Chapters (14)
Walk home. All is quiet, for now.
Too quiet, for me.
No Noodle. No Brick. No Kimberly.
I’ve never felt more alone.
OFFICER YOUNG
We are glued to the flat screen in the break room. We’re on call, as second-wave support. If they need us.
The captain comes in. “Gear up. Verdict’s coming down in our favor.”
Boots.
Mask.
Baton.
Tear gas.
Helmet.
Shield.
Let’s do this thing.
MELODY
I never felt this kinda power. Not since I can remember. We got energy. We got rhythm. We got truth.
No justice, no peace!
No justice, no peace!
The protest is lit. It ain’t even cold now. We jumping. We pumping.
No justice, no peace!
No way to get tired. No way to quit it. We screaming. We furious.
No justice, no peace!
Brick stands beside me, his fist in the air. When it was calm, for a while, he had his arm around me, his hand in my coat pocket, keeping me close.
It ain’t calm now. I can still feel his arm, though. The little things that show me we got something going. It’s fuel. Life-giving fuel.
Zeke, at the podium, says the announcement’s coming soon.
It don’t matter. They gonna let us down. Again. We know it already. Been knowing it.
We scream it, insist it: No justice, no peace!
High up on the steps, the line of officers parts. The revolving door turns. White men in suits come down, followed by white men in uniform.
It’s on. It’s on. Brick’s arm goes around me, pulling me close. The screaming slowly settles around us as one of the suits places himself behind the mike. He introduces himself as the district attorney.
He clears his throat. “The grand jury has determined, in its best judgment, that there is not sufficient evidence to indict Officer Darren Henderson…”
The scream, it’s primal. It’s spontaneous. It’s everyone. No leader at the mike. We’re past that.
If he has more words, we don’t hear them.
No justice, no peace!
No justice, no peace!
Brick speaks softly. Am I meant to hear it? Not sure how I even do, under the shouting. “They’re coming for us. We ain’t going down without a fight.”
That’s right.
No justice, no peace!
We’re energy, rhythm, truth. We’re pumping, jumping. Screaming, furious.
I never felt this kinda power before. Brick by my side: all fueled up. The shield of the crowd: untouchable. The sting of injustice: no consequences.
We got nothing to lose. We gonna die anyway. Let it not be in a dark alley. Let it not go unseen. They coming for us. Let us meet them. Under the lights, in front of the cameras.
We gonna light this motherfucker up.
@KelvinX_: A grand jury will indict “a ham sandwich,” but not a live squealing pig. #JusticeForShaeTatum
@TroubleInRiverCty: You indict or we ignite! #BurnItDown #Underhill
@WhitePowerCord: That’s right. You niggers can’t keep a good cop down. #selfdefense
@UnderhillSCORE: #UnderhillPD, you owe us answers. #TodayForShae #TomorrowForAll