Member-only story
LIFE
How Your Innocence Can Become Your Armor When You’re Willing to Give People a Chance
I lived by the philosophy that everyone was welcome, and it helped me find my place in the world
Javier told me about the time he identified the man who had shot him. He stood behind a two way mirror at the police station in a room made from cinder blocks, pointed, and said, “That’s him.”
The other suspects were led away. The shooter was placed in handcuffs. Javier fixed me with an intense look, “I made the police open the door and let me in.”
I didn’t answer.
Javier looked past me, the muscles of his face tightened, and I could tell he was thinking of the shooter. “I looked him right in the eye, and pointed.”
He showed me. He stabbed the air sharply with his finger like he wanted to hurt it. It was intimidating.
“Why did you do that?”
“Because I wanted him to know that it was me. I wanted him to know that I wasn’t afraid.”
Meeting Javi
His name was Javier, but we called him Javi. In Spanish, a “J” is pronounced like an “H,” so you say “Ha-vi.”
