August 20, 1968
by Amy
I received a death threat today. The letter was addressed directly to me, though my name was spelled wrong. It said that if I kept embarrassing my family like this, then I could look forward to getting my skull knocked in and having my corpse... Well, you get the idea. The letter came in the mail at the office. The envelope was addressed in black ink. The handwriting looked spindly to me, as if someone with arthritis had written it. It was signed "A Family Friend."
I tried to think of family friends who would have arthritis, but Glasses said that it was useless. Chances are, the person who wrote the letter isn't a family friend. Besides, since my Dad is in the public eye, it could be anyone.
I guess I knew all that, though it's hard not to wonder if the letter came from someone I know.
We receive plenty of threats and crank calls, but I've never gotten one personally. I wanted to call my Dad at the paper and talk to him, but I knew that would be the wrong thing to do. Glasses said that if I told my Dad then he might write a column about it, provoking more threats. Plus, he's never gotten over the idea that we sued the Mayor. I haven't had a decent conversation with him since.
It's getting really hard not to hate people. We have to take care of ourselves because no one will do it for us. Lesley saw how upset I was about the threat and said that she's my family now. Bea is my family, and so is Glasses. Our group is my family, though it doesn't make me miss my Dad any less.
Glasses tried to assure me that we have our connection in place so we can get a hit on what the other side is doing. I still don't know anything about it, except that our connection will provide us with valuable information when the time comes. "He's gathering it right now, as we speak," Glasses whispered. "I haven't received a report yet, but it's coming." No one knows about the connection, but Glasses seems confident about the system he's set up. Somehow having an informant will make things easier. We'll get a line on what's going to happen before it does or maybe what they're planning. It could save people, if it works out right.
I wonder if this is what it felt like to be in the Resistance. Too bad I don't know French.
