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Raymond Taylor’s family?”
    “They thought it was gang related—”
    “Because he was black. That boy was standing, facing them, with his hands raised. And they shot him. Both of them. Bullets came from both guns. We both know that. We all know that.”
    Inspector Oliver didn’t say anything. Maybe he was staring at my father like he was seeing him for the first time, like he was just realizing my father was the same color as Raymond Taylor. And the same color as the mayor of Denver.
    After a moment he said, “Officer Dennis said he was reaching for—”
    “He wasn’t reaching for anything, Albert. Anything. He was shot standing! I saw it.”
    “You guys’ve been friends for a long time. You three—”
    “Officer Randall had called for backup because he thought it was gang related, thought it was a lot more than one. When I pulled up, that boy— he was a boy— came out from behind those cars with his hands raised and stopped. He was stopped .” My father’s voice broke.
    I got up suddenly and walked quickly to the door. Behind me, Mama called my name, but I ignored her. I hated the sound in my father’s voice. Hated it.
    I moved across the deck to the patio swing. Both Daddy and Inspector Oliver were staring out into the darkness. My father turned then, looked at me like he was starting to tell me to go inside. But he didn’t.
    “He was standing, Albert. He was standing and now he’s dead.”
    Wind blew, rustling the plastic covering the barbecue grill. Otherwise, it was stone-cold quiet.
    The inspector fussed with a cuticle while he spoke. “Officer Dennis and Officer Randall’ve been cops for a long time. Their daddies were cops, and their daddies’ daddies. Something must have scared them bad to just shoot—”
    “And what about the things that scare me ? I’m sick of this. Gang talk and everybody looks my way.” Daddy looked hard at Inspector Oliver. “Anyone stop to think that there aren’t even enough black boys in Denver to make up an all-black gang?”
    When Inspector Oliver didn’t say anything, Daddy went on.
    “He was standing, Al. He was standing and he was black. And you know and I know and everyone on the force knows those gangs everyone is so afraid of are not made up of black boys.”
    “You’d be taking their dreams away, Green. The only thing these men have.”
    I folded my arms across my chest and shivered. The raspy voice came into my head again. Felt like it had grown hands and wrapped them around my throat. I looked at Daddy and swallowed hard.
    “What about the only thing I have? You think I know how to be anything else but a cop? A cop who’s a father, that’s all that I am.” He pressed his fingers to his eyes and sighed. “I know how to protect, Al. You know why?”
    Inspector Oliver raised his eyebrows slightly, like he knew Daddy would go on whether he said anything or not.
    “Because I’ve got two daughters. Two. You think I brought them into this world to turn around and watch them get killed for no reason at all? That could have been Toswiah with a hat on standing there. They could have seen her and saw something threatening.” Daddy raised his voice then quickly lowered it again. “That could have been my girl. It could have been my wife at the other end of that phone line being told her daughter had been shot!”
    I stared down at my hands, trying to imagine Mama getting a call that I’d been killed. I saw my own house collapsing in on itself, the roof and walls crumbling.
    “What makes you think the D.A.’s going to believe you?” Inspector Oliver said.
    My father looked at him but didn’t say anything. Matt Cat pushed the screen door open and jumped into my lap. He circled once then lay across it.
    “I’m playing devil’s advocate here. You’re making it about race, so I’m—”
    “I’m not making it.” My father shook his head. I could feel his exasperation across the deck. “It is about race. If Raymond Taylor was white, I don’t