The Skin I'm In

Momma sends Maleeka out to get a few groceries. Outside, all the neighbors ask what happened and how a “smart girl” like her could have been suspended. When she turns the corner on the way to the store, she bumps into John-John, who is grinning about her suspension. He follows her, saying how he knows she didn’t do it alone but she’s a good scapegoat because she doesn’t have the “guts” tell on her accomplices.

Just then, three boys come and start beating up John-John because they say he got them in trouble for shoplifting. No one on the street does anything to intervene, and Maleeka also freezes at first, but then she asks the onlookers to call the cops. When Maleeka sees John-John’s blood, she remembers when two boys attacked her on her way home from Charlese’s—and this drives her to act. She grabs some branches from a bush and starts hitting John-John’s assailants. All three boys start beating her up. Then some adults come and break up the fight; Caleb and his mother are in the crowd as well. Caleb helps John-John up, and Maleeka heads home to tell Momma what happened.

Afterward, Momma gives Maleeka a letter from the library congratulating her on winning the writing contest.