In the Heat of the Light by Stephen Kearse

Author:Stephen Kearse [Kearse, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: southern, black, Atlanta, literary, music, psychological
Publisher: Brain Mill Press LLC
Published: 2019-08-06T05:00:00+00:00

Tilly knew exactly what to expect when a subjectless email containing a YouTube link streaked across her phone. It damn sure wasn’t the latest Jimmy Fallon clip. Halting right in the middle of the Kroger, her basket unfilled, Tilly watched the video, sighing.

“The destruction of a racist monument is a beautiful thing, but instead of talking about free speech and terrorism, how about we discuss the union of surveillance and weaponry? How about we talk about a weapon that can destroy entire neighborhoods? How about we talk about how looking up at the sky is now like looking down the barrel of a police gun?”

Goddamn, she’s good, Tilly thought, admiring the impassioned activist, a young black woman, debating in the video. Too bad she represented Black Lives Matter. Quantico had been investigating them for some time. “Black identity extremists,” they were called internally, whatever the fuck that meant. In reality, they were just regular Americans with justified grievances. But once you were on that watch list, you stayed there until you were useful.

The debate continued, but Tilly stopped watching it, plugging in her headphones and beginning to fill her basket. She’d seen all she needed to see. #FireAndBrimStoneMountain was a trending topic again, and Black Lives Matter had brought it back to life. Meddling fucking kids. Why were activists so damn impatient? The deluge of press emails had just slowed to a trickle a few weeks ago, finally allowing her to do her actual job—following leads and profiling perps—instead of doing PR.

Tilly longed for her days as a junior agent, when work ended as soon as she shut down her office computer and life began as soon as she started her home computer. Rick called them her “Lisbeth” days, after Lisbeth Salander of Dragon Tattoo fame, but Tilly knew better. She’d hacked for the personal challenge, the thrill of expanding her skills. She didn’t have any political goal or business interest or vengeance to claim. Hacking, for her, was like running on a treadmill: pure artifice, no ambition, no destination, no stakes.

Those days of hacking all night were long gone, along with her patience and her body’s ability to process copious amounts of Mountain Dew. After speeding through the beverage aisle, she hurried to the checkout lane, eager to get back to the office. Every second counted if she wanted to keep her boss, Fitz Houndum, off her ass.

“I knew you had a secret mini fridge!” Rick exclaimed as Tilly barged into her office, grocery bags in tow. She knew she was on the losing end when she agreed to exchange office keys with him, yet she’d still agreed to do it. “Partners must be equal,” he’d argued.

“I never denied it,” Tilly replied, placing her bags in the fridge in her closet. Rick better not have a key to this, too, she thought as she closed and locked the closet door. Exhausted, she collapsed into her office chair, taking a deep breath.

“I have no idea how to handle the Black Lives Matter stuff.

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