The Nix

In the summer of 1968, at the University of Illinois Chicago Circle, Faye meets Alice. Intrigued by Alice’s role in the student underground movement, Faye accompanies her to the small offices of the Chicago Free Voice, a radical underground newspaper. There, Faye meets Sebastian, the editor in chief. When Sebastian addresses the group about the upcoming protest, Faye is impressed by his passion and his sincerity. The students are aware of the surveillance of the so-called Red Squad commissioned by the mayor to keep the peace at all costs during the Democratic Convention. One cop, Officer Charlie Brown, is particularly officious. He understands his duty as simple: “Target and annoy the bad elements in the city as far as the law allowed” (475).

When Sebastian runs into Faye the next day during a student protest against ChemStar, the factory back in Iowa where Faye’s father works, a conglomerate responsible for the production of napalm that American troops use to incinerate Vietnamese villages, he claims he feels a deep empathy for Faye, senses a strong around her. Faye is intrigued. With little warning, however, police cars swarm in. Sebastian impulsively hops on the hood of one of police cars.