Wise Men

Chapter 10

Vi continued to explain the growing audience they were reaching.    

“God  Revelin, just listen for a moment!” She looked at him with large and  serious eyes once she told the bur diver an obscure address. “I don't care how many people say they're communists because they wear red!” Her  sudden switch to the third person warned me not to go referring to  myself as a controversial political group. “I don't care if or if not  they're holding up the hammer and the sickle!”    

The conversation  simply spiraled from there; Revelin giving her curt yet sharp replies  while she filled her longer rants with jabs at him and his apparent  blindness. It wasn't a real argument, not one to write in the history  books. Both were under more stress and lashed out while I kept my mouth  shut when the pressure kicked in; but this wasn't much more than usual  and I let them be while simultaneously trying to ignore one of Fae's  legs awkwardly forced against mine.    

The taxi stopped at an uptown  mall with East Gate written in large green letters at the top. There was  an excess of cars only slightly unusual in the ghostly lit parking lot.  Low hanging clouds in summer humidity set aflame in an ethereal glow  with each yellow, green, and white street lamp. Traversing the  uneven asphalt, we made it to the entrance of Macy's, and encountered  nothing in that store. Very clearly, we could hear in the grey walkways  outside of the shops shouting that could trump Revelin's worst days.  Revelin's eyebrows knitted in confusion, but Vi just laughed, took his  hand and ran. In the brightly lit, beige department store, all Fae and I  could do was run after them, an event becoming more and more common by  the moment. I saw out of the corner of my eye racks of colorful clothing and  the shouts of store clerks as we rushed into the mall.    

The soft  light descended quickly into the harsh industrial lights of the East  Gate Mall, and on the second floor cement platforms, looking down  through the center of mall, was a mob handing out fliers, holding signs,  and shouting slogans. Their attentions focused primarily on the wealthy  clientele of the Coach and Micheal Kors that laced this side of town  like a stubborn cough. Women in designer dresses and tennis bracelets  had red and white papers shoved at them as the mall security tried to  calm the masses.    

They all wore red shirts, some in full out  costume, and others with white, plastic masks over their faces. Almost  cult-like in it's reality, I stood transfixed at the railing as the  protesters berated the wealthy and encouraged the store clerks. Some  bright eyed, some confused as they watched the protesters go from posh  boutique to caviar encrusted eateries.  

  “Some people were  discussing this over Twitter,” Vi told Revelin, looking at him with  bright eyes, her hands eagerly clasped before her. Long hair tied into a  tail and spilling over her shoulder made her look younger than she was,  like a bouncing, innocent school girl. “They were just going to put up  some fliers, but...” She shrugged, more than happy with her success. “So many people decided to come that it turned more into a rally.” Vi  turned her doll-like eyes back to the shifting group of red protesters,  blue security guards, and diamond white shoppers looking to get out of  the mess. “See, people are listening, Revelin. They really do care. You  just have to give them a chance.”     She abandoned him to approach  the railing. Standing with her hands neatly at the side, her eyes  gazed at the scene with rose colored glass tied to her face. Fae leaned  on the railing beside me, her eyes watching Revelin and Vi with as much  as intensity as I watched the crowd.    

“He's filthy rich, isn't  he?” Fae asked, regarding the pair. Her sable eyes searched for  something that I could not see. “What's he doing with people like us?” 

Her eyebrow rose as Revelin stood beside Vi. He slipped his hand into her's, but neither reacted to the motion.  

  I turned my eyes to her,  surprised to see her so close to me. “People like us?” I echoed with a  slight smile. To be lumped in a group with Fae and Vi meant that having  no money to our names made Revelin a veritable deity—dollar signs were  not a point of worship no matter what the history books lead students to  believe. “He's never been the biggest fan of his wealth, Fae. I  probably benefit from it more than he does.”