They think she's a monster, but she's their only hope…
They didn't give them time to pack their things. Still, Jetta managed to grab her old teddy bear and a ring her grandmother had given her that she said belonged to her mother before the soldiers grabbed her by the arm and carried her out of the apartment that had, up until now,
been the home of her childhood. The soldiers carried her down the stairs, while she heard her grandmother crying and screaming behind her.
"Nanna!" Jetta cried, but she couldn't see her.
Jetta was placed on the ground outside, where an officer approached her and looked at her face, placing a hand underneath her chin to lift her face to better look at it.
"What do we do about this one, sir?" the soldier who had carried her, said.
The officer scrutinized Jetta's face, while Jetta
watched her grandmother be put on a bus, a soldier pushing her forcefully.
"What are you, child?" the officer asked.
Jetta looked at him. She didn't answer because she didn't understand the question.
"Answer me, child. What are you?"
She shook her head, and then looked at the entrance to the bus, where she could no longer see her grandmother. Panic started to erupt, and Jetta's small body was shaking.
The officer grabbed her face and forced her to look at him. "What are you, child? Black or white?"
"I…I don't know."
The officer shook his head. "I’ve never seen one like this," he said to the soldier.
"Me either, sir."
"One side is pure as snow, yet the other is dirty."
"Clearly dirty, sir."
"Yeah. She's got dirt in her blood. You know the instructions, soldier. Anyone with any hint of dirt in their blood goes."
"Yes, sir."
The soldier saluted the officer, then grabbed Jetta by the arm and pulled her forcefully. He lifted her into the air and she began to cry. He walked to the bus and put her on the steps.
"This one goes too," he said addressed to the driver.
Jetta ran up the stairs, her eyes searching for her grandmother in the crowd, but she couldn't see her anywhere. People were standing so close, it was hard to breathe, and as more people were stuffed inside the bus, Jetta could no longer move. She was pinned between a
seat and someone's belly, fighting to even breathe.
"Nanna?" she cried, but no one could hear her.
So many were screaming, whimpering, and crying out names of their loved ones, her voice was drowned out. The pushing and shoving got worse and as the bus took off, some guy in big black shoes trampled on Jetta.
