One of the people who was a model for my baldness was Kamau whom I have not seen in decades.

At one point
he was living with his uncle
and I called.
“Is Kamau there?”
“No,” the guy said, and hung up.
This was before cel phones. There was no other way to reach him.

I called back and said, “You know, there might be a different way to handle that. As a responsible citizen.”
“Kamau no longer lives here,” his uncle seethed,
“I do not know how to reach him.”
He hung up again.
Clearly, there was a story I knew nothing about.

I did not know how to drop things at that point
but I didn’t see what more could be gained
by aggravating the uncle.

Feeling helpless never sat right with me.

Feeling helpless does not sit right with me.

I remain bald.