Chapter Six

"Has your dresser always been there?" Kellie walked in confused and suspicious. Elowen turned to see what she was talking about and noticed that her dresser has in fact been moved to the other side of the room. Both girls rushed over to move it back before her mother walked in and complained about moving her furniture around. "Probably Henry or Spencer."

"They know better," Elowen grunted.

"They also are probably upset you've been sneaking around and lying to your mother about who you've been with." Kellie glared down at Elowen with irritation.

She stopped adjusting the dresser to look up at her friend. "My mama's got nothing to do with it. If anything, you're the one who's mad."

"You've been ditching Marcus and me to sneak around with Philip all week. Last you told me, he belittled you in front of your brother on Monday and by Wednesday you two are best friends again."

Elowen placed her hands on her hips in shock. How could she not figure out that the only reason Kellie came over here this Saturday was to scold her? She knew Kellie was holding it in all week and Marcus has been promoting the both of them to stop killing each other with their eyes.

"You either gonna argue with me or go to this protest with me. There is no in between!"

"Why are you girls yelling throughout my house?" Mrs. Walson opened the door to see the two of them standing in the middle of the room with frowns on her face. But what she really noticed was the dresser that was placed in between them. "Elowen Gretta Walson. Now I know I told you about moving your room around. We gotta keep it neat for when you go off to college and Spencer has it."

Elowen whimpered when her mother pulled her out the way to move the furniture back to where she and Kellie removed it from. "But it doesn't go there."

"Quit whining. I moved it to make room for your television. I got a discount from my friend so he's installing new ones around the room. That'll get y'all off my couch." She eyed the room down once more before heading towards the door. "And quit raising your voice."

Elowen and Kellie sat down on her bed now having no energy to keep going back and forth with each other. "I'm going," Kellie spoke quickly. "I'm only going because you're my friend and I don't trust you out there alone by yourself."

"Nothing is gonna happen if you go with me or not. Why do you always make things about being a good friend?"

Kellie gasped. "If it weren't for me you wouldn't even know how to think. So get up and put your walking shoes on." Kellie jogged in place then picked her sign up from the corner of the room. JOHNSON IS A WAR CRIMINAL written boldly on the cardboard.

Elowen cheered up just enough to go over and get her sign too. The two girls put their differences behind them and left their home for downtown. Of course they took the bus along with a few other protesters. Although the crowd on the bus made Elowen's adrenaline pump faster, she couldn't help but think about Philip. He told her he wanted to protest with her and he was a no show.

Elowen sighed when the bus came to a stop and she was forced to get off of it. Kellie walked ahead of her with glee. As they neared the heart of the scene, Elowen felt suffocated. Her sign was hit by fist flying upward and her ears popped when loud chants entered it. Unlike her, Kellie was a natural. Thrusting her poster in the air and flowing effortlessly with the group of people before her. Thousands were against this war yet opposite of them were the hundreds who were for it. Separating the opposing groups were police.

She told Philip that the heat would be doing other things with their lives but here they were feet in front of her. She gulped before raising her sign with the rest of the people. "There ain't no power like the power of the people! 'Cause the power of the people don't stop!"

She'd never been claustrophobic before, but in that almighty swell of humanity, elowen felt the panic rise in her chest. When the crowd moved so did she and if her feet failed to keep up Elowen risked being trampled underfoot. Even in the bitter January cold she felt the warmth of all those bodies pressing in.

People were gaunt and serious, there was hardly a single clear statement in the thousands-strong assembly. The different chants and beats only made the cluster all the more confusing. There was nothing for it but to move with the crowd. She could smell them too, the people as in an unholy fusion of perfumes, body odor, and over-applied cologne.

When she thought the two discombobulated crowds couldn't move up anymore, they found a way. Elowen, front and center with Kellie, witnessed an anti-war protester mocking one of the law enforcement. She knew immediately it was a bad idea. When one person went against protocol, that only meant the rest of them would follow suit.

A police siren came from behind on the avenue, startling the seething mass. Soon came the spreading white haze of tear gas and it was all over. In their frustration and fear people were stripped of all social conditioning, it was each person for themselves.

Elowen reached for Kellie's arm the moment the crowd began to scatter. Some people throwing their signs before making a run for it. Other than getting stomped on, Elowen was worried about the color of her skin. Would a white person be able to run past a cop without getting hassled? Because a black girl like her surely wouldn't.

The timing was all wrong and the pain in her eyes and nose grew unbearable, but she couldn't stop thinking about Philip. How he would have yelled at her for lying to him about a 'peaceful protest' or either helping her split from the crowd in one piece.

While lost in her thoughts, she tripped over a parking bump and fell to her hands and knees. Instead of picking herself up, she began to cough as the gas became too intense for her lungs. She couldn't even see Kellie with all the tears and burning in her eyes. All Elowen could think of doing was crawling to safety on the side of a building. She tossed her sign on the asphalt and viciously rubbed at her eyes.

Despite the sudden outbreak of chaos, people still chanted their stance. Some even stood their ground in the mist of the gas. Elowen just wanted to find Kellie and go home. The fact that kellie was nowhere to be found only made things worse. She couldn't get on that bus without her. With no knowledge, if Kellie is alright, Elowen wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

"Little girl! Are you alright?" A soft female voice slowly got louder as the stranger approached. Elowen held her hands out to the blurry figure hoping they didn't get too close. She had money on her and she needed it to get back home. "It's okay! Come with me to get you cleaned up."

Without questioning it, Elowen allowed the woman to take her hand and guided her off to nowhere familiar. The woman walked too fast an Elowen tripped over every crook in the sidewalk. Just when she was about to cry out in fear, she heard the bell from a door go off. The smell of pancakes filled her nose right after.

"A glass of milk and a bunch on napkins please." The woman took Elowen to the restroom which everyone evacuated the moment they saw her walk inside. "Hold your head over the sink. I'll be right back."

Elowen did as told and waited for the woman. She didn't realize she was hyperventilating until her head became light and her legs slowly started to give out on her. Elowen closed her eyes tightly and focused on steady breathing. The bathroom door opened once again and the hands were now on the back of her neck.

"Open your eyes," she requested. Elowen shook her head quickly. "I need you to open your eyes."

"I... I can't! I can't see!"

The woman groaned yet still forced Elowen to lay her head back in the sink. "You don't need to see. I just need to rinse your eyes and everything will be okay." Elowen gave up quickly and opened her eyes as wide as she could. The milk being poured directly on her face gave her the relief that going to sleep after homework has given her.

Water was then rinsed over her face afterward and for the first time in forever, Elowen could see again. She looked the woman right in the eyes and noticed right away she wasn't the anything like she sounded.

This woman was young and gentle looking, she was older than Elowen though and appeared to have been taken over by stress. Her hair was in a tight bun that went to the back of her head and her eyes looked tired. Her cheeks sunk and her body as thin as her baggy clothes made it appear to be. Elowen wiped her face once more and smiled. "Thank you."

"Do you know how to get home?" She handed Elowen the napkins which she gracefully accepted. "I have a car and I can take you where ever you need to go."

Just when she was about to accept, she remembered that Kellie was still missing. Elowen declined the offer and began to fix herself up in the mirror. "I have to find my friend. We got separated when everything broke out."

"Is she the type to fight johnny law cause that's all who is left. The ones getting arrested."

Elowen knew her friend wouldn't do anything to get herself sent to jail. Just the thought of it made her nervous. She also knew she couldn't stay out late wandering the streets for Kellie. Her mom would get nervous and Elowen would most likely be locked in the house until she goes off to university.

"I'll go with you. But can we stop at the police station?"

The older woman parked in an empty space so rusty it was almost like she was fighting for it. Elowen was car sick after riding with her but she mustered up enough strength to make it to the glass doors of the station.

"Kellie Franklin. I'm looking for a-"

"Elowen!" The voice shocked her heart which is why she grabbed her chest. Looking right into Kellie's eyes made everything in her finally come to an ease. "I came here looking for you!"

They hugged each other tightly in the middle of the walk way which made people frustrated as they tried to get by. Elowen pulled away and examined her friend to make sure she was real.

"You look a mess, Elo. And you smell weird." Kellie covered her mouth as she tried not to laugh.

"That tear gas got me bad, Kellie. But who cares! I thought you were arrested!"

Kellie shook her head. "I came here looking for you!" She pulled Elowen in for one last hug before the woman rushed to get them back home.