5

RODNEY

“So, that’s basically what I’d like to do,” Principal Evans says. She has gathered a small group of students into the media center after school to participate in a “healing effort” in response to the riot. Rodney’s unsure why he was asked there; he’s a follower, not a leader. That didn’t change in six months. Marquese, a real leader, was not invited and is plotting revenge.

Two white security guards and one even whiter police officer stand next Evans. Outside the library in the halls of Northeast, those numbers are way higher. Two days have passed since the riot, and tensions remain high.

“Are there questions?” Evans asks.

ZamZam, one of the Somali girls invited to the meeting, raises her hand. Rodney wants to question her, though: Do you know the girl that I helped? But he says nothing. Instead, he’s focusing on his knock-off Chucks, trying not to look at Aaliyah. Not her model pretty face, not her hand intertwined with Antonio’s ugly hand. After Aliyah dumped him, Antonio pounced on her quicker than he ever did any fumble. Defensive end on the field, but an offensive jerk in Rodney’s eyes.

“So let me introduce the two community leaders who will actually lead the effort to help us heal,” Principal Evans says. “This is Reverend Elijah Cook from the Bethel AME Church and Shaykh Abdi Abdallah from the Imaam Shaafici Mosque. With them, we will basically . . .”

Rodney shuts out the rest of the meeting; he doesn’t want to be there. He has other things to do after school, namely a meeting with his probation officer, Mr. Burton. Burton has been buzzing Rodney’s phone all day, no doubt to remind him of their meeting.

“What’s going on, all?” Marquese shouts as he throws open the door of the media center, quite uninvited. Principal Evans summons one of the guards toward the door. “You meeting without me?”

“Marquese, you were not invited to this meeting, but—”

“You invite him but not me?” Marquese points at Farhan, who sits in the chair nearest Evans. “Rodney, you don’t want to be sitting down with them.”

Rodney looks at his best friend, then back at the principal. Farhan stares him down.

“Rodney was invited to this meeting, you were not. You need to leave!” Evans directs the one of the security officers to remove Marquese, who loudly protests the entire way. During the commotion, Rodney peeks at his phone, heavy with missed messages and texts. He wonders if somebody died.

After Marquese leaves, the holy men talk about healing, but Rodney thinks it’s all rote, kind of like the stuff his PO says. Stuff Burton’s got to say, but deep down probably he doesn’t really believe. Burton, like some other POs Rodney’s had, used to be in “the game” but got out and is now on the other side. It seems to Rodney, though, that Burton’s more interested in telling war stories than anything else.

“So, basically, we’ll meet until we get this resolved,” Evans says. Rodney steals another glance at his phone, thinking that if it had a weather app, he’d look to see if hell was freezing over anytime soon.

Rodney gets up to leave with everyone else, but Principal Evans calls him to the front.

“Rodney, I want to thank you—” Evans starts.

“Why me?” Rodney asks aloud what he’d been thinking since he got asked to the meeting.

“Because you set an example protecting those girls.” Evans sounds proud, like she did something.

“How do you know about that?”

She shakes her head, surprised. She pulls her out her crappy old phone and shows him a video posted on YouTube of him protecting the girl during the riot. “The district is trying to get these videos of the incident pulled down, but I guess it has literally—what is it you all say—gone viral.”

“Who is the girl?” Rodney asks, trying to appear all calm and casual.

“I know the girl in the glasses is Ayaan Farrah,” Evans says. “I can’t see the other girl’s face. I invited Ayaan to the meeting, but she declined. I’m sure that girl will find you—”

Rodney bolts from the room thinking, not if I find her first.