Marked Souls

by Adrienna Turner

  There was a roadblock to stop her from leaving the area. Cops surrounded her, ready to fire on command, and yelled for her to halt. Police forces are chasing me now? She escaped their trap, but there was a gate that blocked her in. She couldn’t turn back around. She turned her head to see if her pursuers were catching up to her. Her heart pounded, feeling it in her throat, and sweat dripped from her forehead. Tears drained from her eyes, and her vision became blurry. She heard a whisper. Thinking it was the angel, she had to press forward. She climbed the fence, and saw a Hispanic in a yellow uniform and froze. Who could they be? Are they city workers? He spoke in Spanish, but suddenly her spirit translated it into English.

  “I will save you. Follow my command. Climb up. I’ll place this blanket over the wires not to sting you. It’s safe. Come.”

  Roya didn’t have time to figure out if this would work or not. She had to avoid the pointed steel wires and took a flying leap toward the blanket, and with one hand, leveraged herself over the wires. Those self-defense and martial arts classes helped. She fell into the yellow dump truck that backed up near the fence to catch her. Her body flopped over some blankets thrown over the trash bags. The Latino jogged to the passenger side of the truck, hopped inside, and they drove off as the cops and men in suits fired gunshots at the truck. Roya smelled urine, feces, and other unusual aromas around them. She didn’t lift up her head, since gunshots were hitting the back and sides of the dump truck. She heard people shouting angrily as they sped off in the alley until they made it to the interstate.

  Behind them, the men who followed Roya’s trail saw the blanket over the wires above the fence. One of them snapped loudly, “Dang, how we could lose her! She should’ve been electrocuted. This is atrocious! I cannot believe this.”

  The other spoke, “Those angels up there must be helping her!” He threw his fist up. “Soon, it is our time to reign and her guardian angels will not be able to save her!” He circled his hand. “Retreat!” He pushed and shoved the other men nearby. “Fall back men, we’ve lost her. Check all the scanners and contact headquarters immediately to review all motions on satellite.” He waved his hand for all the cops to fall back and carry on, and not to let anyone out of their district.

  Roya sat up in the back of the dump truck as soon as it sped up. She shook her head in relief and amazement that God saved them from this ordeal. She couldn’t even fathom what could’ve happened. Thank You, Lord! Once again, You are amazing! They came to a stop, and Roya, still in the back of the truck, heard the driver speaking to his wife in Spanish over his speaker phone. Roya was amazed that she knew it was Spanish, but could understand it in English.

  The man’s wife told them to go back to work as soon as they dropped their passenger off, so no one would be suspicious of them.

  When they arrived, Roya climbed out as fast as she could, and gestured wildly, “Go now! Quickly! Those men can track all your movements on scanners, satellite, and will do everything in their power to find me.” As they drove off, Roya turned to the woman. “Gracias! I cannot stay long. I have to make a quick call. Where’s my phone?” She patted her suit jacket until she felt her phone, “Oh here it is. Thank God,” She said, sighing in relief.

  “You’re welcomed in our home,” Her daughter spoke in English, translating for her mother.

  “Gracias,” Roya said.

  “Mi casa es su casa.” The middle-aged Latino woman said.

  “Muchas gracias.” Roya lowered her head to thank her.

  “Hablas Espanol?” the woman asked.

  “No.” She gestured with her fingers to show how little she knew. “No Habla Espanol.”

  “I’ll translate for you then. This is my mother, Julia, and I am Consuela,” the daughter offered.

  “Thank you, I am Roya.”

  The woman spoke in her native tongue. Consuela explained, “My parents crossed the border from Mexico to San Diego before I was born. She risked her life to make sure her children would become citizens. My brother was a small child then, and now working with my father, you may have seen him?”

  Roya nodded. She recalled the two men who saved her over the wired fence and drove her here.

  “Mother is telling you that her parents were shot at when they tried to escape. They surrendered. Her mother later died of a heart attack, and her father was shot at the border when he was sent back to Mexico.”

  “Oh, dear Lord Jesus!” Roya began to cry. “I am sorry for your loss. Tell your husband, thank you for saving me. I was being shot at. I was chased down. May God bless your husband and son,” Roya said.

  The daughter interpreted the words. As Julia glared at Roya, Roya sensed these memories came back when she heard about the men chasing after her. Roya reached for the woman’s hands, “Julia, Gracias. You welcoming me to your home under this danger is a wonderful gift. You are a wonderful gift.”

  The mother began to speak hurriedly, and the daughter translated quickly. “She says she knows how important God is to you, as He is to her. She says she doesn’t want to see anything happen to you.”

  As Roya smiled and was about to speak, Julia spoke again, shaking her head forcefully. Consuela translated, “I don’t want to see you die.”

  She helped Roya to a seat and handed her a glass of cold water.

  “Thank you. Gracias.” Roya responded.

  “I need to make this call,” Roya raised her hand to re-contact ACC with her new location and inquire if they were able to rescue her family from Greater New World Church.

  Isaiah answered the call. “We got the text.”

  “Relocated. Mexican family rescued me. Family still at the church. I sent you the address.”

  “Got it.”

  “I don’t want to see anything happen to this family. They are risking being locked up on my account.”

  “Contacts are on their way. End this call before they track it.”

  After Roya made the call, Julia introduced Roya to the rest of her family, finally leading her to the kitchen to prepare a supper.

  Roya sat down, and, wanting to relate to Julia, said, “Julia, I understand how painful it is to lose your folks to a governmental policy. I lost my husband and two young twins just a few months ago. Could you tell me if your coming here was uneventful?”

  Sipping on some tea, Roya listened to Consuela translate her mother’s story.

  “When we came here, Juan, my husband, was offered a chance to immigrate immediately, if we would take a chip. It was in the bracelet, or he could have it inserted with a needle.”

  Roya gasped. “You’re chipped?”

  Julia shook her head. “No, Juan decided to take the bracelet, because he was promised immediate safety for our son, Jesus. Jesus was just three, and they promised not to insert a chip without our say so. I didn’t trust them, so I chose to wait in Mexico until he called me, after he gained his citizenship.”

  “What a sacrifice! So, you don’t have either a chip or a bracelet? How long did that take?”

  “I don’t, and neither do Consuela or my other children. We are first generation Americans. It was a good year and a half before I was able to reunite with Juan and Jesus,” Julia said proudly. “Well, they had promised Juan that they would remove the bracelet when he became a naturalized citizen. They stared hard at him when I asked him to have them remove it, so he left it on.”

  “Intimidation.”

  Consuela nodded. “Mom hears stuff, too. She tried to tell Dad about the wages being lower for him, but he’s really good with the bank account.” She turned to her mother and translated what she had just told Roya.

  Julia chattered quickly, and Consuela spoke, “Never take that bracelet, or a chip. It made my husband speak and translate English perfectly, as well as handling money like a pro. My friends tell me the minimum wage law, and I’ve seen Juan’s paycheck stubs. He doesn’t earn what his co-workers do.”

  Roya took a deep breath as she realized the economic consequences of the country’s new answer to
immigration. Immigration, America’s new slavery.

  “The union has no clue?”

  “They do, but they see it as a way for their negotiations for raises and better working conditions to happen. The unions are part of the problem, since they get more co-workers, and their jobs are easier. Their mantra is ‘take the chip’ since they’re promised better things.”

  Roya focused on Consuela as she translated, and thought of Joy. As she looked at the beautiful girl, with a heart to match, she thought, Someday Joy will grow up to be a smart and pretty young adult like this teenager.

  “Promise me that your father, mother, and family will leave here.” Roya begged.

  ‘Why? We’ll be fine. My parents, father especially, worked hard to rent this home.”

  “Sweetie. Please leave this place once my friends rescue us. Come with us.”

  “I’ll let them know.” She told her mother in Spanish.

  Her mother shook her head, no.

  Roya told her briefly about the Task Force Special Ops and their mission to kill and destroy Christian ministries or lure them into following a false religion belief system.

  “I’m truly afraid that, if they find out you’ve helped me, they will hurt you. No matter what, though, we will definitely put you into our prayers.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Broken Vessels to Rescue

  Sondrea Willis

  Sondrea started to wonder if Roya really had lost her mind. Where could Roya have disappeared to? She rose and excused herself.

  Bernard inquired, “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t see Roya.” She glanced at the seat in front of her and further ahead. “Didn’t she raise her finger to excuse herself to the restroom?”

  “True,” He offered in a low voice.

  “It’s been quite some time. The service is almost over.”

  “Do you need me to follow you?”

  She shooed him, “No. I’ll be right back.”

  She checked the bathroom. She noticed the back-office door was left open, and then one of the ushers wearing a black suit hurriedly escorted her back to her seat.

  She tapped and whispered to Jewel, “I don’t see Roya in the bathroom or anywhere else in the back of the church.”

  “Where’s Roya then?” Jewel whispered back.

  “I don’t see all the deacons or ushers that I saw earlier either.”

  “Huh,” Jewel’s eyes widened as she processed the apparent concern of the deacons and ushers.

  “There was like two outside, two in the hallways, and two posted in here.” She pointed with her hand close to Jewel so as not to draw attention. “Now I only see the two posted in the church. Something isn’t right Mom. I think Roya left. We need to leave. We need to find her.”

  Jewel whispered in Sondrea’s ear, “Okay. I’m going with you. Let your fiancé know that we’re leaving to find Roya.”

  Then, Jewel tapped Sunny on her shoulder, pointing to the exit door, and Sunny nodded. Joy had fallen asleep with her head in Sunny’s lap.

  Joy’s sweaty sleep had soaked the lower part of Sunny’s dress. Joy sat up, smacked her lips and fell back to sleep on her aunt’s shoulder when she whispered, “Come on, Joy. Please wake up. We have to go.”

  “It’s time to go already?” Joy’s voice rose.

  Sunny shushed her, nodded, and pointed to the door. Joy rose slowly. Sunny held her to her side, and assisted her out of the aisle, holding her hand.

  Sondrea looked behind her, “I’ll be back. Meet me at the house, Big B.”

  He nodded his head.

  Lavonne sat in the back row. She rose from her seat once she saw her family members were at the exit door of the building. One of the ushers rushed to her seat, rose his hand to stop her, and the pastor spoke abruptly.

  Pastor Betty, at the pulpit, said, “We cannot have people leaving during the benediction. Please escort that family back to their seats.”

  Sondrea shook her head in disgust. Roya could be out there and she needed them. What was wrong with these people? She had never heard or seen Pastor Betty respond in such a manner. The guard at the exit flagged them to sit back down until the service ended. Sondrea came up with another plan.

  She whispered in Jewel’s ear, “Get ready to leave. They cannot stop us from going to the bathroom. I’ll take lead, then follow about a minute after me, not to look suspicious.”

  Jewel gave a light nod.

  Jewel tapped Sunny and whispered in her ear the message in brief.

  Her plan was to head to the bathroom, then out the back exit, and they’d trail behind.

  She went first. She raised her finger. She pointed to the corridor to the bathroom and the guard gave a slight nod and waved his hand to proceed. Three minutes later Sunny beelined to the hallway with Joy, entered in the bathroom, and last to follow was Jewel. The guard posted near the exit, moseyed to down the corridor near the restroom, to do his routine checks. He stepped away and returned to his post. Sondrea popped her head out the bathroom door, and saw the opportunity to leave out the back-door exit. She waved her hand for the others to follow quickly behind her.

  Jewel unlocked the doors of her Mercedes, jumped in, pressed the engine start button, and waited for the others to get in. They hastily put their seatbelts on. She backed out of their parking space and pulled over to the side to speak to one of the teenagers Sondrea recognized from youth church.

  “Hey D. I need you to come here for a second,” Sondrea yelled from the passenger seat and flagged him over to her car window.

  “Hi, Miss Sondrea. Wassup?” D said when he walked over to her car window.

  “I was wondering if you noticed a woman leaving the church about forty-five minutes ago?” She asked, staring into his eyes to see if he would lie to her.

  “Yes. She went out the back door like you guys did.”

  “What? You were watching us?” Sondrea wondered.

  “Miss Sondrea, you know I live next door to the church,” D cracked a smile. “I was hanging out with the boys and saw a woman running down the block. Then some guys about four or five houses up that way, she asked them for help and they blew her off,” D pointed ahead. “Once a couple of the deacons posted outside saw her running, they yelled for us to stop her for a reward.”

  “A reward!” Sondrea yelled, while the others chimed with “What in the world?”

  D nodded. “I thought that was strange.”

  “Help us. I’ve got some cash in my purse.” Sondrea offered.

  He rose his hand to stop her. “You know cash is no good here.”

  “I have a chipped cash card that you can have,” Sondrea changed gears and dug in her purse.

  Jewel stated, “Find out what happened.”

  “Well, I moved out of the way and one of those thirsty guys bumped into me. I was all like ‘dang, man. What’s your problem?’” D explained.

  “Where did she go?” Sondrea asked. She glanced at Jewel, Joy, and Sunny.

  “Down that way, near the creek, and I think there’s a roadblock up there.”

  “Down that way,” Sondrea pointed in the direction to be clear. “Thanks for your help, D.”

  “I’m not sure if she got away from the cops.”

  “Whoa, you saw cops?” Sondrea shrieked.

  “Yeah. She might be in custody.” He continued. “What you know that woman?” D inquired. His leg shook.

  “Yes, that’s my sister,” Sondrea looked over her shoulder at Sunny in the back. She saw Sunny trying to smile.

  D leaned on the car door, looking at everyone in the vehicle.

  “You guys don’t look like sisters.” He shouted back as if he studied their features in comparison.

  “Well we are,” Sondrea replied sassily.

  Lavonne ran towards the vehicle, yelling, “Wait. Sondrea! Wait. Mom.”

  “Girl, why are you running to the car?” Sondrea yelled back and stuck her head out of the window. “You should be headed home?”

  �
�Where are you guys going?” Lavonne asked, wiping her sweat from her forehead with her hands and wiping it on her shirt.

  “We have to find Roya. I didn’t see her come back from the bathroom.”

  “I’ll check with you later, Miss Sondrea,” D said, and strolled back to his house.

  “Peace,” Sondrea waved at D. She turned to Lavonne, catching her breath. “Girl, they let you out?”

  “Church service is over.” She threw her hands upward. “I was wondering why you guys snuck out of the church. I also wanted to know what happened to Roya.”

  “That’s why we’re talking to that young man, goes by D, who just left. He gave us a lead,” Sondrea said abruptly.

  “We need to find her,” Lavonne shouted. “Let me call her cell. I’ll go back to my car and follow you guys. Wait for me,” Lavonne said nervously.

  Sondrea flagged her to go.

  Lavonne turned around to walk back to her car. She saw the crowd of people and all the cars lined up in the parking lot to leave the building. Sondrea and Lavonne saw men in black suits running in their direction.

  “Open the door, Sondrea. Open it now!” Lavonne shouted and raced towards the Mercedes.

  Sondrea unlocked her door and scooted over as Lavonne jumped in.

  “Drive Jewel, now! Put your foot on the gas!” Lavonne said.

  Jewel sped away. She drove in front of a car in passing, almost hitting their back door, and then it tailgated them. She honked. The passengers in front of her looked at Jewel, wondering what the emergency was. All the women turned to see the men in suits running down the block after them. Jewel took the next exit to see where Roya could have run.

  Sondrea refreshed the others that overheard D, “He said she ran near this creek. This has to be it!”

  “Oh my God. Get out of the car to see if Roya is over there.” Jewel stopped so abruptly, the tires screeched. “That tree’s down. I hope she’s not in the creek!”

  Lavonne and Sunny left their doors open as they ran over to the area. She remained in the back seat taking off her seatbelt to look out the front window. Lavonne pointed in another direction. Sondrea climbed out and walked behind them.