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clinch occurring behind a playground slide.
     She would never know what might have followed; before she knew it, hormones flew fast and furiously through the school’s halls
     and one pink-skinned girl after another began slipping Maxwell love notes.
    As the years passed at Christian Light, Julia’s unrequited feelings for Maxwell were one more “secret” she didn’t need. As
     it was, she fought daily to hide her good grades from Toya, Terry, and the other disaffected brothers and sisters. Her granny
     and grampy would not accept anything less than their granddaughter’s best, and once Julia got accustomed to excelling in school,
     she enjoyed the learning too much to stop, despite the fact that her friends wore their mediocre grades as proof of their
     blackness.
    Unlike her other friends living on the margins of Christian Light’s social order, Julia’s problem was that she had never really
     been that impressed with the world outside, the world of street corners, blasting hip-hop, and predatory men offering smooth
     talk and teen motherhood. Quite simply, Julia was her grandparents’ child; she wanted a boyfriend who was decent, Christian,
     and smart, and who just might make a good husband someday. Someone like Maxwell Simon.
    The humiliation of her young life had been the rare chance she had taken senior year, when she finally revealed her attraction
     to the only relevant party: Maxwell himself. The recall of that day and of the uncomfortable look in his eyes as she had stood
     there feeling tall, skinny, and flat-chested, now had Julia’s eyes welling with tears.
    Forcing herself to meet Maxwell’s stubborn stare, she controlled her tear ducts and knew that not even a glimmer showed in
     her eyes. “I’m a child of God, Maxwell,” she said, her tone sincere but flat. “I don’t hate anyone, and I greatly respect
     your accomplishments and status in this community. This board needs your contributions.”
    “It’s my privilege to serve,” he replied, extending a hand. As Julia reluctantly accepted his handshake, he gave a thin smile.
     “It may take some time for us to warm to each other professionally, I guess. Julia, I’m really sorry about —”
    Julia raised a hand. “We were kids,” she said. “Let’s worry about the children of today.” She looked away as she said, “Good
     night, Dr. Simon.”

5
    W
hat
did you say?” Cassie intently stepped on the heels of M.J.’s Nikes as she pursued him across the floor of his bedroom. “Say
     it again, M.J. I
dare
you to disrespect your mother a second time.”
    M.J. pivoted suddenly, his naked barrel chest level with Cassie’s line of sight. “Alls I said, Mom,” he replied, his arms
     crossed rebelliously, “was that you need to chill. You makin’ too big a deal out of this Dante stuff.”
    “Oh, really?” Cassie reached forward and shoved her big boy, a move so unexpected that M.J. actually lost his balance. When
     he landed against his bed, Cassie relished the chance to look down on him. “Dante has been convicted twice of drug possession,
     and he’s under suspicion now,
right now,
for attempted murder! You cannot be in his company anymore, I forbid it!”
    M.J. began to rise from the bed.
    Cassie spat out her words. “Don’t even think about it.”
    M.J. bristled but stayed seated. “That murder rap is bogus,” he muttered, looking all about the room in order to avoid his
     mother’s glare. “Everybody I talk to says so, not just Dante himself.”
    “Oh, so you’re tied into the hood grapevine now, are you? M.J., your father and I tried to do the balanced thing by sending
     you to C.J. We could have saved money and sent you to Fairmont, or we could have paid through the nose to put you in Alter
     or Miami Valley, but we knew all those would limit your contact with other black kids. C.J. was a good compromise, we thought.”
    “So what are you sayin’?”
    “I’m saying, we can’t seem to shake you of this fascination