‘The man who comes to you with his dick hanging out may want to make it with you, but does he want to work next to you? Does he want to see you get paid the same money for the same job he’s doing? Hey—what about the guy in the street who undresses you with his eyes, fucks you with his mouth to his friends. Is he your equal, baby? Well? Well?’
The crowd of women, joined by a few males at the rock festival, screamed their agreement.
‘Hey, sisters—you want to be put down by a race of male pigs forever? Old pigs with racist, chauvinistic, biased, old-fashioned views on every single thing that affects women in America today?
‘To them we are pieces of ass. Look pretty, have the kids, but baby—stay home or you’d better stay quiet.’
Rio Java was speaking between appearances of rock groups. With her frizzy purple hair and sequinned makeup she looked like a rock star herself.
In one year she had become as dedicated and intense as Margaret Lawrence Brown ever was. And her following was just as large. In fact, she attracted an even wider group of supporters than Margaret, as even the freaks liked her.
‘One day I’m going to be president,’ she’d tell anyone who would listen. ‘And I’m going to expose the whole stinking, corrupt mess that politics represents.
‘For a start,’ she told her friends, ‘I’m exposing that son of a bitch Larry Bolding. He ain’t gonna be chasin’ nothin’ when I get through with him.’
Larry Bolding, her ex-lover, the politician with the clean-cut image, elegant blond wife, and two perfect little kiddies, was running as a presidential candidate.
Rio held both arms straight up above her purple hair and made fists of her hands.
‘Strike out, sisters!’ she shouted. ‘Strike out!! We are going to get what we want. We are going to be EQUAL in every way!’
The crowd whistled and screamed approval.
Rio felt the bullet hit her. She stood very still. She smiled. And the crowd spread out before her whistled and stamped and screamed.
‘Strike out!’ Rio managed. But then the blood bubbled up her throat and out of her mouth in one life-taking gush.