The Sons of Liberty

by James Tow

my mom’s words. It’s not like him to talk about himself.

  Hope

  13. Back to School

  “You’ve never seen his evil looking ass before?” I asked

  “No,” Alyse replied laughing. “And Gabriel thinks he’s the third leader?”

  “Yeah. He said his name was Vergil. He put on a pretty good show—wearing inmate clothes and all. I should have listened to Gabriel—he called shenanigans as soon as he saw him.”

  “So…Where is he?” Andrew asked. “I don’t like being in one spot for too long, especially now that we’re in America.” He had a point, but it’s only been a couple of hours since we arrived. And maybe half an hour since Gabriel left.

  “I don’t know,” was all I could reply. Gabriel is starting to worry me.

  The St. Andrews group had both C-130’s ready for take-off, and Gabriel was nowhere to be seen. It was cold and cloudy as we stood on the runways of Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport. It was getting colder as minutes passed and there was no sign of Gabriel. Alyse was trying to calm me, and I realized I was getting seriously agitated.

  “He didn’t tell you anything?” She asked with concern.

  “No. But this is where we did most of our growing up. So there are a thousand places he could have gone,” I said.

  “Where did you see him last?” she asked me.

  “It was when we were all inside the airport—raiding its supply of food,” I started and continued to think. “We made it to one vending machine by this bookstore,” I said as I replayed mine and his every action. Then it hit me, and I sighed in relief.

  “What is it? Where is he?” she asked me with haste.

  “We were snacking on a bag of chips when he suddenly stopped. The bookstore had their walls lined with posters of classic books. And he was staring at the poster of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” She looked confused when I finished. “The poster had a picture of a giant tree under the title” I mumbled to myself and jogged toward the airport’s parking garage.

  “Wait!” Alyse yelled and was close on my heels. “Where are you going?”

  “Pine Forest High School,” I replied.

  “I’m coming with you,” she said, and I stopped. I tried to study her face as she stood in front of me, staring at the ground.

  “What if they leave without us?” I asked.

  “I’d rather be with you,” she whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

  “Are you serious? You haven’t even known me for that long, and that’s your family over there,” I stated dumbly.

  “I know,” she said still hanging her head—kicking nonexistent rocks with her feet. “Plus, I feel safer when I’m with you and your brother,” she added.

  I could only smile. “Well…let’s find us a car,” I said.

  “Give me a sec,” she said smiling and turned to run to her awaiting mother and father. I wonder what they would say. I know if it were my parents’ they would most definitely say no. They never did let me do anything…not even go out for a run. What sucked most was that Mary and Gabriel were already out of the house, so I didn’t have anybody to hang out with. Most of the kids in my school were retarded, but whatever. They exchanged a few words, gave them a hug, and she ran back to me. That easy? As she was running to me, Jack gave me a look that said ‘take care of her.’ I would kill myself if anything was to happen to her, but I was ecstatic she was tagging along. Is that selfish?

  “They said they would meet us there,” she informed me.

  “But they don’t know where it is,” I said. She rolled her eyes to this and said, “They’re not morons. They know how to read a map. Plus they’re old folks…they enjoy that kinda stuff.”

  The garage held hundreds of abandoned cars. Most of them parked impatiently; cars were sprawled all throughout the first level and in no particular order. In fact, I don’t believe one car was properly parked. Fortunately for us, it appeared as if everyone left their keys conveniently in, on, or around their cars. As if they threw them on the ground while trying to run for the airport.

  It’s hard not to be picky—especially when I was looking at Escalades, Porches, and Corvettes. Granted, a majority of the cars have dents; with some even running into each other.

  “I’ve never driven a Porsche,” I mumbled to myself as I patted the dented silver hood of the Porsche GT3.

  “Oh c’mon!” she said and opened the passenger side door of a black car I couldn’t really see. I walked over to get a better look and was stunned at her choice of vehicle. The black 2011 Mustang, which read ‘5.0’ just behind the front wheel-well, stood stout with a series of visible modifications.

  “We’re in America. We have to drive a muscle car,” she said in her cute Scottish accent. A woman after my own heart.

  She couldn’t find the keys so she crawled through the open door. Her knees were up on the seat as she bent over to check the floor boards and the driver side for the key. I couldn’t help but stare at her sculpted butt through the blue jeans. I admired other parts of her body as she checked the backseat. Respect, you dirty bastard. Respect. I’m just admiring the plain white t-shirt she was wearing—that’s all. That’s a damn fine shirt. And a V-neck too.

  “What’s that?” she called out to me.

  “N-n-nothing,” I stuttered. She looked at me and smiled. Was I talking out loud?! Emmmbarrassing.

  “Ah-hah! I got them!” she exclaimed holding up the keys. “Want to drive?” she said smiling.

  “Uh, sure,” I said shaking my head—knocking the impure thoughts from my mind. She moved to the passenger side and I sat down in the driver’s seat. I gripped the steering wheel and sighed. I got a feel for the pony car before sticking the key in the ignition. I played with the stick shift and got a feel for the clutch.

  “What’re you doing?” Alyse said laughing.

  “Shhh. These things take time,” I said as I grabbed the key and brought the engine to life. The five liter motor rumbled and brought my spirits even higher. I’ve got the hot girl and the fast car…what more could I want? I revved the engine several times to feel the grumble of the after-market exhaust; that’s when I heard the high pitch whine of the supercharger.

  “Whew!!” Alyse exclaimed as she rested her arm out the passenger window. Sliding the stick in reverse, I pulled out of parking spot. After putting it in first, I weaved through the cluttered parking garage. Once out of the garage and down the winding street through the parking toll I stomped on the gas. Our heads slammed against the head rests and the rushing wind brought a massive smile on my face.

  The roads were clear in some areas—making it easy to test the speed of the ‘Stang. In some areas, the roads were chaotic with abandoned cars and debris—mainly from collapsed buildings. Crowds of people huddled around in various areas throughout town. They were all doing something different—sitting silent while smoking, sitting silent while doing drugs, yelling at each other while doing drugs, just yelling for sport, or doing drugs for…sport? We sped past Best Buy and I thought of the spiffy electronics and gadgets I could snag.

  “Want an iPod?” she asked smirking. Damn, she caught me.

  “I’ve always wanted one,” I told her.

  “Well, when is your birthday?” she asked jokingly.

  “September 5th,” I laughed. “I expect a laptop too. I am soo tired of having to walk to the computer lab to write a paper.” Her confused look hinted that she didn’t quite get the sarcasm.

  We were already coasting through the final neighborhood before making it to the school. Usually the drive from home to the airport was nearly forty-five minutes, and the school is only five minutes from home. We made it in under fifteen. I enjoy fast cars.

  “Did you go to Pine Forest?” Alyse asked with curiosity.

  “Only for two years. I finished high school in Weatherford, Texas. Gabriel, on the other hand, graduated from Pine Forest.”

  “Where did he go to college?” she asked

  “College,” I scoffed. “
He applied to several different colleges, but they never accepted him. And it was because of some test scores.” I pictured Gabriel’s reaction every time he received a letter that started, ‘We regret to inform you…’ “Don’t mind all the ‘A’s’ he got in high school. That shit doesn’t matter,” I said mockingly. “He would always tell me it was bullshit how ACT and SAT test scores were the ruling factor on whether you made into college or not. Especially when his friends didn’t have the good grades he had, but had higher test scores. So they would get scholarships to go to big universities, and flunk out their first semester because of the work involved for each class. Morons don’t realize that it’s the grades you receive in high school that show if you’re ready for college. Ready for the responsibilities and duties you need to carry out. Or that an idiot can guess on those tests and get a perfect score. Or…” And I realized I was rambling on like Gabriel on one of his rants. Alyse was staring at me, listening intently. I laughed. “He got frustrated to the point where he just gave up, and joined The Army. Our parents hated his choice, but what else was there? To be honest, I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

  She now had her body pivoted toward me with one knee on the chair. “Well, I don’t mean to be pushy or anything, but I know that you know that he isn’t right upstairs.” I know this. Anybody who spends anytime with Gabriel would know this. But where was she going with this?

  “Yeah…?” was all I could say.

  “Would you blame the