Green Desert - Chapter 6.4.5 - Irézí

“Okay,” I replied. Fifty seconds to get my act together. Smile seven––pensive excitement. I twisted away from the helicopter, the dead copilot, and gazed to the horizon. Smile, dammit.

I wiped my cheek and my hand came away with makeup and dirt. Oh great. I was going to look fucking horrible on live television. Smeared makeup, dirt and dust, hair a mess, sweaty clothes. “Damn it, Pétíso, damn it.”

A bright light hit me in the side of my face. I squinted into it, my eyes slowly adjusting. Nıléké and his camera, ready to roll. Smile.

“Ten seconds.”

I ran a hand through my hair, blinked my eyes together a few times, moved my jaw around. This was it. This was my chance.

“Five, four, three. . .”

I raised my microphone. Smile seven pasted itself on my face. “Good evening. This is Irézí Sıvíhí reporting from the desert outside of Tuhanı, where a sheriff’s department helicopter that came to arrest Zhíno Zhudıro, the suspect in the brutal slaying of Patrolman Vakıgédé, has crashed, killing one on the ground and one of the pilots. You can see it right here behind me.”

I gestured toward the aircraft, my eyes fixed upon the cold gaze of the camera lens. Nıléké moved the camera slightly, showing the wreckage better.

“I saw it go down with my own eyes just a few minutes ago. Roll the footage, please.”