Words in Frame, 7/22

Honestly, he preferred funerals; at least there he didn’t have to fake a smile for 3 hours. The ceremony was beautiful and tears were shed, but all that paled in comparison to the pain his face felt after holding that damn smile.

They were at the reception now so at least he could drink, but the constant buzzing of merriment around his head was still too much for him. The new bride and groom picked an awkward spot near the coastline to host the reception. He wasn’t the biggest fan of the ocean really, but he appreciated its respect of space. Here he could hideaway and not be bother, taking comfort in the company of the oceans eternal waves. On the surface it was pretty and scenic, but upon closer inspection you would find trash littered all over the rocks along the water.

“Hmm, kind of like marriage” He said aloud to himself, before chuckling at his own joke.

“What’s like marriage?” A familiar voice uttered behind him.

He turned to see his girlfriend approaching him, two bottles in hand. A Corona for her and another Angry Orchard hard cider for him. He was living on the edge as always.

“Oh…nothing, just taking to myself” He took a sip of the cider before facing the water again.

“You know, there are bouncers here”

“What?” He was a bit too excited for a potential bounce house at a wedding reception.

“We have bouncers for people trying to crash the wedding, so you don’t have to keep watch of the sea for potential invaders.” She smiled at her own sly joke.

“Oh.” He fell for it. No bounce house. Damn.

“My sister and Ed look so happy together, it’s almost as if they should be together forever or something.” She sat down next to him, tired of standing in her heels.

“Yeah, they should just get married and leave everyone else alone.”

They both laughed before the silence settled in again. She was so good at being around people, and didn’t have to try to be social. On the flip side he was so painfully introverted that even going out to dinner can become an uphill battle on the wrong day. She was ridiculously patient with him and most days he didn’t understand why she bothered. In moments like this though their relationship shined, they were laughing about anything and mocking the world together.

…

“Cheer up babe, the obligatory cupid shuffle is starting soon” She knew exactly how to pull him out of a funk.

“Hmm, I do love me a good cupid shuffle, but I think I’ll pass”.

“Oh come on, all you have to do for that one is move, no smiling required.”

He remained still, watching the water crash into the rocks again. The ocean at least understand his need of solitude, forever yearning for solitude all while people polluted its water and depleted its resources.

“Okay, come on.” She was fed up with waiting and grabbed his arm to lift him up.

“Hey, wai-”

“No ‘heys’ from you, we are gritting our teeth and making an appearance on the dance floor.”

It made sense, after all she was a bridesmaid and had been away from the party for a bit too long, but he still wasn’t happy about the forced interactions. They made their way to the central party area, with ornate arrangements of flowers and lights surrounding a square oak dance floor. The DJ’s booth was covered in post-it notes of songs that people requested, some weird thing that this particular DJ did to engage his audience. Most, if not all, of the partygoers were drunk except for the children present.

 It was his worst nightmare, a loud and large gathering of people he didn’t know. He felt like the world was closing in on him and in that moment all he wanted to do was run back to his safehaven by the water. Then he felt a hand, her hand, grabbing his and pulling him farther and farther into the center of the chaos. He was still terrified but as long as their hands stayed connected he felt as though he was invincible. It was just the two of them, together in the eye of the storm, having and amazing time. The speeches were over, the tears were done, and all that was left was the celebration. For once he would meld into the collective party hive mind and release himself into the wild to enjoy the moment. Across from him was the woman strong enough to pull him out of his own fears, who made him believe it was okay to interact with the real world. His best friend.

…

Later on during the drive home she was sitting cozy in the passenger sit wearing his suit coat and enjoying the warmth of the car.

“See?” she stated, “That wasn’t so bad at all.”

The water he used as his shield now lined their drive home, close enough for comfort but far enough away for him to feel like he belonged with others and, for once, not just with himself. He felt at peace with his reclusive nature, knowing he would always have both a place to hide and the inspiration to leave his comfort zone when need be. He thought about his own future, and marrying the girl of his dreams. He pondered spending the rest of his life with his reason for stepping outside. He smiled, and this one was genuine.

“No,” he replied after a minute, “that wasn’t so bad at all.”

Words in Frame, 7/8

This was it, he was going to die.

He came to facedown on the concrete on a 70 degree day, Jordan never thought his hometown would become his coffin. He was still a bit fuzzy on the details as to why, but he could feel warm blood slowly dripping down his face. How did he get here?

“Stop resisting! Stay on the ground!” a distant voice shouts down at him.

This doesn’t make any sense, he didn’t remember doing anything. He was trying to trace the steps backward in his mind. He went to 7/11 to pick up some drinks for him and his friends. Shit, they must be waiting for him back at the arcade. He tried to get up but could only flop around on the ground powerless. Was he tased? He still couldn’t remember.

“I need backup! I think this is the guy!” The distant voice becomes louder and clearer.

Drumming. He was a drummer, and was air playing along to some ScHoolboy Q song. His earphones were in as he walked out of the store so he couldn’t hear the cop approach him. He saw the sirens but police aren’t exactly a rare sight in Oakland. Then he saw the cop mouthing something. It was him. They wanted him. He quickly pulled the buds out of his ear and attempted to put his hands up, but that was too fast for their liking. There was a quick bash to the head with a billy club before he fell limp on the pavement, out before he could even ask what he had done wrong.

“What is wrong, what did I do? What is going on?” words were slurred and stumbling lazily out of Jordan’s mouth before turning into mumbles somewhere in the process.

“Shut up and stay down!” at this point the cop was on top of him, waiting for his much needed backup.

And it came. In the form of two more cars and 3 more cops. More yelling and screaming and more body shots. Jordan could feel himself fading in and out of blackness, trying his hardest to hold himself together. He needed to remember this, this was his city and he needed to defend its pride. He did nothing wrong and he won’t let them win. 21 years of resentment fueled his rage and kept him awake. It remembered every hit they gave him. It remembered every name they called him. It remembered all the times these situations ended in death, and prevented him from lashing out.

A crowd had started to gather, phones were being taken out, and support was being given from the citizens who had seen this far too often.

“Leave that boy man, he ain’t done nothing wrong!” one voice cried

“Why does it take three cops to hold down one guy, he isn’t even resisting!” another saint spoke truth.

“He comes here all the time; he has never given me an issue officer!” This came from the owner of the store, Howard. He had known Jordan as a customer since high school.

Jordan was broken hearted and soon to be broken bodied. This city knew what love meant but it didn’t matter in the face of these cops. They were getting anxious with the crowd's presence and that was a bad sign. When they tried to throw him into the back of the cop car one of the cops dropped him, and he stumbled to catch himself from falling into the pavement again. He managed to put his hands on top of the car and stopped himself from falling, but they saw this as resisting. 

Shots rang out.

He wondered what the video would look like on the news that night. How his death would be twisted and warped to fit their narrative. Would his mother be blamed in some way? Would his friends be called thugs and hooligans? Would they find another way to tear this city apart? There were screams and he could hear cries out outrage. He never wanted to be another body for the cause, but he never had the choice to begin with.

…

He woke up 7 hours later in Highland Hospital, connected to machines and surrounded by friends and family. They were all crying, hold his hand, grieving. Yet when his eyes opened they didn’t stop crying. He was one of the lucky few, he had survived, a miracle in itself that could make even the most hardened inner city veteran break down with relief. In silence a TV was turned to a local news station, there was footage of a savage beat down the result in what was being called a case of “Potential Mistaken Identity”. He was on display for the world to see, abused by the system that is destroying his people and his community.

No more.

His mother, who had finally stopped crying, turned to him and asked him in the most calm manner possible, “How are you doing?”

His voice was hoarse and it hurt to speak, but he pushed through 250 years of pain to make his statement clear.

“I’m pissed, and they won’t get away with it this time”.

He lay in bed surrounded by his support system, ready to jump head first into the revolution.

Words In Frame, 7/1

Maybe the docks weren’t the best place for a first date. The idea seemed way more romantic in his head, but in person it was just a bunch of water and screeching seagulls. To him it felt like home. He has lived near water all his life so it just felt natural, but to an outsider like her he thought it may be a bit awkward.

“It’s really pretty isn’t it?” Her voice snapped him back to reality.

“Um w-what?” He wasn’t sure if she was talking about the water or his perception of the water. Was she in his head?

“The water here is so calm compared to what I am used to. You guys get a lot of freedom here in this station”

He had never really thought it before. Each station mimics what Earth used to look like, but since you don’t choose where you are born its natural to forget that stations look vastly different from each other.

“Yeah, I mean I grew up near the water and tried not to take it for granted, but it’s nice to see that someone else appreciates my home too.” Living next to water was like living next to a goldmine, and he never forgot that. “Where did you grow up?”

“Wow, deep question for a first date.” She gave him a sly smile.

“Well, I can ask something different if yo-”

“No its fine, most people just seem so ashamed of where they are from. Honestly I’m glad you aren’t like that. I was a Station 6 kid, so it was all big buildings and busy streets. The station that never sleeps, so they call it…honestly it was just exhausting.”

“Why exhausting?”

“Everything there is just so…unfocused. Like everyone is busy, has someplace to be, and no one enjoys themselves. I love doing things, of course, but I also like being able to just sit without worrying about the next moment.”

“Isn’t Station 6 like where everyone wants to end up though? The land of big business and big dreams? Money, money, and more money?”

“It is all of that, but that life just didn’t appeal to me. All I wanted to do was work with animals, and you won’t find any in the concrete ocean of Station 6. That’s why I ended up out here. I needed a change”

“I get that, a lot of people I know wanted to move to 6 in order to strike it big or something, but I was always into the environment…well what's left of it anyway. So I stayed here and never looked back.”

On the nearby landmass you could see the shadow of a sentinel flying overhead, surveying the area as it does every day at the same time. Despite its size it was silent and unobtrusive aside from its shadow. The two watched it float by in silence. Regardless of what station you are from, it can be hard to gaze at sentinels.

“So what happens next for you?” She again broke the silence, the 6 in her making her a natural lead in conversation.

“I am starting a new job soon, and we get to actually visit water production plants and figure out ways to make them run more efficiently.”

“Really? That sounds amazing!”

“I try not to get caught up in it, I'm just doing what I want to do."

“Well, have you celebrated yet?” She perked up and got closer to him.

“Uh…no?” His social circle wasn't the biggest, so celebrating things like a new job was bit odd to him. “I don’t really do that, I mean it isn’t a massive deal."

“Not a big deal? You are living your dream and actually doing something that matters to you. You get to be real and focus on something in this world of plastic. It is monumentally important that you see that!”

He could see that it meant a lot to her. So he simply smiled and gave a nod. This girl had passion, and although he wasn’t sure if she could handle it, he guessed it was worth a shot.

“Then lets go! I know this amazing Thai place down the road and it should still be open.”

He couldn’t really say no, he honestly thought this date would flop but here was this girl, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him toward what was apparently the magnum opus of Thai food. He turned back to face his water. A final look at the bay he had taken comfort in all his life. A bay that he had now dedicated himself to preserving at all cost. It was the crown jewel of his station.

Humility aside, he really did deserve that celebration dinner, and he couldn’t have picked better company.