A new talent about Brian Broome, whose early years growing up in Ohio as a dark-skinned Black boy harboring crushes on other boys. Brian’s recounting of his experiences reveals a perpetual outsider awkwardly squirming to find his way in. Indiscriminate sex and escalating drug use help to soothe his hurt, young psyche, usually to uproarious and devastating effect. A no-nonsense mother and broken father play crucial roles in our misfit’s origin story. But it is Brian’s voice in the retelling that shows the true depth of vulnerability for young Black boys that is often quietly near to bursting at the seams.

Introduction /Yona Harvey -- We real cool / Gwendolyn Brooks -- The initiation of Tuan -- We real cool. Colder -- We left school. Bee -- The red caboose -- Parental alienation 101 -- The rent -- We lurk late. Arena -- Sandalwood -- Like this -- We strike straight. The key -- Game theory -- We sing sin . A house is not a home -- Let the church say "amen" -- We thin gin. This gay life -- Look left, look right -- We jazz June. Carnival -- We die soon. Gravel -- Stall -- Tabula rasa.