The first time he finds us, I am ten. We'd been living in Little Rock for almost two years. We hadn't been living by a strict rule book back then. We'd thought we were safe.

We weren't.

He came for me in a public place. I was competing in the final round of my county's elementary school spelling bee. The word was "prosperous".

I was standing at the mic. I looked out into the audience. I saw my father, front and center, smiling and nodding in encouragement. I saw my English Language Arts teacher, Miss Hilty, with her brows and lips both pinched together.

I looked at the hostess and asked to hear the word in a sentence. She smiled and said, "My family and I have always had everything we've ever needed; we have been very prosperous over the years." I looked out at the crowd. I saw a man with salt and pepper hair, a sharp jaw, and eyes black as coal. There, in the back, standing against the doorframe. I'd screamed.

I believe, if I'm not mistaken, that little April Keaton made the front page news that week.