My Father Mocked Me for Coming to Court Without a Lawyer, But the Judge Opened My File and the Whole Room Went Silent

“Do what?” I asked.

“Run off like that,” he said. “Join something that puts you in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.”

“The wrong reasons?”

He nodded. “People talk.”

There it was again. People. Not you could get hurt. Not I’m worried. Not are you sure. Just people.

I remember standing in the kitchen with the enlistment papers folded in my hand and realizing continue reading …