Born a Crime

driveway, a dozen or more at least.
Everyone went inside. The house
was packed. This was by far the
biggest prayer meeting we’d ever
had—the biggest thing that had ever
happened in the history of our
home, period. Everyone sat in the
circle, praying and praying, and the
prayers were strong. The grannies
were chanting and murmuring and
swaying back and forth, speaking in
tongues. I was doing my best to
keep my head low and stay out of it.
Then my grandmother reached back
and grabbed me, pulled me into the
middle of the circle, and looked into
my eyes.