Jim stared at the shimmering dust highlighted by a shameless sun bursting through the window. Beauty and sorrow swirled into a cocktail of grief.

He lifted his hand, registering the heat, and drew his lips tight upon noticing the glint of his ring. Basking in the sun was alien to him, but she would have loved it. He remembered her then, bright blue eyes revealing a youthful spirit above an infectious smile. She was guarding her wide-brimmed hat from the wind with one hand and carrying a bag that was far too heavy in the other. 

That was her way, he thought, smiling to himself despite the ache in his throat. 

“Mr. Davis,” a female voice interrupted his thoughts. “I know this isn’t your first or second choice, but the future rests on moments like these.”

He grunted. 

“You said it best when you paraphrased Edmund Burke, saying all it takes for evil to prosper is for good men to stand around and do nothing,” she continued. “You ignited a spark on Saturday. We can’t lose the momentum right now and, with your help, we could make this a wildfire.” 

Jim shifted uneasily, knowing that he should hang up instead of reasoning with yet another publicist trying to solicit his endorsement. But that didn’t sit right with him either, so he cleared his throat and started pacing. 

“Ma’am, I cannot and will not be a face or figurehead for your movement. I just can’t. It isn’t because I don’t believe in what you’re doing,” he paused with an exasperated sigh. “I did what I did because it was the right thing to do. But I am also a father and my children need me to be smarter than that. I wish you the best of luck.”

“There is no going back, Mr. Davis. You’ve opened Pandora’s box and, if I may be frank, you made a lot of powerful enemies and could use some friends.”

“Trust me, lady, I am keenly aware. But I have all the friends that I need.”

“What I’m saying, Mr. Davis, is that you can’t hide from this. You didn’t seek it out, but now that it’s here you can’t run from it either. This is a tipping point, and they are already using your name and image as a call to action for passing the Insurrection Act.  Whether you like it or not, you are the poster child for a movement. Why not let us help you decide how your story is told?” 

He barked a laugh at how quickly she shifted gears when so many others just wanted him to pick up a sword and fight the good fight with them. Or on their behalf. He could never be sure. 

“You’re good,” Jim replied wryly, “but no. I won’t be paraded around or do the evening news at the expense of my children. I knew what it would cost me, and them, when I intervened, but I can’t add any more to that debt.”

“What, then, would you say to those who would follow in your footsteps?” 

“What would I say?” Jim hesitated. “I guess I… Well, I didn’t think I had to say anything.”

“You certainly had a lot to say the other day.”

He felt his voice shake as his temper flared. “I didn’t have a choice! I’m just one man, and in the heat of the moment anything can happen. More than anything, it was a plea for them to stop by explaining my actions in advance.”

“Regardless of why you did it, I think you know that there is strength in numbers. The reason that so many refuse to act is because they’re scared of standing alone, Mr. Davis. What would you say to other men and women that will stand up across the nation so that you are not alone? What would you tell your fellow Americans that would follow in your footsteps?”

Jim immediately hung up. 

Still pacing, he ran his fingers through his hair and let go of all the air he didn’t realize he was holding. “Fuck,” he murmured to himself. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. She’s good.” 

For the first time since the incident, the feeling of responsibility settled into his bones like a winter chill that he couldn’t shake. He was far too aware of history to allow any feelings of regret, but this wasn’t a scenario that he had considered. It was the right thing to do before, but now he found himself unsure of his next steps.

His phone chirped. A text message read, “I’ve been asked to join the evening news tonight and comment on Saturday’s events for the first primetime show covering the incident. It would be helpful to have your statement before we go live at 7pm.”

It was rude of him to hang up on her, he knew that, but he was still glad to move the conversation to something slower than a phone call. He typed several incoherent sentences and promptly deleted them all. This needed careful thinking. A call to action seemed prideful, but saying nothing also seemed to put more people in danger. 

“If I send you a statement, will you publish it exactly as I write it? Nothing more and nothing less?” He texted.

“You have my word,” came the reply. 

Jim sat again and pulled out his laptop from underneath the coffee table and began to write.

“What does it mean when you hear the phrase, ‘freedom isn’t free?'” To me, it means that each of us must safeguard our freedoms in the manner we are capable of. We vote for elected officials that uphold the constitution and denounce those that trample over our laws. Our military men and women give up their freedoms for a time to protect them for our citizens. And, as citizens, we must be ever vigilant against a totalitarian government that no longer serves the people.” 

He paused, reading over every sentence ensuring that it echoed core American values instead of a would-be manifesto. 

“Our wonderful Police Officers across the nation also give up many freedoms to protect and serve their communities. Like our military, they wear uniforms depicting their authority. A badge further serves as their symbol of authority, service, and fidelity.” 

Jim sat back and massaged his eyes. That was the easy part, detailing what everyone already knew to be true. The hard part was convincing people that these symbols are necessary for society without being too aggressive and erecting defensive walls. 

“Agents in civilian clothes without badges, names, or faces is one of the largest threats to our Democratic Republic.” 

“When have zip ties and face masks ever been the symbols of due process and democracy?“

“What I observed was an abduction in progress,” he continued slowly and deliberately. “Two unidentified men in jeans and t-shirts with facemasks were subduing a middle-aged man and attempting to zip tie his hands behind his back. I asked the men to identify themselves and at least show me a badge. I didn’t want a confrontation, but neither could I stand by if an injustice was occurring. This man could have been my neighbor, my family, or my friend. For all I knew, I was witnessing gang violence.”

“If these so-called ‘agents’ had been in uniform or appeared reasonably official, I would have considered it a lawful arrest and went about my day. If they had displayed a badge, I would have been relieved that they were operating under sanctioned authority. Instead, they continued to operate like soldiers in a foreign country with no regard for American law.”

“My intent was not to cause them any harm, but to stand my ground the best I could for fear that this individual was being apprehended unlawfully.”

Jim hesitated, realizing he was at the heart of his statement, and typed each word with precision. “I implore our elected officials to outfit federal enforcement agents in uniforms before conducting missions inside the United States. And, if you must act as I did to confront what you perceive as an injustice, I urge you not to cause bodily harm or damage property because we are not at war.”

He rubbed his shoulder, recalling the altercation. How many wars have been fought in foreign lands so that they don’t reach American soil? This should go without saying, he thought, but too many of us need a reminder that this is not and must not be a wartime effort.

“We are a nation of laws, even if we don’t agree with them. Laws are meant to protect the weak because might does not make right. Please do not break the law presuming that the end justifies the means. I encourage everyone to reach out to their lawmakers to put an end to this rise of vigilantes and frontier justice.”

Satisfied, Jim hit send.