Chapter 1 - The Deafening Click
Malik was only thirteen years old when Mrs. Baxter ordered him to hold out his hand in front of the entire class.
The heavy wooden ruler struck his knuckles with a sickening crack.
Malik swallowed his tears, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing him cry.
She looked down at the Black eighth-grader with absolute disgust.
The room went completely silent as she delivered her cruelest blow.
"Why don't you go to a school for Black kids?" she sneered.
Caleb felt his stomach twist with sudden, overwhelming anger.
He could not stay quiet while his best friend was treated like an animal.
"You can't say things like that to him!" Caleb shouted from the back row.
Mrs. Baxter snapped her head toward Caleb with a furious glare.
"Excuse me, young man?" she challenged.
"You heard me," Caleb insisted, his voice shaking but loud.
Mrs. Baxter immediately marched down the aisle and slammed her hands onto his desk.
"One more word, Caleb, and I will personally ensure you fail this semester and never see high school," she threatened.
Caleb shrank back into his seat, forced into temporary silence by the immense threat to his future.
Mrs. Baxter turned around with a smug smile, believing she had won the battle.
What she did not know was that Caleb had already slipped his hand into his pocket.
He waited until she turned her back, secretly raised his phone, and framed her in the camera.
He pressed the capture button.
CLICK.
The digital shutter sound was supposed to be muted, but it echoed loudly through the silent classroom.
By the time Mrs. Baxter spun back around, the phone was already hidden inside Caleb's backpack.
The evidence had already been sent to his older sister.
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Mrs. Baxter's face turned completely red with rage.
"Bring me that phone right now, or I am calling the police," she demanded.
