Celine stealing Chiclets from the gas station, smiling to the clerk as she walked out unafraid. Jesse doing it too, although hesitating before jamming the packages of candy in his pockets, a small recognition of fear of being caught, knowing deep down the repercussions wouldn’t be the same for him, and yet—Celine had done it and she’d been okay. For all his judgment toward her they were similar in this way, because he could not stand the idea of someone else getting away with something he couldn’t. Every day the world reminded him, both directly and subtly, that because he was black his life
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