Circle Seven

by Manu Amun

  Chapter 19

  The sun crept over the horizon peeping into our bedroom waking me up like a light tap on the shoulder. I was still stuck in my feelings from the night before and could not get out of them. If there were different stages of surviving the tyranny of the government I was definitely at the resentment stage but it was directed at my parents. Regardless of whatever their sacrifice to get us to this point, it was inconsequential. It was like being in a basketball game with .7 seconds left on the clock and being given the ball to win the game.

  We are surely the type to win it but why give up the rock in the first place. I felt we needed more than just the four of us in order to make this a success. My plan was simple, just observe and see if I saw anything in the students that may be like us. This plan had to be kept close to the vest because I could not let the others know what I was thinking. Between their moments of patting themselves on the back for being chosen to save the world, I was not sure that my recruitment efforts would be greeted with open arms by the others.

  “You all ready for another day at school? This routine is starting to settle in with me.” Bilal said as he began getting ready.

  “Bilal, it has only been one day; I worry about your desire for a normal life.” Nyema replied.

  “It is all about moderation Nyema, a little bit of this and a little bit of that keeps you sane.” Bilal countered.

  “Well as you all figure that out I am going to get ready and get something to eat.” I said in an effort to end the qualm so that we could get the day started.

  As I made my way to the kitchen my mother had a fruit medley going on with mangos, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, all types of melons, and kiwi. And I loved fruit it gave me great energy to get started the day, it helped keep me focused. Focus was something that I needed for today; I had to be keen but unnoticeable so not to ruffle any feathers.

  We finished our plates and made our way to school after picking up Skylar on the way. It only took a few moments of silence before I asked her about her studies with her father the night before.

  “So how did it go with El Ra Sun?” I asked.

  “It was very broad but specific. We talked about nature and how it plays a role in everything that we do. It is the way that the universe speaks to us whether we have a question and a breeze passes by to give us an answer or the way the sun may shine on you the day you are having your lowest point. It is all about nature. He also went into how nature is at the center of all spiritual systems because it is a way to comprehend the way that nature operates.” Skylar explained to us.

  This was very different than my father’s approach which was focused on a particular system. It had me intrigued on what the weekend had in store with our synthesis classes from Ra because connections were suppose to be made in order to bring everything we are doing together. I do not know if I was slow but I was not seeing how that is possible. We are looking at a Tree of Life with spheres and terms and she is taking about wind blowing. Either these guys were geniuses or idiots, the jury was still out. They needed to show and prove that what they are doing is right especially with my current mind set. I am not into blind faith that is for other people not for me, I challenge everything and this was not different only the circumstances that surrounded us. And if we are wrong and risking our life to feed our parents need to feel important or deal with a middle age crisis it was of no interest to me.

  As we made our way into class for the day, I was disappointed by what I saw.

  “Have you noticed how regular everyone is here? I asked Nyema.

  “I think that is the point Zohar, the more regular the people the less the government is inclined to be here. I am good what is in Phoenix.” Nyema said laughing.

  “I guess.” I responded.

  Everybody was so robotic, just walking around like zombies ignoring the crisis of the world around them like it did not even matter. I was not sure if they could possibly be pretending like we were but nothing was sticking out that made me feel otherwise. So with disappointment I went from my locker to homeroom.

  When I walked in I was greeted by Binah and Shekinah. They had the biggest smiles on their face which made me feel a little better after the disappointment of a lack of potential recruits in the hallway. These were pretty ladies, Binah’s presence gave me the feeling that I could create the best out of this situation that had me in a funk since last night where Shekinah just made me feel safe. It was not a normal feeling that I got from any other female before and I did not know them enough to have any romantic feelings for either of them, it was just an indescribable feeling of peace and completion they gave me, one of understanding and power over any obstacle in my way. It was an attraction that drew them to me and vice versa.

  “Good morning ladies, a pleasure as always to see your beautiful faces.” I said to them in my GQ mode. You never know what the future holds and with feelings like these are in the air I needed to make sure I had their undying affection in the event that I did begin to develop feelings or required their assistance down the road. Hey, my parents were not the only ones to plan ahead.

  “I am ok, just looking worried about the test coming up next week.” Shekinah replied.

  “It is just Geometry it is easy, I have been studying that stuff since elementary school.” I said to them.

  “Well that must be nice than you can be our tutor.” Shekinah interjected.

  “My brother is also good at Geometry, it may be best to have a big study sessions together he and I work great together.” I responded like any great brother would and should in any situation like that.

  “Great, we will discuss it at lunch; hopefully your sister and her friend will not give us such a hard time.” Shekinah said.

  “I cannot make any promises about that. My sister and Skylar are very protective of us because they do not want us wasting our time with girls who are not worth it because they do not want to waste their time trying to see the good in them. They have high expectations for us but you all seem ok.” I said.

  As the bell rang we got to our seat and I was noticing a glare of hate from a student in the classroom. I had never noticed him before today and was not sure what to make of it. I paid it no attention as I assumed it was the normal high school new kid tension that I had seen so many times on television shows and movies.

  I was not susceptible to such intimidations for a number of reasons, the most important being that I was comfortable in my own skin and did not need approval from anyone. And when you add all the stuff my family was dealing with, petty high school squabbles were the least of my worries. Still I could not help think it was my conversation with Binah and Shekinah that was the cause, and without thinking I grinned to myself which seemed to anger this person in the corner thus escalating the situation in his mind due to his ineffective intimidation methods.

  I continued to pay attention in class although I knew all this information because we learned Chemistry at home early in junior high school years, it was still a good refresher. But I had my difficulties paying attention in spurts due to my ability to feel his glare from the other side of the room.

  After the bell rang to signify the end of the class, I grabbed my books and packed them up in my book bag and made my way to the door. As I crossed the threshold I felt a heavy shoulder that connected with mine like a punch from a heavyweight which lunged me forward to the ground and with the weight of my book bag I almost fell to the floor but was able to keep my balance. I turned and saw it was that same guy who was giving me those crazy looks from the other side of the classroom. I felt bad because I should have seen it coming.

  “Watch where you are going man!” he said.

  I did want to get out character and remained poised during the situation. I knew I was in control of the situation.

  “Honest mistake, no worries, I am Zohar by the way.” I said as I extended my hand to offer some type of peaceful resolution which seemed to throw him off a little it.

  “I do
not shake hands with the likes of your kind!” he continued with his tone escalating to an even higher level than before.

  “My kind, what do you mean? You have an issue with black people?” I asked.

  “You know what I mean; you think the military is the only ones capable of reading you all? We are not scared of your kind here terrorist!” he exclaimed.

  With what felt like the whole school looking at me in that moment I caught a glimpse of Bilal, Nyema, and Skylar down the hall but I gave them the signal to leave. They hesitated at first but Bilal grabbed them and took them away from the confrontation.

  “I do not know what you are talking about, I am not a terrorist; just a guy trying to get to my next class.” I said.

  “I have my scanner that I have to check people around to make sure spiritual levels are not too high and yours were reading off the chart.” he said.

  Immediately I knew what was happening and he was right. In my haste this morning to get look at new recruits, I forgot to lower my levels by listening to my music. I was in a bad place because even though this kid was harmless, my cover was blown and to make it worse I had also jeopardized everybody’s safety but I needed to think quickly on my feet. Take your lemons and make lemonade my father had always told me. I took a deep breath to calm myself and concentrate on lowering my energies, it was only a matter of few seconds I felt them going down.

  “I do not know what low budget scanner you got but you may want to check that again.” I said with a smile on my face because I already knew how this was going to end.

  “This is top of the line, my father works for the Federal Bureau of Investigations. He knew that your kind would be out here sooner or later.” he said.

  He began to pull his scanner out which was really nice in all honesty. I had never had the opportunity to see one up close before, it was only from a distance as I saw the military scan us on the way to Arizona from DC.

  “What the heck, this was registering off the charts earlier I promise.” He said.

  The whole hallway which was full of students that were going to class were caught staring out our little confrontation broke out into laughter at this poor guy.

  “Instead of being mad at me, you should be looking for whoever sold you that junk and if you got that from your FBI daddy, I truly feel in danger for the safety of this country if this is the technology that they are using.” I said.

  The uproar brought teachers out of the class but when they hit the hallways everything was already over and I had moved onto locating Bilal, Nyema, and Skylar.

  I saw them waiting near the bleachers by the football field.

  “Here he is!” Bilal said.

  “Really Zohar? We have only been here two days and you already got discovered and by a student no less.” Nyema said.

  “I am just glad you are ok.” Skylar said.

  “I was so riled up this morning I forgot to listen to my music, so I guess that stuff we are doing is really working because he said that I was reading off the chart.” I said.

  “I felt you were in trouble Zohar, I went to Nyema and she felt the same.” Bilal said.

  “Yeah but you almost got caught. How did you manage to get yourself out of a one way ticket to a FEMA Concentration Camp anyways?” Nyema asked.

  “I just took myself out of the moment and caught myself and took a deep breath. When he went to do his reading in front of everyone he got nothing. It was quite spectacular.” I said.

  “It doesn’t seem like they have any technology to deal with anybody like us.” Skylar said.

  “It seems their technology is only equipped to handle the Johnny come lately to the spiritual movement. The ancient ones whose have been around forever must go undetected due to our abilities to do what Zohar did. They must only be detaining their own.” Nyema said.

  “Sounds about right, it seems we are working with a head start that is until Zohar gets caught again.” Bilal said.

  It seemed that my father’s packet was working for us on a pace that I did not even see coming. We were really connected outside of the norm, even the look I gave them during my little brush up they took and it seemed that the only deterrent was their natural concern for my well-being.

  My temper tantrum this morning was put into perspective, understanding the effects for all those I care about if I did not remain focused on what we had to do. In my moment of immaturity, I almost got us identified and now definitely have a suspicious eye cast on by one of my classmates. It seems my whole intentions of recruitment went in a direction that I was not prepared for when now I possibly recruited myself for federal surveillance.

  “Who was that guy anyways?” I asked.

  “Some wanna be police.” Skylar said

  “Well, he said his father was an FBI agent or something, I couldn’t really keep up with all of the hostile vibes he was sending my way.” I added.

  “Well you’re here now, so hopefully he will back off.” Bilal said.

  “We could kill him.” Nyema blurted out then immediately covered her mouth.

  “Although that is the best thing to do under the conditions, I would automatically be a suspect being that we just had a public incident. We are trying to keep us out of the FEMA Camps Nyema not give them our gifts on a silver platter.” I said.

  “We need to get back to class, we are already late. Let’s talk at lunch unless your girls Shekinah and Binah are going to be tagging along again.” Nyema said.

  I could tell she did not like holding her tongue when they were around but we had to be social and fit in. Our parents were clear on their instructions for our assimilation into school which was to be as normal as possible and kids talked to other kids during lunch. I was not sure what she wanted from me.

  “I do not know what you are talking about Nyema, I hope they do come, we got the walk home and when get back to the apartments to strategize. I am young, in high school and Zohar got a pretty lady lined up for me. Man lock that up Zohar.” Bilal said as Nyema rolled her eyes.

  “Look we will play it by ear. This is my fault anyways I will figure out how to fix this and get the heat off of us, so that we are not a cause for concern for this kid. But Nyema you have to understand that Binah and Shekinah have been here and can give us an idea of how students out here think about us, what is normal, and maybe even people like us.” I said.

  “Why don’t you all find some females for us and guys for yourselves? You two are thick as thieves, always have been using your beauty for the movement. God didn’t give you those good looks for nothing. You see we are using our good looks to reel in the ladies.” Bilal said.

  “That’s a good idea Bilal, I am not trying to pimp you all out by any means but you need to find out who that guy was. Ask around and try to do something by lunch, Bilal and I will do the same.” I asked.

  “Sounds fair, and do not think we do not have boys trying to talk to us, we just have higher standards than you guys, so typical.” Skylar said shaking her head.

  “They have always been like that Skylar, so fixed on anything that pays them any attention. You boys need to see the forest not the trees, you get so excited by anything that gives you the time of day.” Nyema said.

  Regardless of what they were saying I think our suggestions were being considered by the ladies. But I needed to find out more about that jerk who tried to pull my card in front of the whole class. That do-gooder was going to be a thorn in my side, I could just see it. Not trying to project negativity but my instincts were telling me that would be the case. But I felt like I could get information at lunch and also try to make some friends along the way. I think my popularity took a jump today from the way I handled the situation after first period.

  As we made our way to class that thought was reaffirmed by all the thumbs up and positive looks I was getting at every turn. I could get use to this; I know my parents said keep a low profile. Lemonade out of lemons I thought with a quiet laugh to myself as I took a seat for my next class
.