12-year old Carol’s mother
always
tells her to mind her own business.
But as she heard the commotion
and saw the people staring into the alley,
she couldn’t help herself.
Three 16 year-olds
were beating up a scrawny kid.
The boy bled,
badly,
begging for help.
The adults just watched.
Mind your own business,
echoed her mom’s voice.
Carol grabbed her lucky nickel.
Heads, she’d help the boy.
The coin rotated in the air 1000 years
before it landed:
tails, free to go.
She helped the boy anyway.