Jack turned on the TV in his apartment, desperate for a distraction from thoughts of his uncle and memories of Major Riggs, and happily landed on the Nationals game. But the fourth inning had barely begun when the game cut to commercial and a new “Rollins for America” ad started playing.
The face of a petite blonde woman filled the screen.
“My name is Louisa,” the woman said, “and I was walking near the Capitol on the morning of June tenth, when the bomb went off. When a short-stringer set off the explosive that he had spent weeks building.”
The camera pulled back to reveal that the woman was seated, missing one of her legs.
“I understand the pain this man must have felt after seeing his short string. But why did he have to thrust that same pain onto so many others?” Louisa’s eyes glistened as she spoke. “I trust Congressman Anthony Rollins to keep our cities safe, so no other innocent bystanders will have to suffer what I went through.”
Anthony was really laying it on thick, Jack thought. What happened to that woman was undeniably terrible, but it wasn’t exactly a daily occurrence. Nor had the country been some bastion of peace before the strings arrived.
Toward the end of the ad, Anthony himself appeared. “That’s why I’m a proud member of the presidential task force created in response to the strings, as well as an original supporter of the STAR Initiative and future legislation that will protect all Americans, like Louisa, from further violence,” he said. “I’m Anthony Rollins, and I approve this message.”
Jack was shocked. Anthony was a part of the president’s task force? Anthony helped create the STAR Initiative?
“Shit!” Jack shouted.
His own uncle was the reason why Jack and Javi had to look inside their boxes. The reason they had to switch their strings and lie to everyone around them. The reason Jack had to sign his name, willfully perjuring himself, under the pitying gaze of Major Riggs.
Jack grabbed his water bottle from the cushion next to him and hurled it toward Anthony’s face. “Shit! Shit!”
The plastic bottle bounced loudly off the screen, spraying its remaining droplets into the air just as the baseball game resumed.
Thank god Javi wasn’t around to see this ad, Jack thought, to realize just how culpable Anthony was—along with the rest of Jack’s family, who stood behind him.
And now Anthony wanted Jack to join him in New York, to stand there stupidly onstage, while his uncle bragged about drafting the very decree that had fucked up Jack’s and Javi’s lives forever.
Families support each other, Jack heard his father’s voice. Especially ones like ours.
Anthony
Anthony was ready.
His speech sat in bulleted form on a series of note cards in his lap, and he leaned back in his cushioned beige seat as his campaign bus, with “Rollins for America” splayed across its side paneling, steadily made its way from D.C. to a park in downtown Manhattan, where a sizable crowd was gathering to hear Anthony speak and an equally sizable crowd was gathering in protest.
Anthony’s campaign manager had warned them about the demonstrators.
“Should we be worried?” Katherine asked.
“There’ll be plenty of security,” said the manager. “And the bomb dogs have already sniffed the place.”
“I meant about the optics.” Katherine frowned.
“Well, we knew this was a possibility when we decided to use the strings as a talking point,” said the manager. “But honestly, I take it as a sign that your husband’s star is rising. People wouldn’t show up for just anybody.”
“Maybe we’ll even get lucky and some crazy protesters will throw a few punches,” Anthony mused. “Nobody likes an angry mob.”
And as the bus rolled up to the congested park, it was indeed difficult for Anthony and Katherine to discern which of the clamorous hordes comprised their supporters and which might be there to cause trouble.
Hank
Hank was ready.
He was about to meet some friends from the support group at the protest downtown, where Anthony Rollins was due to speak, and he felt like he was finally doing something, for the first time since leaving the hospital.
As he finished his coffee, he turned on the news, where reporters were still covering the past week of demonstrations in China.
“For any viewers just tuning in, we’re following the fourth day of protests under way in Beijing,” the anchor announced. Video footage showed several thousand people blockading the streets in the city’s central business district.