Hakeem Aesop watched the news several nights back, watching the election on tv between one person mostly calm and another figure yelling and claiming absurd statements.

Then came that line about dogs, making the young teen wince.

"Did he just say people here are eating dogs? He's joking right?"

"Don't take anything this idiot think or says seriously, he's a pathological liar."

"Consistently?"

"You learn something new every day," his mom claimed. He nodded trying to finish his homework, but curious, he looked it up.

"Mom, look."

They did research and found out the problem.

"Canton?"

"Apparently some girl kill and ate a cat?"

"Lemme see," taking his phone. "Oh."

"What is it?"

"Canton's like super far from here. Take a look."

He followed her thumbs as they listened to the moderators fact checking, finding out they were born in the US.

"Why did she eat it?"

"Looks like she was mentally ill. But this is stupid. He's saying it's everyone when it's one clearly sick person who's not even living in this city."

"Why does he lie?"

"Outrage. Problem is when you start a fire, it's easy for someone to stoke it. Just go to bed when you're done."

Hakeem went to bed, but around school next day, everyone was talking. His classmates were all showing each other the viral hits from the debate, including the World War 3 claims.

"Yeah, I'm not fighting a war he's gonna start."

"Sounds more like a concept," said his best friend, Sonia Brooks. "No wonder Taylor's saying not to vote for her."

Both black kids looked at the tweet, with someone telling them about a certain billionaire's tweets. 

"He wants to get Taylor Swift pregnant and take care of her cats? The hell?"

"Wait, you're serious?" Hakeem started laughing. "Doesn't she have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, he should challenge him to fight for her love!"

Hakeem dropped a sweat, tilting his head. 

"Something tells me the football player might have an advantage."

"Maybe if they fight on one of E-boy's cars, he could win."

Maddie Chen's hands startled him while Sonia rolled her eyes.

"If the car's moving anyway. Either way he doesn't stand a chance," laughing.

"Right," scratching his face, trying not to blush.

Everyone was told to come into class, and their teacher warned them not to panic. After all, this has happened before.

"Like people think we eat dogs and cats?"

"There are certain hate groups out there, KKK, Nazis, the whole stretch. One of them, the Blood Tribe, have been saying this nonsense. They attract the politicians that believe those theories and spread it around. I just wasn't expecting that to be said in front of the whole world watching."

Hakeem rose his hand. "But they said we were destroying the place. Look around, Springfield's fine!"

Their teacher nodded. "Well long story short, our town wasn't doing so well decades ago. Around Martin Luther King Jr.'s final years, we lost a large part of the population."

"Why, they didn't like the school lunch?"

Hakeem got the class to laugh, and Mr. White had to hide his chuckle before getting them to settling down. 

"Just a lack of jobs and businesses. I distinctly remembering someone's parent cursing out loud on their phone because their bank got closed," leading to Sonia looking upwards in embarrassment. "Without a lot of business, some places moved and some people went to grow their businesses elsewhere. "

"Then why did some people come here before Covid?"

"You take a guess."

Maddie rose her hand. "Cuz if people are leaving, places need workers."

"Exactly: when there's a shortage or open opportunity, there will always be those willing to seize it."

Hakeem was worried. "Will we be able to help the town survive?"

"Eh, depends, we aren't alone. Plenty of towns go through this. Companies leaving or placing smaller chains while expanding elsewhere, population shortages. Our state neighbors all survived from this too. Covid didn't help."

"So if we start our own businesses and get more workers, that'll help."

"Don't fret. We'll survive. There'll probably be some big talking heads on tv talking about this presidential nonsense, but just focus on living your lives. This'll blow over soon. I hope."

The next day, Hakeem woke up to his mother letting him know he wasn't going to school.

"Huh?"

"Check your phone."

He looked down at his phone in horror. "Bomb threats?"

"All public schools this Friday will be closed until further notice," his mom said, gulping. "I'll let your father know, just take it easy. Hello? Dear?"

"City officials and police have said there is no credible information to support those outlandish claims," said their local news spokesperson. 

Later that day, he got a knock on the door from Sonia, inviting him outside. 

"Mom and dad are worried non stop. Told them I needed some air and the cops were around," watching everyone staying indoors and looking out for themselves. "It's scary, can't believe I'm saying this but I wish I was back in English class."

"As if you finished the reading," leading them to laugh until they heard what seemed like a noise, leading them to walk some blocks away to some of the local business, most of whom were closed.

Though one nearby had a familiar face offering to change that.

"Hey Hakeem, hungry?"

She handed them a plate from her parent's Golden Dragon business.

Sonia raised a finger. "I thought you didn't wanna own it."

"A girl's gotta help out every now and then. A bunch of deliveries are needed, but I needed some air. You all heard people are coming over?"

 Sonia showed them her phone, a bunch of guys in red and black clothes, hoods, and some had certain...tattoos.

"They're coming here?!"

"They're modern day Klan psychos."

Hakeem shuddered. "If guys like that come here, things are gonna get even more vicious. Maddie, get out of here."

Sonia sucked her teeth. "You're only saying that cuz you have a crush on-"

"We can talk about this later."

Maddie shook her head. "Haitian or Asian, this is our home. I don't want to leave just yet. Sunday night, there's a place I want you all to meet me at. Promise you'll come?"

"Sure," answering with no hesitation.

"I'll text you. Sonia, you stay safe too."

Hakeem wondered if they would be possible in the next few days.