Resistance
I was 12
With round framed glasses
Attempting to become my own version of Vanessa Huxtable
All straight A’s and one-liners.
I was sprawled out on the rug
My face in a book -
Goosebumps or Babysitters Club or something with a choose-your-own ending.
In the suburbs,
I’d never heard a gunshot
Never kept the oven door open for warmth.
And a bang on the door startled me
Even though we had a doorbell
(because why would they ring the bell if they could pound on the door)
They were
Looking for my brother
I remember smiling
Because not too long ago
It had been “people in your neighborhood day”
And I knew all about the good men in blue
Who would help me get home if I lost my mom at a street fair
Or could make sure men in vans didn’t follow me home from school
But they didn’t smile back
At 12 year old me
Or say please or thank you
When I said he wasn’t home
Even though I could hear WuTang blasting from his stereo
My first act of resistance
And as they made their way down the front steps
I swear I heard one oink
And saw the other’s pink spiraled tail twitch underneath his slacks.
