“Listen,” Robb says. “You gotta talk to Tyrell and get him on board. I’m sick of tiptoeing around his studious ass. You gotta tell him.”

I pause my game. “What makes you think I can do that?” Because we’re both black?

“You can speak his language, right?”

I pretend not to hate that. “His language is Excel spreadsheets.” I struggle to inject lightness to my voice. “Who else speaks that?”

Robb laughs. “I don’t know. Just try, okay?”

It’s easier to agree. “Okay.”

“Thanks,” Robb says. “You wanna walk down to the Black House together?”

I glance at my screen. The meeting doesn’t start for an hour. “Gotta hit the books a little longer,” I tell him. I hold up the controller. “This was my ten minute break, but I should read another chapter of Econ.”

“Okay. Just try to get T to come, for once.”

Pause. Save. Power off. “Why do you care so much if he comes with us? It’s not like you’re best friends to begin with.”

Robb pauses. Shrugs. “It’s where he’s from. He should stand up, don’t you think?”

“I think it’s his business.”

“Fixing the damn world?” Robb slaps the doorframe. “It should be everybody’s business.”

EVA

In my room I can pull up my sleeves and examine my bruises. When I am not looking, other kids reach out and pinch me as hard as they can. I say nothing. Like I’m supposed to.

In my parents’ bedroom, Mommy thumps something down on the dresser. Probably her hairbrush. Maybe her fist.

The walls are thin. I hear everything. But I say nothing, like I’m supposed to.

“You need an attorney, Darren. With this money we can afford the best.”

“I can’t accept their money.”

The floorboards creak as Mommy paces. It is always Mommy who paces. Daddy holds still, like a coiled spring.

Mommy says, “No one will know.”

“They’ll know. What does it say if I accept it?”

“It says you’re a father with a child to feed and a mortgage.”

Daddy’s voice is tight. So tight. “People already think I did it on purpose.”

“No one will know.”

There is no such thing as silence, but for a moment the air is still.

“I’ll know.”

@Viana_Brown: Why do they always call her “the slain black girl” on TV? #HerNameWasShae

@BrownMamaBear: IT COULD HAVE BEEN MY BABY. #EveryBlackParent #BlackParentFears

@Momof6: Teach your kids to listen to police. End of story.

@WhitePowerCord: Criminals get what’s coming to them. Underhill PD FTW!!!!!

@UnderhillSCORE: Curfew’s up. So are we. It’s time to take a stand. We know who’s against us. Who’s with us? #Underhill

@BrownMamaBear: All you kids go on home now. Stop your foolishness! They’re coming for you.

@WhitePowerCord: SHOOT THEM DOWN. SHOOT THEM ALL. CURFEW’S UP. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR #UnderhillPD?