Isaiah nodded. My wife took the kids to her sisters. Said she couldn't live with the stress anymore. Can't blame her. He looked down at his hands.
A week later, they fired me. Misconduct, falsifying reports, taking bribes, everything they'd manufactured. My pension gone, my reputation destroyed. Nobody would hire me after that. And the buildings still there, still making money for the same people, still killing people slowly.
Isaiah's voice was tired now. I drive by sometimes, see the same cracks getting bigger, same windows patched with plywood. Nothing changed except my life. Maya set down her pen. But this morning changed something.
Officer Ror's actions, Judge Price's involvement. It creates an opening, a way to revisit everything that happened. Isaiah shook his head. Those people own half the city. They've got judges, politicians, police chiefs in their pockets.
What's different now? Digital records, Maya said firmly. Email trails, electronic payments, things that leave traces we couldn't track before. And people talk more now. Social media, online reviews, tenants document everything with their phones.
She leaned forward. Plus, some of those old connections might have shifted. People retire. Alliances change. New investigations uncover old patterns.
You sound like I did, Isaiah said. Before I learned how the world really works. The world changes, Maya countered. Look at how many corporations are falling now. How many cover-ups are being exposed?
People are angry about corruption in a way they weren't before. They're paying attention. Isaiah was quiet for a long moment, studying her face. You really believe you can fight them? I believe we can make them fight themselves, Maya replied.
Start pulling threads. Watch things unravel. Create enough pressure and someone always makes a mistake. Someone always talks. And what happens to me?
Isaiah asked. What's left for them to take? They took everything because you were alone, Maya said. This time you'll have legal protection, media coverage, public support. She tapped her notes.
And this time we'll be ready for their tactics. Isaiah's gaze drifted to the window, watching the city. Wake up outside the same city that had betrayed him, but also the city he'd tried to protect. Somewhere out there, families were living in those buildings, facing the same dangers he'd documented years ago. Maya watched him carefully, recognizing the weight of memory and responsibility in his silence.