Flight or Fight

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Chapter 2

Knowing she has some kind of head wound, she decides to jump into the river feet first. The rocky ledge is higher than she expected. While airborne, she thinks the black dark river would be deep. However, as soon as she hits the water, she finds the river edge to be shallow. The heels of her boots hit the rocky bottom, causing her to fall ass-backwards. Fortunately, her head doesn’t hit the rocks. The slope of the river floor directs her submerged body towards the deeper water in the middle. She knows they’re looking for her to resurface. She decides to let the current carry her.

She needs air. She flaps her arms pushing down towards the river’s bottom, hoping to rise up to air but she doesn’t want to expose any part of her body that isn’t necessary. Her head is raised to what she guesses is the surface. Her eyes are open and she thinks she sees ripples. The water-air barrier is broken first by her nose. She raises her chin so her mouth is in the air. Breathe! She breathes in and out several times, then submerges herself, trusting the river’s current to take her to safety.

Are they looking for her? She doesn’t know. She feels she can’t risk checking. No one is shooting at her so that’s a good sign. Trust the river.

As she occasionally and carefully bobs for air, she gets a taste of the river’s flavor. She’s been in the Mohawk River a few times. She always found the Mohawk to have a metallic taste with a slight smell of gasoline, most likely due to the Erie Canal boat traffic. This river she’s in isn’t pristine, but it doesn’t reek of industrial pollution. However, it does smell like poop, cow manure to be exact. So she thinks she’s still in New York State, somewhere where there’s a lot of farmland, which is a good chunk of Upstate New York.

As she’s cruising downriver, images pop into her mind.

• A blond-haired, well-dressed TV anchorwoman caked in white makeup on a muted TV screen speaking while a headline at the bottom of the screen reads GORE WINS FLORIDA RECOUNT. BUSH CONCEDES.
• Armed white men dressed in camouflage carrying Confederate flags and signs that read DON’T STEAL THE ELECTION! storming the hall’s of Congress.
• A tall, muscular bearded white man laughing, exposed bare-chest painted red, white, and blue, wearing a wooden Vikings cap on his head with horns on each side, holding President Bill Clinton in a headlock while giving the President a nuggie.
• Albany Times Union Headline: FLORIDA SECRETARY OF STATE CERTIFIES GEORGE W. BUSH AS FLORIDA WINNER. Smaller headlines: GORE’S WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN. CLINTON RECOVERING.

Breathe!

• A TIME magazine cover with a charred American flag below a granite headstone that reads THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION: 1789-2001.
• Muted blond speaking with headline below reading: POPULAR POLITICAL ANALYST KILLED AFTER STATING UNABOMBER, WACO, RUBY RIDGE, OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING, CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO WERE STEPPING STONES TO RIGHT-WING COUP.
• Images of riots in cities, suburban shopping malls burning, teenagers rioting in high schools throwing desks into windows. A picture capturing a large group of white students pelting rocks at a small group of black students in York, Pennsylvania. A close-up image captures the rage in several white boy’s eyes and faces.

Breathe!

• Muted blond anchorwomen speaking with bottom headline: BUSH ATTEMPTS TO UNITE COUNTRY WITH WAR CRY AGAINST IRAQ.
• Muted blond anchorwomen speaking with bottom headline: A DIVIDED AMERICA UNITES AGAINST IRAQ WAR. CONGRESS REJECTS WAR RESOLUTION.
• TV displaying a United States of America map. States are colored red or blue. Red states voted for George Bush. Blue states voted for Al Gore. Blue States are three Pacific Coast states. Most of Western states, Midwest states, and Southern states are red, except New Mexico, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan. All Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states are blue except Virginia, West Virginia, and New Hampshire. Florida is colored red. Headline below map reads: SENATOR LAWRENCE MORGAN SUGGESTS RED AND BLUE STATES PEACEFULLY SEPARATE.
• Albany Times Union headline: POLL: UPSTATE NEW YORKERS WANT THEIR OWN RED STATE AND UNITE WITH OTHER RED STATES.
• Utica Observer-Dispatch headline: RIGHT-WING MILITIA GROUPS SEEK TO FORCE DEMOCRATS DOWNSTATE.

Breathe!

• Hostile white male and female voices yelling You don’t belong here! We don’t want your kind here!
• A dirty-blond-haired weathered-face woman with cold-blue eyes and a cigarette in her mouth saying through gritted teeth, You and your kind will be rounded up if you don’t leave now.
• Folded yellowish letter with heading reading: EVICTION NOTICE.
• Repeatedly screaming Not leavin’!

Breathe!

She decides to keep her head above water to see what’s happening. Just as she finishes wiping water from her eyes, she sees the river in front of her disappearing at a diagonal line. She hears what sounds like a waterfall with water loudly hitting the fall’s bottom. Her outreached hands bump into a slimy wall with the rest of her body below water crushing her hands. Thud!