by Lauren Salem
“How did you come back from the dead? Are you a zombie? Vampire? Werewolf?”
“Actually, I’m human, and I’m not really Johnny,” he said, handing me some bricks. “Start stacking. We don’t have much time.”
I got down on my hands and knees and started stacking bricks. “Who are you, and why do you look like Johnny?”
“I look like Johnny for the same reason you look like Albert Johnson to the other scientists. To me, you look like Collins.”
“How can you see my true identity when I’m wearing the paper clip?”
“That paper clip is actually called a perception filter. Perception filters change your appearance so that you look like someone else. I can see through your perception filter because I’m wearing antiperception contacts. These are all gadgets that were invented by the scientific wing of Walnut Cherryville.”
“Who did you say you were again?”
“Well, if I wanted you to know, then I wouldn’t be wearing a perception filter, but I can tell you that I’m a friend.”
“How did you get the perception filters and contacts?”
“I stole it…Stealing things from Walnut Cherryville is easy when you know where to look.” The brick wall was complete, and the Johnny imposter ran through the sand toward the fence. “Come on, follow me.”
Once we reached the fence, he walked alongside it, intently searching for something.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
“An opening.”
“This fence wraps around the entire building. There isn’t an opening.”
“Well, that’s what you see because your perception is limited,” the fake Johnny said as he walked through the fence. “I found the opening. It’s narrow, so you want to keep your hands to your side and step exactly where I stepped.”
I placed my foot in his footprint and slowly inched toward the gate. I didn’t see an opening.
“Keep your body straight, and don’t bend your knees. If you touch the gate, then an alarm will sound, and we’ll get caught. You’re doing good; keep going.”
I took five small steps to the left, and suddenly I appeared on the other side of the fence. We walked the dirt roads until we found an abandoned car with the keys still in it. Fake Johnny seemed to recognize the car and claimed that it belonged to a friend. I hopped in the passenger seat, and Johnny took the wheel. Within an hour we found ourselves on the highway, heading back to civilization.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “If you have all these resources, why are you bothering to help me? Why didn’t you just escape from Walnut Cherryville and never look back?”
“That would be irresponsible, and it wouldn’t work as you already saw when you and your friends escaped. You can’t solve all your problems by putting a Band-Aid on them and walking away. The only way to be free is to get rid of the problem at its source.”
“So what are you suggesting?”
“You know exactly what I’m saying, Collins.”
“Are you suggesting that we take down Walnut Cherryville?”
“All I’m saying is that you and your friends and everyone in Walnut Cherryville are a part of something bigger and more significant than the sum of your individual lives.”
“And what is that?”
“That’s something you’re going to have to figure out for yourself. All I can tell you is that if you stick with me, I promise you it will be in your best interest.”
“It doesn’t seem like I have a choice.”
“You always have a choice. Whether you realize it or not, you already chose a side.”
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to do or why you even need me. You were at my school, sending me yellow papers, so back then you were trying to recapture me, and now you’re helping me escape?”
“From the minute you five left Walnut Cherryville, the secret watchers were notified, and they were all looking for you. I tried to get to the school before they did so I could warn you, but there wasn’t enough time. You’ll know what your purpose is soon enough.”
“I just have to say that I’m kind of annoyed at you for taunting me with those yellow papers. Instead of writing a clear note and telling me I needed to leave the school, you wasted time and drew a series of pictures. I sat there like an idiot trying to figure out what they meant instead of using that time to escape.”
“Just be thankful that you’re alive, and stop complaining about things you don’t understand,” Johnny said as he took the Phoenix exit off the highway.
“What do the drawings on the courthouse mean?”
“They mean something different to everyone that looks at them. It’s like when you open a fortune cookie, and the fortune inside has a generalized statement like, ‘A thrilling time is in store for you.’ All it did was tell you what to think about, which consequently raises more questions.”
“Have you found meaning in the drawings?”
“Yes, I have, but it’s personal, so I can’t tell you what I saw.” Johnny pulled into a parking garage and parked the car. “This is your stop.” He reached in the backseat and handed me a backpack. “This bag has everything you will need for your mission. The first thing you should do is go into the apartment and review the items and information in the bag. The key is in the bag, and the apartment number you’re looking for is 307.”
“OK,” I said, slightly confused. I got out of the car and put the backpack on.
“Good luck,” Johnny said before he drove away.
After climbing three flights of steps, I found the apartment and unlocked the door. It was a small studio apartment that was unfurnished, and it seemed like no one was permanently living there. I walked into the living room/bedroom or whatever it was, and dropped my backpack on the carpet next to the sleeping bag before I took a look around. The pillow and sleeping bag that was rolled out on the carpet looked exactly the same as the ones we slept on in Walnut Cherryville. Underneath the pillow was a pile of copies of the drawings on the courthouse. Maybe the Johnny imposter didn’t waste time redrawing the pictures every time he needed to taunt somebody. At least he was smart enough to make copies.
Since there was nothing else to see in this room, I moved on to the kitchen to get some grub. All I saw in the refrigerator was a bunch of leftover Chinese food. Not sure what it was or how old it was, but it still smelled like food, so it must have been edible. I looked around for a bowl and silverware, but couldn’t find anything. The best thing I could find was a plastic cutlery packet on the empty counter, so I tore it open and dug into some vegetable mixture with brown sauce.
As I ate, I walked to the bathroom. Interestingly enough, there were clues in the bathroom that told me that Johnny was actually a woman…and possibly a very hot one. The first sign of a woman living in an apartment was the presence of hand soap in the bathroom. Women always washed their hands with soap; men didn’t bother unless something got on them, and even then, we rarely used soap. The second clue was the hair shampoo, conditioner, and body soap in the shower…all girl brands. The last clue was the clothes in the cabinet underneath the sink. When I opened the cabinet, I found a pair of red silk panties on the top of the pile, so I examined them by testing their elasticity (slightly stretchy), size (small), and smell (dirty). I put the dirty panties back in the cabinet and unraveled a pair of jeans, blouse, and bra from the pile.
Everything seemed kind of small and short. She could still be hot, but not bangin’. I appreciated women of all different shapes and sizes, but my favorite kind of woman was a curvy, tall woman with some double Ds…Now that’s bangin’! I put the clothes back in the cabinet, returned to the living room, and dumped the contents of the backpack out on the carpet. All that was in there was an unlabeled tube of lotion, $300 in cash, a list of forty grocery stores with their addresses, and instructions written on yellow paper.
Collins,
Pretend you are a common shopper in a grocery store, looking for good produce. To hide your identity, keep y
our perception filter on so the secret watchers can’t detect you. Use the money to pay for cabs that will take you to each grocery store on the list. There is a payphone and phonebook near the bus stop located on Bear Street (one block east of here).
This next part is extremely important to remember: after you enter the store and you are in the produce department, rub the lotion on your hands. You will only need a nickel-sized amount for each use. Do not put your hands near your eyes or mouth while the lotion is on your skin. While in the produce department, only touch the produce with the Walnut Cherryville Farms labels and nothing else. Be careful not to bruise the produce. For produce like berries, you will have to open the plastic package and touch the produce inside. Do not use the money to purchase any food while you’re on your mission. Before leaving each store, you should wash your hands with soap and water in the bathroom to prevent the spread of contamination. When you’re done with your mission, return to the apartment. Good luck!
I crumpled up the note and returned it to the backpack. This was what the yellow-paper pusher needed me for? How was contaminating innocent people that have nothing to do with Walnut Cherryville revolutionary? What the hell was in this mysterious lotion? I unscrewed the cap, squeezed the tube slightly and took a waft from a distance. It smelled like shit…literally. If this lotion was made of fecal matter, then why was it creamy and white? I couldn’t think of any fecal matter that would be white unless she bleached it, and who knew what kind of chemical reaction that would make. Unless…it was made from bird poop. Eww! I dropped the open tube on the floor just as Johnny entered the apartment.
“Collins, you’re still here,” Johnny said, “I expected you’d be gone, doing your mission by now.”
“Yeah, about that…I don’t think I can do it.”
“Why not?”
“You’re asking me to contaminate produce that will make innocent people sick and possibly die. I don’t know exactly what’s in that lotion, but if it’s what I think it is, then you’re trying to induce an outbreak of E. coli and for what? How is contaminating fruit going to affect Walnut Cherryville at all?”
“Look, Collins, I know this sounds bad, but it’s not. Your mission will make few sick, but it will save thousands. Think about it this way: Walnut Cherryville is a fire, and a fire will die out if you cut off its oxygen flow. The purpose of this mission is to create bad publicity for Walnut Cherryville Farms so people stop buying the products. Once everyone gets word of the outbreak, the stores will pull the produce off the shelves, and the USDA will investigate. If the plan works correctly, then the Quinton family should be shivering in their boots due to lack of cash flow. Without cash, the Quintons won’t be able to buy the resources they need to run Walnut Cherryville, like food, water, and supplies; thus, people will stop working and start thinking.
“The only way to fix bad publicity is with good publicity, forcing the Quinton family to expose themselves to the world in an attempt to regain the consumers’ trust and convince them that their products are safe. But we’re not going to let that happen. You and several others will continue contaminating the produce until Walnut Cherryville is snuffed out! Everyone will finally work together, rise against the government, kill the authority, and be free to live our lives as we want to. Now that you know the grand plan, will you continue your mission?”
“How long am I going to have to do this for? It seems like your plan could take at least a year or more to work.”
“I can’t give you a definitive answer, but I promise you that your life will get back to normal soon enough. Everyone needs your help.”
“Are you sure there isn’t another way? It seems like a lot of people will get hurt in the process because you’re contaminating some and then starving and dehydrating others. How strong do you think your army will be without food and water?”
“They’ll be fine, and mostly everyone will survive…You have to trust me. The government will hoard all the food and water for themselves, so people will be encouraged by their hunger to fight against the government for food and water and then eventually their freedom.”
“I guess that makes sense, but is there anything you can do to help my friends who are fighting for their lives in Chair Trials right now?”
“I don’t want to make any promises, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks…I’ll start my mission now.”
About thirty minutes later, I arrived at the first grocery store. I walked into the produce department and rubbed the lotion on my hands like instructed. The time was about five o’clock in the afternoon, and the store was crawling with mothers and their children. I stood in front of the mango stand and reached for the mangos, but for some reason my hand shook with hesitation. A mother with three hyper kids pushed her cart toward me as she spoke to her husband on her cellphone. The youngest was a little girl, who sat in the shopping cart, clapping and giggling as she kicked her mom playfully. The older kids, two boys who looked like twins, chased each other around the mango stand, playing tag.
“Excuse me one second, settle down, boys,” Mom said. “Emma, please stop kicking mommy.”
All of a sudden, one of the boys rammed into the mango cart, and some of the mangos started to fall to the floor. Without thinking, I caught them and placed them back on the top of the pile.
“Ron and Don, you stop horsing around this instant! I’m so sorry, sir,” she said as she grabbed a mango and placed it into her cart.
My eyes locked on the mango as she pushed her cart away into the deli. I wanted to say “Wait, don’t eat that,”, but the words were stuck in my mouth. There was no use in trying to stop her; I had to do this. It would be easier for me to complete my mission if I didn’t have to see the victims I was hurting. Another little boy ran past me, tripped on his shoelace, and started crying frantically. His mother rushed over, hugged him, and wiped his tears away. Watching the mother take care of her son reminded me of how much I missed my parents.
Everything was so much easier back then when my parents were alive. I wasn’t really responsible for anything or anyone, and I could sit back, relax, and enjoy being a kid. I didn’t know how much I took my parents for granted until I lost them, and I quickly realized that it was the little things they did for me that I missed the most.
* * *
When my dad taught me how to ride a bike, the first time he took the training wheels off, I fell and scraped my knee pretty badly. As I cried, he took me into the house, cleaned the scrape, and put a silly Band-Aid on it. Once I felt better, he encouraged me to try to ride my bike again, even though I was afraid. I didn’t want to try something new, I just wanted to ride my bike with training wheels or not at all, but Dad wouldn’t let me use the training wheels anymore. He took them away and put them on the highest shelf in the garage. When I asked him why he did that, he said if I kept using them, I wouldn’t grow up to be a big boy and that only big boys get ice cream cones. I took that statement literally and thought that using the training wheels was preventing me from growing tall, which caused me not to be able to reach the ice cream cones. I practiced riding my bike with my dad every afternoon, enduring cuts and scrapes until I could ride around the neighborhood without falling. That was how Dad taught me important life lessons…
A week later, I was able to ride my bike to the ice cream truck, but I wasn’t able to buy an ice cream cone even though I could reach it, because I didn’t have any cash. When I asked my dad for some cash, he introduced me to my next life lesson…One bike stroll, a lemonade stand, and five dollars in quarters later, I was able to reach and buy myself an ice cream cone!
Unlike my dad, my mom didn’t feel like everything she helped me with needed to teach me a lesson. Every school night, after she helped me finish my homework, my mom would organize my backpack to make sure I had everything I needed for school the next day. In elementary and middle school, I was always losing things, especially my homework. I was that kid who told his teacher that his dog ate his homework,
his homework accidently blew away with the wind, or that his homework suddenly burst into flames. Sometimes I’d even misplace my shoes if my parents didn’t tie them tightly on my feet. Despite how forgetful I was, I knew where my lunchbox was located at all times, because lunchtime was my favorite time of day. Mom always packed me a ham and cheese or peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich, which was sliced into two triangles with the crusts neatly cut off. She’d also throw in a fruit punch juice box, a fruit like a clementine or a mini apple, and a homemade dessert like a chocolate chip cookie or a brownie. I’d sit through my boring classes all day, dreaming about what was in my lunchbox. Whatever it was, all the other kids were always jealous and wanted to trade, but I never traded my lunch with anybody.
Contaminating this fruit could possibly take a mother or father away from their child, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, even the meanest kid in school. How could I do this? Who would teach a boy to learn how to ride a bike if he didn’t have a father? Who would pack his lunchbox and backpack if he didn’t have a mother? I ran to the bathroom, washed my hands with soap and water and returned to the cab. I didn’t know how I’d explain this to the Johnny imposter, but I was sure I could find a way to get her to understand.
After the cab dropped me off at the apartment, I explained to the Johnny imposter why I didn’t contaminate the fruit; but for some strange reason, the conversation didn’t go as well as I thought it would.
“I only asked you to do one simple, little thing, and you managed to fuck it up,” Johnny shouted. “People in Walnut Cherryville are suffering and dying because of you!”
“That’s no reason to harm innocent families with children,” I said. “There has to be another way.”
“This is the only way, and that’s what you don’t understand, Collins! If you refuse to complete the assignment, then I have no choice but to send you back to Walnut Cherryville, where you will certainly die.”