you. I’m standing up to do my part for freedom and liberty. Life isn’t just going to go back to the American Dream if you sit back and wait this out. These guys have no plans to leave. They are planning to dissect this country and you my friend will be like the rest of us: prisoners in our own country, no longer free, answering to some dictator, living and dying at his whim. If that’s what you want for you and your crew, you just sit back in your abandoned crack house and ride this out. I’m offering you the chance to stand up and be counted”, I said with more than a little contempt.
His face twisted a little and he said , “You a real boy-scout ain't you? You really live this patriotic bullshit. Hell, I bet you bleed red, white, and blue”, he laughed. “Me and my crew will answer whatever questions you have, but that’s all I can promise. Just try not to bring no heat on us. These boys is like my sons. I look out for them. I’m just trying to do right by my crew. You cool with that?”
“Fair enough”, I said.
“This here is Timothy, and his little brother Thomas. I been raising them since they was little street punks hustling for chump change”, Jimmy said.
Timothy looked to be tall and confident with his shoulders squared and his jaw set. He clearly looked at Jimmy as a father. Thomas looked somewhat smaller, and less confident. He eyed Timothy for approval before extending his right hand for Neil and I to shake.
“I do have a favor to ask, on the personal side”, Jimmy said eyeing my sniper rifle. “You see this shit?” He turned to show a fading bruise and scar across his back. It looked painful. “I want the asshole that did this to die.”
“I can’t make any promises. I don’t do private contract killings”, I said.
“This came from one of those blue ass -hats”, he said. “Kind of a tall white dude who sounded like that dude who plays James Bond, but loud and rude as hell.” Neil and I smiled at each other. “He had two guys with guns on me and beat me with a chain like I was a slave.”
Gerome spoke up. “They recognized him as the leader of our crew and wanted to make an example so the rest of us would fall in line.”
“ Unfortunately, I guess it worked”, I said, and added, “But I’m fairly certain that favor you just asked for got covered earlier this afternoon.”
“That guy was looking a little… “deflated” the last time I saw him.” I said with a chuckle.
Jimmy came over and held his hand out. I extended mine and he grasped it. Pulling me into a brotherhood embrace, he whispered, “Anytime, anywhere, I owe you. I pay my debts.” Then he let go.
Chapter 20
"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Ben Franklin
American Statesman
“Well, that explains why we were brought back early today”, Gerome said. He was clearly the intellectual of the crew.
“They gathered us up quickly , along with the other work crews, and drove us back here with a bunch of soldiers. They all looked nervous and the real important guys, the ones you soldier types call brass, were pissed.”
I hadn’t thought about other crews, but it made sense. A military base, even a small one, was a lot of work and maintenance. “How many other crews are there?” I asked.
“Six crews rode out with us. They was locking the place down tight, and they wanted us gone. Crews are picked up from all over town”, Jimmy said.
“They probably couldn’t chance that the first guy we shot today wasn’t the beginning o f an offensive against the base”, Neil said.
“ What do you mean “the first guy??” Gerome asked.
I smiled and said “The day is still young my new friends.” We all laughed.
Altho ugh we had a rapport with Jimmy’s crew, we still watched the crew leave from a distance, away from the house, and watched them return from the same spot. The last thing
His face twisted a little and he said , “You a real boy-scout ain't you? You really live this patriotic bullshit. Hell, I bet you bleed red, white, and blue”, he laughed. “Me and my crew will answer whatever questions you have, but that’s all I can promise. Just try not to bring no heat on us. These boys is like my sons. I look out for them. I’m just trying to do right by my crew. You cool with that?”
“Fair enough”, I said.
“This here is Timothy, and his little brother Thomas. I been raising them since they was little street punks hustling for chump change”, Jimmy said.
Timothy looked to be tall and confident with his shoulders squared and his jaw set. He clearly looked at Jimmy as a father. Thomas looked somewhat smaller, and less confident. He eyed Timothy for approval before extending his right hand for Neil and I to shake.
“I do have a favor to ask, on the personal side”, Jimmy said eyeing my sniper rifle. “You see this shit?” He turned to show a fading bruise and scar across his back. It looked painful. “I want the asshole that did this to die.”
“I can’t make any promises. I don’t do private contract killings”, I said.
“This came from one of those blue ass -hats”, he said. “Kind of a tall white dude who sounded like that dude who plays James Bond, but loud and rude as hell.” Neil and I smiled at each other. “He had two guys with guns on me and beat me with a chain like I was a slave.”
Gerome spoke up. “They recognized him as the leader of our crew and wanted to make an example so the rest of us would fall in line.”
“ Unfortunately, I guess it worked”, I said, and added, “But I’m fairly certain that favor you just asked for got covered earlier this afternoon.”
“That guy was looking a little… “deflated” the last time I saw him.” I said with a chuckle.
Jimmy came over and held his hand out. I extended mine and he grasped it. Pulling me into a brotherhood embrace, he whispered, “Anytime, anywhere, I owe you. I pay my debts.” Then he let go.
Chapter 20
"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Ben Franklin
American Statesman
“Well, that explains why we were brought back early today”, Gerome said. He was clearly the intellectual of the crew.
“They gathered us up quickly , along with the other work crews, and drove us back here with a bunch of soldiers. They all looked nervous and the real important guys, the ones you soldier types call brass, were pissed.”
I hadn’t thought about other crews, but it made sense. A military base, even a small one, was a lot of work and maintenance. “How many other crews are there?” I asked.
“Six crews rode out with us. They was locking the place down tight, and they wanted us gone. Crews are picked up from all over town”, Jimmy said.
“They probably couldn’t chance that the first guy we shot today wasn’t the beginning o f an offensive against the base”, Neil said.
“ What do you mean “the first guy??” Gerome asked.
I smiled and said “The day is still young my new friends.” We all laughed.
Altho ugh we had a rapport with Jimmy’s crew, we still watched the crew leave from a distance, away from the house, and watched them return from the same spot. The last thing
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