New Neighbors

   It was Cassandra Emily White's birthday and she was thrilled! She stood in her pink-hued bedroom in the perfect little suburban house she shared with her perfect family, admiring her frilly pink party dress, strawberry blonde curls, large blue eyes and pouty red lips. She glanced out the window at her perfect safe, boring little community when she heard a honking noice, assuming that the first of her guests had arrived, but instead she saw a moving van parked out front of the old Whitman place. 

   Curious, Cassie descended down the stairs to the sound of her father shouting. 

   "What do those ni... er, colored people think they're doing? This is a white neighborhood. They ain't got no rights movin' in here!" 

   "Now, now, times are changing, Harold" her mother reprimanded him, her sharp glance barely stopping him from using the n-word. Cassie had clearly inherited her fair beauty from her mother, who still looked young despite nearing 40. 

   "What about Cassie, Sharon?" her father snapped. "What about her safety?"

   "She's going to meet a negro sooner or later, so this seems like a nice way to start," she said, turning to greet her daughter as she entered the room. "Cassie, sweetie, would you like to meet the new neighbors?" The girl nervously bit her lip, glancing between her parents, sensing the tension.