“That ain’t true, is it? Ten minutes, I’d show ya who’s too good. Don’t even know what good is, I bet.”

I just wanted them to leave us alone. I wished I could have pummeled them like Thor or The Hulk. I imagined doing it, turning, grabbing them by the front of their black t-shirts, and tossing them through a crummy brick wall. I felt like it was my job to protect my mom since my dad was gone, but I couldn’t do anything but hunch my shoulders, keep my head down, and walk faster. I couldn’t even help my mom walk, and she really needed the help.

At the corner of Falls Road, we had to wait for the light to turn. All sorts of cars whizzed by, and the three guys milled about a few feet behind us, beside a blue stone bench with “Baltimore, The City That Reads” painted on it in yellow letters. Desperate for the light to change, I searched down the hill and waited for a break in the traffic so we could bolt across.

That’s when I saw a BG&E sedan cruise off the Jones Falls Expressway. As it approached, a thrill leapt into my heart. I was positive my father had returned to save the day. I searched through the rowhouse reflections on the slanted windshield as the car got bigger. I imagined that my dad would get closer and closer, then whip the steering wheel to one side and plow the three guys over, just like that, without even blinking. I would have been so proud. As I waited for the maneuver, I kept thinking, “Do it!” But the car passed straight by. From the side, I caught sight of the driver, a man I’d never seen before in my life, a flat-nosed Asian guy. I almost fainted on the sidewalk, I was so let down. And the whole time the taunts continued.

I tried to give my mother some help by steadying her with a hand. We stumbled and tripped our way down the walkway as fast as we could. Then, finally, the school rose up to the right, just beyond a short strip of wooden rowhouses, their crimped and twisted silver fences surrounding tiny, clean front yards. As we neared the edge of the parking lot, the guys behind us got bored. I heard them discuss leaving, then they just turned and headed back up the street to give someone else a hard time. I was so relieved that a sleepiness swept through me. I wanted to lie down between cars and stare up at the sky, blue and dotted with pretty cotton-ball clouds.