Tight

Now avoiding Mike, Bryan spends more and more time with Big Will, who has Netflix and lets Bryan watch the Luke Cage TV show with him on his phone. Luke Cage is one of Bryan’s favorite superheroes because he is Black and is capable of spectacular feats of strength. Other than these action-packed TV shows, the weeks pass with “no drama.” Temperamentally, Big Will seems almost the opposite of Mike, since he is always good-natured and calm and never acts as if he has to “prove” something. Though he is big and muscular, he never lets conflicts escalate. If faced with a confrontation, he calms the other person with an apology or other soft words. One day after school, Bryan and Big Will sit on a bench by the pier facing the Statue of Liberty, and Bryan has the same feeling of “chillness” that he experiences with his mother whenever they hang out on the Promenade. Big Will tells him that what he enjoys most is peace and quiet and “no drama,” and Bryan feels he has found a truly kindred spirit. Soon they are joined by Melanie and three of their friends, and as they talk, they find that they all have a number of things in common, such as a love of handball and the arcade game