Kathryn and Theo were hanging out in the backyard of her house. They sat under the huge oak tree so that its leaves can shade them and protect them from the sun. Theo's head was on Kathryn's lap as he read To Kill A Mockingbird.

He remembered when the book first came out. It was a huge success but also very heavily criticized. He wanted to read it earlier, but his father told him not to bother with books like those. And their school and even local library banned the books from their shelves. It took Theo a long time, plus saving a bit of money to obtain this book. He snuggled against Kathryn's legs and she ran her hands through his hair softly.

Kathryn was reading something a little stronger than to Kill a Mockingbird. Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". She was gonna recommend it to Theo next. It talks about her struggles as a black woman through racism and the abuse and she still came out victorious despite everything that's happened to her. She hope to be as brave as her one day.

"I've got sunshine," Theo hums, "on a cloudy day." Making her giggle. "When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May," He now puts the book down. "I guess you'd say...."
"What can make me feel this way?"" He sits up and faces her now. "My girl," he sings, leaning in to press a kiss on her nose, making her blush harder. "My girl, my girl...." he sings the background singers, making her laugh at his goofiness. "Talkin' 'bout my girl...." he now leans in closer, and she leans in a little too.

"Kathryn!" Her mother, Esther Knight, calls out to her from the backyard screen door that led to the kitchen.

Kathryn chuckled slightly as Theo sighs and hangs his head down in defeat before sitting next to Kathryn and facing her mother. "Hi Mrs. Knight!" He waves from her side, smiling brightly.

"Hello my darling," her mother smiles back at him. "I️ was just about to tell Kathy to invite you to stay over for dinner. Would you like to?" She asked him.

"Aww Mrs. Knight. You know I️ love nothing more than your cooking," He flatters her. He then leans into Kathryn's ear and whispers. "Well, I️ might actually love you more than your mama's cooking," he tells her quietly before turning his attention back to the older version of Kathryn. "I'd love to!"

"Alright. I️'ll tell Karen to set an extra place for ya," she said, returning inside to finish cooking. Karen was Kathryn's older sister who was visiting from college for a bit. Both kids got up from there places on the ground and rushed into the house to wash up before dinner time.

Karen was putting down plates as the two came to the kitchen / dining room. "Hey Theo! Long time, no see," she smiled at him. "How's everything?" She asked as their mom came into the dining room to put down a bowl of salad.

"If y'all are gonna talk, at least help me put down the dishes while you're at it," She scolded lightly, making everyone giggle. Theo when to go grab the biscuits while Karen and Kathryn grabbed the fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Mrs. Knight's cooking has to be the best in all of the South, if not, the world. "Karen go fetch your daddy and Pastor White from the living room and tell him that dinner's ready," Mrs. Knight told her eldest daughter. The rest of them took a seat at the table as Karen came back into the kitchen, Mr. Knight and Pastor White trailing behind.

"Theo!" Mr. Knight greeted, holding his hand out for him to take, which he happily did. "How you been son? It's been a while since you've been around," he noticed as he took a seat at the head of the table.

Theo took a seat in between Kathryn and Karen. "I️ know sir. And I'm sorry," he sincerely apologized. "It's just...with the things going on with Dr. King...it's hard for me and Kathryn to spend time together," he looked over at her. "I'm just thinking about her safety," he looked up at him again.

"That's understandable," Mr. Knight agreed. "We were actually just talking about Dr. King too," he said, catching everyone's attention.

"He's having another one of his peaceful protests in Alabama," Pastor White explained, "and this time he's invited me and your father to go with him," he announced. Just as everyone was about to respond, a loud crash startled everyone.

"What the he-"

The window to the dining room shatters as a brink was sent flying through it, making all the girls scream. Theo quickly pulls Kathryn and Karen down under the table, while Mr. Knight and Pastor  White got up to investigate. They heard a couple of more windows bust open, followed by savage whooping and hollering.

"YEAAHHH!"

"WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, NIGGER-LOVER!"

"NIGGER-LOVER!"

"FUCK YOU AND DR. KING!"

Kathryn held on to Theo tighter as she heard them crudely insult and threaten them. Karen too, was holding on to Kathryn and Mr. Knight and the pastor took it upon themselves to go outside and confront whomever was trying to hurt them.

After a few minutes, the noise finally died down and Theo decided upon himself to take a look. He untangled himself from her and crawled out from underneath the table, peeking over the edge and assessing the damage those bastards did to their home.

"Is it over?" Karen asked.

"Do you see anyone?" Kathryn worried.

Theo shook his head. "I️ don't see anyone," he answered, slowly getting up. He then held his hand out towards them to help them on their feet. They looked around, and saw that all the windows in their home had been busted and broken, with glass sprayed all over the carpet. Other than that, it doesn't seem like anything was stolen or broken. "Crap," he breathed in.

"Mama? Daddy?" Karen called out as she walked around. Kathryn kneeled down to pick up a broken glass framed photo of her and Theo when they were practically babies. Theo frowned as he knelt down with her. They looked over at each other in sadness when Karen's screams startle them into getting up. They quickly get back up and run towards her front door.

"Kare- oh my god!" Kathryn gasped at the sight of the pastor and her daddy beaten and bloodied on their front lawn. Kathryn quickly ran towards her father alongside her sister while Theo went to go take care of the pastor. Her mom cradled his head in her lap as the two girls hurried to his head. "Oh daddy, what happened?" She asked, on the verge of tears.

"Are you okay?" Karen asked. "Do you need to go to a hospital?"

"Hospitals won't do a damn thing for me," he muttered. "It was some violent segregationists. I️ don't know their names," he sadly shook his head.

"But you know their faces right?" Theo pointed out as he helped the pastor sit up slowly. "Maybe we can go to the police and-"

Karen lets out a frustrated sound. "No, Theo. Police won't help either," she shook her head as  they watched their mother fuss over their dad. "They don't care."

Theo couldn't believe it. "Well we gotta do something!"

"We are!" The pastor finally spoke up next to him. He wipes his bloody lip before continuing on. "We're marching in Selma!"

Kathryn's mouth dropped at that. "After what just happened, you're still going?" She couldn't believe it. "Dad?" She looked down at him.

"This is crazy," their mother muttered. "You just got beat Phillip!"

But that didn't discourage her dad. Not at all. If anything, that just made him want to go even more. "Don't you understand Esther? I'm marching so that things like this don't happen in the future. I'm making a change here. For them," he looked over at Karen, Kathryn and even Theo. "So I️ got a bloody nose and split lip. Dr. King's suffered way worse."

Kathryn frowned. As much as she admired him for standing up for what he believes in, she was worried she was gonna lose him one day to this cause.

So they helped their father and Pastor White up off the ground and brought them inside. Her mother and Karen tended to their wounds while Kathryn and Theo swept up broken glass from the floor.

"You okay?" Theo asked lowly enough for only her to hear him. Kathryn simply nodded as she swept. "Kathy," he called out to her, making her look up at him. "What's wrong?"

"Besides the obvious?" She raised an eyebrow as she kept on sweeping. She then stopped and let out a deep sigh. "Police won't help us," she stated sadly. "And I️ hate that you got involved in this too," she added. "Jesus, what will your dad think when he finds out?" She asks him.

Theo rolled his eyes. "He's not gonna find out. He hasn't been interested me in seven years."

"But doesn't it bother you?" She crosses her arm.

"Doesn't what bother me?"

"Being called a...nigger-lover," she says warily.
Theo simply sighs and pulls her in for a hug, rubbing her back a soothingly as possible. Kathryn closes her eyes and she curls up against his chest.

"Look at that Esther," Phillip Knight said from his place on the couch. Esther stopped pressing on his face for five seconds to turn around to see Theo and Kathryn. "I️ ain't seen true love like that since us," he joked, making her smile. "I'm also doing it for them," he whispered to her.

                                     * * * *
Theo walked home alongside the street, deep in thought. Of course it was bound to happen that he would be attacked for his choice to hang around Kathryn. But like her dad, he didn't care. But of course, actions have consequences.

As he walked up the street leading to his house, he saw a lot of people on his front lawn, talking and pointing at his house. He squinted, unsure of what they were looking at. Until he got closer.

As he got nearer, he noticed his dad was sitting on the steps, head hung low, as if he was in deep thought. Mason has his arms crossed, looking pissed and intimidating. And Alex was leaning against a pillar, looking extremely annoyed. The crowd of people noticed Theo's arrival and parted the way for him. And that's when he saw it.

NIGGER LOVER

Sprayed painted across the front of his freaking house!

"You!" Mason caught sight of his little brother and turned red. He came down the steps to meet him on the walkway, and grabbed him by the collar in front of everyone. "You little shi-"

"Mason," their father calmly called out, stopping him in his tracks. Mason stubbornly let go, but not without glaring him down before walking back into the house, slamming the door behind him. Theo nervously looked around, as if asking any of his neighbors for help. But of course, no one offered it. Just watched as he walked into the house to face his family alone.

"Sit," his dad ordered as he pointed to the couch in the living room. He then looked over at his two other sons. "All of you."

Alex and Mason rolled their eyes and crumbled under their breath as they all sat down on a couch across from him. Theo has never felt more uncomfortable in his entire life.

"Can any one of you explain to me what the fuck is written on my house and why?" He started off. All three boys were silent, staring back at him. "So is anyone gonna answer me or are we gonna awkwardly sit and stare at each other?" He raised an eyebrow. He then looked over at Alex. "You got anything to say for yourself?"

Alex simply shrugged. "I️ don't know what this is about."

He then looked over at Mason. "How about you?" He asked.

Mason scoffed and crossed his arms. "As if," he spat, as if offended that his dad would even ask something like that.

He then looked at Theo, who refused to meet his gaze. His dad eyed him up and down before speaking. "You still friends with that girl?" He asked.

Theo slowly looked up at him. "No," he lied, hoping that was convincing enough. "She refuses to talk to me anyways."

It was bold for him to lie like that, especially knowing either of his brothers could rat him out at that very moment.

But neither of them spoke up. Instead his dad looked between all three of them and sighed, as if he was too tired to argue or even care. "I'm only going to say this once. If I️ find out that any of you are messing around with colored girls, I️ will shoot you," he threatened. "Stop bringing this mess around my home! Now look at this," he points right out the door. "All three of you are gonna scrub that off my doors and windows and I️ want it to be spotless."

"What?!" Mason and Alex jumped up from their seats. "But-"

"But nothing! Since none of you are claiming responsibility for this, all of you are responsible for cleaning up this mess. I️ don't care how you do it," he said with a tone of finality. "And you," He looks over at Theo. "I️ told you a long time ago that you and Kathryn Knight aren't friends anymore. Don't let me find out you two have been together this whole time." He turned around to walk out the door, probably out to a bar somewhere.

As soon as they heard their dad's truck start and back out the driveway, Theo was suddenly shoved against the wall by Alex. "Ow! Alex-"

"Shut up," he hissed. "We know you lied. And don't even think for a second that we're gonna help you clean up that mess that you know you made," he seethed.

Theo shoved him back. "How do you know this is even about me when this easily could've been about you!" He pointed out. "You know what you do-"

"And yet you do nothing about it," Mason laughed. "So don't try to pretend you're better than us, with your high pile of books and good grades and black girlfriend," he taunted.

"She's not my girlfriend," Theo argues back.

"Interesting...so what you're saying is that she's available?" Alex laughed, making Theo jump to throttle him, only to be stopped by the fact that he still had him in his hands. Alex simply knocked him back against the wall, hard, making him hit his head and groan out in pain. "Don't you fuck with me, you little shit," he growled.

Mason crosses his arms. "Just stop hanging around her. You're bringing that civil rights bullshit to our house!" Theo glared at him. Mason must've saw the defiance in his eyes cause his next words came as a blow to him. "Well then," he said, loosening Alex's grip on him, "looks like I'll be paying Kitty Kat a little visit this week," he smirked.

"You stay away from her," Theo pointed at him.

"You first," he challenged, getting in his face. He then chuckles and walks off towards his room. "Might wanna scrub all that off before dad gets home!" He calls out before shutting the door to his room close.
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So my absence is s longggg story that I️ really don't wanna get into. Just kno I'm back and finishing this story!