I could totally kick your ass, I thought to myself as I looked at the trio of drunken college guys inside the bus shelter, smirking to themselves. What is it with drunken white guys having the urge to hurl slurs at other people? Shit. Three months ago I would have ignored these fools and quietly walked away, just like any good black citizen of the Prairies. It's in the script, you see.
In the City of Calgary, Alberta, there's a pecking order. The rednecks get to say shit and blame it on alcohol or whatever while us minorities have to pretend we didn't hear it. Good ole Canadian multiculturalism at work. If we all pretend that there are no problems, then said problems don't exist. The fact that the current Mayor of Calgary is a Muslim doesn't sit right with certain folks, and they're more outspoken than ever with their racist bullshit.
I've been conditioned my whole life to behave this way. However, three months ago my life changed. That's why I glared menacingly at my adversaries with a smile a shark would recognize. Even as the words 'nigger what is your problem' left the mouth of a certain redneck bozo, my fist connected with his lips. His eyes went wide with surprise, then he crashed on the wet, dirty floor. Out cold. His buddies looked at him, then at me. Disbelief shone on their pale faces. I allowed myself a smile.
Gesturing with my hand, I quietly taunted them. Bozo number two and bozo number three walked up to me, still unsteady on their feet due to the amount of booze flowing through their veins. Taking them out proved no challenge at all. A stiff uppercut dispatched the one on the right, a chubby bastard with a mop of red hair and a goatee. He went sprawling on the floor, and lay still. Finding himself alone against a decidedly unusual foe, the last redneck grumbled something and took a swung at me.
I decided to mark this one, and so I did. At long last, I unleashed the transformation I'd been keeping at bay. My fingernails elongated into wicked, six-inch claws. My eyes turned yellow, and fur sprouted all over my five-foot-eleven, 179-pound body. You should have seen the look in the dude's eyes as I wolfed out on him. I lashed out, and left a bloody handprint across his bearded face. I didn't cut him too deep, but he'll bear those marks for life. Snickering, I took off, a blur of speed in the Albertan night.
My name is Bilal Abubakar and I'm a young man of Somali descent living in the City of Calgary, Alberta. I am twenty years old, and study Criminal Justice at Mount Royal University. It is my fervent hope to become a police officer or corrections officer someday. We need more Muslim men in law enforcement across the West. In these uncertain times, most people are eager to believe that anyone who follows Islam is a heartbeat away from becoming a terrorist. This couldn't be further from the truth.
I am a Muslim, and as peaceful as can be. The only things that piss me off are racists and Islamophobes. My parents, Omar and Suraya Abubakar live in the City of Edmonton. Dad is a constable with the Calgary Police Service and Mom is a Nurse. My younger brother Hussein is in his final year of high school. I love my family but we don't talk much. Not since a certain incident last year.