Colin didn’t answer. But I could actually see his thin chest heaving in and out with rage and sorrow as he looked over his poor, broken instrument. And when he got to his feet, I knew what he was fixing to do even before he started toward Mike.

“Colin, don’t!” I yelled, getting to my own feet in order to run after him.

But it was too late. By the time I caught up with Colin, he and Mike were full out brawling. Their fighting styles were almost comically different. Mike, bulky football player that he was, threw punch after punch while Colin feinted and dodged, using his elbows and knees to occasionally land a good blow on Mike.

For a few moments, I watched them go at it in horror-struck fascination. Colin looked exactly like what he was. A violinist/fiddler who knew he couldn’t hurt his hands, but was determined to take on the asshole who’d destroyed his instrument.

I thought of what Colin had said before about having a spot in the Youth Symphony, and what would happen if he lost his ability to play because of this fight, and my heart seized with panic for him.

“Stop!” I yelled at them as loudly as I could without attracting attention.

They didn’t even pause.

So I did my best impression of the small boxing referees I’d seen on TV and got between them, shoving them apart as I did.

Colin stopped fighting immediately. But then he yelled, “Get out the way!” at me.

“No!”

“I’d listen to him if I were you, girl,” Mike growled on the other side of me.

He took several menacing steps forward, and I knew I only had a matter of seconds before he mowed me down in order to get to Colin. Both the guys didn’t just look angry—they looked murderous. Whatever this was between them, it wasn’t about me, or even the violin, really. It was about class, privilege, and entitlement, and it went deep.

But I stood my ground against Mike anyway.

“Well, you’re not me, boy,” I let him know. “And if you don’t want me screamin’ so everybody comes running, then I suggest you turn your butt around and head on up to your room. Otherwise, a whole bunch of folks are about to find out you’ve been clocking time with a black girl.”

The way Mike’s face blanched told me nearly more than anything proceeding that moment that I’d been nothing less than a stone cold idiot to ever let this boy touch me.

“Go’on, Mike,” I said. “Just go’on now.” I could barely stand to look at him.

For a moment, Mike looked cowed. But only for a moment.

Eventually he straightened up, a nasty smile coming over his face, as he looked around me at Colin.