Ran into school carefree and excited to learn. Exited school; discovered Papi was gone.

They watched us. They knew where he would be. Once he drove around the corner from my school, they took him into custody.

I was so happy to go into school that I didn’t wave goodbye.

Shawnta S. Barnes is a literacy coach in Indianapolis Public Schools, an adjunct instructor at IUPUI School of Education and a 2016-2017 Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellow. Links to her publications can be found at educatorbarnes.com/publications.