by William Oday
She waited.
Instead of kissing her lips, he jerked her back into the shadows between her house and the one next door. He held a finger up to his lips telling her to stay quiet. He pointed around the corner.
A few seconds later, a curfew patrol appeared walking down the middle of the street. The new Police Chief strutted at the front of the pack. A white bandage covered his lower lip.
Pebbles under her foot shifted throwing her off balance. She threw her foot to the side to stay upright. Her shoe dragged the pebbles across the concrete, scraping loudly as they went.
The chief and the six cops following him stopped. All of them turned toward the dark alley where she and Elio were hiding.
Not good.
They’d be in serious trouble if they got caught outside after curfew.
“Come on,” Elio whispered in her ear. He squeezed her hand and they took off deeper into the alley.
“Hey! Who is that?”
A beam of light pierced the darkness just as they got to the corner and took a right. “Stop! Chief Fowler orders you to stop!”
A few more turns and they left their pursuers behind. They kept running for a while until Theresa called for a break. “Hold up a second,” she said grabbing her knees and huffing air. “Are you sure you know where we’re going?”
Elio helped her up and nodded. “We’re almost there. We can walk the last couple of blocks.” He led her out of an alley and across a wide street, circling around the broad patches of light cast by the streetlights and sticking to the darkness beyond their reach. Another few minutes and they stopped in front of a dented metal door in an otherwise featureless brick wall.
“Is this the place?” Theresa asked.
“I think so.” He tapped the door.
“Not so loud!” she whispered. In the still night air, the door sounded like a clanging gong. They waited a moment and nothing happened. Elio tapped again, this time quieter.
“Maybe this isn’t—”
A small rectangle in the door slid open and dark eyes peered out. The eyes scanned each of them.
“Where can I find the railroad?” A husky voice said from inside the door.
What did that mean?
“Where it was and where it will be again,” Elio replied. “Underground.”
The rectangle slammed shut.
Theresa turned to Elio. “Was that like a code or something?”
He nodded.
She turned back to the door. Nothing happened. “Doesn’t look like you said it right.”
A series of locks clicked and the door squeaked open on rusty hinges. The gruff voice floated out from the darkness within.
“Enter.”
11
They followed a muscular man with long dreadlocks. His flashlight swept across what used to be a commercial kitchen and a storeroom. The shelves were bare, the counters empty. He led them out into a large room filled with people. This place used to be some kind of bar. Probably just like one of the places she and Holly had tried faking their way into in Los Angeles. It never once worked. The bouncer would eye Holly’s curves and wave her in. Then, he’d spot Theresa shuffling along behind.
And that’s when the charade would end.
Whether it was her lack of curves or lack of audacity, Theresa had never pulled it off. And Holly was too good a friend to ditch her for a fun night in a club. That wasn’t to say Holly never ripped her about it. She did. Though it was always in good fun. That’s what best friends did. Joke around with each other. Share inside stories that were only funny to each other.
But no more. Not since Holly’s death at the hands of that murderous gang leader.
The man with dreadlocks ushered them toward the edge of the crowd and then headed back to his post at the door. The crowd of fifty or so hummed with nervous energy. Elio hadn’t told her exactly why he’d insisted they attend this secret meeting.
And the not knowing made it all the more exciting.
A woman separated in front stepped up onto the empty stage. No doubt it was once filled with drummers banging bohemian beats, guitarists strumming electric riffs, and singers beseeching the crowd to share in his or her ecstasy or agony, depending on the song. The woman sat an LED lantern on a bar stool next to her.
“Fellow citizens,” the woman began. “We gather here under the threat of great duress because we care more for the future liberty of this country than the fleeting security of the present moment.”
Her voice rolled out over the crowd with a strength and certainty that had Theresa agreeing with the statement before considering what it might mean.
The woman continued.
“The rumors we’ve discussed at past meetings are no longer that. They are now confirmed. They are now facts. Slavery has once again infected this great country.”
The crowd exploded in shouts of anger and condemnation. A man’s voice rose above the rest. “That’s a serious allegation. Before we march off in protest and burn City Hall, I’d like to hear what proof you have.”
Numerous voices in the crowd exclaimed their agreement. The woman on the stage held out both of her hands and batted the air waiting for the noise to die down. “First of all, we’re not burning any buildings. We’ve been in contact with one of the truck drivers working the food supply route to the north. To protect him and his family, we can’t divulge his identity.”
Rumblings from the crowd threatened to derail her explanation. She spoke louder, more forcefully. “We assure you that he is absolutely trustworthy. And he has seen with his own eyes what we have all begun to suspect. The farmers in the north have enslaved deltas and are using them to work the fields. We also have reports that they are using convicted criminals in the same fashion. The conditions of their captivity are inhumane and unacceptable.”
The same man who objected earlier spoke out again. “How does this driver know so much? Did he hang out and share a glass of iced tea with the plantation owners?” He laughed out loud and a few others shared his mirth.
“We can’t reveal more than that about the source of the information. What you must know is that it is true and it is happening as we speak. We are talking about humans enslaving other humans and treating them like property. Our country nearly tore itself apart dealing with this issue not so long ago.”
The same man continued. “Yeah, I get it. I’m with you on the prisoners if it’s really happening like that. But the deltas? Are they really human anymore? I heard the ones that got through last night didn’t just kill that guy. They practically ate him whole.”
“Stuart, we’ve debated this again and again. It is the reasoned decision of the vast majority here that while the deltas are impaired and, yes, dangerous, they are also still human. What’s more, they are not at fault for their primitive behavior.”
Stuart piped up again. “All I’m saying is that everyone in the city needs food and they grow it for us in the north. Maybe they’re just using the tools at their disposal to get the job done. That’s what we all do every day.”
“A human being is not a tool to be used and disposed of!” the woman yelled. “This is not the first time you’ve questioned our cause. It’s not the fifth or tenth time. Why are you here?”
“Why am I here?” Stuart shouted back. “How dare you! Last I checked this was a free country!”
“It is no longer free for all of us.”
“Yeah, right. All based on some rumor from some imaginary guy you can’t identify because he doesn’t exist. I joined this group because I’m a concerned citizen but all I’m hearing is you trying to get people fired up over something that may or may not be happening. What’s your real agenda?”
The woman’s voice went ice cold. “I have but one agenda, as you call it. To preserve the liberties that are the foundation of this great country.”
She swept her eyes over the expanse of the crowd. There was no way she could see past the first couple of rows with the dim illumination in the room. But the effect was
the same all the way to the back where Theresa and Elio stood. They all waited in rapt attention.
“And I have worse news yet, citizens. We have reports that the President of the United States has explicitly assured the farmers in the north that they will not be challenged on the slavery tragedy.”
Shrill whistles pierced the air.
The man with dreadlocks stumbled forward and collapsed onto the floor. Blood leaked from his face.
Dozens of flashlights sliced into the room like a laser show.
“You are all under arrest!” A voice shouted from behind the blinding wall of light.
The wall of light rushed forward and long batons whipped through the air laying into the packed crowd. People screamed and ran over those behind trying to get away. An overweight man shoved backwards knocking Theresa to the floor.
Elio drove his shoulder through the man’s chest and knocked him sideways. He grabbed Theresa’s arm and dragged her to her feet. “Come on!”
He pulled her forward through the crowd and made it to a dark hallway. They rushed down the hall. Elio tried the nearest door on the left and found it locked. He tried the next one down and it opened. They rushed into a men’s bathroom. Beyond three empty stalls were two urinals.
Above the urinals was a narrow window to the outside up by the ceiling.
Elio darted over and climbed up a urinal. He reached up and tried pushing the window open but it wouldn’t budge. He clenched his hand into a fist and punched it dead center. Thin glass shattered and clattered to the tile floor. He looked at his knuckles and grimaced.
“Let’s go!” he yelled as he held out his other hand for her.
Theresa crunched over the carpet of glass. With one foot on a urinal and the other braced on the corner wall , Elio pulled her up.
“Get up on my shoulders!”
She made it up and got her knees on his shoulders. She reached through the narrow opening, trying to avoid the jagged shards still stuck in the frame.
Footsteps pounded down the hallway.
Theresa grabbed a vertical pipe running along the outside of the window and pulled herself through. “Hurry, Elio!”
The bathroom door flew open and smacked against the cinderblock wall. A bright flashlight blinded her as she looked down through the window.
Elio hopped down to the floor. “Go!”
“Stop!” the Chief yelled shining the flashlight in Theresa’s face. His eyes narrowed. “You’re Mason’s daughter aren’t you?” He smiled wickedly. “You’re both under arrest for breaking curfew!”
“Run, Theresa!” Elio said.
The Chief’s face twisted up and he charged, swinging his heavy wood baton.
Elio dodged to the side and trailed a foot behind catching the Chief’s ankle. The stocky man tripped and sprawled forward. He crashed face-first into the urinal and collapsed to the floor. He rolled over holding his jaw and moaning.
“Elio!” Theresa shouted. “Come on!”
Elio scrambled up the urinal and Theresa pulled him through the window.
“Outside! They’re outside!” the Chief yelled.
12
The mad dash home blurred by in dark streaks of gray fog and orange light. Several times, it sounded like they were surrounded as the shrieking whistles of the Curfew Patrol closed in on their location. Somehow, Elio managed to lead them through to safety but now the whistles were louder and closer than ever.
They skidded to a stop outside her window as a dozen flashlights bobbled toward her house from down the street.
Theresa slid her window open and scrambled through. She turned and was surprised to see Elio still outside. The brightness of the approaching lights made him more and more visible. “Get in here!”
“I’m supposed to be at home!”
She reached through the window. “We’ll figure it out!” She dragged him inside and slammed it shut as someone pounded on the front door upstairs.
A muffled shout followed the banging. “Open the door! Now!” The banging continued.
Her father’s voice boomed. “Shane, what the hell do you want?”
Theresa tip-toed to her door and cracked it open. Their voices echoed downstairs.
“Your daughter and that criminal she hangs around are out after curfew. I saw them with my own eyes. They will be placed under arrest the minute they return!”
“What?” Mason roared. “Elio went home last night and my daughter is asleep in her bed. Now get off my porch before I toss you into the street!”
“You will either allow us in to check her room or we’ll wake up this whole damn neighborhood searching for her. I’m sure your neighbors would be interested to learn about her breaking curfew to attend a secret meeting hosted by a violent criminal group.”
The voices dropped and Theresa couldn’t make out the words.
“Fine,” her father said. “And when we find her sound asleep, I’m going to add to the bandage already decorating your face.”
Numerous footsteps started across the living room above.
“Only you, Shane,” Mason said. “I’m not having a dozen buffoons barge into my daughter’s room in the middle of the night.”
“Fine.”
The wood floors creaked as the two headed toward the stairs.
Oh no!
They were headed downstairs to check on her!
She eased the door shut.
“Elio, take your pants off!”
He gave her an odd look. “Now is not the time for—”
“Shut up and strip! Down to your underwear!”
He started to strip as Theresa tore off her coat and flung it into the closet. She kicked off her shoes and was reasonably certain they made it into the closet as well.
Footsteps creaked at the bottom of the stairs.
Theresa threw back the covers on her bed and leaped in. She tossed a pillow and an extra blanket down on the floor next to the bed.
Footsteps padded to a stop outside her door. A soft knock on the door.
“Theresa?”
The doorknob squeaked as it turned.
She turned and saw Elio standing in his underwear holding his pants, shirt, and shoes.
He was seriously so skinny and cute.
She grabbed his gear and shoved them under her covers and then yanked his hand down hard. He fell to the floor and they both pulled blankets over themselves as the bedroom door swung open.
The light in the hallway flashed across Theresa’s eyes as she shut them. She did her best to act like she was out cold. The thumping in her chest and the tingling in her fingers didn’t make it easy. She knew for sure she was doing something stupid, like flaring her nostrils breathing so hard or something.
She blinked her eyes open like they’d been glued shut for years. She held her hand up to block the light thinking that might sell it better.
“Dad?”
“Sorry, honey,” Mason said standing in the open doorway. “I told you she was…”
A long pause.
Not of the comfortable kind.
“Elio?” Mason said.
“Didn’t you say Elio went home last night?” the Chief asked.
It was not a question.
Theresa almost screamed. They were busted. Her father was going to go mental. She’d probably be grounded for the rest of her life. She’d still be grounded even after he died. He’d probably write it into the will as a condition of her receiving an inheritance.
“Oh, yeah,” Mason said. “That’s right. That was the original plan but dinner ended up going so late my wife wanted him to spend the night. You know, so he wouldn’t break curfew.”
“What a load of lies. Chief Fowler saw them! They were wearing all black clothes!” He marched into the room and grabbed the edge of Elio’s blanket. Before anyone could stop him, he yanked it away revealing someone verifiably only wearing one piece of clothing, and it was small and white in color.
Elio bolted upright with a confused look on his face. “What�
��s going on? Are you crazy?”
Theresa couldn’t tell if he was acting or not. He was that good.
“I told you they weren’t out breaking curfew. Now, if you’re finished harassing my family and friends—”
“But… no,” Chief Fowler said. “I saw them. They were dressed in black.” He reached for the sheets covering Theresa.
Before his hand got halfway there, Mason grabbed it and in a blur that reminded Theresa just how dangerous her father could be, he twisted it under and around the Chief’s back.
“Don’t do that.”
Holding the Chief’s hand locked behind his back, Mason shoved him out into the hallway. He let go and then shoved him hard in the back. He turned back to look into her room.
“Go back to sleep. We’ll discuss this in the morning.”
The threatening way he emphasized back ensured there was no chance she was going to be able to sleep.
“And Elio, put some pants on and stay on the floor.”
13
ELIO LOPEZ shivered in the predawn chill. He opened the door to his apartment building and glanced back at Mason standing at the bottom of the steps. Theresa’s father exuded a frozen fury that made the frigid temperature of the air feel hotter than the sun. He nodded and Mason didn’t respond.
This qualified as a major screw up.
The fifteen minute walk home had been a grilling like he’d never endured. Not while staring down the principal back at Venice High School. Not even while staring down Cesar on the night the gang leader went on an insane killing spree.
It was his fault Theresa had been in danger.
He wasn’t sure if there was any coming back from that.
It wasn’t supposed to go down like that. It was something exciting, something forbidden. Something they were supposed to share. Typical teenager hijinks stuff.
Didn’t that exist anymore?
Besides, what if what those people were saying was true? Didn’t everyone deserve to know?
Elio turned and headed upstairs to the apartment he and his mother shared. He let himself into a small living room hidden in darkness. He collapsed on the couch wondering how he was going to explain not coming home last night. He glanced at the digital clock on the side table.