There he was, leaning coolly against the wall. Dark tinted sunglasses resting firmly in front of his eyes. Hair slicked up and back. Shoulders leaned forward to accentuate his musculature. As if he expected her, Ferguson turned his head in a casual fashion towards her and said, "There you are babe."
"I'm not your 'babe'", Maka said in disgust, "We're partners for Professor Hur's group project and that's all."
"Maka, why are you so tsundere?" Ferguson took a step towards Maka to assert his sexual energy, and she took a step back to deflect his move.
"Is that other girl here yet?" Maka asked.
Just then, their other groupmate arrived. Her name was Grace, and she wore oversized glasses and a goofy grin. "Hey guys! Sorry I'm late!"
Today Grace looked especially stupid, and Ferguson was attracted to that. "Hey babe," he said.
Maka was disgusted. She could not believe how Ferguson treated women as sexual objects. To her surprise, Grace responded happily. "Hi Daddy," she said, "Wanna dick me down?"
***
They had been arguing in the study room for two hours.
"I just think," Grace said, "There's no systematic racism in America. Only socially."
"Are you stupid?!" Maka rose from the table, "There were laws passed to keep Asians repressed. That's why we're in Professor Hur's class to learn about these things! Haven't you heard of Japanese internment camps? The Five Eyes! The Chinese Exclusion Act? I could go on and on!"
"Yeah, but all these things happened a long time ago and now things are diff--"
Before Grace could finish, snot flew off her face. Ferguson had slapped her.
"For the culture," he said bluntly.
"W-what," Grace sniffled, tears flowing down her face from the shock.
Ferguson took off his sunglasses to show he was serious. He pulled his hand back to motion that Grace would be backhanded if she remained.
***
They sat on the curb outside of Maka's apartment. "Do you think slapping her was too much?" Ferguson asked.
"I don't know," Maka said, "But when you said, 'for the culture', what did you mean?"
Ferguson still had his sunglasses off. He turned to her and they looked into each other's eyes. For the first time, Maka could see the real Ferguson. "My legal name is not Ferguson Lo. That's a nickname. My real name is David Peterson Johnson Garrison."
"What?" Maka gasped, "But you're Asian right?"
"I am, but I'm mixed."
"What's the other half?"
"I don't know." Ferguson's eyes welled up, "I was droped off at an orphanage with just a peice of paper that said David Peterson Johnson Garrison. I don't know my roots. To be hoenst, when I slapped Grace and said, 'for the culture', I guess what I meant is... even though I may not know who I am, I know what it means to be proud of what you are. And I am proud to be asain. I am proud to be me."
Maka was touched by the fire that burned inside Ferguson. "Remember when we were being assigned partners and Professor Hur told us, 'Don't betray your project members like the Chaebols betrayed my country'?"
Ferguson gazed into Maka's sparkling eyes, "I remember."
Maka extended her hand towards Ferguson, and he put his hand on hers. "Let's promise to be friends."