Contest #45 winner 🏆

Full Price

Submitted into Contest #45 in response to: Write a story about activism.... view prompt

44 comments

General

Our boss got arrested last night. We were surprised to hear this, because Ms. Chang is such a suit. Grumpy even after her morning coffee—fetched by whoever is unluckily in her radius when she asks—Chang is the kind of boss who keeps her job for her capital and not her charisma. She’s always on the straight-and-narrow, so much so that she makes us use a script to sell the Steinways. This begs the question…what could Chang have possibly done to land herself in jail? And also, is her bail money coming out of our paychecks?

A group of us show up at the County Detention Center. It’s our first outing as a team. Stankovic, the assistant manager, approaches the desk. We hold our breaths as he says, “We’re here for Ms. Chang. Eh—Melody Chang.”

The clerk rifles through his papers. How many small, grumpy women could he be confusing her with? Finally, he looks back at Stankovic. “Yes, Chang. $300.”

Customers try to talk down our prices all the time, as if they don’t realize how priceless Steinways are. To put any number on the elegant instruments in our showroom seems a sin. Yet Stankovic seems to think he can haggle the price of releasing Ms. Chang. “250,” he says.

“Excuse me?” the clerk looks at Stankovic as if our assistant manager has walked into the wrong place. Well, we all feel that way.

We can’t see his face, but we imagine Stankovic reddening like he so often does when a customer lets loose on him. And just like we do in the showroom, we come to his rescue, hissing suggestions in his ear.

“Don’t haggle!”

“You can’t put a price on Chang!”

“Ask what she was arrested for!”

Stankovic runs a hand through his balding hair. “Sorry-eh-$300, yes. Eh…what was she arrested for?”

The clerk glances down at Ms. Chang’s papers again. We hold our breath, waiting for the answer. “Civil disobedience,” the clerk states this as though he were bored by it. Maybe he’d hoped to read, “Arson,” or, “Murder rampage”. 

What had she done, specifically? Had she yelled a cop? Maybe knocked someone’s handbag to the ground? We struggle to picture our boss as…disobedient.

“Civil disobedience,” Stankovic repeats. “What is that?” It’s unclear whether he is asking for a definition or a clarification.

“She was at the protests last night,” says the clerk. “You got $300?” He looks first at Stankovic and then to the group of us awkwardly clustered in the middle of the waiting room.

“The protests?” Amie blurts out. She’s Ms. Chang’s sister’s husband’s niece, or something like that, and the only one of us who thinks of Ms. Chang as a model figure in her life. “Like, she was protesting?

Amie’s redundant question goes unanswered, but all of us are having trouble with the picture. Ms. Chang, wearing street clothes. Ms. Chang angry at something rather than someone. Ms. Chang, raising a homemade sign made of cardboard and inked with unprofessional lettering.

And then, through the fog of confusion, we envision Ms. Chang, not backing down in the face of a cop who was trying to silence her. Ms. Chang, insisting that every human life is priceless. Ms. Chang, not caring how shrill or undignified her voice might sound, so long as the world heard her message, because she was right, because she would fight, because she knew that like her beloved pianos, every human sang a beautiful song, and she could never speak wrong about one over the other.

The fog clears, leaving us still and silent, blinking in awe. We start opening purses and wallets, digging change out of our pockets, asking if the clerk takes Venmo. “Cash only,” he responds, uncaring.

Among the six of us, we cough up the bail, as though we are the ones paying for the “civil disobedience”, and yet, feeling that we, too, have become a part of the protest.

We murmur to each other as we wait for Ms. Chang to be released. Always someone to be tiptoed around, Ms. Chang has morphed into a hero figure in our minds. We are eager to see her emerge, to demand details, to tell her how impressed we are.

Our boss emerges, wearing a stained T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. She clutches a drawstring bag tightly, and holds, yes, a cardboard sign. Ms. Chang looks at all of us with steel in her eyes. This is the Ms. Chang who knows she’s won something more than just a good sale or a high-end showroom performer, but a new part of her life.

Amie, the only one who can, hugs her uncle’s wife’s sister. Stankovic takes the sign from Ms. Chang, and we all look at it.

CHANG FOR CHANGE. Black Lives Matter.

Of course she had to put her name in the center of the message. No one ever said she was creative. Always direct. Always on message. That’s the Ms. Chang we know, and the same one who was arrested for protesting police violence.

“What did they get you for?”

“Was that your first protest?”

“Did they tear gas you?”

“Did you hit a cop?”

“Are you going back?”

“Can I come with you next time?”

Ms. Chang looks like she wants to sidestep our questions. In effect, she does. She simply opens her drawstring bag and pulls out a portable fan. “I blew tear gas back at the police,” she says.

There’s a beat of silence. We try to decide if this is a joke.

Collectively, only one of us react. A simple, “Wow.”

Ms. Chang nods, signature and business-like. “Who is at the store?”

“Matthew.”

“No, no, no,” she shakes her head in that familiar, she-knows-best way. “He will sell everything half-price. Let’s go, let’s go.” She waves her hands, ushering us out of the detention center like she’s shooing pigeons.

Maybe we’ll fight to be the one fetching her coffee, tomorrow morning. And maybe we’ll fight alongside her in the streets. Hopefully, Matthew will bail us out. Full price.

June 13, 2020 00:09

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44 comments

Arvi Krish
01:21 Jun 23, 2020

Enjoyed reading your story. Congrats on winning!

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19:48 Jun 20, 2020

A great example of how a piece of activism can have light moments and still be impactful.

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Claudia Morgan
05:56 Dec 06, 2020

God, I revisited this and it’s just as good! Also, I wanted to share this. I know I’m pretty lucky to not have encountered any really bad racism but this is a story that happened a long time ago that still impacts me today. Also, I’m not black, although this is about BLM, I’m South Indian, living in Britain. This happened when I was six. We were sitting in a circle at school at break time, when it got to me. Obviously, being six, I had no crush. Me: I don’t have a crush School Bully who I hated: Of course you don’t, becaus...

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Anisha Yagnik
16:10 Dec 13, 2020

Ana, I'm touched that you liked my story a SECOND time. WOw. :o And thank you for sharing your story. It can feel like "nothing" in the face of worse situations, but microagressions like this are part of the larger problem. It's always important to share your story--it's never insignificant, so don't apologize :).

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Claudia Morgan
16:35 Dec 13, 2020

Thanks 💕 I’m going to recommend this to my friends (they’re not on reedsy but they’ll definitely appreciate it)

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Tina Laing
12:27 Jul 05, 2020

Congrats!

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Anthony David M
00:45 Jul 03, 2020

You made Mrs Melody Chang so real! I like the way her character is depicted in her placard, Chang for change and the fact that she had to sign her name! Good writing Anisha! Keep it up!

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Harken Void
08:44 Jun 24, 2020

Haha, I love Ms Chang! She feels like an uptight stern lady hiding a heart of gold underneath. I liked the way you portrayed her, how we got to see through the eyes of the store workers (at the beginning they HAD to bring her coffee, at the end they'll WANT to do it). Very well done!

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Katy S.
21:53 Jun 23, 2020

This is incredible!

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14:00 Jun 23, 2020

I want to say that your descriptions of characters help me see that people in a story don't necessarily have to be literally described to be a character. I'm always thinking characters need to be described physically and verbally so they can be someone on the page. That's apparently not always the case. But congrats on winning!

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Elle Clark
08:45 Jun 23, 2020

I really liked this! I liked the realness of all the characters, I liked the light humour, I liked the angle you attacked it from (the aftermath of activism and people’s response to the activist). I liked the fact that a person you wouldn’t expect to be involved was - I think it’s a good message that not all activists look or act the same. I really liked ‘No, no, no. He will sell them at half price.’ Excellent writing and a deserved win.

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Abby Irwin
15:11 Jun 21, 2020

I love this story! I loved how nobody could picture her getting arrested and all of that. I loved this beautiful line in your story, "every human sang a beautiful song," It is so simple yet SO true! congrats on winning!

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Anisha Yagnik
15:28 Jun 21, 2020

Thank you, I really appreciate it :)

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Skye Thorne
01:55 Jun 21, 2020

Beautiful. Incredible. I could gush all day about this. I love your writing style. I felt immediately sucked into the story. Can't wait to see more of your work!

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Anisha Yagnik
02:28 Jun 21, 2020

Thanks so much, Skye, that means a lot!

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Jubilee Forbess
13:54 Jun 20, 2020

Lovely, you’ve got a new follower.

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Claire Simmons
05:31 Jun 20, 2020

This was a sweet and powerful story. I'm happy you wrote it. "CHANG FOR CHANGE" made me smile :)

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Claudia Morgan
14:51 Nov 25, 2020

Amazing. Everyone's voice & life is valid. Thank you, Anisha.

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Esha Jaman
03:45 Nov 24, 2020

So many congratulations for winning Dear. I just loved your story 💜

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17:37 Nov 15, 2020

This is so good I love this! I really enjoyed it. Congrats

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Patrece Reed
16:30 Sep 25, 2020

Congrats!!! What a creative story! Fun and entertaining! It really reflects how people can be so different in their personal and professional lives. I was a pleasant surprise when the employees came together to bail her out of jail, resulting in an increased admiration of their 'boss' as a person.

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Judith Buskohl
21:43 Sep 19, 2020

I really enjoyed reading your story. I really could see Ms. Chang coming out of the jail block like being arrested was something normal for her. The determination on her face like no one messes with me. Congrats on winning.

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Evan Rocker
22:37 Aug 25, 2020

Great work! Even though I've never met Ms. Chang, thank you for making her one of my new heroes.

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Anisha Yagnik
14:43 Aug 26, 2020

Thank you! I love that you see her as a hero. I was definitely trying to depict an everyday hero—someone who shows up in unexpected ways, and whose determination comes from their principles. Thanks for reading!

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A. S.
20:27 Aug 01, 2020

Great job! I loved the descriptions of the boss and how you built the characters. Would you be willing to read my story “On The Edge” and let me know what you think?

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