1. Unedited Excerpt from Even Me, by Tanisha Stewart
“NOOO! Mommy! NO!” Rondell fought off the MAN that was trying to take him
away. He rushed over to his mother and wrapped his arms around her knees, tears
streaming down his cheeks. He looked up at his mother in fear. She stared down at
his face, her eyes looking afraid and confused.
“Ma’am,” the MAN said. “We need to go now.”
“Delly,” she whispered, her voice quivering. “Delly.”
“Mommy, no.” he said. “I don’t want to go with him.”
“Baby, I know. But mommy is sick. The nice man is going to take you to his friends,
so mommy can get better.”
“What about Daddy? When’s he coming back from his trip? Why can’t I go with
him?” She stared at the MAN for a moment with a pained expression, then back at
Rondell.
“Baby, Daddy is going to be gone for a while on his trip. You just have to go with
the nice man until Mommy gets better. Then Daddy will come back from his trip,
and we will all be together again.”
“But mommy!” Tears of hurt were rushing down his face.
“Come on baby. Everything will be okay.” she hugged him half-heartedly. Then the
MAN took him away. He got in the car. The MAN kept trying to talk to him, asking

2. him questions, but all he could think about was his mother. He remained silent the
whole way to his new “home”...
Rondell popped up in his bed. He wiped the tears from his face and sighed deeply.
The dream he had just woke up from was one that haunted him frequently. The
memories of his childhood were as painful today as they were when he was living
them. He shook his head and tried to clear his mind, but he couldn’t, so he got out
of bed. He did 50 pushups. That didn’t work, so he did the same amount of sit
ups. That still didn’t work. Finally, he slipped on some sweatpants and a t-shirt,
grabbed his iPod, and rushed down the stairs and out of the building. When he
got outside, he stretched for a couple minutes, then started jogging. He plugged
his headphones into his ears and pressed ‘play’. The voices of Mobb Deep blasted
into his speakers. He jogged and jogged until the sun came up. Then he turned
around and stopped, panting. He closed his eyes, and his heart instantly burned
once again with the memories of his past. He fought back the tears before they
could escape his eyes, then he started running as fast as he could back to campus.
By the time he got back to his room, he was exhausted. He dragged himself to the
shower, then back to his room. He fell face first onto his bed and remained there
for the next 6 ½ hours.