The boy whispered back, “That’s Mr. Washington. Teaches Latin. He’s never been known to smile.”

Latin. Rashid sat back in his seat to consider this information. Latin. Latin? He thought that’s what they used to talk in Greek or Rome times, but he wasn’t positive. You did only have to take two years of it, though—he noticed that in the papers they gave him when he was registering. All the other languages, you had to take three. And they said it helped with other languages he wanted to learn, like Spanish. Taking a class with a black man would be cool. So when the time came, he signed up.

He’d thought that by asking for extra work in class today, he’d make it clear to Mr. Washington that he wasn’t here to play. Washington had seemed impressed—but then when Rashid got back to his room and took a look at what awaited him in the dun-colored Latin textbook, he felt sick. He was going to be up half the night fooling around with this stuff as it was—and he hadn’t even gotten homework from any of his other classes yet. He fell back on the bed with a groan.

His roommate, Gerald Davis, looked up from where he was leafing through a new-looking copy of A Farewell to Arms. “Damn, cuz, what’s up? Somebody call you nigger already?” His tone was surprisingly mild, as though he expected this insult to be delivered to either or both of them at any second.

Rashid replied without sitting up. “I just got out of Latin. I’m trying to impress the teacher by asking for extra credit. Now I take a look at it and I’m like, Oh shit, I can’t even do what I’m supposed to do. Tryin’ to be slick.” He pulled his pillow over his face and groaned again, inhaling the slight smell of his own sweat from the night before.

“What the hell were you doing asking for extra credit on the first day? You must be out your damn mind,” Gerald said, laughing.

Rashid threw the pillow at him. “I know that now. I don’t know. He’s a brother. And …” Here his voice changed, grew low and intense. “I’ve got to stay here. I’ve got to.”

Gerald gave him a funny look. “It’s just the first week of classes, my man. I don’t think they’re gonna throw your butt out of here yet.”