Anger Is a Gift

Moss and Esperanza ride the train from the mall back to West Oakland. Moss, the protagonist, is a gay Black teenager, and Esperanza is a Puerto Rican immigrant with white adoptive parents. She is also Moss’s best friend. The train is delayed due to police activity at West Oakland station. A Latino teenager compliments Moss’s bike and introduces himself as Javier. When they discover that they are both gay, they flirt a little, and Javier reveals that he is on his way to a demonstration protesting the police shooting a young, unarmed man.

When the train arrives at the station, Esperanza warns Moss that they have to be careful, and Moss becomes anxious when he sees red and blue police lights. He almost falls, but Esperanza supports him, and he manages to calm himself by practicing breathing techniques his therapist taught him.

Esperanza asks if he and Javier have exchanged numbers, but Moss wants to get out of the station first. However, they walk into the protest and are surrounded demonstrators. Moss’s father had been an activist and was murdered by police officers, allegedly due to mistaken identity (although Moss’s mother will later reveal that she believes that it was intentional and targeted).