Chapter 15

  I never thought I’d be out here, marching in the streets, screaming till my throat hurt. But when they take everything from you - your job, your dignity, your future - you don’t got much choice left. The streets was alive, louder than a damn thunderstorm, people yelling, drums banging, fists raised high. I held Jordan’s hand tight. I promised myself I wouldn’t bring him, but where else could he go? Schools was shutting down, jobs was gone, and food was getting harder to afford. This fight? This was for him.

  “Say it loud!” someone with a megaphone roared.

  “WE WANT JOBS, NOT MACHINES!” the crowd answered, voices shaking the air.

  I looked over and saw a woman marching near me, white, about my age, looking real focused. She had that kind of tired, hardened look people get when they finally understand the world don’t care about them no more.

  Then the police came.

  They didn’t warn, didn’t wait. Just rushed in like we was animals. Big men in riot gear, pushing, shoving, hitting. The crowd scattered. People screamed. Jordan - my boy - was yanked from my grip.

  “No!” I screamed, twisting, shoving, fighting to get back to him.

  Then - pain. A baton cracked against my ribs. The world blurred as I hit the pavement.

  Through my daze, I saw Jordan, screaming, reaching for me. A cop held him back.

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  My boy. My baby.

  Then everything went black.

  When I woke, I was in a holding cell. The cold from the metal bench dug into my back, but I barely felt it. My whole body ached, but not as much as my chest. Jordan. Where was Jordan?

  I sat up fast, heart pounding, but then I saw that woman from the march, sitting across from me.

  “Your kid’s fine,” she said, voice steady. “I saw. Some woman got to him before the cops did. She took him home.”

  I exhaled, chest shaking.

  “I’m Nora,” she said.

  I looked at her. She didn’t seem like the kind to be out on the streets like this.

  “You been in one of these before?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “First time.”

  I scoffed. “Yeah, figured. Ain’t your first time getting screwed over, though, is it?”

  She sighed. “No.”

  I leaned back against the wall. “What they take from you?”

  She was quiet for a second. Then, “My job.”

  I laughed dry, humorless. “Yeah, welcome to the club.”

  We sat in silence for a bit, just breathing in the stale, metallic air.

  “I used to be a secretary,” I finally said. “Damn good one, too. Kept my boss in line, handled the schedule, travel, all that. Then one day, he calls me in, tells me I’m out. AI does my job now. Writes emails, books flights, sets meetings. Don’t need no Sue no more.”

  Nora looked down at the floor. “I was an engineer. I built AI.”

  I turned to her, eyebrows raised.

  She met my gaze, her face tight. “I built the thing that replaced me.”

  For a moment, neither of us spoke.

  Then I shook my head. “Damn.”

  A tired laugh escaped her. “Yeah.”

  I stretched my legs out. “This world, man. Ain’t enough they take our jobs. They gotta make us feel like we ain’t worth nothing, too.”

  She nodded slowly.

  More silence.

  Then I sat up straighter. “I know they gonna let me go tomorrow,” I said, shaking my head. “They ain’t got nothing on us. We ain’t done nothing wrong. They just wanna scare us, make us think twice ‘fore we come back out there.” I looked at Nora, my expression fierce. “But I ain’t fearing nothing. Not me. Not Jordan. We gonna fight.”

  Nora met my gaze, something stirring inside her. I could see it—this woman, this mother, wasn’t just angry. She was ready. And for the first time in a long time, I felt it too.