Proud

Every Sunday is the same
Wake up
Get dressed
Be out the door by 10.
Then we drive.
Past all the tall buildings that touch the stars
Past patches of trees planted by volunteers
Past street art done the night before only to get silenced in a few days.
Into the city 
My dress is long enough to hide the shorts I'm wearing underneath.
Mom says I only have to wear the dress to church 
When I get home I can change 
I wish I didn't have to keep changing.

It's June 
The city is alive with color 
Most of it goes ignored 

And then we're stopped 
A large crowd is passing 
Behind us the cars are piling up
They are honking and irritated 
In front of us 
Color 
They smile and wave flags at us 
A young man in a tutu winks at me 
I can't help but smile back

In the car Mom is tense in the driver's seat 
She looks in her mirror 
Behind us people are getting out of their cars
Their faces are controlled 

An older man in suit goes up to the police officer 
I roll down my window 
He wants to know how much longer 
The officer's voice is even 
He knows where we're going 
He says to be patient 
That was not the right answer

Others are now stopped on both sides 
The officer looks anxious 
Please don't talk to each other 
I beg in my head 

They talk to each other 
Suit Man: "Hey, how much longer is this thing going to take?"
Tutu Man looks behind him 
Color fills the street 
"Something tells me it's going to be a while." His voice is humorous.
Apparently, this was also not the right answer

"I wasn't asking you." Suit Man spats back.
A tall woman walks beside Tutu Man 
"No need to be rude." She glares at Suit Man coolly.
There is no alternative universe where this ends well.

I unbuckle my seatbelt to get out 
Mom grabs my wrist 
Her eyes are ice 
"Where are you going?" 
"Mom, we all know this is not going to end well. 
Someone could get hurt."
She looks down 
I follow her gaze 
My shorts are slightly visible
Her expression changes 
"If you get out of this car," she says slowly
"Don't ever get back in." 
I understand completely
And I open the door 

Outside is chaos 
The police officer is calling for backup 
Tutu Man is on the ground 
Red streams fall from his nose 
I rush to help him up 
WHAM 
An arm comes from out of nowhere
And slams into my face 
I fall backwards onto the hard concrete
I smell copper and realize 
Blood is pooling in my hand 
This is not how I saw the day going
I stand up and look around 
This is a full on battle 
And no one will win 
Beside me black and white blurs are throwing punches 
The woman beside me has smudged red lipstick and her silver locker is cracked down the middle 
A closer look reveals that the lipstick is actually 
Smudged blood 
Her hand is crimson from trying to get rid of it 
Her eyes are full of rage 
Her hair that must have taken hours to do is now a tangled web
A shadow of its former self 
I move to get away from her 

In front of me color explosions are moving faster than I can keep track 
Some run 
Yelling at others to stay away
Others are fighting back

I finally reach Tutu Man 
And help him to his feet 
He pinches his nose and grins 
"We're twins," he says, pointing at my nose.
I smile back
"Well I don't know about you, but I've never been arrested- and I don't want to change that."
I open my mouth to speak, and blood falls in 
I close it and spit on the ground
He ruffles my hair 
"You don't look like someone whose ever been arrested either. Let's hurry and get out of here."
I nod 
"I'll help you get that blood off your face."