Cedric pipes up. “And I’m fed up with the cops getting in trouble just for doing their jobs.”
Mr. Nakleh gives a slight smile and says, “Well, well, well, I guess we have the two debaters to represent either side of the debate.”
“Debate? In school? You mean talking and everything? Are you for real, Mr. N?” says Cedric. “There’s no way I’m going to stand up in public and debate. I’m no public speaker.”
Some kids in the class call him a few names (I won’t write which ones) to make fun of him.
Mr. Nakleh looks around the room. “Do I have a volunteer replacement for Cedric?”
A-Train speaks immediately.
“Cedric can stop worrying. Because, listen, everyone knows who should represent the pro-cop side: the cop-loving cop kid himself.”
A few voices shout my name.
“You cool with that, Ali?” Mr. Nakleh asks.
I say, “Sure,” and the truth is, well, I am. I’d like to get this damn thing straightened out.
Mr. Nakleh continues. He is way over-enthused about this.
“Okay. So, it’ll be Ali Cross representing, let’s call it, ‘The Police Dilemma.’ TaTa, it’s pretty clear you are the representative for the other side. Let’s call that side ‘The People’s Dilemma.’”
TaTa pulls a Cedric.
“No way in this world,” she says. “I’m not doing some formal debate. I will not be giving a speech. I’m a spontaneous talker. And for this talk, I’ll be sitting in the back of the room with Cedric.”
Pretty much everyone in the class laughs.
“Okay, okay,” says Mr. Nakleh. “Everyone just calm down. We need a volunteer. Do we have a volunteer for the other side, the side representing the people?”
Mr. Nakleh says “the people” with extra emphasis. Why do I think that he might be a little more supportive of the anti-police side? Maybe I’m just fired up and, okay, maybe a little scared.
“So, a volunteer. We need a volunteer,” says the man.
Then a voice, a nice voice, a strong voice, a voice I like, speaks up.
“Okay, I’ll do it.” Everyone turns to see who the volunteer is.
It’s Sienna.
There’s some applause. A few cheers.
“Going hard, girl!” yells TaTa. “I’ll help you get ready.”
“Okay,” says Mr. Nakleh. “I’ll tell Ms. Swanbeck about the debate, and she’ll get in touch with Sienna and Ali, and now…”
He walks to the front of the classroom. He flips open his laptop and says, “For now. Let’s move on to Fort Ticonderoga. You may have heard of Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys. Well, the British…”
For me, Mr. Nakleh’s voice is fading, fading, fading. Then I’m not hearing it even one tiny little bit.
It’s all sinking in. There’s going to be a debate. A discussion.With Sienna.
Okay. Stay calm, Ali.
Okay. I’m good at thinking. I’m pretty good at talking. And, well, I’ve got to do this. After all, I’m the cop kid.
I look across a row of desks, and I see that Sienna is also looking across at me. I try to smile at her. But I don’t think I get one back.