He pointed to a path on the corner. “That path right there. Looks creepy, but it’s very short, and it’ll shoot you right out onto Main Street. You really shouldn’t walk in the dark like that. We keep this place safe, but you never know, right?” “Right,” I said. I thanked him. He smiled. And with that, he took off. I never thought about this again. Never questioned if he’d stopped me because he was actually trying to help or because I was brown. I took his advice and realized he was right. But that was then. Three years in, I had become a whole different Javi.
