Free Taneesha Never Disparaging by M. LaVora Perry

somebody on my side of the street. It grabbed me by the ears and whirled me around.
    Say it isn’t so.
    I saw none other than big bad Shrek herself, in all her raging-red-jacket glory, standing over Carli.
    I noticed Carli lying on her butt on the sidewalk. Apparently, she’d slipped on the ice. I helped her to her feet. We stood side by side.
    Carli brushed snow off her coat. “No, my leg’s not broken. It got hurt when I was a baby, but I’m okay now. I just have to wear a brace to help me walk.”
    â€œWhat you mean you got to wear a brace to help you walk? You mean you a cripple , right?” The older girl pointed to Carli’s leg. She sprayed nasty laughter into the cold, winter air. “Hey, you ain’t nothing but a little cripple, white girl !”
    What is she doing?!
    â€œI am not a cripple! I just wear a brace, that’s
all!”
    I couldn’t hear what Carli said after that because that older girl’s devil laugh strangled her words.
    I got so mad, I couldn’t see. “You leave her alone!” I felt my heart bursting out my chest. “She hasn’t done anything to you! You’re being mean and stupid!”
    I froze, wanting to say, “Why are you doing this? Why are you being so mean?”
    But I couldn’t.
    Because just then I saw something that totally ghostified me.
    Pure viciousness.
    It burned in the eyes that looked back at me. For the first time, I really noticed that girl’s size. How she towered over me, not like an irritablebut-harmless Shrek on PMS, but like a Sasquatch, a ferocious, human-eating Bigfoot.
    You better back off, Taneesha. This girl can hurt you for real.
    Carli gently took my hand. “Let’s just go home, Taneesha. It’s okay. I’m all right.”
    â€œOh yeah?” growled Bigfoot. “Well, I don’t like the way your friend here just spoke to me, little cripple girl. ”

    That does it!
    â€œShe is not a cripple,” I said, through clenched teeth. “She has a name . You shouldn’t call people ugly names! You wouldn’t like it if somebody called you one!”
    â€œIs that right? Well, what you going to do about it?” That girl was so close, I smelled chiliburger on her breath. And worse, she looked ready to pounce.
    As cold as it was outside, sweat started dripping down my forehead. I didn’t know what to do.
    Run, scaredy-cat, RUN!
    I wasn’t stupid. I would have run if my feet hadn’t been sticking to the ground like they were screwed there.
    I looked up at the girl and made my eyes real wide. I bet I looked dumb.
    â€œI-I-I was just s-s-saying that you didn’t need to be mean. Th-th-that’s all.” And I sounded dumb.
    On top of that, all of a sudden, I had to pee real bad. That’s all I needed, to pee myself in front of a crazy girl that looked like she could kill me—and would.
    â€œWell, I think you need to M-Y-O-B ! Mind your own bizzzzzz-nesss. Hear me?” On the last two
words, she poked her finger at my nose, just missing it.
    I backed up and I ducked my head, hating being such a coward, especially in front of Carli.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhat you say?!”
    â€œI said, ‘yes.’ I hear you. I’ll mind my own business.”
    â€œGood,” she grunted through a twisty smile. “Don’t worry. I’m going to make sure you keep your promise!”
    She swiveled around and headed down Bernard.
    After a minute, Carli and I started up the street again.
    â€œCarli, let’s not tell our parents, okay?” I said, quietly.
    â€œWhat?! But don’t you think they should know what happened?”
    I didn’t want to hear my parents telling me to chant. I didn’t want to hear anything from the Gosho either. I’d almost gotten beat up, and tacking one of Nichiren’s quotes on that fact wasn’t going to make it all better.
    â€œI’ll handle it, okay? Promise you