Dead kid

Not too many weeks ago, a former student, if that is what he is called, was killed by the police very near my school. This student, I never knew him, attended my high school for less than a year before dropping out. This boy was pursued by the police for stealing a car. This boy, who was 17, sped away from the police and a chase ensued. The boy was then reported to have actually run down a police officer. The officer was standing in front of the vehicle when he was run down and physically went underneath the car. So here's the deal: An invincible 17 year old boy plays "Cops" in a neighborhood, placing not only his own life in danger...which was unimportant to the boy at the time, but the life of the police officers and the citizens of the community through which he sped on his joyride were not even on his radar. As the case most assuredly had to unfold, the boy found himself dead at the wheel, as the surrounding officers, responding to the threat of the downed officer, filled him with at least a dozen rounds of bullets. Hmmm. Silly boy. What were you thinking? Were you high? Were you laughing? Were you crying? What possibly went through your mind in your last moments here on earth? Was it like it is in the movies, or perhaps in videos?

Now everyone knows this boy. He, of course, became a Cause Celebre to the students. Mail boxes artistically tagged with "RIP....." and students sporting tee Shirts with his year book picture as they photograph themselves in various stages of anger and stoicism. Students going room to room soliciting funds for the family and white boys speaking eubonics as they glorify a white boy gone to the "great hood in the sky". What is their rally? What is their cry of outrage? Nothing really. There is no mention of the officer. There was a sadness that permeated the school for about a week, but now it is gone. Is there anger? No. Who made the shirts? I don't know. Do the kids see themselves being shot down in the street by the police? Some do, some only fantasize about it, others just feel strangely drawn to a cause. And this cause went nowhere. It fizzled out like a bottle rocket in a puddle.