These Moments (Part 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V95v0_r602Q

Nick and Violet were having a nice Sunday. They have been enjoying the sun on their skin and the nice walk they were having through the city with Pandora. Violet wasn't that familiar with Old City Philadelphia, and Nick wanted to show her some of the sights, including Old City and city hall, if they were up to it.

They began at the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Nick was well versed on history and nerded out with her about the founding fathers and the war of independence.

Violet was into most of it, but lost interest in the first Post Office. So they wandered up Market Street. Most places were closed due to the pandemic already, but there were a number of people out. At first they didn't know how many, until they reach the George Floyd demonstrations at City Hall.

While Violet and Nick go around the long way, and hang out across the street at the gaming park, as they watch the protesters. The mood just turns and before anyone could do anything about it, someone had set a police car on fire; then another, and another.

Plumes of smoke rose from the area like it was a war zone. Hundreds continue to gather in the area, but Nick and Violet worry for the dog's reactions. The crowds had made her almost as anxious as Violet. Nick was even feeling unnerved by all this. Crowds were one thing, but this had become a full blown riot. So they head back to where they had parked and drive back to Nick's apartment.

They thought life had returned to the new normal during the last couple weeks, and in many ways, it had. Yet now, there was an overcast of demanding needed change, with an undercurrent of reactionary resistance.

***

Monday brought about new protests and they continue on Tuesday. Both days, representatives from Four Suits go to the rallies. For a moment, Nick thought he saw Dinah, at the protest. The age gap couple try to catch up to his dear friend, but to no avail.

Eventually, they make their way with others onto the Vine Street Expressway, shutting it down for miles, in both directions. That was only until the tactics of the police change. Nick, being taller, saw them coming. The gestapo like tactics of spraying tear gas was about to begin, Nick saw the canisters, and the dozens of men in near paramilitary gear, come down the same exit as the protesters had come through. Nick bends down and looks Violet in the eyes. He drops his sign when he grabs her shoulders to get her attention. "We are in danger, we have to get out of here, the stormtroopers are coming!"

Nick grabs her by the wrist and pulls her down the road. Violet drops her sign and runs with him to the next exit, a half mile down the expressway. Behind them are nothing but shouting victims of the tear gas being sprayed in every direction. The order which the police had come to enforce, erupts into a grand melee of chaos. In moments, cars began to flow down the expressway towards them.

Violet and Nick keep running with others in the side lanes made for pulling over with car trouble. Angry drivers, made late from the stand against injustice, speed past the May/December relationship, honking their horns.

In a few minutes, they transverse the distance to get out of the expressway, at the next ramp, up to the city hall exit. Once they got to Race Street, they finally felt safe enough to stop running.

Violet's heart didn't stop racing when they ended their run from the police. Nick took a few deep breaths and centers himself. His car is in the opposite direction from where they ran. They would need to circle around 15 - 20 blocks to make it back.

Nick had spent some time in Seattle back before the turn of the century. The WTO protests in Seattle had trained him for today. Violet had never experienced the likes of this. She was still shaking and needed comfort to settle her nerves. Nick held her close as she cried in frustration of the day's recent unfolding of events. After another minute, Violet regains her composure, but she was angry. She felt as oppressed as any other person at the protests now. She saw the violence of the state, first hand, and it enrages her. Nick finally notices, she is not shaking from her anxiety anymore. She just hates injustice.

The next few moments, they look in each other's eyes. They see each other, in a deeper way than they had ever felt before. It is as if their souls touch. They were on the same page, emotionally and spiritually. Then they heard the crash next to them.