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5 10 15 20 25 30 35 26 “Still with this story,” Mario snorted. “You’re speaking from the other side of the fence. Go to a foreign country and then you’ll see what is means to be tolerated. Sometimes, I assure it’s really humiliating. You feel as if you were a disabled person and people pity you. I want to be known, loved, and appreciated for what matters.” Jensika whispered to Rahma, “You see, this is exactly what I was trying to tell you before.” “With some slight nuances,” she replied ironically. “For me, it’s a question of numbers, Mariella said. “Think of our school. There are Chinese, African, Pakistani, and Indian students. Now, nobody cares if you’re Indian or Moroccan. Some girls wear the veil and we don’t ask them why anymore.” “But in this way you’re saying it’s just a question of habit,” said Gaetano, who had been silent up to that moment. “Actually you no longer ask that girl the reason that she’s wearing the veil because you already know.” “How can you know the reason that she’s wearing the veil if you don’t ask her?” Mimmo interrupted. “Because you already dialogued with the person, and therefore you can tell whether she’s nice and whether you can consider her to be a friend, not considering her origins. How can I put this? For example, Mario is not different from us and is not someone to pity as he was saying. Mario is one of us and we like to reason together, make jokes, play football, and argue when he does something stupid. For us, Mario is not a Roma, he’s… he’s a Mario.” Everybody laughed at the face Gaetano made when he finished his sentence. “But if my father found out that I’m going out with him he would kick me out of the house,” Jensika said, looking down. “Because your father is a…” “Shut up Mario! Don’t say it,” Jensika put her hands on her ears. “So don’t tell your dad you’re going out with him,” Rahma suggested, giving the impression she was an expert on lying to her parents. “Oh, I would tell him, but I know I can’t do it. For something like this he would make me stay home all day.”