“I have the right to defend myself,” Daddy says again. When a bad thing happens, sometimes you get stuck in one place.

“No one’s arguing that you don’t.”

“Damn right they are. I’m supposed to stand there and let myself get shot when someone draws on me?”

An elephant is in the room. And it’s packing. The air is double charged.

“There was no gun,” Mom says gently. “They confirmed it.”

“I thought there was.”

“Just keep telling them your version,” Mom says. “It’s your right.”

“A girl,” Daddy says. “Thirteen.”

“Don’t think about it,” Mom says, which is the strangest thing to say. How can we not think about it?

“I thought there was.”

Silence.

“I thought there was,” Daddy repeats.

OFFICER YOUNG

Boots. Batons. Shields. Service weapons.

We will patrol tonight.

Our goal is to protect the people.

But the world has changed. The city is out to get us.

We will patrol tonight.

Our goal is to keep the peace.

TINA

From high up in my window

they look like toy soldiers.

Little dolls with plastic legs

you can bend only so far.

They are not toys and yet

they are not willing to bend.

I close one eye and squeeze

them between my fingers like ants.

Tariq taught me that trick,

and also how to hold up a fork

and send someone to jail.

We laughed about it.

No one is laughing now.

BRICK

Curfew is a fucking joke. Who do they think they are, to pen us in like that? The streets are strange and calm and empty. We can’t stand for it.

Caution tape be damned. This is our neighborhood. Sheila, Shae, Tina—they should be able to walk in peace.

Anger defines us. The shape it takes in each of us is who we are. How we move. Sinewy like a snake, stealthy like a cat, the swirl of a tornado or the steadiness of a rock.

They would take it from us, our anger. Render us motionless and mute. We can’t stand for it.

Nothing is simple. Nothing has ever been simple. This neighborhood, our hearts, our homes. Our jobs, our shame. The way we kowtow and cower. Shuck and jive to keep going one more day.

They would shove us into small boxes. Smaller and smaller until our bones are dust. Build cities out of our shells, our shards.

We can’t stand for it.

@UnderhillSCORE: We have questions. Who has answers? #UnderhillPD #StartTalking

@Momof6: This could happen to any cop. #StopWhenTheySayStop #NoBrainer

@KelvinX_: Resisting arrest IS NOT a crime unto itself. #KillerCop needs to answer for HIS crimes. #NoKidDeservesToDie

@Momof6: Resisting arrest is a crime!!! When everyone obeys the police, there’s no problem.

@KelvinX_: A 13yo child is dead. The onus should be on cops to protect our children.

@BrownMamaBear: Heartbreak after heartbreak. Pray for all the brown babies out there.