I could feel the gentle snag of my bathing suit bottoms on cement,
Enjoying the sliver of shade against the afternoon sun that’s offered.
All six of us had been running home ready to change and watch cartoons,
Until labored breathing slowed you down. I stayed to keep you company, and
I watched and waited while you fought your feet back into their bracers.
Pretty, purple, and pink; they fit perfectly into your shoes, swim or sneakers;
Without them your painfully high arches would end up broken or bruised.
I turned away to stare down at a pair of black men’s dress shoes with worn laces.

I stared down at those worn laces wondering why they were so old, and
In those impeccably new black patent dress shoes reflecting my face.
I let my eyes slowly drift up the length of this man, every inch a new perspective.
I couldn’t understand where he’d come from or what he was doing, and
What’s his shirt say? We won’t learn more cursive until next year at least.
I’m cold. My eyes are no longer straining against the sun. Goosebumps erupt.
I’m snapped from the retreat into my mind with a sound it couldn’t mask,
I looked to you, then up to his hands brandishing your bracer, I’d heard it crack.

I took stock of my surroundings to figure out why my mind had shut down,
I was fully awake and racing to catch up, to rescue us, to find a solution.
You can’t defend yourself with a broken bracer and your swimsuit on the ground.
I pulled my suit into place, armoring myself against him, and tried to think.
Before my mind was made up I felt my foot rising to kick, hoping to catch some *****
While you bit his arm with the same ferocity you generally reserved for your teachers.
You spat out his blood and what looked like some flesh with a maniacal laugh
While I grabbed your arm and dragged you away from him and back home.