Procedure With Teeth
Gareth turned procedure into a weapon so smoothly that most people probably mistook it for his job.
He took Margaret's handbag and dumped its contents into a worn plastic tray without asking. Tissues. A blank notebook. Keys. A small cosmetics case. He stirred them with two fingers as if searching for something disgusting.
'Purpose of visit?'
'A meeting.'
'With whom?'
'The building administration.'
His mouth bent. 'Important, are you?'
Margaret looked at his hand in her belongings. 'Not more important than anyone else trying to enter this building.'
A woman in the line made a small sound through her nose. Not a laugh. Not quite. More like surprise escaping before fear could stop it.
Gareth heard it.
His ears reddened.
'Remove your coat.'
Margaret did.
'Shoes.'
A clerk behind the glass straightened. That was not standard for this entrance. Margaret could see it in the young man's face. He knew it. Gareth knew he knew it.
That was the poison in petty power. It did not require everyone to believe it was right. It only required everyone to believe resistance would cost too much.
Margaret placed one hand on the search table.
'Why?' she asked.
Gareth leaned closer. His breath carried coffee and irritation.
'Because I said so.'
The words settled in the narrow hall.
Margaret did not raise her voice. 'That is not a reason.'
Gareth's face tightened. His thick forearm moved before the sentence had fully died.
He grabbed her shoulder.
The push was not clumsy. It was practiced. Hard enough to drop her. Controlled enough for him to later call it guidance.
Margaret fell backward onto the rubber mat. Her palm struck first. Pain shot up her wrist. Her earring swung against her cheek. The air left the queue.
Gareth stood over her.
'You're nothing here,' he spat. 'Get back in line.'
The little boy beside his mother began to cry silently.
Margaret looked up from the floor, not at Gareth first, but at the hall around him.
The frosted doors. The steel table. The scratched trays. The camera dome in the corner. The people staring down and away at the same time.
May you like
This was why she had come alone.
Because reports on paper never carried the sound of a body hitting the floor.
