“Because I'm Black?”
The room became still.
Camille reached across.
“Yes.”
She refused to lie.
Isaiah looked toward Marcus.
“Was Dad scared when he came?”
“No.”
“Mad?”
Marcus smiled without humor.
“Very.”
“Why didn't you yell?”
“Because yelling would not help you.”
Isaiah thought.
“But Lorraine yelled.”
“She was wrong.”
“Officer Hargrove didn't yell.”
“No.”
“But he still kept me there.”
Marcus nodded.
“That’s something he’ll need to think about.”
Isaiah asked:
“Was he racist?”
Camille answered carefully.
“We don't know what's in his heart.”
“But?”
“But we can talk about what happened.”
She continued.
“Once the officers knew you were telling the truth, they should have recognized that the situation was finished.”
“Why didn't they?”
Marcus answered.
“They kept trying to make Lorraine feel comfortable.”
Isaiah frowned.
“She was wrong.”
“Yes.”
“So why did being wrong longer make her more important?”
Marcus looked at Camille.
Camille looked back.
Seven-year-olds sometimes asked questions adults spent years avoiding.
Marcus finally said:
“It shouldn't have.”
Isaiah pushed another pea.
“That’s a bad system.”
Camille smiled sadly.
“Yes.”
He looked at her.
“Can you fix it?”
That question carried a weight he did not understand.
Camille was mayor.
To Isaiah, mayor meant fixing city things.
Traffic lights.
Roads.
Trash pickup.
Parks.
Surely adults being unfair belonged somewhere on the list.
Camille squeezed his hand.
“I can't fix what everyone thinks.”
His face fell.
“But I can help fix how systems respond.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means security and police should ask better questions.”
Marcus added:
“And people need to learn that a feeling isn't evidence.”
Isaiah looked at him.
“Can we put that on a sign?”
Marcus smiled.
“I’d support the engineering.”
CHAPTER 8: THE HEADLINE
By Sunday morning, the story had reached local news.
Someone had filmed part of the confrontation.
The clip showed Lorraine accusing Isaiah.
Then Marcus arriving.
Then Camille.
One headline read:
WHITE WOMAN CALLS SECURITY ON 7-YEAR-OLD BLACK ROBOTICS STUDENT AT ADVENTURE KINGDOM
Another:
MOMENT WOMAN LEARNS BOY SHE ACCUSED IS MAYOR’S SON
Isaiah hated the second.
He sat at breakfast reading the words over Camille’s shoulder.
“Why does it say your son?”
“Because I'm mayor.”
“But I was me before you got there.”
Camille looked at him.
“Yes.”
“If you worked at a grocery store, would it be okay?”
“No.”
“If Dad fixed cars?”
Marcus looked offended.
“I could fix cars.”
Isaiah ignored him.
“Would it be okay?”
“No.”
“If nobody knew you?”
“No.”
“Then why do they care you're mayor?”
Camille sighed.
“Because surprises make headlines.”
Isaiah ate cereal.
“That’s dumb.”
“Sometimes.”
Marcus leaned over the table.
“You know what the better story is?”
“What?”
“A seven-year-old fundraising for robots did nothing wrong.”
Isaiah nodded.