"But I don't get it." Leala put her hair into a ponytail. "How could a male African American teenager with no weapons be a threat to a police officer who's armed?"
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Harmony's older brother was found dead, and the cop who killed him wasn't charge...
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⚜
I kicked at the rocks with my hands pushed into my hoodie's pocket. My bangs flew around my forehead like they were going to fly away. I felt terrible for the way I treated David. It still amazed me how he treated me so well when I finally cracked. My eyes watered, and I wiped them quickly with my hoodie's black sleeve—leaving a visible line of my tear there.
Khalil didn't do drugs; he stayed out of gangs; he didn't steal or kill; he didn't do anything against the law. But if that was the case, why would the officer shoot him? Did he give the guy a reason to shoot? I didn't think Khalil was capable of breaking the law.
Was I wrong?
"Hey." I jumped when the deep voice I heard seemed closer than I thought. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." The guy was light-skinned, had light brown eyes, long dark brown dreads that stopped a little further than his shoulders, kinda thick dark brown eyebrows, a little mustache, and peach fuzz on his chin. "I saw a beautiful girl like you walking all alone on a trail in the woods and wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Thanks," I mumbled while staring at my black Converse.
"So, what're you doing out here by yourself?"
I sighed. "Trying to stop thinking about my brother."
"Oh. What happened?"
I could feel the guy's eyes fixated on my face, but didn't care to make eye contact. "He was shot by a police officer yesterday."
"Ohhh. You're Harmony Smith?" I nodded my head, finally locking eyes with him. "Damn, you look even prettier in person. ABC News didn't do you any justice."
I blushed and mumbled, "Thank you."
"I'm Miracalo; most people just call me Calo because Miracalo is a pretty long name if you ask me." He smiled. "You gonna try and go to court for what happened?"
I shrugged. "We ain't got the money."
"My dad owns a law firm." He pulled a card out of his pocket and I took it happily. "He lets you put down payments for everything that's gotta be paid; he understands the struggle of being a black family in the United States. And if you wanna protest, hit me up. I like to support any cause that has actual reasoning behind it."
I shook my head. "Nooo. I don't. . . I-I don't protest."
"Why?" Calo cocked his head to the side.
"Because I can't." I stopped walking, noticing that I didn't want to be lost in the woods with a somewhat stranger.
"Everyone has a voice, Harmony. You," Calo tapped my nose with his finger, "just gotta find yours."
⚜
I quietly shut the front door in an attempt to sneak back in. When I took one step, the living room lights turned on—revealing my mom in grey sweats and a tank top, crossing her arms over her chest while frowning at me.
"Where have you been?" Fury was laced into every word she spoke.
"I was out on a walk."
"With David?" She glanced at the window, indicating that it was dark enough for me to get snatched up if I had been alone.
"No." I looked at the ground. "I wasn't alone, though." I locked eyes with her while extending the card Calo gave me. "Someone gave me this card to a law firm owned by a black man."
"Is that Harmony," Dad asked from their room.
"Yeah," Mom responded while eyeing the card suspiciously. "And what are we supposed to do with that?"
"Um. . . go visit and see if you're willing to pay money to try and bring this matter to court. . .?"
"No. No!" She uncrossed her arms. "I keep telling you and your father that I don't want to get involved in any of these 'Black Lives Matter' protests. You know what happens during those protests; they get violent, and the last thing I want is for another one of my babies killed by the goddamn police!"
"Aye, what's all this yelling about?" Dad walked into the living room with basketball shorts on and a white wife-beater.
"Your daughter talked to some damn rando' who gave her some little card for a law firm owned by some black motherfucker." I knew my mom was mad because she never cussed unless she meant every single word that came out of her pink, plump lips.
"Harmony, you hit the jackpot!" Dad took the card from my hands. "Who'd you get this from?"
I blushed thinking about Calo. "I found it at the Postal Office," I lied. I thought better than to tell them that I was strolling with a stranger in the middle of nowhere at night.
I opened the drawer that I stored my nightclothes in and grabbed a shirt and shorts, a towel, and my black fuzzy socks that were now just normal socks from all the usage. I would ask my parents to buy me another, but they were twenty dollars and money didn't grow on trees.
After taking a shower, I dried my hair, then wrapped it around my head with a brush. I loved my long hair that almost stopped at my butt, but it also was a pain in the motherfucking ass.
When I closed my eyes to sleep, Calo's words kept repeating in my head, "Everyone has a voice, Harmony. You just gotta use yours."
