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July is Flash Fiction Month! I’ll be sharing short short stories here through the month of July. More notes at the end of this story.
“The book is called Two Boys Kissing. Do you really think that’s appropriate for a school library?” This mom was one of a dozen, standing in front of me with a written complaint for the school librarian. “And this one.” Her next book surprised me. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. “And this one. Why do you allow pornography in our schools?”
“That’s actually a part of our curriculum. We use it in the seniors’ history class and–”
The mom threw the book down on my desk. “Disgusting. Disgusting.”
It was only two books. We had plenty of romance novels in the school library already, and the history department had loaner copies of Angelou’s biography.
“Mom, you’re not thinking. If you look at the statistics, immigrants are actually less likely to commit crimes than–”
She cut me off with a glare. “They committed crimes when they snuck into this country.”
“That’s really not how–”
“I worked my hands to the bone to give you a better life, and I’ll be damned if someone steals everything that we earned.”
There was no arguing with her. I let it drop.
The call came hours before school started. “Mrs. Harris was arrested.”
“What?” I asked, trying to take in the news.
“For distributing pornography to minors.” My principal rattled off a series of book titles: Drama, Melissa, It’s Not the Stork. More than I could remember. “This is serious. She might have to register as a sex offender.”
“By the way,” Mom told me. “Could you look into finding someone else to do the yardwork?”
“Someone else? What happened to Diego?”
Mom looked down at her lap. “ICE.”
“What the hell? He has a green card!”
“I know.” She sighed. “He has two kids. I wish I could have done something.”
What can I do? I’m not a lawyer who could defend Mrs. Harris or get Diego out of detention. I’m just one person, one small person with no real power. Maybe if I had fought harder to keep those books, or tried to talk sense into people like mom, or…
Maybe nothing would have changed.
But I could have fought, and made it a little harder for those big, sweeping powers to do harm.
I don’t remember when I learned to swallow my own voice, but I know I’m tired of the aftertaste.
I used the prompt “I don’t remember when I learned to swallow my own voice, but I know I’m tired of the aftertaste.” by Erica, from this year.
Stay safe. Keep fighting.
Project 2025 and Its Threat to Free Expression, Part 1 (PEN America)
Project 2025 and Its Threat to Free Expression, Part 2 (PEN America)
Project 2025 and Its Consequences for Libraries (EveryLibrary Institute, PDF)
Undocumented Immigrant Offending Rate Lower Than U.S.-Born Citizen Rate (National Institute of Justice [pdf])
Is There a Connection Between Undocumented Immigrants and Crime? (The Marshall Project)
Ask PolitiFact: What evidence does the government need to deport green card, visa holders? (PoltiFact)
Overlooked Books 