Doyle Murphy: The girl kept her feet under her as long as she could. A crowd had pushed into the intersection of Dubois and South streets — 40 or 50 teens shoving, flailing and punching.
A young man at the edge of the melee pulled off his orange sweater, tossed it onto the hood of a pickup and waded back in. The girl went down in the middle where other girls slapped her, kicked her and tore at her braids.
Police sirens sounded as the first of four squad cars popped over the hill.
"Let's go! Let's go!" yelled a young man from across the street.
The teens scattered. Police Officer Tom Gleason tried to talk to the girl, but she brushed past him, checking her lip for blood. The intersection cleared less than a minute after the fight started. All that remained were four long, black braids on the pavement.
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