When The Bigot Speaks

-I have had enough of these damn foreigners stealing our jobs. I am done with them! Finally the new president will send them packing in the filthy place where they came from! Good riddance!

It was a cloudy Tuesday morning in Oakley Cove and Bailey was ranting obnoxiously loud as usual. His wife would occasionally nod like she agreed, but it was painfully obvious that she didn’t. The terrified look in her eyes and the constant tension in her facial muscles revealed how much she was afraid to speak her mind. But after all, how can a fawn stand up against a ruthless hunter?

This situation went on and on until they heard a very familiar car horn outside. It was Bailey’s co-worker Darius. They had been friends since middle school and co-workers for 25 years. They went from teasing their classmates when they hardly had any peach fuzz on their faces to yelling at their subordinates every single day, now that they’re middle-aged men. Not quite friendship goals; and I think most of us agree that their behavior is at least questionable, but for better or for worse, it worked for them.

Bailey got in Darius’s car and they drove away fast.

-Can you believe it? They hired a bunch of Afghans yesterday! Exclaimed Darius, full of anger.

-What the hell man? Yelled Bailey, so loud that some passer-bys turned to look at the car, startled by his aggressive tone.

Badmouthing people was their favorite hobby and if you added some racism to the equation, you could have them talking for hours on end.

-I’m telling you they’re everywhere. It’s like they’re flies and someone threw shit in our country and they’re racing to eat it. There are 3 new kids in my son’s class today who are from Iran or some other terrorist country like that. He said he made one of them trip and fall yesterday and I told him how proud I am of him. These weaklings must learn their lesson!

Bailey laughed with satisfaction. He thought about how it was his turn to make someone suffer today at work.

He and Darius worked in the mines of a nearby city called Cattleday. They lived in the northern part of the country, where internet was a new thing and people were still stuck in their old-fashioned ways. Recently the president of the country announced that they would be taking in refugees from war-stricken countries and they would send them in the province Bailey lived, to boost agriculture and the local mines. Many people were very unhappy with this and protested in the capital. Surprisingly (!) the police didn’t use any violent tactics to remove them from the streets or stop the protest and the president just released a statement telling them to go home in the most polite way possible. What a nice man he is, treating them with such kindness (!)

***

20 minutes later they had arrived at work. Of course they were late again, but no one scolded them. They were the ones supervising the workers after all.

They waved at a worker with an arrogant look at his face. He was short and his face was very rat-like. If Judas had a child, it would be him. He was supposed to be just another worker, or at least that’s what the owner of the mining company had hired him to do; but Bailey had taken a liking in him, probably because they both shared the same deep-rooted white supremacist stance on things. So he unofficially promoted him to substitute supervisor, which meant that whenever he and Darius were slacking off, eating obnoxious amounts of junk food, he would scrutinize every person’s work performance and report every little mistake to Bailey. And once again, no one batted an eyelash at this kind of mistreatment and to the favoritism this pathetic snitch received. Why would they?

-Good morning Derrick, yawned Darius. He secretly disliked him, even though they both had the same fox-like eyes, full of evil. Maybe he saw a little bit of himself in him.

 He got in the mine and climbed down the ladder, heading to the tunnel in the left. That’s where he usually worked. It was far safer than the right one; they had taken many more safety precautions and that’s where most of the white workers spent their shift. He would walk by them working and talk to them about football, women and occasionally how stupid the non-white workers are. His intention wasn’t to turn them against one another; that was Derrick’s job.

Derrick would spend his workdays exclusively on the left side of the mine or right outside the entrance whenever he got sick of the toxic fumes of the underground area. He would the white workers that “the foreigners were talking crap about them” and how “they were paid less than these monkeys working in the right tunnel”. Both of these were lies though; in fact, the white workers were paid far more than the others. And there had been no instance of a refugee starting a fight with a white miner. But that wasn’t true the other way around.  

-Boss, today the river’s water levels are dangerously high, said Derrick hesitantly. Are we gonna do something about it?

-Well, can’t do anything about it, can we? Laughed Bailey. Can’t fight with nature.

-But sir, the right tunnel-

-Well I know what’s up with the right tunnel, he groaned. Why do you care? So what if the river overflows? We’ll get rid of these goddamn monkeys.

Derrick cringed at the possibility of so many people being killed, but he didn’t say anything. He went back to his usual tunnel to chat with his fellow miners.

Bailey was about to climb down the ladder of the same tunnel as Derrick when he heard a man yell. He saw one of the workers of the right tunnel sprinting towards him.

The worker was speaking extremely fast, in his own language. He looked shaken and worried to death.

-What the hell are you rambling about? Answered Bailey and furrowed his brow disapprovingly.

The man kept talking faster and faster and he looked more desperate as time went on.

-Speak English, he grunted, starting to get more annoyed.

-Mine child, sick! Sick! Sick!

-Why should I care about your child? Laughed Bailey. Does he have the flu or something? He’ll get over it; now get back to work before I get angry.

The man was growing more and more frustrated and he started crying. He grabbed Bailey by the shirt and pulled him to the right, while pointing at the tunnel. Bailey was confused for a second, but then he pushed the worker.

-Get away from me you filthy pig! Who gave you the right to touch me? He bellowed. I am your boss and you are just a useless piece of crap! You are fired!

The man collapsed on the floor and Bailey went outside, still shaken and infuriated by his behavior. He was disgusted that one of these dirty monkeys had touched him. He lit up a cigarette while looking at the “no smoking!” sign outside the mine. He needed to calm down before going back in, for his own sake.

No more than 10 minutes had passed when he heard some kind of commotion coming from the mine. Some people were yelling at a language he didn’t understand. He rushed inside and saw about 25-30 of the non-white workers standing in front of Darius, who was cussing them out. He approached them and shouted as loud as he could.

-Shut up, all of you! What in God’s name is happening? Shouldn’t you all be working?

He turned to Darius, whose face had become beet red, for explanations.

-I don’t know what the hell they’re talking about, he confessed. All I know is that they’re furious, man. I think it’s serious. And not a single one of them speaks good English.

Bailey gave him a judgmental stare for his incompetence and turned to the miners.

-Alright, alright, calm down, he yelled in a bossy way. Which one of you speaks better English? Come forward.

A guy no older than 19 raised his hand. He walked to the front of the crowd of workers and looked at Bailey.

-Okay, you; sighed Bailey and pointed at him. Speak up.

-Mine friend… Ali son… He help!

His boss looked at him like he was dumb.

-Your friend Alison helps? He said and scratched his head with confusion. Why are y’all mad about that?

-No no no! Answered the boy, struggling to find the right words. He pointed at the man who had run to Bailey before.

-Is he Alison? Laughed Bailey. Is he a sissy?

The boy looked even more confused than him.

-No! Ali have son. Ali son down right. Ali son sick down right. Foot hurt!

Bailey felt stupid for a second, but then cursed the boy for speaking broken English.

Derrick hesitantly turned to Bailey.

-Boss, I think he said that this miner’s son is down in the right tunnel and he is hurt, he whispered. And judging by some of the things one of them told Darius before you came, he fell in the old part of the mine that we don’t use, and they can’t reach him.

Bailey cursed again, out loud this time.

-Goddamn it! Can’t you be more careful? You idiots!

Darius looked concerned.

-From what I understand the boy hurt is just 14 years old, he whispered conspiringly. We need to go find him before his father reports us to the police for exploiting a minor. You know it’s illegal for him to work here.

Bailey sighed. His friend was right. He needed to do something himself before this whole situation was picked up by his boss and he was fired. He patted Darius on the back and they both climbed down the ladder of the right tunnel.

-Alright, get back to work, they will go find him, yelled Derrick with his squeaky voice and the workers slowly walked towards their part of the mine.

***

Bailey hadn’t visited this part of the mine for many years. It was even more depressing than he remembered; the coal beneath his feet had grown stiffer and droplets of water were falling constantly from the ceiling. He shivered; the deeper they went, the colder he felt. The water had wet his clothes and it kept on making them moister.

After 5 minutes of walking and 3 instances of bumping their heads on the ceiling because of how low it was, they had reached the well that led down the abandoned part of the tunnel. The ladder leading down was so old that steps were missing; it was so rusty and dusty that no one dared to climb down; but Darius and his friend had to.

They heard a faint whimper coming from the bottom of the well. They looked down and saw a young boy, no more than 15, holding his leg. He looked at them and said something in a language they didn’t understand. They ignored him, since they couldn’t understand what he said.

-How the hell are we going to get him out of there? Groaned Bailey, visibly annoyed with what had happened.

-We have no rope right now, so one of us has to go down there and get him, answered Darius. You go down and help him get up; I will be up there and if you need a helping hand to lift him up, I will do it.

-Alright, but you own me one, murmured Bailey, slightly angry at his friend’s laziness.

He climbed down the ladder and approached the boy.

-Where did you get injured little monkey? He asked him nonchalantly.

The boy answered something that Bailey clearly didn’t understand.

-Don’t you speak English? He asked aggressively.

The boy kept talking in his mother tongue, his voice sounding more and more anxious. He would hold his leg with a pained expression and then he kept rambling. He pointed at the end of the tunnel and then at the ceiling.

-What about the ceiling? Asked his boss. What are you talking about?

A bigger drop of water than before landed on his forehead. He looked up and suddenly, a roaring sound came from the other side of the tunnel. The child yelled something and tried to get up, but he fell down again.

-What the hell is going on down there? Asked Darius impatiently.

-I don’t know, I can hear something over there, answered Bailey nonchalantly.

Darius’s eyes widened in horror.

-Dude, we’re literally under the river. Do you hear water?

Bailey listened carefully to the sound. It was coming closer every second that came by. The boy pulled his sleeve, while saying something, even more terrified than before.

-Just like your father, aren’t you? Sighed Bailey. Alright, let’s get you out of here.

He helped the boy stand up and pointed at the stairs.

-Come on, climb up, he ordered impatiently.

The child looked at him, then the stairs. He must’ve understood what his boss said somewhat, because he did try to climb up, but his leg hurt so much that he stopped midway. He started crying and sat on the ground again. Bailey became angry.

-Get the fuck up you little shit! He yelled. He grabbed him by the waist and lifted him up, as much as he could, so Darius can pull him up. Darius was trying to reach him, when the roaring sound came terrifyingly close and a wave of water swept him away. The boy sank in the water but rose to the surface pretty quickly.

Bailey on the other hand was panicking. He didn’t know how to swim at all. He struggled to stay afloat, but then felt the flood swallowing him whole. The water levels were rising by the minute and there was nowhere to go.

-Dude, help me, please, he cried to Darius.

-I will go bring some help, okay? Hang in there, yelled Darius and ran away as fast as he could.

Bailey felt himself sinking once more and this time his body felt heavier. No matter what he did, he couldn’t reach the surface. He felt his lungs filling with water and everything blacked out. The last thing he saw was a boy’s concerned face.

***

Bailey woke up and looked around him. He was in a hospital room with a tube down his throat. His wife was sleeping in the armchair next to his bed. He tried to speak but all that came out was a muffled sound that woke his wife up.

She opened her eyes and saw that he was awake. He smiled at her but she was completely serious.

-Oh good, you’re awake. I will tell the doctors. But for the time being, you should know I’m divorcing you, she announced coldly, looking at him with pity.

He tried to tell her that was not happening but his words made no sense once again.

-Yes, the doctors said that you will most likely have trouble speaking, she continued. It will be temporary, but it will take months to recover.

He gasped and started crying.

-You probably want to know what happened, so I will tell you. The mine flooded and they found you in some sort of cavity on the wall. A kid with a broken leg was found with you. The translator said he is the one who put you there and gave you first aid. If it wasn’t for him you wouldn’t be alive. And guess what? Darius is nowhere to be found. One of the other workers found you two down there and when he went to inform Darius he wasn’t in the mines; Derrick says that he saw him leaving in a hurry.

Bailey’s eyes widened. He tried to say something, but all that came out was a sob.

-The boy is okay. The social services are taking care of him; and they will take good care of the company that owned the mine as well, she grinned. They are in big trouble and so are you. Oh, and you’re fired.

He closed his eyes and tears were streaming down his face.

-It’s so nice not to hear your voice anymore, she smiled. It’s so nice to live without fear that you will beat me. I was so tired of your xenophobic rants, your constant complaining, your inability to see and understand my needs. We never understood each other Bailey; and you never understood anyone. You are a pathetic excuse of a human being. I’m glad you will be in silence for the next few months; with no one to talk to, no one to help you, no one to listen you. No one to understand you. It’s about time you find out how that feels.

She walked out the room. Bailey tried to tell her to stay. He threatened. He begged. He pleaded. He yelled. But no coherent word left his lips.

***

Two weeks had passed and our protagonist was completely alone. No phone calls, no “get well soon” cards, no flowers or balloons. Bailey was in a deep depression and the fact that he was still in the hospital didn’t help at all. Until one day, a nurse gave him a letter. He was excited to read it; maybe it was his wife. Or his friend.

“Dear Mr. Bailey,

A translator helped me write this. I’m the boy from the mine. Thank you for trying to save my life. I couldn’t understand what you told me when you found me hurt, but I’m sure you were trying to calm me down. I owed it to you to return the favor and save you.

Sincerely,

Amir”

Bailey burst into tears. Tears of regret and shame.

He had learnt his lesson, once and for all.