The Price Of Freedom; By Jessica Singleton
Complete Fictional story that will never happen anywhere.
Little boys play with plastic guns and little boys knock each other down. But when little boys cry, then they shed blood on their mother's flag.
Part 1
Chris and John ran into the church and ran through the crowd of people who were standing all around the front steps of the Faith Baptist Church. It was Sunday morning and church had not started yet. The two boys came to an abrupt stop when they saw their mother. There were very few things that could keep a little boy's attention. And until they were hungry, or they saw their mother, they probably would not hold still. Not for long. Little boys have free spirits like birds. They take flight the minute they wake up and until they have no other choice, they would rather fly.
Jacqku was part indian and 80 % English American. She was born in Meytar Texas in 1678. Jacqku was tall and thin. Her hair slid down her back like a black river, but she kept it up in a tight bun.
Jacqku married Sygel John McClean in 1694. They had three sons and two daughters.
John and Chris were twins. They were 8 years old, and David Charles was 17 years old. Jacklyn Mary was 5 years old and Annie June was 18 months old.
Jacqku looked down at her two sons and she smiled. Bending down Jacqku whispered in between john and chris, just so that they could hear her,
"Now what has the two of you in a hurry?"
Chris and John were glad that she was not mad, but they had nothing to say for themselves. They just shrugged.
"Would you both accompany me to our pew? I'm sure you know what time it is?"
Each little boy took one of their mother's hands and they walked with her to their pew. The McCleans always sat in the front row. Their Father was the preacher of the church.
When Sigel took his position at the podium, he ask the congregation to join him in prayer. Once he was done with the opening prayer, Sigel opened his bible. He had to yell so that everyone could hear him in the church.
Chris turned to John and he said,
"Why does he yell at the adults like that? Like they did something bad."
John leaned over and said,
"They probably did get into trouble. He only yells when you need to be grounded. He leads them. That is what daddy says. The church is the preacher's flock."
After church Sigel stood at the back of the church to greet everyone and shake their hand as they left. John was flipping through one of the hymm books when he looked up to see Chris asking his mother for a peppermint. Sigel was talking to the town drunk, Mr. Sails. Mr. Sails was always asking for prayers for his wife and son. Once the congregation left the church, Sigel and David would clean the church. The family would get into their wagon and they would go home to eat lunch.
When the family got home they ate and the children went outside to play. Sunday was one of those days when you could rest. Most of their week was spent cleaning and working their crops.
Chris and John went into the barn. John tied a rope around a bail of hay. Chris scratched his head and he said,
"Why did you do that?"
John turned around to face his brother,
"That is my horse now. When I do tricks like the wild west shows, I will need something to stand on."
Chris said,
"Where is my horse?"
"You do not have a horse yet. You are the cop. I am the bad guy this time. The bad guy always gets away on his horse. If you want a horse, then stop being so cheap and get your own horse. You did not even want a horse until you saw me with this hay stack."
"I am not cheap. What is cheap?"
"Mom says cheap all the time. You hear her say it when she goes into town."
"No I have not. When did mom say something was cheap?"
"Yes you have. Every time mom goes into town, she says that Mrs. Ellous is Cheap."
"She does?"
"Yeah mom says that Mrs. Ellous is cheap until she is selling one of her over priced animals."
"But I am not cheap. I am not selling anything."
"Okay then you're lazy. Like I said, you did not even bother me until I had it first. So go get your own horse."
"I want to play. Can I have a horse too?"
John and Chris turned around to see their little sister Jacklyn standing there.
"No sisters. There is no way she is playing with us. Especially if she brings that dumb doll."
"But I want to play. I will be nice and Susie is nice too. She does not talk to anyone but me."
"That does it. The doll does not talk at all. See what I mean, she is a baby."
"I am not a baby Chris. I am almost as old as you. I am five years old. I will be six in July."
"Five is baby. I am almost nine years old. That is almost ten and ten is almost a teenager. So I am practically a man at this point. I do not play with dolls and I will not play with baby sisters."
"Go on Jacklyn, you don't want to get that doll dirty. We play in the mud. Just go on in the house. See if mom needs any help."
"John that is unfair. I can play too. Chris is mean."
Chris turned around real fast. He glared at Jacklyn and then he said,
"I will show you mean..."
Chris walked over to where Jacklyn was standing and he jerked the doll out of her hands. Chris took off walking toward the pond. He threw the doll in the pond. The doll did not go very far, and it did not break. Jacklyn ran over and she picked up her doll. The doll was wet but otherwise okay. Jacklyn turned around and she burst into tears. Then she ran toward the house.
John walked up to Chris and he looked at him with a stern look.
"That really was mean. She is only five. Why do you have to be like that Chris?"
"I am not mean. You know you do not want to play with her either. She is a pest. She comes over here so we can babysit her. Who cares?"
"Well, she cried... That makes me feel bad. I do not want to make a five year old cry. Do you not feel anything at all?"
"It is not that. It is ..."
"Is... What Chris?"
"I do not know. She just irritates me. She leaves her toys outside and then we have to pick them up cause we're older. She goes off and tells mom that we play to rough or that we play bad guys. Then she says it scares her. It is not like we told her ghost stories. I got grounded one time for scaren her."
"Yeah but you threw her doll."
"But John.... that stupid doll did not break. It just got baptised."
About that time, Sigel came walking toward the boys.
"Oh gosh, now what?"
"My guess is that doll that you baptised."
"Shut up."
Sygel walked up to his sons and he told John to go help his mother in the kitchen. Then Sigel looked down at his Chris. Sygel did not have a mean look on his face, he looked sad.
"Chris have I always been fair to you?"
"Yes sir."
"Have I ever taught you to treat other people like they don't matter?"
"No sir."
"Do you have anything to say?"
"She... just..."
"What son? What did a five year old little girl do that upset you so much. I mean you did tell her that you are a man. Did you say you were to old to play with her? Well, a good man does not make women cry."
"She is a pest. She just comes around to cause us trouble. We always have to deal with her. I just wanted to play without a girl around. Girls are boring and dolls.... Dolls are just dumb. It was just a dumb toy."
"Give me your toy gun."
"Why?"
"It is just a stupid toy. Is that what you said about toys."
"But guns are not bad. The wild west shows use them and the Texas Rangers have guns."
"But your gun is plastic and it is a toy."
"But Papa"
"No buts son... You give it up now."
Chris handed his gun to his father and he was holding back tears in his eyes.
"You are my son. and I love you. I am only doing this because I love you. You have to learn how to be a good person. So someday you'll grow up to a good man. Now for the rest of the week, you will help your sister do her share of the help she does on the farm. You will also do your own chores. And Chris, Jacklyn is your little sister. She is still a baby and it is your job as her big strong older brother to protect her. Girls cry about everything. It is because they are not men. So you cannot treat her like you would another boy. You wouldn't hit a girl would you?"
"No sir."
"That is good. You can have your gun back tomorrow."
"Yes sir."
That night when everyone was in bed, Sygel was getting into his own bed with his wife and he took Chris' toy gun out of his back pocket. He put it on his night stand. His wife was brushing her hair and she turned around to look at her husband.
"How did you get that toy away from our boys."
"Chris is grounded from it till tomorrow. He threw Jacklyn's doll. The doll did not break but this is his lesson. If I did not do something, then the problem would have only got out of hand eventually."
"I am just surprised that you got that thing out of his hands. Those boys love those toy guns and they never put them down. They bring them to the dinner table with them."
"I know. You should have seen the look on his face. He looked like he was going to cry. He did not cry when I told him that he was wrong. He did not even cry when I told him he'd have extra chores. He only teared up when I took the gun away. That almost broke my heart. But I have to raise him to act the way he should."
"I agree with you. Those boys never have much to do with her. She really is alone around here. Annie is still a baby so she can't play with her yet."
"I know... I think about it too. I wish the boys saw it that way. Maybe they'd ease up on her."
Sygel and Jaqku went to bed early and they slept hard.
That next night, John and Chris were playing on the upstairs of the house playing with their guns. David was reading a book by the fire place in the front living room. Jacklyn had one of her dolls in the kitchen. She was watching Jaqku do the dishes. Sygel was in his bedroom looking for his reading glasses and Annie was asleep in a rocker that sat in the living room.
A knock came to the door. Jaqku answered it. It was an older man. He had his hat in his hands and he looked like he'd been crying.
"Can I help you sir?"
"I do not know. Is the preacher man here?"
"Yes, hold on I'll go get him."
Jaqku went away from the door. She saw as she was walking away from the older man that he was with a younger man that looked about David's age. But the younger man was lurking around by the trees.
Sygel came to the door. When Sygel came to the door he saw who the older man was. It was one of the town drunks. It was Mr. Teltel. Sygel did not see Peter Teltel in church much. Most people claimed he stayed drunk so much that his land suffered from it. Peter had a wife that ran off after they had a son named Peter JR. Peter raised his son alone. Jr was born a few years before David.
"Hello Peter, do you want to come in?"
"Yes please."
"Is that your son back there by the trees? Does he want to come into the house too."
"No... he will stay outside."
When Sygel opened the front door to let Peter Senior in, Jr came up to the front porch and he took a seat outside of the house.
Mr. Teltel did not smell like beer tonight. He also took his cowboy hat off, when he stepped his boots in on the mat. His eyes looked red but you could tell that beer did not make a man look that sad.
Teltel and Sygel walked into the living room. David was reading a book by the fireplace to Jacklyn and the baby was sleeping in a crib.
John and Chris were on the stairs playing with their toy guns. They stopped playing and they sat there to watch what everyone was doing down stairs.
David and Jacklyn got up and they left the living room. Their mother was still in the kitchen. She only came into the living room to get the baby. She took the baby to another room, so that Sygel could work in peace.
Teltel kept rubbing his forehead and messing with his hat. Then he said,
" Sorry I have not been in church lately. I auuhh... well, I been real busy ya know. Anyway my boy. You remember JR. I love that kid. He is just a boy. He ain't a man. Not yet. Oh gosh my boy.... "
Teltel was already crying again. They were real tears. And he had stopped talking. He bowed his head into his hands.
Sygel put a hand on his shoulder and said,
" Pete.... it is okay for men to cry. I love my kids too. Take your time. We can talk when you're ready. Is there anything I can get you? "
Teltel shook his head. When Teltel finally spoke, it was slurred and breathless. You could tell that he was doing all he could to keep from falling apart.
" I was never there. I mean I was there but I drink a little... My wife, his ma took off years ago. I thought we were okay now. We got food on the table. We got a fire in the fireplace. He had friends. I thought he did. He wanted to go outside and play in they yard. I never saw no harm now. You know... They's just kids. I ain't holding my boy back. I don't need anyone. I got my bottle. They were older boys from around here. Never any good. I wouldn't know. I never did. Oh G'''''''''''''"
" No.... it is okay... I don't have anything going on. Take as long as you need. You are around friends. "
" He started to take off. I did not know. I guess I was asleep. Then he'd come back and I don't know. What did I need to know? He is just a kid. Those other kids, they are to blame. They dragged my little boy through this mess. It is their fault. Can you do something. I mean, can the church take him and hide him from the law? "
" The law? What would they want him for? Pete you're going to have to tell me all of it. I don't know if I can help. The church does not hide anyone. I can pray for him. I can talk to the police on his behalf. But I do not understand what this is about."
"I will go get him. He is on the porch. He should tell you how those other boys are mean. "
" Okay, sure Pete. Jr. is always welcome in here. I remember him. "
Teltel got up and he walked over to the door. Then he let Jr. in. Jr was taller then his dad. He was skinny and nervous looking. The boy looked just like his dad in the face. Teltel and Jr. walked over to the living room and they sat down.
Teltel looked at his son and he whispered;
" Well, go on boy.... Tell him what you told me. "
Jr. swallowed hard and then he took a deep breath.
" Daddy says the church helps folks. Is that true Mr. Preacher? "
" Well, yes the church helps anyone and everyone. God loves all the children of the world. Just like that song. And Peter, I am Sygel today. I baptized you when you were a baby. I knew your mother. But I have to know what I am dealing with before I can promise you anything. What happened? Did someone do something bad around you? "
" Well that depends. See I was hanging out with the Ceccel boys and we grew up together. Their dad never had much. He teaches them to pick pockets in town. He teaches them to cheat at poker. Well, we used to do a lot of stuff like that. Nothing real big. Then it got bad. There was this old man one night. He was coming out of a bar. He was drunk. I mean sleepy drunk. And Billy said we should get him good. I don't know.... It was just kicks. And.... Billy walked up to him. He said did you win old man? The guy pushed him off. Then Billy got mad. He is as crazy as his old man. He punched the old man. Knocked the dude out. Cold out. Then we picked his pockets. He did win at poker that night. And he lost 50 dollars. Easy.... Well, that old dude was the Judges dad. The Judge put out a reward for answers. Billy got scared. First time in his whole life. So he did something bad. We all did a part but Billy was the one who did it. "
" What did you do? "
Jr. looked at his dad. Teltel shook his head in approval to answer the question. So Jr. finished his answer.
" We went out to that judges land. We shot twenty of his finest horses. Lost money. We put up a sign that read, lose money, then shut up or you'll lose more money old man. "
" That all... Was there something else to this story Jr. ? "
" Yes, I guess you saw the papers? "
" Yes I have, but they cannot link everything that goes wrong in the state of Texas onto whoever. "
" Yeah well, Billy stole two of those dumb horses. Then he stole about four cows. He sold those animals to some idiot woman. Then he went back to that old grand house that belonged to the judge. He stole lots of stuff. Well, the old man came home to early. So we made it look like he fell down the stairs in the house drunk. He was not drunk. He died. Technically he tripped. We pushed him with a gun. We thought it would scare him more. Then we laughed at him as he fell."
When Jr. was done talking, John and Chris put their guns down on the steps of the stairs. It was the first time, those kids had put their guns down without being told. They looked at each other. They were crying silent tears.
Chris said,
" I don't want to play bad guys anymore. "
John just shook his head.
They went to bed without being told.
Sygel told them that the church could pray for him but really there was nothing.
Jr. got annoyed. He stood up and he stormed out of the house saying....
I knew it.
I just knew it.
This was a waste of time.
Teltel took off after him and he apologized to Sygel on the way out.
A few days later a hooker thought that she'd turn the Ceecel boys in herself. She did not have reason to think that they were the men from the wanted posters. She was mad that they under paid her. She wanted revenge. So she thought it would be funny to watch them get out of that. She tried to tell the cops that a group of boys came into her that fit the description of the wanted men.
The cops called Billy in and ask him about a whore named Lil. Then he let him go. He could tell what the problem was. She was mad about money. Billy came off as dumb. To dumb to know how to tie his shoe let alone do much more.
When Billy was yelling about back stabbers, Jr. got freaked out. So he lied. He offered up a story that was not true.
Billy was freaked out then. So he took his group of friends and brothers to the farm house with the preacher.
They killed the whole family execution style. They were not able to kill Chris because he was not home.
Chris went to an orphanage to live until he was 18 years of age. He walked up to the Ceecel boys once in a bar. They kicked his ass. So Chris joined the army. He learned a lot. Then he took martial arts training and then he became a cop. He worked under a bounty hunter for years. Until the day he went into business for himself.
He looked up all the bad men who killed his family. He brought them all to justice without killing them.
The head of that Ceecel gang was named Billy. When he found Billy boy, Bill was living in a very nice house. Chris woke Billy up. Not in the middle of the night to execute him. No Chris woke Billy up bright and early.
Chris had a toy gun pointed at Billy's sleeping head. Then he yelled really loud
" FIRE ! "
Billy jerked up and he saw the toy gun pointed at his head.
" Who the h'''ll are you and what is that? Is that a toy gun? Did you just wake me up with a toy gun? "
" Get up now. "
" Says who? Looks to me like you got a toy gun. "
" No old man, that was a toy gun. This one here is real. It is a Smith and Wesson. You know what that would do don't you BOY ? "
Billy got up out of bed in his underwear. Chris walked behind Billy and he took him into the kitchen. Chris had Billy sit down at the kitchen table.
Then Chris poured Billy a drink of whiskey into a mason jar.
Billy looked at the whiskey and he said,
"What is this about? Do I know you? "
"Drink that now."
"Why, what if I say no?"
"Do it now or I will kill you here."
Billy downed the whiskey. Then he said,
"Okay ok, now what Mr."
"Get up and follow me."
Chris handcuffed Billy and he took him out of town to an old railroad track. Then he tied him to it.
Not his mid section, just his legs.
Billy looked dumb founded.
Chris said,
" My daddy fought in a war. So that you and everyone else in America would have freedom. Then you get turned into the police by a hooker who had nothing to sell. The cops told you what she said. They did not care. You get freaked out. Your friend lied. Did the cop mention my dad? No he did not. Then you come into my home. You kill my entire family, in cold blood. In fact you kill them execution style. My father did not even get a flag on his coffin. There was nothing left to bury. You get your life back. I have to fight like hell for my life. Now there is nothing on your sorry ass to lock you up for. Except on thing. A year ago, you stole one last time. It was in the papers. They can't find you. Well, I just did. "
" Man I don't need this. Fine take me to jail. What the hell already? "
" No there is one last thing. You won't stay there. You'll break out like you always do. So here in two minutes, a train will come through. It will take it ten minutes to get to you. Then it can take your legs away. That way you don't walk out of this one. "
Like clock work, the train came through Miller Road. And it ran over Billy boys legs. He screamed like a little girl.
Billy lost his legs from the knee down. Then he went to jail. While in jail, Billy died of a blood cloth.
Years later Chris married a woman and he had two sons of his own.
Mich and Tray.
Mich became a banker, with a son of his own.
Tray became a cop.
Chris's last case was hard. It lead him to his son. He never found out the truth that his son was innocent. It was Mich's wife who did all those bad things.
Chris died of old age.
Tray never forgave his brother for not telling the truth over a woman.
Years later,
Mich called his brother on the phone.
"I know you normally would not take my call. The thing is brother, my son is in danger. He started to date an Indian girl. They dated in secret. Her father did not trust white men. One day they saw a crime. It was the town judge. He is the son of Billy Ceecel. Anyway, he had been making money off the pore. He would force them to sign over their land to him. Then he'd kill them and he'd get rid of the bodies. Well, my kid and his girlfriend saw the whole thing when it happened to her parents. She went up to him at the courthouse and she yelled at the judge. Then he put a price on my sons and her head. I need your help. "
Tray did help.
THE END
No comments:
Post a Comment