“Just talk. Tell some young men much like yourself of your experience here. Why you chose it. What the benefits are for you. Why they might consider it. Pretty basic stuff. Do you feel prepared for such a task?”

Tell some young men of his experience here. Tell them about being surrounded by rich white boys twenty-four hours a day. Tell them about feeling the color of your skin every second as something strange to them, that they’d seen only in positions of servitude or entertainment. Tell them about the schoolwork that made your brain literally ache—but then the brief moments when it all came clear and the world seemed bigger and you saw the light within what you were reading and wondered why that couldn’t happen at your old school. Tell them about looking around at the dances for one girl who looked like the girls you knew back home—round and brown skinned and glossy with bravado. Tell them what it’s like to never see that face. Tell them about everybody wanting something from you—the coaches wanting you to run and run, even when you weren’t sure how you felt about it; the teachers wanting you to speak up in class, even when you weren’t sure what they were talking about; your parents wanting you to do them proud, even when you weren’t sure that you could. Tell them about the weight of needing to succeed, knowing that so much rests on it and feeling afraid. Tell them what it’s like to know that for everything you’re getting from this place, you’re giving something up. Tell them what it’s like here. Do you feel prepared? “I think I could do that, Mr. Fox. I think I would do a good job.”

“Excellent. I thought as much. I’ll let you know the date of the first trip soon. Thanks for your help, Mr. Bryson. It’s much appreciated.”

Fox started to walk down the hallway when Rashid called after him, “Mr. Fox, who else will be going on the trip?”

The older man took a few steps back toward Rashid, ticking off names on his fingers. “Some of the other students—Sean Cho and your friend Gerald Davis. And a couple of the faculty members, Mr. Washington and Ms. Hansen, I think, will be the ones who join you on your first trip. You’ll be visiting a school in New York City. Your hometown, yes?”

“Yeah. I mean, yes.”

“Well, perhaps you’d like to let your parents know that you’ll be there. In any event, you’d better head along, young man. It’s nearly time for your next class. I’ll speak with you soon.”