Day 836: 5 Minute Freewrite CONTINUATION: Monday - Prompt: crazy eyes

Thursday evening, fourth day of the Downtown Drive-in Lockdown: as usual, people tended to take instruction from Rev. Obsidian Stone and bring their stories back to Mrs. Freedom Belle Stone.

“I get them going, you keep them going,” Rev. Stone often said to his wife. “Thank you for everything you do.”

“Thank you for everything you do, Obs,” she answered, “in providing the leadership to give dignity and a sense of personhood back to the people.”

Mrs. Stone listened to all the stories, and often Mrs. Jade Lewis, a reporter for the Lofton County Free Voice, came and also recorded stories for the Free Voice to archive and report on.

Mrs. Patricia Morris, 82 years old, made the front page of the Free Voice because of what had happened to her doing the Thursday lunchtime drive-in and how she had responded.

“Y'all know I have a little junker – on a fixed income I can't get me a new big car and such. But I been drivin' in twice a day, and I gon' be drivin' in twice a day 'til dis here be done and such.

“One came at my car today at lunch– big man, nice suit, crazy eyes, decidin' he got to intimidate somebody 'cuz he can't get his way. He pick on lil' ol me and my little junker. He been flippin' birds and needin' his mouth washed out with soap all de way while I drivin' down the street real slow cuz' you know we make de traffic and such. All his actin' stupid doesn't do nothin', so he see my little car, he decide he gon' come make somethin' happen, or at least scare somebody off.

“I been drivin' a long time. I know how. I done lost my son and daughter. I don't care to be scared no more and such. I flipped my car into reverse and back into drive and shook him off every time he come at de car. I bounce him like a rubber ball. He ought to thank de devil he serve dat we drivin' too much traffic in and such so he ain't even have room to get under my wheel.

“I know dey all mad and such about dey can't get to lunch and dey can't get to work and dey can't get home and such. Dey don't care dat we can't have lunch nor dinner nor work with our sons and daughters never again, who done burned up. Dey reckon dey can be de only ones who don't have to care, and dat dey can put all de pain back over here. No ma'am, Mrs. Stone and Mrs. Lewis. We gon' drive dat pain right back to dem downtown, every day 'til dey do right if dey don't care to get right. I done cleaned dat man's faceprint off my windshield, and I don't care 'bout de dents from his big stupid body, so I done jus' come from drivin' in dis here evenin' and I's ready to drive in again tomorrow for lunch and such.”

The man with the crazy eyes and swollen face told his story to the Big Loft Police Department, but that didn't go so well for him …

“The woman tried to run me over, the old b***h! I'm sore all over from where that car hit me again and again while she just sat there, crazy eyes, twisted face, evil spirit! Aren't you people going to do something about it?”

“Look, Councilman Greenwich, we all saw what happened,” said Captain Stanton. “You ran out into traffic after cussing out every person with dark skin driving by – what did you think, that you could physically turn that little junker with that little old woman in it over? Of course her face was crazy – you probably scared her half to death! But the point is, she didn't come up on the curb. You ran into traffic. I've got ten witnesses beside myself AND video evidence – it's all over social media! You went and attacked her – a crazed pedestrian, attacking a car! You ought to be grateful the traffic was so thick that you couldn't get run over, because she could have killed you and we would have had to call it a suicide!”

Later on, Captain Stanton called Commissioner Scott.

“Chief,” he said, because he still related to the man who held both offices more in terms of the chief side, “I don't know who you need to talk to in your commissioner form to get this situation handled, but these drive-ins are about to get really dangerous. You heard about Councilman Greenwich just going out and attacking a car? You did? Okay, so here's the problem. The folks driving in are scrupulously obeying the law. I'd like to have a problem with them, but I don't. The thing is, it's the downtown bigwigs who can't take it. You've got Mr. Young from Business Development pushing the mayor's father into traffic yesterday, and now Councilman Greenwich trying to start a pedestrian-on-car head-on collision.

“The bigwigs are losing it, sir … I wish you could have seen the look in the councilman's eyes when he came in here trying to get the driver of the car he attacked arrested for attempted murder. Crazy eyes, sir. They can't deal with being checked in any way, and we don't have the resources to protect them from themselves.

“No, sir, not even with Captain Lee's entire cold case division giving us support – he with them are only six, and he can't pull the old Blue Ridge precinct folks in to do this. He and I already talked about it. We already know how they drop the ball in hot situations, and how they created this entire mess with their failure to evacuate during the fire and their putting out that bad count. We also know they have a record of flipping out and pulling Black folks to the ground and beating on them – can't afford to generate more lawsuits, or have a riot down here. None of the Blue Ridge crew are going to be any good in these racialized situations until they are retrained.

“Politics ain't my business, sir, but can you talk to the mayor anyway? He ought to be receptive, given what could have happened to his father – tell him that we need to get this over and done with. We've already done away with the old count and it came from BLPD anyhow, out of the Blue Ridge precinct. You've already given him cover. All he needs to do is recognize the right count and get the district attorney to do the same, and this nightmare of city officials attacking each other and throwing their mortal flesh up against steel cars will be over. Yes, sir … you know how those old junkers were made, more solid than the new cars even now … I saw what Councilman Greenwich did, and I still can't believe it. What is that going to feel like and look like when he goes back to work tomorrow? Tell the mayor he better move on the right count before half his administration is laughed out of office!”

Photo by the author, Deeann D. Mathews