"it's called democracy." becca gelb snapped me out of my reminiscent fantasy. "i'm not a fucking idiot." harry bing ham's attempt to acknowledge everyone's thoughts of him come out as a failure.
although harry's the son of the mayor and arguably the wealthiest teen in west ham, our whole class is aware of his drug abuse. despite half of us smoking casually or getting drunk at parties, even i know how harry will one day resort to the bottle–although i've only been around for less than a year. the one thing about west ham is that they talk; a lot.
"how do you want to decide things?" cassandra brings back the conversation to the true point. "every person for themselves? then we're back to where we started, maybe you want to flip a coin to see who decides?" i'm admiring cassandra not taking the bullshit anymore, but it's drastically different to her comforting commune type of persona. "you don't like democracy? how about random fucking chance. call it harry, call it.". she waves a coin in her hand, swiping over harry's still smug face. "i'm not gonna do that." harry tries to remain collected. cassandra resorts to her own tactics. "fine, i'll call it your heads." she assigns.
the crowd watches as the coin flies in the air. cassandra snags it and calls: 'tails.'
"still think it's unfair?" she asks harry. "best 2/3?" the teasing continues. then again, 'tails.' cassandra won.
harry tries to call bull, but i see our class practically lifeless, we're all just waiting for luke and grizz to get back; although harry and cassandra may decide our fate as well. "do it again." his deep voice calls. the universe must be on cassandra's side, because once again, the outcome is tails. harry stands and walks toward the leading blonde girl, refusing to believe her win. she continues flipping the coin, repetitively getting tails. it's not even funny at this point, now the coin has gotten tails over several times. i don't know exactly why we were all so anxious over the coin, but we continued do watch as cassandra kept answering 'tails.'
until finally, she called heads aloud, showing the group. it was a like a spell had been broken, a trance realized. except why did it take so long?
we all take a deep breath in unison, being released from our tension. now, we're left to our thoughts. i set back down on the steps completely, trying to think of what's next.
"it's all up to us." cassandra states to the church. "there's no civilization here, not until we start one." she's right, we're nothing if we don't work together. "so what are we gonna do? because first, i think we have no choice but to share. food, resources..." "houses?" harry asks, referring to his million dollar mansion.
"maybe." cassandra decides, earning back a 'fuck you.' from harry. "really? how much electricity do we have? until it's all used up and everything goes dark?" allie raises a question i didn't even think of.
"225 people in 200 houses doesn't make sense." her research prevails. "keep what's ours!" i hear from the back of the church, most likely one of harry's friends.
"what is yours? do you have money?" we're practically back to the dark ages, except in a modern new england family town. it's definitely one of the odder places i've taken shelter in. "the things that you need to live: food, clothes, the stuff in stores, no one owns them." cassandra enforces loudly.
"are we gonna fight each other over food?" will supports her. "that's fucking crazy."
WILL LECLAIR is my most relatable student in west ham. now, we're not quite close, but i'm familiar with his less fortunate holdings. he doesn't even live in town, yet i feel a special realm of empathy for him. i've lived in countless rundown apartments, people taking care of me just to pay for their liquor, etc... so when i knew will was never given the same amount of luck that i now had along with the rest of the town, i wanted to give him something.
then, harry bingham opened his big mouth once again. "that's because you have nothing." he claims, biting the air with his spoiled tone. "some of us have things that others want. like houses, or girlfriends..." his eyes follow over to kelly. i assume it's about will's slight public attraction to kelly, harry's maybe-girlfriend-maybe-not. (none of us can really tell) either way, what he said was completely out of line, so i can't help but say;
"harry why don't you shut the fuck up while we actually converse in the real world, we all know the worst thing you've ever known was a bad hangover so maybe just go the fuck home." i let out my exhaustion over his whining. if i were him, i wouldn't even show up to these meetings. yet his stupid ass decides to come and argue, as if he can't find a hiding spot in his house to avoid the angry mob.
i get a few looks from the people around me, especially harry. his eyes burn into mine, even after i hear will calmly express: "harry, i have no house. the place that i used to live in is outside of town, it doesn't exist. you want me to just live on the streets?" "you can live wherever you want, just not with me." he's a lost cause.
i see allie behind will and admire her care, offering his stay once again. i also think something's with them too, but that's irrelevant right now.
"i don't have no listen, not anymore." harry turns away from cassandra finally.
"harry this has nothing—" BANG.
the middle of the pews has an explosive noise. the group reacts, some screams erupting. everyone gets down, and i get a clear shot of what happened.
campbell eliot's gun cocks down in the middle of aisle. what a way to get everyone's attention huh? i have to turn away to avoid confronting campbell's sinister face.
"well..." his words begin. "fuck this." he announces, using a weapon to convey his disagreement. "harry's right," of course campbell's agreeing with harry. of course. "no one elected you king, cousin." campbell reestablishes the relation between allie, cassandra, and himself. "did anyone vote for her? did they? anybody elect her to speak on your behalf?" campbell asks the crowd. though i can see his acts only serve himself.
cassandra creeps toward campbell slowly. "i don't want to be king." she says to campbell. "that's not what it looks like?" he antagonizes her. "is it?" campbell adds before drawing his weapon to cassandra's face. allie jumps up before her, and i stand up in fear. cassandra pushes allie aside and stands alone. i feel the tensions rising once again, hearing the exhaust of my own breath followed by hundreds around me.
"i've thought a lot about dying. i've almost gotten used to that, but i don't like to be afraid." cassandra calmly speaks. i've always suspected something with cassandra, ever since i've met her. i believe allie once mentioned some condition she had, hence why she speaks so civilly about her own death. "do you want chaos? fucking shoot me." her bravery almost inspires me. i don't think i could ever be so confident to stand in front of campbell still speaking my mind.
i hear a small snicker from the armed man before he states; "i don't want to shoot you. wanted to get everyone's attention." he says. "this meetings obviously over. we'll be back when luke gets here. until then, if anybody else is tired of listening to her, you can follow me." harry shoots right up from his seat, and we all watch him and a group of some other guys rise.
harry turns over to where kelly and i are sitting, approaching with: "hey, kelly." he seems to always go back to her, even when she seems uninterested. "let's go." he tilts his head out the door. i watch kelly's eyes gaze at her options before she gets up and walks towards harry.
the small group walks towards the church doors until they open. from there i see grizz standing in front of an unconscious body resting in luke's hands, many gasps follow.
