded in the middle of a parking lot and our only chances of getting home were a stick, a coat hanger, bobbin pins from my sister, and one of my bracelets. My mother amazed us with her strength. To this day I am amazed on how easily she was able to bend that coat hanger into a usable hook. The hook was connected to the wooden stick through bent bobbin pins and the remains of my necklace. It was pretty stable. Now our plan was to get the keys by using the hook. We were lucky, since my cousin forgot to close the back window of the car. As we were fetching the keys out of the car I began to notice that the pedestrians were watching.
I began to feel weird. I did not know why we were receiving such glances. I began observing those who passed and wondered why they were looking at us as if we were doing something wrong. I walked closer to the front of the car, to observe these individuals, and saw two Caucasian women, an old one and a slightly younger one. I overheard one comment “It’s a shame they are doing this in a public place.” I was wondering why she would say that. I was 14, but I was trying to piece the puzzle of her words. She continued by lecturing the other one, until she saw that I was watching her. She stopped talking, and they both began to walk quickly into the mall. I was still so confused. What did she mean by that phrase?
It took me a couple of minutes to figure it out. By “they” she meant us and by “doing this in a public place” she meant we were trying to steal the car. I knew that was what she meant, since I was with my family. I was disgusted by her words, why did she call us “they”? Did she really think we were not capable of affording the car that belongs to my cousin? I had so many questions that needed to be answered. I felt anger, but I decided to keep it in, since she was but a foolish old woman. Before we got into the car, I shared the event with my sister, who reacted to the words violently. I had to calm her down, but as we drove off I realized I have a long journey ahead of me.