Every muscle must have clenched at the same time, or else the moment would have been lost. The sounds that burst from my mouth like an army at the noise of trumpets took my whole body. I became my anger.
For when I am anger, I become invisible. I become invisible and invincible. He tried to take me on, to steal my jacket. Frustrate me, annoy me. Dare me.
I write late about the last 36 hours of flashing lights and sirens, of being seen and seeing. How can the world be full of such unfairness and cruelty while I harbor the fury of the world within my chest.
I remember clearly now, like shattered crystal glass, how he scuttled over to my daughter. Half-crawling, I thought his knuckles would be raw from the ground.
He stood near her and exchanged a few words, not noticing or noticing and not caring that I was twenty feet away. I halfheartedly sucked on my cigarette, watching my daughter’s expression with the sun in my eyes.
He moved quickly, and so did I. I suppose he did notice me, for after he snatched the jacket, he immediately tore off in the opposite direction. My daughter didn’t move. I did. I exploded. Running after my coat and screaming like a madman, I crossed a distance of about forty feet in approximately 1.2 seconds.
The coat was a gift.
emma
5/01