Did you call the cops? She asked. No was my response. Why not? Her voice said my actions were crazy, Ive seen enough crazy lately exhibited by myself and others to know that tone.

What I didn’t say was it was the one thing that I could do to give her back her agency. What I didn’t say was all that was left were things, and at the end of the day things can be replaced. What I didn’t say was where I come from you don’t invite the police into your space because you have no way of knowing how that story will end when you have brown skin.

While I was disconnected emotionally and at times mentally, the essence of who I am remained. That is more important than whipping out my dick and drawing a line in the sand. My essence needs some work, but at her core she is a decent chick. She is imperfect but she has good intentions. I still have to believe that intentions matter, that all of my instincts aren’t flawed. I can and will improve but knowing that I can do one right thing is a step. One of hundreds of thousands I will continue to take, but a step none the less. Forward.

Aphrodite Brown