Mikey is one of only two black boys at his elementary school. He tries to befriend the other boy, Louie, at the lunch table. He comes up with a fun childish hypothetical: “what if the school blew up?”

He tells louie how he could bring a bomb into school the next day and blow up the school so they can hang out. They laugh it off, but the next day Mikey is pulled away from class by his favorite teacher, Ms. Bristol.

She takes him to “The Quiet Room,” a solitary confinement room the school places bad kids in.

Mikey is left in there for hours before Ms. Bristol comes in to talk with him. At first she expresses concern for Mikey’s wellbeing, which makes Mikey more comfortable, but she soon switches into interrogation mode, treating him like a potential threat and scaring him away. Mikey is then placed in front of the school principal, Ms. Young.

She tries to threaten, humiliate, and belittle Mikey until he cracks. All this does is make him an emotional wreck. Thankfully, his mother arrives and cusses out the school for their torturous behavior toward Mikey. As she takes Mikey back to her car to go home, Mikey sees Louie standing alongside Ms. Bristol. It was betrayal on all sides.