Liliana

I think I just got a tan in California is what I said.

But then like, you know, a few months went by, I'm still tan.

Why are you so tan?

I don't know.

my parents never explained to me that I was a person of color.

Like, so I would hear my parents talk about people of color, like, oh my gosh, like being in California, the Hispanic population there is really heavy.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

But my parents hated

Mexican people, which was odd because my mom had a Hispanic friend.

So how do you have a Hispanic friend?

But she also had a black friend and I was friends with her son.

He was in the grade above me and everybody was like, they're so cute together.

He's like, we're children, stop.

But anyway, so we would always hang out with them.

And my stepdad would like flip his shit, like call her the N word with a hard R and be like, I don't want you hanging around them and stuff like that.

But my mom was just like...

Ignore him.

That's just how he is.

Like, I don't know why people are like, why are you excusing that?

That's so weird.