National Exile: A 21st Century Novel about Nobility, Poverty, and Cruelty

by Rusul A. Altaay

  Chapter 9

  Images from The Past

 

  On their way back to the Burj, they made a stop to visit the people under the bridge. There were not a lot of people left at all. They were attacked after the administration suspected their involvement with anti-government activities. The place looked more as a graveyard than it did anything else. It was heart breaking to watch the homeless kids. They saw a kid talking to his mother’s graveyard.

  “When are you coming back, Mommy. Daddy left me too.”

  There was nothing they could do, other than watch. Emma took few of the kids back to the orphanage. Rain and Sidra had to go back to the Burj.

  After getting back to the Burj, Rain had finally decided to share something with Sidra. He thought that it was about time he got her involved with what they were trying to do. All of that killing had to end. People had to have normal lives. Innocents did not have to die without even knowing why. Kids did not have to suffer like they had. They suffered without knowing for how long.

  Rain texted Yazan and Sidra asking if they had time for an important chat. Later, the three of them met in a private conference room. They had a very long conversation. Rain and Yazan were on the same side. However, Rain hid lots of things from his best friend. Sidra thought she was working alone. However, Rain knew way more than he ever led on.

  “Listen, you guys know the pain that our people have to go through on daily basis. Wouldn’t you agree that it is about time we did something about it?” Rain said with a serious voice.

  “Of course we do. Helping kids here and there is only treating the problem. We need to get rid of it. The more we help, the more I realize how much we can’t save everyone. I feel like we are stuck in the middle of a non-ending circle.” Sidra replied.

  “Glad to know that you agree, Sidra. You know… Ever since Maki Lion became the president, things got much worse. We are seriously thinking about taking over the Burj. We want to publicly oppose the administration.” Yazan said.

  “Change is coming regardless of us being a part of it or not. People are not going to be quiet much longer. Not anymore… Sooner or later, they will start an uprising and put an end to this once and for all.” Rain added.

  “Uprising? Do I need to remind you of what happens to people who publicly oppose the administration? You saw what happened to the people under the bridge.” Sidra said with a tone.

  “So? Freedom is not free. What do you want us to do? Keep watching? Like we watched people getting burned a live? And did nothing about it.” Rain said.

  “I never said we should do nothing. I just don’t want us to do anything stupid. Getting ourselves killed, would accomplish nothing.” Sidra said.

  It took few seconds of silence for Yazan to ask,

  “What were you working on before your arrest? You’re still working for the administration. Aren’t you?”

  “No, I am not. Trust me.”

  At that point, Rain was afraid that Sidra might say too much. He knew what was going on. He just did not want Yazan to know about it. He also did not want her to know about his involvement with her work.

  Another moment of awkward silence passed. But Yazan was not going to let it go. He tried to keep his voice down. He asked with a gentle voice.

  “Sidra? What did you get yourself involved with?”

  “I am being funded privately. That’s all I can say about it.” Sidra said.

  Yazan felt like he would get nothing out of her. He knew something was going on. She always worked secretly on different projects. Sidra received funding via the Burj’s main account. Yazan was the one handling all of that. For the longest time, he assumed that they were funds from the administration.

  The truth is that Sidra was going solo. However, she needed to have accesses to SANA. That is why she made sure the money went to the Burj’s accounts rather than her own. She convinced Yazan that she was working based on orders from the administration. The people who funded her to do research and develop specific projects wanted no attention drawn at all. So, she used the Burj as a way of hiding her work. However, after she was imprisoned, she did not hear back from the people she worked for.

  “Let us go back to the original subject. Sidra, where does that leave us now? Do you think we should not help the movement against the administration?” Rain said trying to change the subject.

  “We need to start thinking about the next step. How are we going to help the people? Are we just going to step aside and pretend that nothing is happing around us? Please keep in mind that they’re humans like us. They are being killed because they asked for simple rights.” Yazan added.

  “I still think we should somehow oppose the administration without getting the Burj involved.” Rain said.

  “What exactly do you have in mind? Go all ninja on the administration?” Sidra commented sarcastically.

  “Why aren’t you taking this seriously? You… of all people… should know what the administration is truly doing to the people.” Yazan said.

  “I’m just being realistic. Anything you would want to do will be suicide. What exactly happens after you go all ‘Mission Impossible’ on the administration?”

  “Unless your secret project is going to save the world, I suggest you seriously start thinking about the next step.” Yazan said.

  “He has a point. We joint the new administration thinking that we’re making people’s lives better and easier. Instead, all we did so far… is watch more people die. Besides, we have already started collecting guns and most importantly, information. The goal is to at least protect ourselves in case something happen. At some point, we are going to start a revolution if things do not change, with or without you.” Rain said.

  “Do you want me to remind you that the administration is not our only enemy? What about the militias? They are everywhere declaring some areas as their own, and some people are standing with them. Also, not everyone in the public is against Lion’s administration. He has his followers and the people he blinded with money. If some people don’t want to change things, nothing is going to change.” Sidra said after her voice started getting louder.

  “Which side are you on exactly? Have they brain washed you or something? Rain, please, put some sense into her.” Yazan said.

  “Yazan, I thought you knew what was going on. There was that time when you ordered us to not leave the Burj for a week. It sounded like you and Sidra were hiding something.” Rain said.

  “No, that was a different matter. I wanted her to work on some defensive systems for the Burj. She did not want to do that. So… I kind of black mailed her.” Yazan replied.

  “You sure did. But that worm is long out of the can now. They already know.” Sidra said.

  “What are you talking about?” Rain asked.

  “Do you wanna tell him? Or should I?” Yazan asked.

  “My older brother… He works here at the Burj.” Sidra casually said.

  “I’m sorry… what now?” Rain asked with a surprised voice.

  During this time, Yazan’s cell phone rang. He looked at the phone’s screen and seemed a bit disturbed.

  “I cannot deal with this right now. I have a call from the General himself. We will finish this talk later.” Yazan said and walked out of the room.

  “You know what… Rain… I never finished my story about the old man I killed. There was much more it to.” Sidra said.

  “I know.” Rain said thinking that she must’ve figure out that she killed his grandfather.

  “No, trust me, you don’t. Everyone heard about the chaos that happened for weeks afterwards and the police involvement. I was not the only one who lost it that day. After I shot that old man, people were just as mad at him as I was. When the police came, people started attacking their cars and burning them. Everyone was angry because of the poverty they lived in.” Sidra said as she stood up and looked outside the windows. She continued,

  “Zain’s murder triggered people’s true emot
ions… just like it did mine. My father was there. All he wanted to do was to get me out of the mess that I put myself into. He took the gun from my hand, grabbed me, and started running. Once of the policemen saw him, they thought that he was the one that killed the old man… So, they shot him. They killed my father in front of my own eyes.” Sidra’s eyes started getting teary as she explained what happened. Rain did not even try interrupting her.”

  “It’s ok. You don’t have to talk about it.” Rain said.

  “My father was not the only one who was killed that day. They killed tens of people simply because they asked for their rights. I still blame myself for what happened that day. I always felt like I started the whole thing by shooting that man. The blood of all those innocent people is on me.” Sidra said as she tried hiding her tears. “Revolutions never end well. People pay the most precious thing they ever have, their lives.”

  Rain just looked at her and thought,

  “I don’t know what to tell her. How am I supposed to respond to that? How do I tell her that the man she killed was no other than my grandfather?”

  “Why are you making it sound like you want things to stay the way they are? What did they do to you in that underground prison?” Rain asked.

  “This has nothing to do with that hell of a prison. I just do not want more people to get hurt. That’s all.” She said.

  “And now? Are they not being hurt? What could possibly happen that had not happened already?” Rain asked.

  Sidra turned around at him and said,

  “Listen, do as you please. Just know this, if you would not lose your life trying, you will lose the life of the person you are closest to. Trust me, it hurts even more.”

  “Is that why we did not know about your brother?” Rain asked.

  “My brother insisted we work independently. He is doing everything he can to protect me.”

  “You know, you never told me how they found out that you are the killer after all those years, if you don’t mind me asking.” He asked.

  At that moment, all of Sidra’s painful memories came rushing. Once again, it felt like a video was playing in her head. She remembered every single detail as if it had just happened.

  “After my father was killed, I went into a complete shock. I did not know what to do. I yelled. I screamed. I cried until my eyes dried. I just had no one left. My father’s body was just left there, right in front of me. He was on the ground, covered by blood. I could not hold him. So, I just left him there. After midnight of the next day, I went there to try and get him. I was shocked when I found out that his body was gone.” Sidra explained and turned around once again.

  She gave Rain her back and kept looking outside as she continued,

  “I kept looking like crazy until I noticed that one of the houses around had security cameras. The house was empty. I thought that the people must’ve left the area after what happened that day. So, I broke in. And I was able to grab the tape of the security cameras. I was hoping to find out where they took my dad, but I forgot that the whole thing was recorded in there. The tape did show me killing the old man. Everything else that happened afterword was all recorded. I did end up finding out that one of the locals took all the bodies to the nearby cemetery. I ran out. And I saw his last resting place. That type was the last I had of my dad… so I kept it. It was saved on the cloud on my phone. When they stole it, they saw the whole thing.”

  Everyone remembers that day. It was the day the real uprising against the administration started. Even though it had been eight years, people never gave up. Anyone who rose against the administration was publicly executed. When Maki Lion came to rule, he promised that everything would change. That’s how Sidra, Rain and everyone else joined the new administration. They thought they would be part of the change. But as you probably know by now, the new administration was just another cover of lies.

  “I’m really sorry you had to go through that by yourself. No child should have lived any of that. That being said… now and more than ever… I am more determined to put an end to all of this. How much longer should we suffer? Someone has to do something. I don’t care what I will lose in the process.”