Chicago 1990 Chapter 02:- A PLUS

 TL:- madghost

As a qualified traverser, after more than ten days, Song Ya has figured out his current situation. And the conclusion is…….very pessimistic.

First of all, it is poverty. 

Welfare only guarantees basic life. Aunt Susie’s extra income from helping the neighborhood with children on working days is nothing but a drop in the bucket for such a large family.

There are only three 25cents in my pocket right now, only to be used in an emergency to call from the public phone, don’t even think about the starting capital of a traverser.

The conditions of the other brothers and sisters are also the same. The dresses are the most obvious ones. Tony and his clothes are donations from churches or charities. 

Tony’s dark coat is a factory uniform, with cuffs and elbows. My black suede jacket comes from a certain Air Force veteran; there is also a USAF 1969 logo on the internal standard.

Connie and Emily’s treatment is much better. Aunt Susie will not let them wear too shabby clothes. Unfortunately, the aesthetic legacy of the 1980s and the African American’s over-likeness of bright colors have made the overall effect daunting.

Of course, the above is the personal opinion of Song Ya, the traverser.

It’s not just poverty; personal safety is the biggest problem. The public security in South Chicago is the worst in the American platoon. Poverty, guns, drugs, gangs, and vendettas interact with each other.

Nowadays, it has shown a trend of becoming worse. It's not strange for a big shooting case that shocked the whole country happening in Chicago. There will be several cases in a short period of time. There are even news reports of people accidentally being killed by stray bullets in the gang’s crossfire.

In addition to shootings, robberies and other low-intensity cases are more common. Gangs and drugs have already invaded the campus. The public schools in the black district where a few brothers and sisters are studying are the hardest-hit hit areas.

For example, the half-sized boys who are also waiting for the school bus are always holding a cigarette. Smoking so much is not good at first sight.

"Yooo, Tony."

Fortunately, all of them are from the neighborhood. One of the half-and-half boys in a baseball cap greeted Tony on the initiative, "Are you messing with Little Lori now?"

"Hey."

Tony put Emily on the elementary school bus that had just arrived; he smiled, and made a fist with the baseball cap, "Go over." He deliberately avoided Song Ya and Connie and walked to the other side of the station.

The baseball cap is a bit familiar. Song Ya has only heard his nickname "ET.” His big and prominent eyes are quite similar to the alien in the movie that was popular around the world in the 1980s. 

However, from the corner of the colorful headscarf exposed faintly under the brim of his hat, you can know that this 'ET,’ who is no more than two years older than himself, is a cruel person. In the south city, the flower headscarf is not something that can be worn casually on the head.

Tony had a lot of friends. 

The middle school bus arrived soon. Tony and the group of 'ET' went to the back row to continue talking and laughing. Connie also got together with the girls of the same grade.

"Morning, APLUS!"

Song Ya's small circle of ninth-graders were in the front row. As soon as he sat down, someone yelled, and then the boys and girls of the same grade next to him started laughing.

"Morning..."

Song Ya reluctantly squeezed out a smile in response to them. He then leaned on the seat and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.

There is no solution to poverty and security at present, but the immediate issue is another problem, "campus bullying."

The thing is like this, the original Alexander Song's academic performance was probably between middle to low in the class. But when his soul was replaced by Song Ya more than a dozen days ago, he easily passed a math exam with full marks.

It’s not a big deal in the U.S. a few decades in the future, no one among the classmates would want to know the results of others. But now the social mentality of the U.S. has not "evolved" to that level. The math teacher was happy to have a good student, and announced his 'A+' performance and praised him severely, and also used him as an example to spur those "latecomers" in the class.

So the trouble came...

In just ten days, Song Ya was quickly isolated by the classmates. His name ‘Ali’ that everyone used to call him before became ‘APLUS.’ And it is always followed by a burst of inexplicable laughter. The few late coming boys started to provoke him from time to time.

Although the current so-called provocation still lies in deliberately hitting the shoulder when passing by the side, or knocking off the book when passing the desk. This trend always makes Song Ya very uneasy.

In his previous life, Song Ya was a standard Chinese young man. His family was well-off, and his academic performance was also above average. He had just graduated from university with a six-digit house prepared for him. After a few years of work, he will save enough for a car and prepare to find a wife—what a smooth life. But suddenly, I was thrown here, and I can't cope with this environment.

And who in the whole of China would be isolated and bullied because of a perfect score in the exam! Not to mention giving classmates a dumb nickname like 'APLUS.’ 

The most unjust is that although mathematics scores are advancing by leaps and bounds, the scores of the two subjects of physical education and art have plummeted. It is hard to say whether it is a loss or a profit in the US high school under the credit system!

"Is my golden finger as a traverser really the talent of the Chinese race? In that case, the sports and art credits have to be simply given up, and the main focus should be put on mathematics and natural sciences. By the way, English and social sciences cannot be left behind either..."

"Even so, I need at least one and a half years to complete the credits in advance. For that, I have to survive in this environment for at least three more years..."

Planning the future along the way, unknowingly, the school bus has reached the destination.

"Alex, don't rush to leave after school, wait for me." Tony came over and said before he broke off.

"Where are you going?" Song Ya asked.

Tony leaned close to his ear and whispered: "Little Lori."

"Playing basketball again?" Song Ya was discouraged when he heard that, "Can we not go?"

Since he passed through, the original athletic foundation of this body has been completely exhausted. Now, playing basketball is simply torture for him. This is street basketball in the black ghetto, not a sport in which he throws casually when in the gym class.

"FXXX You! Don't bargain! Don't play tricks with me!" Tony changed his face immediately and added a soft word before leaving: "Just do me a favor!"

"Well, you are the boss." Song Ya has no choice.

After passing through the noisy crowd, I entered the classroom and saw that the chair behind my desk was thrown into the corner of the classroom. 

"Naive..." I didn't bother to investigate it. I picked it and wiped it out. Then I started another day of American high school life.

TL:- madghost

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