Shy'Asia took out her phone as she felt it buzz with a text message. When she saw it was her friend Kierra, she swiped it to read the long text message. She then read about how her friend was planning on going on a spontaneous Black Lives Matter march with all of her other friends. Wondering why a sudden march was answered when she texted back about a black motorist who was pulled out of his car and beaten. Not to let things sit, she knew this was a must 'go to' protest.

 

Shy'Asia or Shy as her friends and family called her, debated on going to the protest, but still knew it had to be attended. It was something that made her blood boil, but she also had her two kids tonight and the logistics of childcare was her only doubt. Her son was seven and her daughter was eight and could not be left alone. Normally when she went out her mother could watch them or one of her friends. The only problem was her mother was out of town visiting her grandmother and all of her friends were going to be at the protest.

 

At twenty-nine she was old enough to see the streets filled with crime and the police get more brutal with their tactics. Her ex-boyfriend was gone a few years now as he promised her he would change but still slept around on her leaving her alone to work and care for their children. The promises of her ex changing his ways also met with failed promises to help support them financially too. Shy was alone and was okay with it as her job as a school guidance counselor paid enough to not be behind in debt.

 

As Kierra sent the information about where to meet, she also sent more details about what happened. The anger building up was now making her want to go more and more. Her only problem was a babysitter. The rally was only for a few hours and Shy knew she could get home in time to even go to work the next day. Some of the marches lasted all night, but Shy was quick to tell her friend that she couldn't do an all night protest.

 

Once she got home, she called up the two babysitters she normally used. Both were in college and both were also going to the rally tonight. Her only choice was to call Dannika who sometimes babysat but also lived a few towns over out of the city. She was an old friend and before she moved into the city, Dannika babysat a few times. Her schedule was hectic, but it was her only chance.

 

Shy explained what was going on and Dannika was quick to say she could but only for a short time. She listened to how her friend had to leave at a certain time no matter what and that Shy would have to be home. The rally was from seven at night to eleven and Dannika had to leave at ten thirty. It was only a half hour window of them being left alone but she figured they would be asleep then and it would be no big deal. She even wondered about ditching out of the rally a bit early to get home in time. Sometimes the marches got a bit rowdy and she was always one to ditch out once that happened.

 

She picked them up from daycare smiling and then driving home to be the mom and care for her kids feeling that they should not live in a world where they were scared of the police. Once home, she made dinner and texted her friends telling them that she got a last minute babysitter and would be at the rally tonight, even though she might leave early. They all were supportive and knew her reasons for not staying late like they were.

 

Getting ready, she put on her black leggings and her black protest shirt. She pulled her long straightened hair back into a tight ponytail and looked in the mirror to see it was right. Her hair was shoulder length but she didn't want it getting in the way tonight. Tonight was not a night she cared about looking sexy but her breasts just could not be hidden as they pushed out her shirt. The jeans were tight showing off her ass that had a nice bump to it. Not one to let pregnancy weight stay, she ate right and still exercised when she could.

 

Dannika showed up and Shy gave her money up front knowing she was going to miss her when she got home. She decided that she would leave early and would only let her children be home alone for maybe ten minutes. It was a compromise she felt but even those ten minutes made her feel a slight bit of guilt. She loved being a mother and would not jeopardize it for anything and ten minutes felt like an hour.

 

She drove to the protest rally meet up and parked her car and then walked to where the incident happened. They were going to march from the location where it happened to the police precinct that the police came from. She met up with Kierra and a few other friends and began walking to the site. She got a sign from another friend and felt empowered as more and more people came.

 

The size of the rally was only supposed to be a hundred but it had swelled as more people tweeted and texted to show up. The hundred people who started now swelled to over a thousand. As more people came Shy loved that she was part of something bigger, but also worried as the crowd seemed a bit rowdy. She knew the more people showing up, the better chance of being heard by people even though it worried her something dangerous could happen.

 

The night fell and the late August sky was clear as the shouting got louder once the police arrived in force. The media followed and before Shy knew it, the people near her weren't her friends. The more people pushed in and converged in the spot, the more she didn't know who was around her. The crowd pushed and moved like a big mass. A fear came over her that she was not with her friends that looked out for her if things went wrong.

 

They began marching and chanting as the group moved closer to the police precinct. As the calls for justice turned into shouts for violence, the two men near her were taking something out of a bookbag. She looked closer as more people pushed in and she saw it was two bottles with a rag on top of them. Not one for violence, she pushed her way to get her distance only to be pushed back as the crowd marched.

 

"Shit," she commented as they lit the one. In the past, some of the protests she went to got violent and staying away from the dangerous people in the marches was something she knew to do.

 

People pushed once they saw the fire and dispersed from the small area where she was trapped. Shy then felt a push towards her back from someone trying to get clear of what was about to happen. Her sense of balance was lost and time seemed to slow down as the pavement came closer and closer. She hit someone's leg breaking her fall but as others continued to push getting up was not possible. The pain from the fall was slight but the continued feet and shins hitting her were like little punches adding up.

 

The fire grew bigger as the shouting got louder. The sound of a broken bottle and a whoosh came as the bright flash of fire erupted on the street. A car was now in flames in that split second. A second bottle was already being pulled out as Shy looked around to see only the people causing the damage around her. Off in the distance, she saw the groups running down the street.

 

She rose to her feet as the excitement of danger kicked her adrenaline into high gear. The police sirens were getting louder as the small group there threw another bottle at the other side of the street opposite where the protest groups were running as if to cut off their escape from the police.

 

The group numbered about ten as Shy didn't do a head count only quickly glancing at them wanting to get away from them. The police sirens were coming from multiple directions now as another person pulled out another bottle followed by more of them like they were armed for battle.

 

Not one to cause violence or destruction, Shy knew to get clear of this small group and quickly. She ran towards the larger group following them, knowing she should have not stuck around the few seconds she did. The main group passed a street and the police quickly came down the cross street blocking her from meeting up with the original group.

 

The riot vans opened their doors and police poured out of them in full gear like they were ready for a war. She looked back and saw that the street where she came down was still open but it would mean going back to where the small group was. They still had more Molotov cocktails and were throwing them at buildings to cause a massive fire.

 

Shy felt it was her only hope and began to sprint past them, away from the police but also from the small group causing the havoc. As she passed the group not saying a word and feeling her legs and feet strain their muscles and pound on the pavement, she made it past them. The sense of danger was making her heart pound like nothing else in her life as fear of getting arrested was all she could think about.