An Incident

This is post 24 of Section V. To begin at the beginning, go here. Section II begins here. Section III begins here. Section IV begins here, and Section V begins here.

The jazz band took a hiatus. Bennett was noting the sheer fabric of Robert’s shirt with renewed distaste when the amplified voice behind the megaphone sang out, “Attention—Mitchell Grout!”
Bennett was quite close to the barrier, but was not sure he had heard correctly above the din. He leaned over and looked along the line of protesters. “You forgot this, honey!” the amplified voice continued. “Lucky for you I found it again!” Peering around a burly officer, Bennett saw the rubber arm arc toward the protesters to his right. A police officer dashed forward toward the float, but at the same moment Bennett saw a placard swing savagely forward, making contact with the arm and sending it winging toward the officer, whom it struck in the head. Her helmet was dislodged and her hair freed from its restraints, but she apparently sustained no injury.
Nevertheless, surrounding officers rushed to her assistance. With vicarious satisfaction, Bennett saw them subdue the placard swinger, who was indeed Mitchell Grout. Not only was this a course Bennett himself had often longed to pursue vis-à-vis that individual, but he had the added gratification that he would not be the only one in his circle of friends to be embarrassed on the TV coverage that evening. All this he merely remarked in passing, however, for at the same time other officers, including the ones nearest his little group, rushed to the float to take care of the fist hurler. As they scaled it, though, a large African American actor clad in a spotless white linen suit and panama hat (again, he seemed vaguely familiar to Bennett) detached himself from a theatrical tableau to offer assistance, and proved so effectual that the ginger-haired perpetrator was able to bound away into the friendly crowd on the other side of the parade, not to be seen again.

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