He just wanted to sleep in for one morning, but the familiar patter of little feet running down the hall towards his room told him otherwise. There was a bounce on the bed as she jumped on it and crawled between them. She squeezed her little body between her parents as she pulled the covers over herself playfully.
“Dad, mom, is it my birthday yet?” Lily asked, innocently loud.
“No, not yet, honey. Go back to sleep.” Darius whispered, with eyes still closed while Nora stirred and stretched. Her beautiful slumber was officially over.
“Well, when is it going to be it then, dad? In two days or four days?” Lily asked. She was wide awake and full of energy.
“Neither. Your birthday is months away. It’s right before Halloween.” He replied, blinking his eyes open.
“So, when is it going to be Halloween tomorrow?” she asked, nearly pushing her face into his, causing him to turn around.
“No, honey. We’re still in March, and we’re barely going into the spring. So, we must go through spring and summer and then when it gets closer to fall, that’s when it’s Halloween. So, when the leaves turn red and yellow and brown and start falling off the trees, that’s when you’ll know it’s closer to Halloween and your birthday.” he replied and yawned.
“Can I have a birthday party? I want to invite my best friends at school to come so we can play and have cake. I want a unicorn cake, ok dad? And I’ll invite everyone at school and in my class to come because they’re all my friends. Well, except Adrina, because she’s a bad girl and she’s not that nice to me, so I don’t want to be nice to her, but everyone else I’ll invite.”
“Ok sweety, that sounds wonderful. We’ll have like a hundred people there then. I guess we better save.” He replied, blinking his eyes open and then yawning.
“Is a hundred a lot or a little?” She asked as Nora rolled out of bed.
“I’ll go make some coffee.” Nora declared as she put on her slippers and tiredly shuffled out of the room. It was too early in the morning to answer 1,000 questions from Lily and they were only 5 questions in.
Darius looked over at the clock on the nightstand next to him. It was 7:30am. At least Lily waited until after 7am to come in and wake them up this time. At other times she’s bolted in at 5 or 6am. She started off the conversations this morning about how she had the best dream ever the night before and she was ready to go on a nature walk.
She even got herself dressed already. Her idea of getting dressed involved a pink princess dress, tiara, her black boots, and a purse. Sometimes she’d accessorize with arms full of bracelets and a neck full of colorful beaded necklaces, but at least she left the boots on the side of the bed before climbing in to wake her parents.
He picked her up in his arms and carried her downstairs to the kitchen. She giggled with delight as he spun her around before sitting her down on the chair. Nora was getting the coffee mugs out of the cupboard as the coffeemaker gurgled and dripped the dark caffeine induced substance that signaled the start of a new day with a robust smell. Practically 200 years after its initial invention, not much had changed over the centuries of the coffee maker’s tried-and-true design and innovation. It was a steadfast kitchen appliance and still a top gift contender for new homeowners and college-bound students.
“What time did you make it in?” Nora asked as she poured the hot coffee into the cups. Her voice was pleasantly calm and lacked the scowl of an enraged wife. He still braced for the avalanche, though.
“Oh, I think it was around 11 something. I went to that bar down the street from work. You know, the one I used to go to all the time?”
He made it home closer to 2am, but admitting that would mean he’d have to tell her a more elaborate lie about why he stayed out so late. He still watched her movements as she poured the coffee for any signs of anger.
“Oh, I didn’t hear you come in. I was so tired I went right to bed around 8.” she said as she added a few scoops of honey and milk to each cup.
Nora stirred both cups and poured a glass of milk for Lily, who sat patiently at the table watching her.
“Can you make mine a chocolate milk please?” Lily requested enthusiastically.
Nora smiled at her and grabbed the chocolate powder jar. She added a spoonful to her cup of milk. Lily licked her lips with delight and smiled with glee. Nora made this one container of chocolate powder last for an entire year by giving Lily only half a scoop. Even though she continuously looked out for chocolate in the grocery, she had seen none on the shelves for over 6 months.
“You’re the best mom ever.” She declared, as Nora placed the chocolate milk in front of her. Lily grasped hold of the cup and gulped it down.
Nora joined Darius on the couch. He was sifting through the channels, scanning the news for any sign of coverage on the events from last night. The morning news shows were often lighthearted and full of cute pet stories, positive government propaganda, and recipes. This morning did not differ from the Saturday mornings that have come before it, and it relieved him to not see the Ha House take center stage.
“I ran into Will last night.” Darius said, taking a sip of coffee. “You remember him? He used to work with me at my last job.”
“Oh yeah, the balding guy with the wife that was way older than him, right?” Nora asked.
“Yeah, that’s him.” He replied with a smile at his wife’s uncanny memory.
“How is he doing?” Nora asked, taking a drink of coffee.
“Doing great, actually. He works for the Daily Mail now. Not as a newscaster, but still good job security.”
“Sounds like he’s doing well.”
“Yeah, which reminds me. I have a book I need to take back to the library.”
“On a Saturday?” Nora asked, surprised.
“They’re open Saturdays and it’s about to be past due. I have a few on hold that I need to pick up too while I’m at it. If you think of something you need while I’m out, just let me know.”
She grinned at him. “Why don’t you read one of those ‘how-to’ books and learn how to fix that washing machine for me. You know the thing stopped working 3 months ago and I’ve been patiently waiting for you to address the need for a new one.”
He kissed her cheek. “I’ll get you any washing machine you want, my love. Just put in the request chit to the Housing Society and they’ll take care of it.”
“You know it will take a year before they give us a new one.” She responded, slapping him with one of the couch pillows. “Ha-ha, funny man.”
He put his hands up to block the pillow assault.
“And a BotMa too, please. I’ll happily wait ‘til my birthday for one of those. I don’t need it right this moment, but one sure will come in handy.” She replied coolly, with a smile.
“A BotMa?” He asked, “I’ll tell you what, I’ll get you a BotMa when you work for one.” He shot back playfully as she scowled back at him with a seductive grin. The look in her eyes confirmed she believed everything he just said. He suddenly felt disgusted with himself.
A few hours later, Darius drove to the storage facility and stopped by the front office to pay the monthly rent on the unit. The office was always neat and had several packing items on display for purchase that included pop-out cardboard box kits. The kits were the size of a fist, but when you unwrapped them, they’d bounce open into a set of 5 or 7 large boxes, complete with a roll of tape. A security guard squinted at him through his thick glasses as he entered.
The old man said few words, but today seemed chatty as he scanned Darius’ wrist. “You know, it’s time you best pack up and head on over to Goodland Storage on Dandelion Road.”
“Excuse me?” Darius asked.
Was the old man kicking him out when he never missed a payment and never made trouble? He looked at him confused while the old man stacked a few papers on the desk with his wrinkled and sun spotted hands that shook uncontrollably.
He looked at Darius with wrinkled grey eyes and with his frail voice said, “The fella before you moved every 6 months. You’ve been here the longest and I tell ya, if you weren’t the riskiest fella I ever did see. You’re taking an enormous risk by hanging around so long.”
“What do you mean? You knew Eric?” Darius pressed, but the old man drew his index finger to his lips and opened the drawer next to him to retrieve a key.
“Goodland Storage. Here’s your key and the container number is on the top of it. I’d go now if I were you. There’s much to do and thank you for entrusting us with your storage needs.” He ended with a lip quiver as he folded his hands in front of him and waited quietly for Darius to leave.
As Darius returned to his car, he wondered how much the old man knew. He wanted to go back and talk to him, but he seemed adamant about Darius leaving. He knew Eric and that meant he probably knew Eisenhower too, since they both used to work on The Maverick together. It made sense to move around and not stay in one place.
Darius drove up to the storage unit and loaded its contents into the trunk of the car. Luckily, everything fit and he situated the folding tables in the back seat. Darius wondered how Eric got everything there without a car because he took the train everywhere. Maybe Eisenhower had a vehicle.
Darius punched in the street name on the GPS. He didn’t want to put the name of the storage place in, still feeling paranoid from the night before. He didn’t have Elan’s fancy regulation system installed, but thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to find someone that could do it. After all, writing about the real American history was already a prison sentence waiting to happen. He looked over at the passenger seat and the briefcase sitting on it. Inside was a book he had to return right after he got the storage unit thing situated.
He headed to the next city over, which was much like Munich Hill, with rows of shopping plazas, another mall, and plenty of restaurants to choose from. Everywhere you went, there were reminders you belonged to the Faction. They plastered their insignia on the windows of businesses, on the wall of every school classroom, and stamped in every approved book available to the mass market for reading. Some people even wore pins on their clothing, usually donned on the collar of their shirts or jackets. A small black diamond shaped badge of the familiar imperial crown on top and a flying eagle at the bottom with two old English letter F’s in the middle, back-to-back. It was the seal of unity featuring the strength and liberty of the Americas and the long-standing power of the ruling elite families.
He recalled the history lessons they drilled into him as a student and how different it was from the truth. After the Second Revolution, the mainstream historical records show the people came together in unity to support the Falconal Faction and rebuilt. There were celebrations in the streets as the Old World came crashing down and they built the New World up promoting the hopes and dreams of a united global rule under the supreme leadership of the Falconal party which was composed of the most influential families in the world. But what the approved history books don’t say is that the revolution came on the trail winds of the third world war in which they destroyed democracy in America. This gave way to the total annihilation of Israel and Pakistan, while crushing Africa, Japan, Canada, and more.
They renamed many countries while others ceased to exist. As monuments came down and history books burned, the Second Revolution went on for 10 years in the United States alone. It was one bloody battle after another, but the resistance wasn’t strong enough to overthrow the Falconal Faction, who owned nearly everything the world produced. They starved out resistance strongholds, imprison and killed resistance leaders, and with propaganda and fear, controlled the population into submission by implanting track cards and segregation. They withheld medicine for the sick, shelter for the poor, and shut down the economy for years until there was nothing left for the people to depend on.
When all hope seemed lost amongst the flock, the Falconal Faction emerged from the shadows of their own war and declared themselves saviors of humanity. While they created a new government of law, they finally distributed medicine and food to those in need. Gone were the days of liberty, freedom, and individuality, and in its place was a structured and rigid classless authority void of capitalism. Public hangings in the barbaric fashion of what they called “Old World sentencing” became prime-time entertainment. Those that held on to private collections of history hid their treasures in walls, under floorboards, inside the deepest recesses of basements and cellars. Weak-minded people allowed the Faction to win, but who can blame the masses when they were starving, sick, and afraid?
Darius drove into the small parking lot of Goodland Storage, in a nicer part of town. He went inside the office where a young blond woman sat typing away at her computer. The computer was an earlier holographic model in which the screen popped out of the keyboard when turned on, a replacement for the laptops of the past and compactible to the size of a smartphone, making it easy to transport in one’s back pocket. She looked over at him with a toothy smile.
“How can I help you today? Are you looking for some place to store your things?” She asked.
“Actually no, I just want to pay the rent on space number 108 please.” He replied politely, recalling the unit number on the key.
She continued to smile at him. “Oh yes, well that space is at a special rate and the first six months are free.”
“Free?” He asked, dumbfounded. “How is it free?”
“I don’t make the rules, sir. I just work here.” She started typing again and then stopped suddenly to address him before he walked out of the office. “Oh, and the gate code is star, 4, 7, 0. Okay? And we’re open 24-hours a day, every day of the week, including Faction holidays.”
“Thanks.” He said as she went back to typing, quickly picking up where she left off.
He walked out of the office and back to his car. He drove up to the gate, punched in the code, and then drove in to find his unit. The storage lot was big, with rows and rows of units of varying sizes. His unit was towards the middle, and he pulled up beside it. He unlocked the lock, and inside was a single table against the wall and a wall mounted television with a remote and cable box. Perplexed about the items inside, he went about unloading his car and situating his belongings how he liked them inside the storage unit. He closed the roll-up door almost all the way and turned on the printer to make sure it was functioning properly.
At least it was clean inside. He looked over at the television with its black screen and wondered why it was there. Did Eric watch the games while he typed away about revolutionary dreams? He turned it on using the remote since he was curious to check the local news again for any coverage on last night’s raid but when the TV turned on, what he saw was a screen divided by 6 blocks and in each block was a different section of Goodland storage.
“Brilliant.” he declared to himself as he observed the live camera footage.
He could see people at other parts of the facility, moving things in or out of their storage units, oblivious to the fact that he was watching them. What a difference this would make in case the GPU ever showed up. He could escape through the back exit before they ever made it through the front gate because one camera was recording the entrance. He finished setting up the laptop and stacked the paper near the printer. Next to the paper he put the cardboard box containing all the copies of The Maverick.
He realized he left the latest Maverick pamphlet at home in his jacket pocket and he made a mental note to retrieve it before Nora did the laundry the following day. Sundays were her laundry day in which she’d be listening to music, folding clothes, and ironing dress shirts while Lily colored and drew or cut pieces of paper into tiny particles that she would later scatter all over the floor like confetti. Moments like those were worth living for. But was he risking it all to continue on this path?
The Faction kept Sunday as a special day of rest, even though there were no religious ceremonies to attend or special religious observances of any kind. They instead called it a day of personal reflection and gratification towards the Faction for their provided safety and security. It was a day to remember all the wonderful things the Faction had done for humanity.
He locked up the storage unit and drove off to the east side of Munich Hill near Darby. There, the neighborhoods became more lavish and pristine. If one thought they lived in a classless society, they were immediately dumbstruck by the beauty of Darby. High brick walls with 12-foot iron gates surrounded private residences that contained personal swimming pools, tennis courts, and gardens of immaculate foliage. The rich lived in style, but there was a secret resentment hidden behind the wealth that even the lowest life-form shared. They were prisoners of the same system that the Uprising was fighting against and some of the rich who shared the same sentiment happily funded or supported them.