Ever since Tyrone Woodbury came to study at Carleton University in the City of Ottawa, Ontario, he'd had to adjust to a strange and complex environment. When his father Franklin James Woodbury got offered a position at Ciena Systems, in the Kanata neighborhood of Ottawa, the old man was thrilled, and happily moved to the Canadian Capital.
Franklin Woodbury had few ties to his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts, where he recently lost his position as a contract instructor in the computer science department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Tyrone Woodbury decided to follow his father to Ottawa, Ontario, and the two of them got a townhouse in the suburb of Barrhaven, and settled into their new digs...
For Franklin Woodbury, this was a logical move. Impressed with his M.I.T. educational credentials, Ciena Systems offered him a six-figure salary to join their research and development division. After taking second-rate jobs at various schools and tech companies in New England for the past decade or so, Franklin Woodbury was finally getting the respect he deserved from his peers in the international tech sector.
Tyrone Woodbury was happy to see his father finally get the success and respect he deserved, but he wasn't as fond of Ottawa as his old man was. The young man desperately missed the City of Brockton, Massachusetts, where he grew up. Last year, he graduated from Massasoit Community College with his Associate's degree in Criminal Justice. Tyrone originally wanted to work for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, but they weren't about to hire a twenty-year-old college grad with almost no life experience.
"Patience, my son, your time will come," Franklin Woodbury said to his son Tyrone, when the younger man complained about how whack Ottawa was, and how much he missed Massachusetts. Tyrone heeded his father's words, and transferred to Carleton University. He figured that he could get his bachelor's degree in Criminology from the Canadian school, and then either stay in Canada and work for their law enforcement system, or go back to the United States with a Canadian university degree and "more life experience."
Life at Carleton University wasn't so bad, Tyrone Woodbury had to admit. The campus was big, and more diverse than he thought it would be. At Massasoit Community College, Tyrone Woodbury had been surrounded by African-Americans, Haitians, Cape Verdeans, Mexican-Americans, Chinese-Americans, and the traditional Irish and Italians who made up the bulk of New England's population. By sharp contrast, Carleton University eclipsed Massasoit in both size and diversity.
Tyrone Woodbury had never seen so many people from the far side of the world. Indians, Pakistanis, Mauritanians, Afro-Brazilians, Lebanese, Saudis, Nigerians, Colombians, Eritreans, Ethiopians, Somalis, and many more. Gorgeous young women of all hues walked around campus, wearing Hijabs and cultural outfits. Tyrone once rode an elevator sandwiched between a Hijab-wearing gal from Somalia and a blonde-haired white chick in booty shorts, on a hot summer's day. The young African-American from Brockton couldn't believe it...
There were key differences between life in Canada and America, this much became clear to Tyrone from the get-go. The world thought of Americans as loud, arrogant and full of themselves. Canadians were thought of as a nice, friendly people. After a few months in the capital of Canada, Tyrone quickly discovered how passive-aggressive a lot of Canadians were, especially when dealing with people of color.
Tyrone could feel the tension as he rode the OC Transpo bus, and saw how white guys stared hostilely at young black guys and brown men they saw walking around with white girls. In Brockton, Tyrone remembered hanging out with his best friend Cory Quinn, a red-haired, chubby, green-eyed young Irishman he'd known since their halcyon days on Ash Street. The two of them were tight, their families knew each other, and they were frequently at each other's houses. In Brockton, it was the norm. No racial bullshit. In Canada? Not so much. Not when you scratch the surface...
Tyrone and Cory used to hang out at the Westgate Mall on Friday nights. They wore gear straight from PCX, the local urban store, and practiced lousy lines on gorgeous young women, like true homeboys. Cory used to date a Jamaican chick named Veronique Angler, and Tyrone went out with Mildred O'Connor, the tall and skinny, freckle-faced blonde gal whom he met one night while shopping at the old K-Mart near Bridgewater.
Tyrone didn't remember Cory frowning on him dating Mildred, nor did he frown upon Cory dating Veronique. In Brockton, where more than half of the population was either black or brown, people didn't play that racial shit. Either you were cool or you were a hater. No faking. No bullshit. People were fairly overt about their views on pretty much everything. You knew where you stood. That's it, that's all.
In fact, shortly before Tyrone and his father Franklin left for Ottawa, Cory and his mom took them to Old Country Buffet to give the Woodbury men a proper send-off. It was one of the best nights of his life. Tyrone smiled sadly as he remembered his hometown and the people he once took for granted. In polite, passive-aggressive Ottawa, the young Brockton-born aspiring police officer felt distinctly out of place. Feeling bored in the library, Tyrone decided to do some 'private' browsing...
"So, that's what you're looking at online, huh? You talk a lot of shit about black politics in class, and you're into this, Hmm," Josephine Destournelles said, shaking her head as she peered over her classmate Tyrone Woodbury's shoulder, and looked at the porno he'd been watching. Sitting at a computer, on a remote corner of the Carleton University library's fifth floor, Tyrone was so engrossed in the X-rated video he'd been watching that he didn't see a certain blonde sneak up on him...
"Um, Josephine, this isn't what it looks like, I'm doing research," Tyrone said sheepishly, and Josephine grinned mischievously, delighted to see the handsome and usually cocky African-American stud squirming for a change. Last week, in their Criminal Law & Policy Class, a heated discussion pitted pro-law enforcement types against students who supported Black Lives Matter, and Josephine and Tyrone almost went nose to nose over the issues...