Divine Punishment 2: The Scoop

Of course, Julia knew that Dan would never have sent her to meet normal people, but she'd still had to work hard not to roll her eyes until they fell off their sockets after she saw the group waiting for her at the neighbourhood library. The choice of venue had been theirs because they volunteered there and felt that it would be a good way to highlight how important accessing books was for children of marginalised communities. They were concerned about the possibility of the UK Right adopting the tactics of their American counterparts and start suppressing more diverse books.

'Because the attack on trans rights is only the beginning,' said Callie, her blue eyes wide with fear. 'Next they'll come for abortion and books.'

Julia had to bite her tongue. Yes, and J K Rowling will lead the charge so she can herd all trans children into the death camps she's been secretly building in her backyard. Did Callie even know anything about English laws or was she just parroting something she had heard on an American TikTok video? A tiny part of her told her not to be so mean, but every cell in her body had felt instantly repelled by the people sitting in front of her. That Callie really had blue hair and piercings was something that her brain was still trying to process. Blue hair and piercings. She looked like a parody thought up by a Right wing troll on Twitter. Her friends weren't any better. There was Max, a nonbinary genderless blob of indeterminate ethnic origin that had opted for a dull magenta for their hair; Tom, an asexual femme boy so sensitive that Julia was shocked he could function in the outside world; and Lyla, a pansexual artist who dressed like an anime schoolgirl. Julia had tried to ignore their looks - after all, appearances can be deceiving - but every time they said anything, they said all the things you'd expect them to say. These can't possibly be real people. Yes, they were all on social media, but there were lots of fake accounts on every platform and anyone could make one. It was getting to the point where Julia was beginning to wonder if this wasn't all fake and these four weren't really Right-wingers trying to give Left wing activists a bad name. She wanted to leave, but she couldn't until they had discussed the subject of the interview... something none of them seemed interested in doing. They clearly loved the sound of their own voices, and she couldn't find a way to steer the conversation to where it should be. Just saying it would likely come across as a little aggressive, and she wasn’t sure Tom would be able to withstand it. However, after more than half an hour of this she just didn’t care anymore - that stupid interview had to end.

'Maybe you could e-mail me all the information about the library so I can add it to the article. But now, I'd really like to hear about Max's experience.'

Few of what she had said was true. She could include the information about the library, but given some of the people who read the website, it was probably better for them if she wrote as little as possible and left out its location entirely. And Max's experience wasn't going to be presented as sympathetically as they no doubt expected.

'Of course, of course. Go ahead, Max.' Callie said.

Max was beaming, clearly happy to have all the attention on them. It had been because of them that Dan had sent her there. Julia had already seen the very short video on TikTok and the accompanying introduction, but she was hoping Max would tell her more.

'Well, I work at the vegan bistro around the corner, and two weeks ago, we were all there. Callie, Tom, and Lyla as customers, and me as a server. I just stopped to talk to them for like a couple of minutes and this woman started yelling at me to move and get her order because she had been waiting for more than ten minutes!'

'It was ridiculous,' Lyla interrupted. 'Servers aren't robots, they're allowed to rest. And she only yelled at Max because they aren't white.' Everyone nodded vehemently in unison.

Frankly, after the time she had been forced to spend with these idiots, Julia felt like yelling at Max, too. She was about to ask to see the video when Lyla pulled out her phone.

'Look, I filmed everything! I was making a short video for our WhatsApp group when she started going all Karen on us.'

‘Karen’, the bane of service sector employees everywhere. Julia had witnessed innocent staff having to deal with nightmare clients, but she had also experienced appalling service from staff that acted as if they were doing her a favour by fetching another size or finally bringing her the already cold pizza they’d been ignoring. That was why she always felt a little sceptical of so-called Karen Reports. Either Karens had a natural instinct that drew them to the best, most dedicated staff, or some of those Karen victims were greatly exaggerating their competence. Well, at least there’s video evidence. Julia thought, as she reached for the phone. However, instead of giving it to her, Lyla held it as she played the video. For some reason, she had opted to start it five minutes in, with the woman already mid yelling. It was longer than what had been posted on TikTok, but Julia would've liked to have seen those five minutes. The natural thing to do would've been to ask to see it; after all, she was a journalist and journalists work with facts, the more the merrier. Maybe they would've shown it to her, maybe Lyla had merely skipped those five minutes because she thought they weren't important. However, the fact that she had cut part of the woman's yelling was very suspicious; also, Julia was beginning to worry about what would happen if any of them recognised her. It wasn't in her best interest to give them reasons to want to find out more about her. So, she just asked Lyla to e-mail her the video along with the information about the library.

'She was just awful!' Tom looked like he was about to cry. 'She's probably super nice with others, but now they all know it's all fake.'

'Do you think she deserved what she got?'

'I, well,' Tom looked startled by the question as if the thought had never occurred to him. 'We didn't dox her, we just posted the video. Max was so hurt. It was lovely seeing everyone in the replies showing their support.'

'Besides,' Max shrugged. 'it's not as if she was arrested or something, she just lost her job.'

Julia wondered if the blob fully understood what 'just' losing one's job entailed; not being able to pay bills, or rent, and dragging her online shame behind her to every single job interview. The woman in the video, with her blond hair and snotty voice, looked as much like a stereotypical Karen as Max and their friends looked like stereotypical Gen Z. It's a damned circus, and the show will never stop. And now, she was part of it, too.

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The first thing Julia did when she got back to the newsroom was to check her e-mail. Maybe it was too soon, but she hoped that she wouldn't have to contact the quartet again.

'So, how were they?' Dan could barely contain his laughter.

'Exactly how you'd expect. Are you sure they weren't paid actors or comedians?'

'Oh, they're real, they're very real, and should make for a great story.'

Julia was surprised to see that they had already sent everything, including the video. She immediately opened it... and saw that, in the time it had taken her to return, Lyla had been busy editing it and those first five minutes were gone forever. It didn't take a genius to figure out that regardless of the screaming woman's opinions on nonwhite people, Max was an annoying little shit who had probably been ignoring her and other customers so they could chat with their friends. But of course, that would clash with the carefully composed image they and the others had created for themselves on an app that had been credibly accused of being a Chinese propaganda machine. Maybe the Right wing clowns and the Left wing clowns could one day bond over their general stupidity.

——————————

Julia knocked on the door, hoping that the woman would open it so that she could finish writing the article and forget all about Max and their stupid friends. She didn’t know what to expect from Marla Jones - would she take the opportunity to vent, or would she refuse to talk to her because she expected her to take Max’s side? If the latter, Julia would simply add a line about not having been able to get a comment from her and hit publish. That would be the best case scenario, as she really didn’t want to endure the woman’s attempts at explaining how not racist she was.

‘Yes?’ asked a shaky voice from the other side of the door.

‘Hello, my name is Julia Moran and I’m a journalist writing about the video. I already talked to Max and I’d like very much to hear your side of the story.’

To Julia’s surprise, she heard the door being unlocked. She was even more surprised when she saw a brown face staring at her. Well, Marla having at least one black friend challenged the racist Karen narrative.

‘It is you! Oh, I know you’ll be on my side! Please come in.’

Julia hesitated. What did the woman mean as ‘my side’? Still, she followed her into the flat. Through the kitchen door she caught a glimpse of dirty dishes that she was sure under normal circumstances would’ve been all washed and put away, there was visible dust on the furniture, and also the faint body odour of someone who was beginning to feel that it might not be worth it to shower every day. It all felt too familiar to Julia. She wondered if Marla had also become wary of eating something that hadn’t been prepared in front of her. If people had DM-ed her threats of spitting in her coffee, she couldn’t imagine what they’d told someone whose sin actually involved food.

‘Please, sit down.’ The woman pointed to a chair as she sat on the sofa next to it.

‘I was hoping I could talk to Ms Jones. Is she not well?’ Julia asked as she sat down.

‘Oh, this is going to… You’re going to think I’m crazy!’ The woman shook her head.

‘I won’t. Are you a friend of Ms Jones?’

‘I am Marla Jones.’

Julia just stared. The woman in the video, the photos, and all the news stories had been white - the woman in front of her was almost as dark as she was. Julia could easily picture Marla Jones letting herself go, which might mean dark roots if she wasn’t a natural blond, or a puffy, makeup-free face, or maybe even some weight gain, but not this. The feeling that the whole story was fake came back with full force. She had been relieved to find out that Max and their friends didn’t know who she was, but what if they did? What if they had done all of this to target her? Maybe they had decided that even working for Dan was too good for her. She wondered if there was any connection between them and the transgender woman she had offended. Anyway, she refused to take part in their little show anymore. Julia got up and the woman did to.

‘Well, you’ve had your fun, but don’t think I’m stupid enough to waste my time investigating such an obvious lie.’

‘I’m telling the truth!’

‘Oh, please! No one becomes black overnight.’

‘Look at me! Please, look at me!’

Julia did and for a moment it seemed as if she could see the woman in the video, only darker and with different hair. But then she shook her head - it was crazy.

‘I’m not the only one!’

‘You’re not the only white woman who became black?’ Julia rolled her eyes.

‘No, I mean, I’m not the only one who was… punished.’

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Julia finished revising her article on Marla Jones’s cancellation and hit publish. She had just added her version of events - Max had been ignoring several clients for a while, but she’d been the only one who had complained - and left out the more outlandish developments. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to become a laughing stock; after joining the Facebook group Marla had told her about, Julia had plans. No, she didn’t believe someone was going around dishing out Karma, but that someone somewhere had come up with such an elaborate hoax was every bit as good - good enough to help her get a job at a real news outlet. As soon as she got home, she was going to take a closer look at the other stories; and there were plenty. A fat boy who had lost weight after refusing to share his food with a homeless man, a pretty girl who had become fat after mocking a fat woman, a woman who had lost the use of her legs after refusing to give her seat to an old man with a cane, a man who had lost his hand after ignoring a one-handed beggar… Dan would’ve loved this - a SJW conspiracy to educate the masses - but this was her chance to escape and she wasn’t going to waste it.