yo this is where the kids from Classy had sex last night. deadass saw them right here. passed by on my bike and there they were i swear bro.

thats what dari told me as we sat in our corner. dari who plays football at recess but takes time to hang with the weird girls stuck on the wall. who comes to school dressed in a polo and geled down hair. enough dominican suave for a 10 year old so that the girls are friendly but not in a gay way like our friend bernardo. thats why dari is always the first to teach me things.

dari taught me the corner was the safest place in the recess lot. once he walked too far away from us and found a pistol behind the metal gates, which ended recess. if i wasnt in the corner i didnt have friends

a year after the corner, dari was my only friend to move schools with me. at orientation i waved and he looked away so i wasn't gonna keep embarrasing myself. for a whole year we walked passed each other as if he was any other boy at school. as if we didnt sit shoe to shoe on our asses every afternoon until the bus came.

half-way through sixth grade, my teacher placed dari in the seat right behind me. ten to twelve is a huge difference in life. i no longer recognized the boy behind me. when anyara, his girlfriend, came in angry one too early morning after her mom had revealed their cousin status, we laughed. we laughed and told the world.

dari and i sat in the row in front of the teacher's desk. this is the row for students in need of attention. its been a few hours since school has started and dari walks in out of uniform. his head turned away from the desk and his chin on the window sill. his red eyes are painfully obvious but when miss walks over she does not comment on it. dari taught me that white teachers dont care if the 12 year old kid comes to school high if they got trouble at home.

do you remember the corner? I was tired of the awkwardness and snapped around my desk. with his feet up on the chair across the aisle he gives me some annoyed look.

yeah we were so weird back them

weird? alright. i turned back around. Dari is a sweet kid.

this is the note left on my brianny's birthday card: omh I force it on you and flame your life every day your very smart am ganna stay flaming you fucking whore - your best friend