A listener note, this episode contains depictions of racism and references to sexual abuse

that may not be suitable for all listeners. Please be advised.

Imagine you're standing on the sidewalk, edging your bright pink plastic clogs

right up to the edge of a long crack in the hot concrete.

As you look down at it, it seems to widen into a chasm because there's a lot on the line here

if your 10-year-old leg should somehow fail you. Do it, do it, you can do it!

Your cousins on the far side of the sidewalk keep reminding you what's at stake.

Don't step on a crack or you'll break your mother's back.

You crouch down, swing your arms back, close your eyes, and picture yourself making the

decisive leap through the air. You're so intensely focused that you don't even notice what's

roaring up the sidewalk behind you. Get out of my way!

You hear the hard rubber wheels of roller skates grinding on cement like the growl of an

oncoming predator. And then you feel a sharp elbow jutting into your back, sending you reeling.

And then everything, sidewalk, sun, sky, cousins, is a spinning blur until you feel your elbow

skid down onto the rough pavement. Ow! You look up and see him, a boy, a little older than you are.

Lawned hair, blue eyes, and a smart, alike snub nose. I warned you you were blocking my way.

He's making slow circles around you now, like a shark stalking his prey. The way he's

gleefully stepping on those cracks in the ground, you almost feel bad for his mother.

But then you see his mother, staring from a nearby lawn, hands on her hips, her back definitely

not broken. She's got her lips curled under her nose like she's smelling something rotten,

and her eyes are on you. You pull yourself up and glare at the boy. We're obviously not in your way.

Why don't you just go around? Your cousins gasp and shrink away from you.

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