Chương 36: Chapter 35: The Life Preserver (09/17/1983)

DATE: Saturday, September 17, 1983 LOCATION: Carlsbad, California | The Tillman Residence LOCAL TIME: 08: 45 PM The living room smelled of microwave popcorn and strawberry lip gloss. I sat on the carpet near the hallway, mindlessly rotating the tiers of a Rubik's Cube while watching my family. Mom was curled on the sofa with my cousins Susie, April, and Jenny, all of them glued to the Zenith's glowing screen. The Miss America pageant was in its final moments.

As the crown settled on Vanessa Williams' head, the girls erupted into cheers. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. She was the first Black woman to win. Susie was practically bouncing. But I wasn't looking at the crown. I was staring at the camera flashes. The strobe effect on the broadcast triggered a dormant historical data point, forcing it into sharp relief. In exactly ten months, Penthouse would publish unauthorized, years-old nude photographs of her.

The press would tear her apart, strip her of the title, and attempt to humiliate her out of existence. My eyes moved from the TV to my mom and Susie—laughing, relaxed, secure. That was the reality I had bought them. I quietly aligned the final row of the Rubik's Cube, set it silently on the rug, and stood up. Nobody noticed me slip out. I walked down the hallway to Dad's office, pulled open the bottom drawer, and took out the encrypted satellite phone. I couldn't fix every fracture in this timeline.

But I could stop this one.