Tuesday, September 20th, 12:10 P.M.
Usually in the morning I am awoken by my alarm
clock, the sound of which hits you like somebody hitting you in the forehead
with a ballpine hammer. I'd like to be
awoken by music or talk radio. However,
as I've said before, there aren't any stations with music I like anymore and
racist talk radio is not the best thing to experience first thing in the
morning. I would have liked to be awoken
by the sweet smell of the overnight rainfall.
That is not what woke me up this morning. Instead, I was awoken by my Dad knocking on
my bedroom door.
"Hato?"
While wiping the blurriness from my eyes, I said,
"Yeah."
"Sorry I woke you up, but I need to tell you
something." There was a serious
tone in Dad's voice, which is unusual for him.
"What is it?"
Dad came in and sat on the edge of my desk. Dad taking this position and looking at me
the way he did also said to me that Dad was being serious. "Your Mom and I have decided to leave
town. We've had enough. Belle's had it with this town for a while,
and after yesterday, I- I just- those fucking savages."
"I know Dad, I know."
Dad took a moment to compose himself then continued. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to
come with us. You don't have to, but I'd
make your Mom really happy if you did."
I thought about it for a moment. "Where are you two going?"
"Dha Chathair, at first. Depending on the situation there, we might
stay there or move on to another city. I
really don't know, your Mom and I only decided to leave Moenia Prima this
morning."
The prospect of moving to Dha Chathair appealed to
me, much more than staying here.
However, the more I thought about it the more I thought of Sparra,
Wanda, and Delany. Admittedly, I thought
more of Delany than anyone else. I just
couldn't bear the thought of abandoning them in this city. We've helped each other so many times with so
much trivial bullshit, isn't it most important to help each other now?
I sat up in my bed and said, "Dad, I like the
idea of going to Dha Chathair, but I can't go just yet. I want to check with Delany and Sparra and
Wanda and see if they want to go too."
Dad was disappointed to hear this. "Hato, I understand. Your Mom's not going to be happy, but it
might take some time before she's capable of being happy again." Dad got up from my desk and slowly started
making his way toward my door. Before he
left my bedroom, Dad turned back to me and said, "Just remember to take
care of yourself. I'll be damned if
those people are going to take another son from me."
"I will."
After that bit of reassurance, Dad left to go pack
things up. I got showered, dressed, and
tried calling and emailing my friends. I
got no response. My next course of
action was to go to where I thought my friends would be: The charity Delany
works for, the DFPS facility Sparra works at, and the strip club where Wanda
performs at. As I was leaving the house,
I passed Sakoshi's room. Sitting on the
floor in the middle of Sakoshi's room on the verge of tears with one of
Sakoshi's stuffed animals in her hands was Mom.
Seeing Mom in that state, that overwhelming feeling of sadness,
compelled me to at least stay and see my parents off. I wasn't going with them, but perhaps seeing
that I was safe as she left Moenia Prima would set my Mom's mind at ease.
The morning was spent trying to cram the car full of
as much stuff from the house as we could.
Mom spent most of the time gathering pictures and photo albums, making
sure to save every picture of Sakoshi she could find. Dad was more concerned with saving the
computer, books, and his finely aged single malt Scotch. While we were doing this, the radio was on,
tuned to the radio station with all the blatantly racist political talk
shows. Mom really didn't want to listen
to that station, but Dad was adamant, saying, "We need to know where the
mobs are so we can escape safely."
I didn't know what Dad meant by that, so I listened to the radio to hear
what they were saying.
"Eleven minutes past the hour here on your
independent news leader. Now it's time
for a check of the top news of the hour.
News headlines brought to you by Kalimba brand sausage products. For that good, wholesome, old fashioned
flavor, look for Kalimba brand sausage products in your grocer's freezer. Kalimba.
"Overnight, several opfer owned or operated
businesses, meeting places, and churches were ransacked by verbrecher
vigilantes. A letter sent to The Charlie
Mason Show, purporting to be from one of the vigilantes, reads as follows:
We are doing
that which is right. We are protecting
that which is moral. We are doing that
which those that are sworn to protect us refuse to do. We are eliminating the criminal element from
Moenia Prima. We are eliminating
opfers. We know the truth, that all
opfers are complicit in the unchecked crimes that go on in this city. We will not rest untill all opfers are
cleansed from Moenia Prima, and, as we move forward, the country of Dolore as a
whole.
"The Moenia Prima Police Department has not
responded to these acts of vigilantism, nor to the accusations circulating in
the mainstream media sources that members of the MPPD are among the
participants in these vigilante acts.
More on this story as it develops.
"In other news..."
After hearing that story I called and emailed my
friends again, this time with more urgency.
This time I emailed then, not because I wanted to leave Moenia Prima
with them, because I wanted to know if they were alive. As my messages were being sent through the
magical airwaves and I was in the family room helping Mom put the last of the
photo albums in a box, another report came on the radio.
"Looking at national headlines, in an update
from this morning, the vigilante groups that ransacked opfer owned business
overnight appear now to be targeting opfer families in their homes. Reports are sketchy at this point, but
several news outlets are reporting fatalities as a result of this groups
actions..."
"Shit," Dad exclaimed as he heard this
report. "We gotta get out of
here. Bella, grab the radio and that box
you're carrying. Hato, go around and
make sure the windows and doors are locked, then slip out the back into the
tall grass. If you're really staying
here, that's the best place to stay hidden.
I'll go out and start the car."
Dad then opened the front door and then immediately closed it.
Mom asked, with a heavy sense of dread in her voice,
"Solanin, what was it?"
Dad turned around and looked at Mom and I. He looked more afraid than I've ever seen
anyone be afraid in my life.
"There's a group of verbrechers down the street walking this
way. They're carrying baseball bats,
machetes, and assault rifles."
"Oh God no." The terror my Mom was feeling was evident in her
voice and on her face.
I sprung to the front window to confirm what Dad had
seen. "Shit! What are we going to do?"
Dad cleared the emotion from his face and took
action. "Hato, if you really are
staying in this city, you need to leave this house now. Use your osher training and you should be
fine. Belle, we're getting in the car
and leaving, now."
Mom was still afraid. "We can't just drive through that mob,
they'll shoot us before we get through.
They'll kill us."
Dad was still resolute. "They'll kill us if we stay here. If we get in the car, we take the chance that
they suck at hitting a moving target."
After I was done confirming the mob and analyzing
the safest routes to my first destination, Delany's work, I stepped away from
the window. "Mom, I'm sure you'll
be fine. When my friends and I get to
Dha Chathair, I'm sure I'll find you."
Tears began welling in my Mom's eyes. I kissed her before making my way for the
back door. Just before we left doors at
opposite ends of the house, my Dad said to me, "Son, I know you'll survive
this."
I replied, "I know you will too." I pray that what we said will come true.
Hato Shurtleff
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