The Cleansing

by Shane Crosby

  After what felt like decades, I had confirmation, Don wasn’t a part of the afterlife just yet. If you aren’t a believer in God, that just means you’ve never seen Him perform a miracle. Today, I saw that miracle and because of it, my brother has a chance to live.

  UNITED STATES

  World News

  Good evening, we’re coming to you tonight from the White House. As you know, President O’Bryan has been swift to implement new policies and procedures he believes will improve economic conditions and the overall quality of life for all Americans.

  A bill to assist the homeless was presented on the Hill and successfully passed both houses. The details of the program will provide a new budget specifically for the homeless population.

  Women and children will benefit first. The plan calls for housing to be established for homeless individuals free of charge for one year. Within that year, they will be provided assistance with job placement, skill assessment, training and education, if desired. After one year their progress will be assessed. They must be showing improvement by implementing all aspects of the programs assistance. If they do not, they’ll be removed from the program. The White House isn’t just talking. They’ve started contacting city and state officials within D.C. and the surrounding areas to locate buildings for purchase. Looks like this program will begin immediately. Everyone is excited about this new development. However, just as excited as we all are regarding the new programs for the homeless, there’s discontent and strife over the bill presented ending Wet Foot Dry Foot and the Welfare System and food stamp programs. We don’t have any specific details on either, but we’ve been in contact with every member of the house and senate attempting to obtain the overview of the bill. As soon as we have more information, we’ll have it here on World News.

  ONE WEEK LATER

  BERLIN

  INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

  Don

  The last thing I remember was talking with my brother Trevor. Lying here now, I’m not sure if that’s an accurate memory or wishful thinking.

  Languishing in a coma for a week is a surreal experience. They’re right when they say the hearing is the last thing to go. Everyone who visited me while I was lingering in my unconscious state talked to me and I heard every word they said. I don’t recall hearing Trevor, that’s why I’m questioning my memory of him being here in Berlin.

  While I was trying to determine my level of sanity, the door opened.

  ”Hey Bro!”

  I slowly turn around and see my brother, Trevor standing there. Oh thank God. I’m not losing my mind.

  My little brother, by ten months, six feet three, two hundred pounds still jogs five miles every morning and lifts weights religiously; not an ounce of fat on his body. He makes an entrance when he comes into a room.

  Trevor took the same route as we all did. He enlisted into the military. He chose the Navy, followed in my dad’s footsteps and became a SEAL. Did his twenty years and retired. Now he’s cutting his baby teeth as a Homicide detective. I couldn’t be prouder. However, at this moment, I don’t know if I’m happy to see him or horrified that he has to see me this way. Helpless, unable to perform the basic God given functions we all take for granted every day. What the hell? He’s family. We’ve had to share the same bathroom when we were growing up so no embarrassment or shame here, I guess.

  I managed to muster up a weak smile and pointed to the board on the table next to me. He picks it up and hands it over.

  “Hey”, I wrote

  “How’s it going, Bro? Ooops, sorry, I see it’s not going too well.”

  He starts helping me get a better position in the bed.

  “Thanks.” I wrote

  “How you feelin’?”

  I very slowly move my head from side to side, signaling not feeling so great.

  “Are you in pain?”

  I closed my eyes to signal yes.

  “Where are you hurting? Do you need me to call the nurse?”

  I shake my head.

  “Do you need me to speak to you in sign language?” Confused look.

  “Yeah, you know. Since you can’t talk. You can communicate with me in sign language.”

  I smiled and tried to keep myself from laughing because it hurt too badly.

  “Smartass,” I wrote.

  “Hey, don’t say I won’t do anything for my brothers.”

  I couldn’t contain my laughter and boy did it hurt.

  “I’m glad you’re okay. I wish the rest of the boys could see you, though.”

  I’m lying here practically in traction and he’s making jokes.

  “Look. You know how it goes with us. If you’re not dead, you’re fair game for jokes.”

  “Okay, Okay, you’re obviously feeling extra sensitive tonight. I probably would, too if I had a pipe inserted in a place where nothing should be inserted.”

  “Hate you.”

  “Seriously. What happened? How much can you tell me?”

  “From behind.”

  “Someone attacked you from behind?”

  I blinked to say yes.

  “Did they shoot you first or hit you?”

  “Felt heat.”

  “You were getting out of your car, correct?”

  I blinked for yes.

  “You felt the first shot and then they hit you. After that they just kept shooting.”

  I blinked for yes.

  “Have you worked on anything classified that might anger someone enough to want you dead?”

  “File.”

  “Do you still have it?”

  I smiled slightly. “Yes.”

  “How would anyone know you had it?”

  “Private, Morris.”

  “You gave it to someone else? To unencrypt?”

  “Yes.” I wrote.

  “Where is he?”

  “Gone.”

  “Gone? As in dead?”

  “?”

  “You don’t know. He’s missing?”

  “Yes.”

  “Damn. I wish I’d listened to that bothersome reporter. That file is why you’re in here. I’m sorry, D.”

  “Not your fault.”

  “I’m just glad you’re on the mend. Mase, Scott and Dub are on deployment. I told them not to worry about coming because I was here. You weren’t dying and if you did, it was nothing they could do anyway.”

  “True.”

  “They’ve called ten times a day or more since you’ve been in here. I was glad to let them know you were expected to recover. My phone bill is going to be massive. I’ve already told them to expect a bill for their share.”

  I smiled. “Tell me how that goes.”

  “I might get some from Dub, but the rest of those jokers, no way.”

  “Right.”

  “I’ll be here for a couple more days. Dub is taking over from there.”

  “Got it. Thanks.”

  “No problem. Get some rest. I’ll sit with you until Dub gets here.”

  “K.”

  I’m glad Trevor is here, not just because he’s my brother and I’m always happy to see my family, but because with someone making an attempt on my life, I need the protection. I’m in so much pain I wouldn’t be able to fight for my own life. His presence allows me to sleep soundly even with the morphine drip. From now until my older brother arrives, it’s me and the ZZZZZZZZ man.

  THREE DAYS LATER

  SLOW, BUT MAKING PROGRESS

  BERLIN

  Don

  My injuries were worse than they initially thought. Turns out, they hit me so hard in the back of the head, it bruised my brain stem, which was causing the constant headache and debilitating pain. To help it to heal, they gave me an epidural. I woke up fully today and I must say I’m feeling one hundred percent better than I did a week ago. The best sight I’ve seen since being placed in that coma was my older brother standing over me.

  “Hey bro!”

  “Hey Dub. Man, what are you doing here?”

 
Darien Uriah Bostick, Dub for short. My big brother, by a year. We’re all close in age. Each one has one a year behind him. We all have different last names and look different, too, but brothers all the same. There are five of us and five different fathers. If you’ve heard Papa was a rolling stone, ours was the opposite. Wherever our mom laid her hat was home. She took great care of us and that was by any means necessary. Not everyone’s mom was a biker chick, stripper and to keep us in the latest fad fashion, she sold her fair share of weed. She was a great mom to us and still is. If we had to pick again, we’d all pick her.

  “I came to see you, remember? Didn’t Trevor tell you? How hard did they hit you in the head?”

  He hugged me so tight like he was trying to heal all my scrapes, cuts and broken bones.

  “Hey, that’s what big brothers are for, right?”

  “Man, it’s good to see you upright. Well sitting up in the bed. I’m just glad you’re not stretched out unconscious anymore.”

  “Yeah, man, it was a little bit of a journey to get here.”

  “I heard.”

  “Trevor?”

  “Yep. He let us know you were shot and they hit you in that big ass head of yours. Care to tell me about that?”

  “Dub, to be honest, man I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know why someone tried to kill you?”

  “No.”

  “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the call Trevor placed to you, would it?”

  “It was routine. A soldier’s wife ends up on the states, dead. Of course we want to talk to him.”

  “I can understand that, but this all seems coincidental to me and I don’t believe in coincidences. Trevor caught some weird case, dumped bodies all over Gochian and now Europe. He calls you and now you’re in here half dead.”

  “Morris, the kid I was mentoring; he’s missing. He called me and told me he was scared. He thought someone was trying to kill him.”

  Dub interrupts...

  “Whoa, whoa, wait, he said specifically someone was trying to kill him?”

  “Yes. He said someone had broken into his girlfriend’s apartment. He sounded scared, too. He had information for me.”

  “What?”

  “Dub, If I knew that I wouldn’t be sitting here in a dress with a hole in the back with my butt hanging out.” He started laughing. I wasn’t amused.

  “Okay, man, sorry go ahead.”

  “Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, I never got to meet with him. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him. He’s a perfect soldier, never missed a day and now all of a sudden he’s MIA.”

  “Wait, you said he was paranoid someone was trying to harm him. He could’ve fallen off the grid to protect himself. Don’t jump to conclusions.”

  “Bro, I’m telling you, something’s happened to him, I can feel it. The night I spoke with him, I told him to get to the base. I told him that’s the safest place for him.”

  “Right, it is.”

  “He never made it. No one saw him that night. The cameras don’t have him entering at all. I asked someone to put a bulletin out on his car. I don’t know if they’ve found it. I made sure to stress to them not to talk to anyone but me.”

  As badly as it hurt, I took a deep breath.

  “Don, first, I think that was smart. Secondly, I think it’s best not to jump to any hasty decisions. He could be fine. They’ll find his car and it’ll lead to where he’s hiding.”

  “Dub, you’ve been doing covert operations for how long? When has an operative, informant, witness anything essential to your case just disappeared and turned back up unharmed?”

  “I understand how you feel, bro, but let’s just try to think positive.”

  “Just bring it, tell me the truth. We always keep it one hundred with each other now you’re treating me like I’m the Unabomber and you just got a package from me.”

  “Calm down, man, damn. I admit it’s suspicious that he’s disappeared right after you spoke with him. But, we don’t have any concrete proof he’s a victim of foul play. If he was scared, he could be anywhere hiding”

  “Dub, there was blood on the ground where he usually parks his car. I found his phone on the ground. Before I could do anything with the blood samples, I was hit and shot.”

  “Morris, must have stumbled upon something that got him into a little trouble.”

  “Yes, exactly. I just don’t know what that could possibly be.”

  “Do you know what he did with the information he wanted to give you?”

  “No. I told him not to carry it on his person. I have no idea what he did with it.”

  “I did understand you correctly. You did take a sample of that substance you discovered, right?”

  “Damn right and pictures. It’s my job, collecting evidence, remember? I saved the pictures to my computer. I put the sample in my refrigerator.”

  “Do you want me to get it while you’re in here or wait until you’re out?”

  “I have it in 3 places. I have a refrigerator in my room. I put two samples in my freezer. There’s one in my refrigerator in my office. Take everything in my office on my desk, everything. Do the same at my house.”

  “I’ll go get them. I’ll analyze them for you and let you know, if it’s his blood that should be easy to determine. But, you know it’s an apartment complex parking lot it could be anyone’s blood or anything.”

  “I know, but what if it’s his killer’s?”

  “That may be a bit more difficult to match.”

  “We can eliminate it being Morris’.”

  “Yes, that’s the idea. Did you call his family?”

  “No.”

  “Hoping you’d find him alive.”

  “Yes.”

  “Don don’t beat yourself up over this. I can already see you’re upset and blaming yourself.”

  “He was a Private Dub. Damn! He was just getting started with life; only nineteen years old.”

  “He signed up to protect the US from threats. There’s a war going on. His number could’ve been selected at any time. He knew the risks.”

  “Dub you’ve always been a greeting card full of comfort, thanks man.”

  “Look, I understand how you feel, but it’s important not to start sending out invitations to your pity party just yet. Let me collect the evidence you have, analyze it and we’ll go from there. Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  BERLIN

  DON’S RESIDENCE

  Dub

  I listened to my brother’s concerns about Private Morris. I knew when he told me he never made it back to the base that was bad news.

  Being someone who has ran operations, commanded troops and been the one who everyone looked to for solutions, to lose a soldier on your watch is more than difficult. It never leaves your thoughts. I know they say life goes on and it does and that very fact makes you angry. You’re experiencing the worst set back in your life and life just continues to go on as if you’re not a part of it. Having to fight back from something like that is trying, but he can do it. Anyone who’s been selected to lead during a time of war has and he will to.

  Don nor Trevor were sure if the attempt on Don’s life was due to the case they were working on or if it was something from Don’s past. Although they couldn’t give me a definitive yes this case could be a potential death sentence to them both, they weren’t eager to rule it out. Therefore, when I was given the key to Don’s place, I decided to proceed with caution.

  When I opened the door, I was met with a surprise or maybe not considering what’s brought us all to Germany. I should’ve expected this. The front of the house looked like a category five hurricane had gone through it. I didn’t want to end up like my brother so I pulled my weapon and cleared each room. Every room looked just like the one before it. It was destroyed. As much as my brother prided himself in his home and the possessions inside of it, I hated to be the one to tell him what happened.

  Calling Don...

 
“Cole.”

  “Hey Bro. A question. Why in the hell do you have all this stuff on your walls? Whomever your decorator is you need to fire her ass because she’s obviously drinking on the job.”

  “What? What the heck are you talking about?”

  “All these pictures of dead bodies, police reports, case files all over this wall, man? Who did you hire to do this stuff?”

  “Hey, don’t make me laugh. I didn’t hire anyone to decorate, that was all me.”

  “Oh, thank God! I was going to look for whomever did this so I could get them into the best rehab.”

  “Hey, didn’t I just tell you not to make me laugh? I put those up on the wall to always be able to study the case, technically, Trevor is the one obsessed.”

  “Um hmmm, that’s why they’re after your ass.”

  “What a horrible thing to say to your sick and injured brother.”

  “I’m just saying, any time someone is obsessed about something they won’t stop until they put the pieces together. It’s human nature. Someone like you, obsessed, is a liability to whatever they’re trying to hide. It’s a race to see which obsession is going to win; there’s ends with you dead.”

  “Damn! Mary Morbid! Don’t ever quit your job to write Hallmark Greetings! The suicide rate will surely go up.”

  “Lighten up. Get your skull cracked, shot a few times and now you’re all sensitive. Trevor warned me that you were in touch with your feminine side, but I didn’t believe him. I see it’s true.”

  “You and Trevor both can kiss my feminine ass. You almost die, have everyone around you disappear and turn up dead and let me know how you feel. You’d be paranoid, too.”

  Dub starts to laugh.

  “I wish I was an only child.”

  “No you don’t. What would you do in this world alone? I’ll tell you what, you’d die. If it wasn’t for Trevor being there to save your ass that’s where you’d be. In the grave with grandpa. You and him could sit around the fire in Heaven and ask Jesus to show you those magic tricks he use to do.”