I graded papers in the stifling heat.  Through the open windows, I heard shouting, and the endless stream of traffic.
I scanned the next paper and smiled.  Unlike most of my summer school class, this student had a natural flare, and although his penmanship sprawled like that of a six year old, his work was eloquent.  When he turned in his papers, at least.

My door opened.

"I thought you guys were 'posed to keep your door locked."
"Speak of the Devil," I said.  "I was just grading your final exam."
Anthony Reynolds stood in the doorway.  "Yeah? How'd I do?"
"Seventy-eight percent. You can do better."
Anthony grinned. "Yeah, I know. Be glad for what you got, Teach."
I laughed. "Oh, I am, trust me.  It was a battle getting you this far."   It wasn't the typical response of a teacher, but Anthony was not a typical student.
"Smart ass."   Anthony shut the door.  He dug deep into a hip pocket as he approached, and dropped a crumpled, folded sheet of paper on my desk.  "For the contest."
My eyebrows rose.   "Are you sure?"
He nodded.  "Yeah."
I unfolded the paper and read:

Colors
by

A riot of color splashed across filthy concrete, layers of voices overlapped.
A silent shout against the night, faint to eyes which cannot see me.
My mark against obscirity, fresh against the fading din.
but only for a time until a new voice cries out, desperate to be heard
and I become another shadow
to be scrubbed away by disgusted hands.

Tears stung my eyes.  "You misspelled 'obscurity'," I said.   I had never seen graffitti in quite that way, and the revelation shook me.
"So? Fix it," Anthony said.
"You fix it, wise guy." I nodded to the shelf.   "You're the student, remember?"
He rolled his eyes and crossed the room.   I rubbed mine while his back was turned.
Anthony flipped through the dictionary, then called out the correct spelling.
"Good man," I said.
"Well?" Anthony asked.   "Is it any good?"
"It's excellent."
Anthony grinned. "So you'll enter it for me?"
"Does a bear shit in the woods?"
"How in the hell would I know?  City boy, remember?"
I laughed.  "Yes, of course I'll enter it for you."   I handed the paper back.  "Write your name on it and I'll take care of the rest."
Anthony's grin fell away.   "I can't, Teach. If anyone found out..."
I nodded.   "Well, we have to put something on it."
"Make one up," he said.   "It don' matter anyways.  It's all just noise."
"Hardly.  It's probably one of the best free verse poems I've ever read, and I sure as hell won't call it noise."
"I thought you guys weren't 'posed to swear?"
"We're not," I said.  "How about 'Thomas Pratt'?"
"Sounds like a homo."
"Then it's a good cover."
He grinned and stood.   "I gotta go. If anyone catches me here, I'll never live it down."
"I understand.  Wouldn't want anyone to think you had a brain."
Anthony laughed. "You got that right." He paused at the door to tie his gang colors around his head.   "Hey, Teach?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
I felt my eyes sting again. "My pleasure, Anthony.  We'll know in about six weeks."
"Cool," he said, and shut the door behind him.

The next morning, I opened the newspaper and read the headline:

3 Die in Drive-by Shooting

I scanned the article, looking for names.

... Anthony Reynolds, age 18, caught in the crossfire of bullets ...

The rest of the words blurred as tears fell.  I opened my briefcase and found the crumpled paper.  I blacked out the fake name and wrote 'Anthony Reynolds' beneath the byline.
For you, buddy.  I thought, and began to sob.

*****

"It was supposed to be a secret, asshole."  Anthony's remaining eye glared as he spoke.  The other was patched.
"Does it matter now?"
"No. I guess not.  Did you know first prize was a scholarship?"
"Yeah, but I wasn't thinking about that.  I thought you were dead."
"Lucky me."  Anthony raised his crippled hand.
"So you'll go to college and write with a computer.   Be glad.   Your handwriting was damned ugly."  I glared at him, trying not to laugh. "Now get your lazy ass out of bed.  It's time for physio."
"I thought you guys weren't 'posed to swear?"
"Times change, asshole. Times change."