This story is part of an ongoing series.
The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.
Feedback and
constructive
criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.
This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racism, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.
***
Part 1 - Prologue
Monday, February 22nd. The cold wind swept across the plain, whipping through the small town as if to refute any promise of warmth as the sun peeked over the eastern horizon. Though heavily bundled against the cold, the two women felt the chill in their very souls as they stood before the three graves in the local cemetery.
"So this is where they came." said the taller and larger of the two women. "And this is where they lived, and where they died."
"Yes." said the other woman, who was a bit smaller, but in much better shape, even athletic. "And they set in motion events that have changed the world... and my granddaughter says will change the world even more in ways yet to come."
"Sarah's headstone is very nice. Pink marble. Just like Alexis's." said Clarissa Belvedere Esterson. "Teresa honored her mother and her sister's memories very well."
"Yes," said Phyllis Troy, "and she didn't have to make one for her father. The Army took care of that."
Teresa's father's headstone had the words 'Medal of Honor' inscribed upon it. There were a few coins on it, including a quarter and a dime that had been superglued down and remained there. Teresa had left the quarter; after all, she had been with her father, at his bedside, when he had died. And the dime was left by a man that had served with the Captain: his Corpsman, who eventually became Admiral Leonard R. Cordell. (
Author's note: 'Secrets of Apple Grove', Ch. 01; 'Home For The Holidays', Ch. 01; 'Centuries', Ch. 03.
)
"A part of me is very sad that I never saw my sister again after she eloped with her husband." Clarissa said. "But when I saw and heard Teresa singing
'Oh Holy Night'
at the Christmas concert, I realized that while God moves in mysterious ways, His ways had been right for them, and for her."
After a few more minutes of silent contemplation in the windy cold of the morning, the women went forward and placed pennies on the headstone, indicating they'd visited the war hero's grave and paid their respects. As they stepped back, Phyllis looked behind her to see a middle-aged-man in a Police uniform coming up.
"Oh, hello Chief Bennett." she said.
"Why, Phyllis Troy!" said Chief Harold Bennett. "What a surprise! What brings you to visit?"
"It's a family visit." Phyllis said. "Chief, this is Clarissa Belvedere Esterson, Sarah's sister and Teresa's aunt. Clarissa, this is Chief Harold Bennett. He was the Town & County Police Chief between Griswold and Moynahan, then came out here and has cleaned this place up, from what my son tells me."
"I'm very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Esterson." said Chief Bennett, shaking Clarissa's hand.
"Please, call me Clarissa." said Clarissa. "I hope we have not bothered you by our early visit to your cemetery."
"Not at all." said Chief Bennett. "Did Teresa or Don come with you?"
"No, this was my idea, and we came on a whim." said Clarissa. "And Chief, there's something that has been bothering me for some time. I want to know what happened on the night my sister died, the night Teresa was born. Can you help us with that?"
"I can help get any records they still have on it, like her Death Certificate, autopsy, and all that." said Bennett.
"That would be very helpful, Chief," said Phyllis. "Clarissa has also wanted to find out if Sarah had the chance to hold her baby daughter after she was born."
Bennett said "That was, what, 38 years ago? That's a lot of time that has passed. But I'll call the hospital and see if they know who the nurses and doctors at the time were..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As he drove through the streets of The City in the pre-dawn darkness, he noticed that they were getting dirtier, more grimy. The buildings were also more run down, and the businesses were repair shops, moving companies and transportation companies, and a couple of pawn shops. No gasoline stations, fast food restaurants, strip malls, or anything that one would expect to see in middle-class neighborhoods. And fewer and fewer streetlights. This is not right, he thought to himself.
He heard the sounds of trains nearby, some passing through, but also the sounds of railroad car couplers colliding as trains were put together. That wasn't right, either. He was driving to the City's business center. This looked more and more like the Railyards District in the southeast part of the City.
"Turn left on Delray Street." said the female voice of Siri on his iPhone. He turned left, noticing the headlights of a car a distance behind him. No way to see what make and model it was; it was too dark.
He noticed that Delray Street was hardly more than a narrow service alley between two buildings that looked to be large warehouses. "Siri," he said, "you are taking me in the wronnng direction." He remembered to make sure that the car he'd seen was not following him. He never saw it pass by the turn, but it had not turned onto Delray Street, for sure.
Siri said "Turn right onto Carroll Street." Not much choice in that, he thought. Turning left meant driving into a fence. As he turned right he saw the huge railyard on the other side of the fence. So he
was
in the Railyards District, he thought to himself. It was one of the worst areas of The City, after the Badlands that were between the City center and the Airport District to the north.
He went down the road, seeing he was boxed in by the fence to the Railyards to his left, and a warehouse building to his right. As he went around a slight curve, he was suddenly confronted by a fence. It was a dead end.
"Turn right onto Donohue Street." Siri said.
"There is no Donohue Street, Siri." he said out loud. Siri did not respond. He looked at the iPhone. The map showed Carroll Street turning onto Donohue Street, but it strangely didn't really resemble where he was. "All right, I'm turning around and going back." he said to himself.
"Proceed to the route." Siri protested as he began backing up, and looking for a place to swing the car into to turn around. "Proceed to the route."
"There is no route, Siri!" he shouted, wondering why he was becoming irritated, and also wondering why he was talking to an automated voice.
The sudden glare of headlights behind him forced him to hit the brakes hard. As he looked behind him, he began to notice that his car was now surrounded by over a dozen men... wearing masks and displaying powerful handguns...
Part 2 - News Of The World
"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Monday, February 22nd, from the Anchor Desk at the KXTC studios. "Tensions rise in the State Legislature as time begins to grow short!"
After the hard-charging intro music, Bettina began: "Little progress is being made on the State Budget bill, even though the relevant committees of both Houses continue to meet together. Let's go to Carl Lemay in Midtown with a report. Carl!"
"
That's right,
Bettina!" said Carl Lemay, standing on the grounds of the gold-domed State Capitol. "The Legislative session is more than half over, and they have very little to show for it. Though many bills have been filed, some involving election reform, bail reform, and school curriculum reform, none have made it out of their committees as the deep divisions between not only the Parties but factions within the Parties have led to bitter argument and unappeasable rancor."
Lemay: "The Budget itself is at a standstill, as well. There was some hope over the weekend that some parts of the omnibus bill could be agreed upon, including basic spending for Government, schools, and healthcare, but the Black Caucus blocked the Government spending because it contained money to fund the State's Police Departments. Republicans retaliated by blocking school funding unless and until an amendment making it illegal to teach '
critical race theory
' was passed."
Lemay: "Additionally, Governor Sharon Marshall issued a
controversial
statement yesterday, accusing both Republicans and Democrats of 'slow walking' the Budget through the committees responsible for them. Her statement read, and I quote: 'If your strategy is to run out the clock and force me to sign a Budget passed at the eleventh hour that is not acceptable to the People of this State, I am here to tell you that I
will
veto it. Test me on this at your peril.', close quote."
Lemay: "That statement drew a rancorous response from the leadership of both Parties. The State House Majority Leader, Republican Wilson Hammonds of Pottsville, furiously denounced Governor Marshall, and said that if the Legislature passes a Budget and she vetoes it, then her veto message should contain her resignation. And Senate Budget Committee Chairman Katherine Woodburn, who is the owner of the parent company of KXTC Channel Two News, stated that if the Governor vetoes a passed Budget bill and causes a State Government shutdown, then she should be impeached and removed from office. Back to you, Bettina."
Bettina: "Thank you Carl! That was Carl Lemay with that important report. And now let's go to
trusted
reporter Amber Harris with another issue affecting the Legislative session. Amber!"
"
That's right,
Bettina!" shouted the athletic blonde reporterette from the rooftop of the building at the southwest corner of Courthouse Square, where College Avenue dead-ended at Riverside Drive, with the State Office Building as her background. "Channel Two News has learned that an important side issue in the Budget negotiations has developed, further entangling the process."
She paused and a report she'd previously taped was shown: "State Senator Katherine Woodburn of the 1st District, which contains our Town & County, is fighting for a stronger SBI with more power over the State's 96 counties and The City. Senator Woodburn, who is the owner of the parent company of KXTC Channel Two News, explained it this way."
Katherine came onto the taped report, saying "We need a strong SBI that can pursue drug operations across county lines, pursue other crimes across county lines, and protect the human rights of hardworking Undocumented Workers rather than throw them to the dogs of the Federal ICE Bureau for deportation."
Katherine: "But even more important: with some Police Departments in this State, including, I'm sorry to say, in my own District, the Town & County, not acting in accordance with the law and abusing the rights of People of Color with open brutality, we need a strong SBI that can move in and arrest and imprison the leaders of those racist Police Forces."
