I don’t know what to do but hold her. “Don’t worry about him.”
“Gage, he threatened to put our baby in foster care.”
“I’m not worried.”
That’s a lie. Mark’s already gone much, much further than I thought he would, and the crazy asshole won’t back down.
Olivia gives me a weak smile, laying her head on my chest. I close my eyes, forcing calm through my veins. She lets out shaky breaths. They slowly even out as I stroke her hair.
San Franciscans. Everywhere. Sitting on my porch to defend my property. Camping on my lawn and smoking weed in my backyard. They walk with their plaid shirts tied around their waists, their man buns wobbling on their heads. By the time police have erected a barricade preventing more people from driving in, Fair Oaks is stuffed to capacity. They simply can’t get rid of all of us.
The bar is full of Millennials. They sit, staring at their iPhones to play Pokémon Go while they drink their pints of beer.
I have to keep reminding myself they’re here to help.
Olivia rolls her eyes at me. “You’re a Millennial, you know.”
I scoff at her.
She turns a mournful gaze toward the auto shop. “It’s too bad you’re closed. The garage is a Pokéstop. You could totally make money off these people. Give them a discount for playing the game.”
“Hell no.”
We’re still camped at the front of the line. There are black garbage bags filled with empty beer cans and bottle caps. It’s fucking dull sitting outside all day.
“Guys, there’s a Charizard!”
Some guy wearing a yellow hat with ears that stick upright crashes into a bush nearby. I laugh at the sight of him fighting to extricate himself while trying to play his game.
I’m a little worried. There’s a gathering of construction workers nearby, and they seem to be clearing the area around Brenda’s house for demolition. Cops are steadily handcuffing people, and dragging them from her house. I have to give it to the San Franciscans. They don’t go easily go quietly. It takes the efforts of a few cops to pile one of them into a police van, and by the time they’ve done three or four, they’re wiped. The crowd looks like it’s thinning, though.
From the distance, I can see Mark shouting instructions with his bullhorn. And then the lights from one of the bulldozers flickers on, and that terrible machine roars to life.
“Oh God.”
I stand from the plastic seat, my guts twisting when Brenda runs out into the street. The bulldozer heads toward her sloping lawn.
“Fuck!”
I run over there. Brenda’s voice hitches into a scream. My blood freezes. There’s a crowd supporting Brenda upright, the line of policemen shoving people back. Mark raises the horn to his mouth.
“Stay back! YOU ARE TRESPASSING!”
Beside him, Evelyn glances at the crying Brenda. She looks back to her son, frustrated.
Olivia grabs my arm. “Cranbury stock fell ten percent. They’re getting a lot of bad press. She probably wants nothing to do with it now.”
“Too fucking late.”
The sound that tears from Brenda’s throat is worse than the boom the bulldozer makes as it crashes through the porch. I was there when it was built. Everyone helped her husband with its design and construction, and now it’s just a pile of rubble. The bulldozer drives in a straight line as the walls collapse like a house of cards. Windows explode outward. Beams fall. Large plumes of smoke lift to the sky like a soul escaping from a body.
Dozens of bikers, Millennials and Fair Oaks citizens surge toward the line of policemen, shoving against their riot gear. Explosions of light temporary blind us from the reporters taking pictures. And then Evelyn grabs her son’s arm.
“What are you doing?” she shrieks.
“Taking care of business.”
“The board reversed their decision. There will be no resort!”
Mark seems to be beyond reasoning. “I don’t care!”
“There are reporters here, you idiot!”
He shrugs out of her grasp. “I’m not stopping until I get to piss on every pile of rubble.”
“Mark, listen to me. It’s time to go home. We’ve lost.”
“No!”
“This is horrible for our brand—”
Mark rips his arm away from her again, a look of inhuman fury on his face. “I don’t give a fuck about our brand!”
I break through the crowd. “Stop the demolition. Now.”
Evelyn takes the opportunity to seize the bullhorn from Mark’s limp fingers, screaming at the bulldozer to stop immediately. She runs after the truck on her high heels, and the crowd breaks through to run after