Black Lives, Black Words by Reginald Edmund

Author:Reginald Edmund
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: eBook ISBN: 9781786821522
Publisher: Oberon Books
Published: 2017-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

MY WHITE BEST FRIEND

by Rachel De-Lahay

NB This speech is to be held and read aloud by the named actor as though her diary, written by somebody else.

First up, a request from the writer... Can we just do a quick audience reshuffle? All the girls need to be at the front. All brown, black, queer, disable girls, centre. All white, able-bodied men, fall back. Not to segregate. With our little shuffle we’re just saying, we know what’s going on out there, but in here, this space is safe and you are more than valued and loved. Thank you.

So... I am going to read something. Apparently.

My White Best Friend. By Rachel De-lahay.

Right. This is Rachel ‘doing’ me. If that makes sense? Hopefully it will. Okay...

Hi! My name is Ruth Minkley. I’m best friends with Rachel De-lahay.

Best.

I’m also an actor hence... And I’m stood here representing myself. Literally. And also every other white friend of Rachel’s.

Ever.

In Birmingham, where Rachel is from, her friends were mainly black and Asian, but she doesn’t see them that much nowadays. They text and FaceTime, and she goes back, though not as often as she’d like, cause, you know...life. So she misses them. A lot.

But it’s okay cause we... The collective of me and Rachel’s other white friends... We met, nearly thirteen years ago.

Wow. Thirteen years.

We’ve lived together, got drunk together, experimented with drugs together, fallen in love with each other, seen each other fall in love with others. Helped mend heartbreak. Fought. My god have we fought. Laughed, cried, sang, to Britney and Rihanna, at the top of our voices, in our bedrooms, in pyjamas, on an exclusive diet of Blossom Hill...

Rachel once held back my hair, as I threw up, on the night bus.

I was vomiting between my legs after having one too many free glasses of crystal in the VIP section of China Whites. I said it then, I’ll say it again, Crystal is literally wasted on twenty-one-year-olds who drink lambrini when getting ready.

We started a diet together, once, eating an excellent three-bean casserole that I prepared. Then on our way to a gig Rachel nearly passed out on the tube from “weakness” and I had to get her off, and buy her a King-sized Twix.

I borrowed her dress on holiday and it looked better on me and she hated me for it.

Then the day Rachel found out she was going to be paid to rewrite her first ever play, I was with her. In Chanel on Bond Street.

We were staring at the life we wanted and when she got off the phone we sat down in front of a quilted, navy, lambskin, 2.55 flap bag and thought...one step closer.

Then a sales assistant started talking to us and somehow got us confused with people who were legitimately capable of buying said bag so we quickly left, and went to the Botanist where I bought us a Bellini. Mine orange, Rachel’s red.

What I’m saying is, I can’t replace her decades-long friendships from back home. I can’t be Neetu or Daina, who are both fucking ace.

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