Chapter 9

The Sunday after Easter

By Sunday morning, word had spread as far as King City and, as the kids started to gather at the old Willow Lane Elementary lot, people had started to gather along what had become known as the parade route. While it could not be stated with any degree of scientific accuracy, there was a certain air of distinctiveness that set Manatee Bay residents apart from outsiders. Maybe it was the residents were more evenly tanned, maybe it was that the women, if not all top-free, were more likely to walk around with their shirts unbuttoned; it could also be that there seemed to be a general air of assuredness about them.

Sheriff Fernandez had placed all his deputies on active duty, as well as all the town's police cars. He had, furthermore contacted the State Police to have a few patrol cars on stand-by. All the national broadcasting companies had video crews, in some cases, several video crews, posted along the route as well. Altogether, except for the lack of 'The Stars and Stripes', the bunting and the balloons, the day could have been mistaken for the fourth of July.

The kids themselves were deadly serious; it was their thing and they wanted to do it their way. They ignored the adults milling about, even though some, and not necessarily the youngest ones, were nervous, even downright scared. Most arrived on bicycles, some of the older ones in cars that they parked in the side-streets. Debra had offered the use of the 'Cuda Beach parking lot but, after a quick consultation, they refused saying they did not want anyone saying their protest was in any way sanctioned by any adult organisation. One college kid whose father owned a printing shop in King City drove up in a pick-up and offloaded some one hundred protest signs with various slogans printed in Arabic and in English.

Then it was ten o'clock. Alicia Fernandez got into the lead police car and headed up the march, followed by Consuela, walking alone with a protest sign larger than the others, declaring for all to see 'I AM HALAL' in English on one side and Arabic on the other. She was totally nude, not even wearing sandals. Behind her, carrying a large banner at waist height between them, were Tori, Mandy, Kristen and Jennifer. The banner declared 'What is Halal needs not be hidden.' 'Only what is Haraam flees the light of Allah.'

Behind them, the rest of the High School students, the junior high school students and a smattering of the elementary school students followed up in no particular order, although the older guys, by design, took up positions toward the outside of the column. About one kid in five was carrying a printed poster, some of the others had made their own home-made ones with similar slogans in English. Sheriff Fernandez closed out the parade, driving behind in another patrol car.

The parade descended Willow Lane, turned onto Elm, where standing in front of Manatee Bay High School, were the senior members of the Manatee Bay Home and School Association and the Manatee Bay School Board. At Harbour, the parade hung a left and slowly proceeded to the corner of Harbour and Centre, where Paul Jackman and the entire City Council stood at attention. At the outskirts of town, the parade bore right along Seminole Drive and finally, at two-thirty in the afternoon, reached the Marina.

Throughout the length of the parade, there had been little sound; the kids themselves had not thought to cry out their slogans and the bystanders, respecting the solemnity of the occasion, had not called out to any of the kids and only spoke in subdued murmurs.

When Alicia arrived at the Marina parking lot, she parked her patrol car and stepped out to greet Consuela. Consuela had the most beatific smile on her face but her eyes were full of tears and, as soon as she lowered her sign, she started limping badly. As soon as Alicia saw that, she rushed over to her, picked her up and carried her to the patrol car and had her sit on the edge of the back seat; both her feet were bleeding profusely.