So Much for Democracy by Kari Jones

calm,” he says the third time.
    â€œAre you sure?” I ask. It all seems like it’s taking place in a different country, because at the end of the driveway, goats still graze and people walk past like nothing’s is happening.
    â€œThey say it’s crazy downtown,” says Thomas.
    â€œOh,” I say. Dad’s office is downtown. He must have driven right past all the soldiers. The darkness of the day closes in.
    I pick up Piper and go inside to see if maybe Dad’s phoned to say he’s okay. Mom’s still in Gordo’s room, sitting in the same place she was when I last saw her.
    â€œHi, Mom,” I say, but she puts her finger on her lips and points to Gordo, who’s sleeping. I sit next to her and pass Piper over, but she doesn’t take Piper from me. Instead, she leans over and strokes Gordo’s face.
    Piper crawls to the floor to play with Gordo’s toy soldiers, but I scoop her up again before she does something dangerous like put one in her mouth. Mom doesn’t say anything.
    â€œDid Dad call?” I ask.
    â€œNo. Why?” she says.
    I open my mouth to tell her about Rawlings and what’s happened, then close it again. She’s so distracted by Gordo, she wouldn’t hear me anyway.
    â€œGet me a cool cloth. Quick,” she says, and she leans over and fusses with his sheet.
    â€œMom,” I say.
    â€œQuick,” she says, so I take Piper and run to the bathroom, where I pour cold water onto a cloth.
    â€œIs this tap water?” she asks when I hand it to her, and she thrusts it back at me when I nod. “There’s some water Abena boiled in a bowl in the hallway. Use that,” she says.
    My eyes blur as I take a clean cloth from the pile in the hallway and soak it in the bowl of water.
    I take the cloth back to her and say, “Piper and I will be downstairs if you need us” as I leave the room.
    Later in the afternoon when a car comes into the driveway, I rush outside, but it’s not Dad. Thomas is there, and the man driving the car says something to him in Twi that I don’t understand.
    â€œAstrid, this is Peter. Your dad sent him to take me and Abena home,” Thomas says. “Will you get Abena?”
    â€œBut why?” I ask.
    Peter seems impatient to go, and he’s already getting back into the driver’s seat, but Thomas says, “Remember I said they were calling on the soldiers to keep calm?”
    I nod.
    â€œSome of them are not listening. There’s been some shooting in town, and your dad thinks we may have trouble getting home, so he sent a car to make sure we get across the city safely. It was very kind of him.”
    My breath comes sharply, but Thomas says, “It’s okay, Asteroid. We know the back ways—we’ll be fine.”
    â€œDo you have to go?” I ask. I don’t want to be left alone with Mom and Gordo.
    Thomas walks around the car and puts his arm across my shoulder, “Astrid, you will be fine here. Everything will be fine. But I have to go and make sure Esi’s okay. Do you understand?”
    â€œYes,” I say. I understand. I do. But as Abena gets ready to leave, and as she and Thomas drive away, I wrap my arms around myself and try not to shiver. Piper’s a heavy burden today, so I take her to the living room, where she can play on the floor and I won’t have to worry about her. She plays with the blocks no one remembered to put away, and I sit on the sofa and stare out the window. Every time I hear a car drive past, I start, and it seems like hours before Dad’s car finally turns into the driveway. I scoop up Piper and run outside so fast, we collide with Dad as he opens the door.
    â€œWhoa,” he says as we right ourselves.
    â€œDad.” I want to say his name and hug him, and I don’t care that my voice catches and I start to cry. Dad puts his arms around me and Piper and squeezes, and we stay that way until