Divided We Fall

by Trent Reedy

  He put the Stick of Power in its holster on the side of his podium, then picked up an actual paper version of our textbook. With all the pages crammed between two thick covers like that, the book was huge. The handful of books I’d read in the last few years were all on my comm. Not too many people bothered with the old, clunky paper books anymore.

  “One key difference between this course and the American History class that most of you took as freshmen,” Mr. Shiratori said, “is that we will not be using the textbook nearly as much in Government. The whole first quarter of the book recounts the American Revolution and the events surrounding the drafting of the Constitution. It’s all material we’ve already covered.

  “So.” He dropped the textbook, letting it slap loud on the podium. “We’re going to try something you kids never do anymore, now that you’re always texting on your comms. We’re going to actually talk to one another, face-to-face, voice-to-voice.”

  He yanked the Stick of Power out of its holster and threw it up in the air, swinging his arm to snatch it in his other hand before it started to fall. “The Freedom Lake High School Board of Education requires all seniors to pass American Government in order to graduate. The board obviously believes this class is important. So … Why?” The room was silent for a moment. “Why is it important to study your government?”

  Mary Beth Reese, the only girl challenging JoBell for valedictorian, reached to switch on her comm. Shiratori tapped her desk with the Stick of Power. “Comms off! Don’t look it up. Don’t quote the book or report what the Internet has to say on the subject. Tell me what you think.”

  TJ raised his hand and Coach Shiratori pointed the stick at him. TJ flashed his big stupid-ass grin. “So we know who will be sending Wright to war.”

  A couple of the guys over on TJ’s side of the room chuckled. I leaned toward Sweeney and whispered, “Remind me to knock his teeth out at practice.” He nodded.

  “Well, that might be a bit of a stretch,” Coach said. “But yeah, we should be aware of who is making important decisions like sending our troops overseas.” He saw JoBell’s raised hand and smiled. “Ah, Miss Linder. Never one without an opinion. Let’s hope you haven’t mellowed out since your freshman year. Why do you think it’s important to study government?”

  JoBell leaned forward in her chair. “Because people need to know that our governor thinks he doesn’t have to listen to the president of the United States, that it’s perfectly fine to violate the First Amendment rights of hundreds of people, and that he lets soldiers get away with murder!”

  “Does anyone know what JoBell is talking about?” Mr. Shiratori asked. “Hmm? Have you been keeping up with the news?”

  I sank lower in my desk as my cheeks flared hot.

  “Some kind of shooting?” Caitlyn Ericson said.

  Coach tapped the stick on the floor. “A tragic shooting in Boise Friday night.”

  He told the class all about it. He got most of it right. I don’t know. I was reading the stupid “soar with the eagles” motivational posters on the walls, trying not to have to hear about it all over again.

  “Pay attention, Wright!” he said. I sat up a little bit. “Now, it’s a complicated issue about who had the authority to do what. Miss Linder mentions the First Amendment to our highest law, the United States Constitution. The First Amendment guarantees us, among other things, the right to freedom of speech and the right to peaceably assemble.”

  “That’s the problem!” I blurted out. “The rioters, the protestors. Whatever. They weren’t peaceful at all.”

  JoBell glared at me. “That doesn’t give our soldiers the right to kill them.”

  “I don’t get it,” TJ said. I wasn’t surprised. “Why were these people even protesting?”

  “Ah.” Mr. Shiratori held up the Stick of Power. “This is another example of the importance of studying our government. As we’ll learn in greater detail when we study the Constitution in its entirety, Article Six, Clause Two states, in part, ‘This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof, shall be the supreme Law of the Land, and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.’”

  “Whoa,” said Cal.

  “Whoa indeed, Mr. Riccon. Can you tell me what that means?”

  “Uh, Coach, I don’t —”

  “Mr. Riccon, as I’ve told you before, on the football field or even in the halls, you are free to call me Coach, but here in my classroom you’ll address me as Mr. Shiratori or sir. Now do you know what that clause means, Mr. Riccon?”

  “I was just impressed that you had all that memorized, sir.” Cal didn’t say anything more, but Mr. Shiratori kept looking at him. The silence stretched on. “But … I mean … it’s … supreme, you know. So, really powerful. Powerfuller than the states, even. Maybe,” Cal said. “I don’t know, Coach. Er, sir.”

  Mr. Shiratori didn’t move. “‘Powerfuller than the states, even.’ Mr. Riccon, your unconventional grammar notwithstanding, I think you pretty much understand the clause. It’s the part of the Constitution that says the Constitution and the laws passed by Congress and the president are more powerful than laws passed by states. So Idaho can’t pass a law that says, ‘There is no US president.’”

  “Idaho has to listen to what the president says,” said JoBell.

  “What does this have to do with the protest?” TJ asked.

  Mr. Shiratori tapped the stick on the floor. “I’m getting to that. In addition to the First Amendment and Article Six, Clause Two, otherwise known as the Supremacy Clause, there is also the Tenth Amendment, which states, ‘The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.’”

  “Whoa,” Cal said again. “Mr. Shiratori, how do you memorize all —”

  “I study, Mr. Riccon, and I’ve been teaching this class here for fifteen years. The Idaho state assembly and our governor recently voted for what is called the nullification of a law passed by the US Congress, a law that would require us all to carry a national identification card. Idaho basically said that requiring people to carry ID cards is a power reserved to the states. They say certain features of the new federal ID cards, such as the fact that they’ll carry all our medical records and contain a chip allowing the location of the card to be tracked by satellite, constitute an illegal invasion of our privacy.”

  JoBell could hardly stay in her seat. “But the Supremacy Clause —”

  “Only counts” — Mr. Shiratori spun to face JoBell, pointing the Stick of Power at her — “when the law the US Congress passes is constitutional. The Idaho state government said that the law was not constitutional, so the federal government didn’t have the power to pass it, and that Idaho will refuse to enforce it.”

  “Can Idaho do that?” Samantha Monohan asked.

  “That’s the question, isn’t it? That’s what people were arguing about in Boise, and that’s why we need to understand our government and how it works. Because what I’ve described to you are only the basics of the case. Nullification, or the right of a state to, on its own, declare federal laws unconstitutional, goes all the way back to some of Thomas Jefferson’s ideas, and most especially to the 1830s, the state of South Carolina, and the vice president at the time, John Calhoun. Calhoun and his supporters opposed certain tariffs, or taxes, on the importation of foreign goods, and they argued that any state in the union had the power to declare any federal law to be unconstitutional for the entire country.”

  I couldn’t believe it. The whole disaster in Boise had happened over a stupid argument about ID cards? How could people be dead as a result of something so unimportant?

  JoBell couldn’t remain silent. “But —”

  Mr. Shiratori held up the Stick of Power to cut her off. “South Carolina argued that once a state had nullified a law, it would take a constitutiona
l amendment passed by three-fourths of the states to make the law constitutional. President Jackson believed that everything Calhoun and South Carolina were proposing was dangerous and illegal. He said, ‘Nullification means insurrection and war.’ So the federal government did two things. They passed a law that would allow President Jackson to use the military to force South Carolina to obey the federal tariff laws, and they also reduced the tariffs that South Carolina had been mad about in the first place. In a way, both sides won.”

  “So are we going to have a war?” TJ asked.

  “Don’t be stupid,” I said. “This is America. There’s no way —”

  “Mr. Wright, you’re free to debate in this classroom, but you will not insult people.”

  Did TJ really count as a person? I decided to let that issue rest. “Fine. Sorry. But that stuff you were saying about South Carolina is totally different from what Idaho is doing, right? Idaho is only saying that the federal law is not allowed in Idaho. It’s still allowed in the rest of the country.”

  “It’s allowed in the rest of the country for now, Mr. Wright,” said Mr. Shiratori. “But the states of Texas, Oklahoma, and maybe even New Hampshire are already considering nullifying the law as well.”

  “People need to calm down and talk this out,” I said. “Find a way to get along and then come to an agreement. That President Jackson guy is from way back. Things are different now.”

  “Yeah,” Sweeney said. “No way is anyone going to fight over this. No way could a president get reelected if he launched a war on a state, if he killed people just over stupid ID cards.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “This isn’t old pioneer times or whatever. We’re a united country. We’re all one big Army. Soldiers all go to the same basic training, wear the same uniforms.”

  “Maybe you and Sweeney are right about all that,” JoBell said to me and the class, “but the bottom line is Idaho doesn’t get to decide which federal laws to obey and which to outlaw.”

  Mr. Shiratori tapped the stick on the floor. “It’s a hot controversy, and now that people have died, now with Governor Montaine refusing to even release to the federal government the identities of the soldiers involved, it’s more contentious than ever.”

  JoBell switched Eleanor back on and held up the photo of me leaning over that dead girl. “Whatever they decide with this ID card law is one thing, but our governor should be in jail along with this guy who murdered those people Friday.” She held up the image of me on her comm. “I hope the president gets them!”

  Mr. Shiratori pointed at JoBell with the Stick of Power. “Miss Linder, I think the situation is a lot more complicated than you think.”

  I sank down lower in my seat. Mr. Shiratori had never been so right.

  —• Warning, you are about to enter the Truth Zone. Here comes … The O’Malley Hour!

  Let’s get right to the talking points tonight. The president has danced around the issue with the Idaho Guardsmen for an entire week. If the federal Department of Justice has enough evidence to indict the Idaho Guardsmen for this incident, then those men should be arrested. Negotiating with the Idaho governor is a waste of time. It’s not up to Governor Montaine to make this decision. Unfortunately, so far, he’s the only one deciding anything. •—

  —• With us today on Viewpoints is Senate Majority Leader Laura Griffith! Thanks for being here, Senator.”

  “It’s a pleasure, Belinda!”

  “Well, we’ll get right to business because I have a bone to pick with you.”

  “Uh-oh!”

  “I think I speak for most of the women here on Viewpoints when I say that we are generally supporters of President Rodriguez, and so we’re concerned, I think, with the way you’ve been very critical of him lately.”

  “To be fair, Belinda, most of my problem is with Governor Montaine, but this isn’t merely party politics. Look, what Idaho is doing is. Completely. Illegal. It’s unconstitutional. The shooting incident is a tragedy, and I hope a full investigation is finally allowed, but the shooting and Idaho’s nullification attempt are two separate issues. Nullification is tantamount to secession, and it must be dealt with immediately. I’m disgusted with Governor Montaine and certain members of the Idaho legislature, and rather than being critical of the president, I’m merely strongly encouraging him to take immediate action to rectify this dangerous situation. •—

  —• is willing to examine Governor Montaine’s claims that some bullets recovered from Boise shooting victims were not military issue, seeming to substantiate reports that at least one civilian involved in that protest was armed. White House spokesperson Kelsey Santos says that the president will not be satisfied until a full federal investigation has taken place.

  Governor Montaine said in a written statement this morning, quote, “There is conclusive ballistic evidence suggesting fifteen-year-old Brittany Barker was killed by someone other than Idaho soldiers. One of the Guardsmen was wounded by a non-military weapon. It is almost a certainty that some of the rioters were armed. However, although shots from rioters would certainly justify the Idaho Guardsmen’s decision to fire, my legal and proper order to disperse the dangerous riot was all the justification they required.”

  In the meantime, the federal government is doing its best to proceed with its own investigation into the Boise shootings. The FBI is asking anyone who has photographs or video of any aspect of the protest, particularly images of the National Guard soldiers, to please send those photos and videos to the website listed at the bottom of the screen. They are looking to get as many angles on this tragedy as possible, and we have not seen the FBI enlist the help of the public like this since their investigations in the wake of the bombings of the Boston Marathon and the Mall of America in Minneapolis. •—

  Friday brought the first football game of the season. Coach posted the starting roster on Thursday, and I was glad to have my shot as one of the starting wide receivers.

  In the locker room Friday night, Sweeney had some of his screaming, thrashing metal music blasting from the new high-powered speakers that he’d bought for his comm this season. TJ and Dylan traded fierce licks on pretend guitars. Cal wore all his gear except his helmet and cleats. He walked back and forth with his fists pressed to the side of his head, his biceps bulging. He was whispering something so fiercely that he looked like he could literally kill someone. Timmy Macer wasn’t watching where he was going and only stepped out of Cal’s way at the last second.

  “I want to hurt somebody!” Our starting center Brad Robinson threw fake punches at his locker door. “Rip their guts out!”

  This was what it was all about. The intense concentrated rage, the anticipation. Football was half the reason I bothered showing up at school. JoBell was probably the other half. Tonight, though, with everything that had happened, I couldn’t get myself into it. I sat there in my football pants and shoulder pads, holding my helmet and shoes.

  Mike Keelin walked by me on his way to his locker. “You ready to rock, Wright?”

  I couldn’t take it. I heaved myself up off the bench and headed out of the locker room into the gym. Sweeney was playing catch with our tight end, Randy Huff, and with TJ, who had somehow snagged the other starting receiver slot.

  “Dude, where you been?” Sweeney fired a perfect pass right to me. “We need to get warmed up.”

  I caught the ball.

  “We’ve been waiting for you forever,” said TJ. “Some of us actually want to win this game.”

  I whipped a hard pass straight for TJ’s head and kept on walking through the gym out to the school lobby and drinking fountain. The door to the gym closed behind me, and I ducked down to get a drink. A moment later I heard someone slam into the door, throwing it open.

  Sweeney walked up and leaned against the wall by the fountain. “Okay, Wright, it’s game night. Time to get focused. So tell me. What’s your problem?”

  I stood up and wiped my mouth. “Nothing. I just can’t stand when TJ —”

>   “Cut the bullshit. This isn’t about TJ. You’ve been weird all week.”

  “You want to warm up?” I said. “Fine. Let’s go throw the football around.” I started back for the gym, but Sweeney pushed himself off the wall and grabbed my arm.

  “We’ve known each other since we were both shitting our diapers. Something’s wrong. You have to tell me.”

  “I can’t get into it tonight. Into football, the zone, whatever.”

  Sweeney stared at me. He wasn’t going to let this go. I tried to get past him to the gym, but he stepped in front of me.

  Fine. The governor could stuff his orders. I needed someone to know what was going on. I checked the hallway to make sure nobody was around. “The other night when you had your pontoon party? I didn’t stay home to take care of my mom.”

  “What? That was a cool party. You should have been there. Where did you go?”

  “I went to Boise with the Guard.”

  Sweeney almost always kept his cool, but now his jaw dropped right open. Before he could start asking a million questions, I told him everything that had happened, swearing him to secrecy when I was finished.

  “Of course I won’t tell. You know you can trust me. But dude, JoBell is pissed about this. You have to talk to her.”

  “I know she’s mad! Why do you think I can’t tell her? She’s taken this up as her personal … political … whatever. She set that stupid photo of me as her comm’s background. Every time I almost work up the guts to tell her, she cuts in with the latest bad news or some rant about how terrible I am for what I did.”

  Sweeney held his hands up. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. First, she doesn’t know it was you. Second, she doesn’t know what really happened. Third, and most importantly —” He grabbed me by the shoulder pads. “Danny, we have a game tonight. We’ve waited for this forever. Plus you had to work extra hard to prove you were good enough to start at receiver after missing all the summer workouts. You know how Coach is always telling us to leave it all out on the field? Let’s do that tonight. Right now … forget all that other stuff. Just put it all to the side and let’s play some football.”