Walking with his head down, with a smile on his face, he stared at the phone number of Tomiko Kasuma, the young Asian girl he met three hours earlier. It was the first time a girl ever gave him her number, and he couldn’t wait to call. The sound of laughter caught his attention.

Jerome saw them first. His fear told him to cross the street. A head turned his way and then another. Instantly, Jerome knew it was too late. Why didn’t I leave my medals at school?

The clinking of his seven gold medals for academics grew louder and louder in his ears as he approached the group of four black teens and two older men. Jerome sighted a well-known gang tattoo on two of the teens, and his heart sank. A smile and the flash of gold teeth from one of the gang members, made him want to turn and run, but he knew they would happily chase him down. The thrill of the hunt was more fun to predators than the kill.

“What the fuck is this shit?” One of the teens stood in front of Jerome, blocking his path. “What are you supposed to be, with all this fake ass gold?” The boy leaned toward Jerome, and stared at his medals. “Oh shit! These ain’t no real medals. This shit is for aca….acdem….some nerdy-ass shit.”

A larger teen stepped forward, and grabbed one of the medals. “It says, first place in the Academic Decathlon for Mathematics.” He dropped the medal, and looked at the others. “He got some for Physics, History, and all kinds of dumb shit.”

Another teen walked behind Jerome, and he found himself surrounded.

“I’m just going home. I’m not on anything with you guys,” Jerome said, struggling to keep the fear out of his voice. He looked down, and saw hands balled into fists, and legs parted for balance. Shit, shit. Oh God.  Jerome didn’t know who would strike first. He did know when it started; it wouldn’t be quick or painless. He balled his own hands into fists, and waited for the first blow, he knew would come.

“So you want to be white? You think you’re better than us? You do, don’t cha?” The larger teen stepped close to Jerome, and spittle flew from his mouth as he towered over the young black teen. “We should fuck your ass up for…”

“Leave him alone.” A deep voice of command cut the teen off.  As one all heads turned to the older man leaning against the fence. He waved a hand in the air, and the three young gang members moved away from Jerome. “You won those medals for being the smartest in your school?”

Jerome shook his head. “It was a city-wide contest.”

“All of Chicago.” The man nodded. “You beat the north side school kids too?”

“Yeah, they competed.” Jerome stared at the big black man, unsure of where the conversation was going.

“One of us beat them in science and math. Well, that’s something.” He smiled. “I guess you better get home, and study for the next competition.”

Jerome simply nodded, and began to walk on. He didn’t look back, but he could still hear the group.

“Why did you let that Uncle Tom go?” a young voice asked.

“Did you ever read Uncle Tom’s cabin? No, don’t answer that, I know you didn’t. Weren’t you niggas talking about there’s going to be a race war? You think you can win a war with just guns and fists? Who’s going to make the bullets when there aren’t any to buy? Which one of you idiots knows how to make gun powder? Who here can read a map, clean water, make a battery, grow a fucking potato, or sew up a bullet wound?” Silence fell over the group. “And you want to beat down the smart brothas.”

Jerome didn’t hear the rest.  He wiped the sweat from his face, and vowed never to return to this neighborhood after graduation. 

That night, he completed three university applications for schools far from his home. He didn’t think much about the idea of a race war. Like many others, he assumed such a thing would never happen.

While Jerome dreamed of Asian girls, in the small town of Jasper Missouri, a young white couple…