A Simple Rebellion Read online

  Lionel took deep bows first to the left — as he confirmed those coaches were still there — and then to the right — confirming coaches were applauding

  on that side, too, and then to the center, where he saw the remaining coaches were clapping and whistling completely unaware of the dozen men standing a short distance behind them in full riot gear.

  That had been the plan — Lionel was to give a performance the coaches just couldn’t miss while the marines broke into the weapons storehouse and suited up in armor and weaponry. As he took his final bows, Lionel enjoyed deep satisfaction in knowing his comedy allowed the warriors to put their liberation plan into motion.

  Now Lionel just had to avoid getting shot when all hell broke loose.

  The dozen Muslim marines spread out as Lionel milked the applause, pretending to have a heart attack

  – another famous routine—keeping everyone riveted on him until the dozen military veterans got into position. When Lionel raised his fist as the agreed upon signal, they each fired point blank into a coach’s brain.

  The coup was executed with precision. Weapons and keys were taken from the corpses, and one marine freed Lionel.

  The crowd was unsure how to react. Many were convinced troops would appear from the shadows to kill them all. When that didn’t happen, someone in the crowd asked, “What do we do now?”

  Lionel answered, “I say we wake the kids and go home!”

  Chapter 52

  AFTER MUCH DISCUSSION, BOB, Jackson, and

  Merle decided to fight fire with fire and Bob went live again.

  He stood in front of a motel wall, a generic print of a forest scene partially covering a large, diagonal crack. “Hey,” he began, “I thought I’d pop on and tell you two things: all those rally announcements you’ve been seeing didn’t come from me — how could I do all that work while on the run from people who murdered all the officers at my house and then blamed me? And the other thing is, if they really want us to rally that bad,

  let’s do it, but we’ll do it our way.

  “We will not riot or fight or do violence. That might be them; that isn’t us.

  “If we go to Washington, D.C., let’s go there as the Founding Fathers intended, to discuss ideas, and vote for change.

  “Right now there are people in power many of us don’t agree with. We can’t expect them to read our minds. It is on us to express ourselves, to exercise the rights and freedoms this country was built upon. Because the truth is, the Founding Fathers were wild men geniuses who knew the best thing for us would be to debate everything until we reached consensus.

  “That’s how we get to ‘a more perfect union.’

  “But expressing what we think in a pithy meme is not enough. Writing an angry Facebook post or a snarky Tweet is not enough. Entrenching ourselves, isolating ourselves, communicating only with those who agree with us is not the way to perfect this union.

  “You know what? I’m not sure I really knew any of that when Winston Miller FaceTimed me. I just saw it as him tricking me into going public. But sometimes we need to be pushed forward, you know? I understand that now, so thanks, Winston Miller. You may have ruined my peaceful zombie existence but you woke me up to life.

  “So here’s what I’m proposing: let’s go ahead with a peaceful rally, but first, let’s figure out together what we want to communicate to our leaders, how we want to move our country forward. In the comment section below this thing, I’m asking that you write three positive sentences about what we want this country to accomplish, what we want this president and this congress to do for us and with us.

  “Let’s not make it negative or rude. You know who you are, ya wacky trolls.

  “Let’s seriously consider what we want for this country and then we’ll read out the results at the rally in a peaceful, productive way that everyone will understand.

  “God bless the America we love and miss.”

  Jackson confirmed it went out live. The three men exchanged nervous looks.

  A very theatrical cough turned their attention to Perri who was petting Steve on her lap as she met their gaze with an approving nod. “Good job, guys.”

  It broke the tension and everybody laughed.

  Within moments, entire swathes of the country showed they agreed with Perri.

  “We did it,” Bob enthused. “That was so positive and pro-peace that Bo will be hard pressed to keep tagging me as a terrorist.”

  Jackson and Merle just frowned at him.

  Bob tried again. “Guys, we’re at the heroic banding together montage now; we’re golden!”

  And then came thunderous pounding on the door.

  Chapter 53

  “OPEN UP, IT’S THE POLICE!”

  This was followed by a muffled giggle and then, at a lower volume, “I told him it was the police, man!”

  Another, more nasal voice disapproved. “Don’t tell him it’s the police, dude! You’ll create a bad first impression!”

  Mortified by that possibility, the first voice adopted a much more earnest tone. “Bob Murphy! It’s not the cops! It’s just us, man! Open up, Bob Murphy!”

  Bob motioned for Perri to put her head down and pretend to sleep.

  Perri gave him a thumbs up and dove onto the pillow.

  Bob opened the hotel room door just wide enough for Perri to be seen. Jackson stood behind it with a chair raised bizarrely over his head.

  Bob smiled, putting a finger to his lips. “Guys, sshh, my niece is taking a nap.”

  Two potheads right out of central casting stood outside the door. They peered in, saw the “sleeping” Perri and made comically sincere “Oh!” faces, going up on their tiptoes for no reason at all.

  The guy with the nasal voice whispered, “Oh, dude, we’re so sorry! We’ll be really quiet. We just wanted to say hello to, like, The Bob Murphy.”

  The first guy gushed, “You are The Man, man!”

  Bob nodded greetings. “Thanks, fellas. How did you know where I was, guys?”

  Nasal whispered with ridiculous enthusiasm. “Oh, dude! We saw you go live!”

  Bob chuckled, asked again. “I still have to ask, how did you know where I was?”

  The apparent brains of the duo gasped, and then said. “Oh! Because of that crack in the wall behind you when you was live, man. I made that crack in that wall with my head last time we had a party here, dude!”

  Bob nodded his head some more. “You partied in this very room? I thought it had a good time vibe to it.” “You know that, Bob Murphy!” They both nodded back at him for a while and then Brains asked, “Why

  are you here in town, Bob Murphy?”

  Nasal added, “Are you, like, making a film around here, Bob Murphy?”

  Bob raised an index finger to his lips, and then patted his hands out in front of him in a “let’s keep this quiet” gesture that often preceded the sharing of a really big secret. “I’m not supposed to say, fellas, but we are thinking about filming here in a couple of months. We are trying to scout locations. Do you know your way around here, guys?”

  “Oh yeahhhhhhh, man! We know this place like the back of, like the back of, we really know this place, man,” Brains bragged. Then a light of dim wattage went off in his eyes. “Hey! Are you making, like, our kind of movie, man?”

  Bob nodded seriously. “As a matter of fact we are,” he said, “But only if we can find the right locations, if you know what I mean.” Bob said with a knowing wink. “We can definitely help you with that, Bob Murphy!

  We know all the locations around here!”

  “If you can find us ten we can pay you $1,000 for each location.”

  Brain looked like Bob had shown him God. “You’re shitting us.”

  “I would not shit gentlemen of your caliber.” “Dead ass?”

  “Completely,” Bob agreed. “Can you guys find those locations?”

  Nasal sort of bowed, speaking in a solemn voice, “We most definitely will, Bob Murphy.”

  Brai
n nodded sagely. “Mos def.”

  “Then we’ll meet you here tomorrow, say around 9 a.m.?”

  The two burnouts looked pained.

  Bob suppressed a chuckle. “If you don’t mind, can we make it noon-ish?”

  The dudes nodded their heads vigorously.

  “We can definitely do noon for you, man,” Brain assured.

  Nasal crossed his heart, and promised, “We will be here with ten locations for the serious dinero at noon manana, Bob Murphy!”

  Bob gave his best smile, “All right, guys, you really saved us here! Thanks. We will see you then.”

  He closed the door and listened. They could hear the pair high-fiving and congratulating themselves.

  “Dude! We’re in show business!”

  “We are making a movie with Bob Murphy!” Peaking through the narrow crack in the drapes,

  Bob watched the two dudes meander across the parking lot celebrating the score of their lives.

  Once they rounded the corner, he turned to the

  others. “Perri, performance of a lifetime! Everybody, pack up right now. We gotta get out of town immediately.”

  Chapter 54

  JACKSON PAID FOR ANOTHER night in an attempt to throw off any suspicious locals and then they loaded up the car and took off. Putting distance between themselves and the motel wasn’t good enough; they also had to face cold hard facts.

  In the front passenger seat, Jackson glanced back at Perri playing with Steve. She raised his tiny paws and shook it at Bob’s son. “Steve, do you think it is time we go home,” she asked. Steve nodded. “Thank you, Steve.” She met Jackson’s amused glance with one of surprising steel. “Home, please. Now.”

  Merle, buried in his phone searching for updates on their dilemma, met Jackson’s eyes briefly. “As always, she’s in charge,” he said. “Answer your queen.”

  “We’ll get you there, your highness,” Jackson bowed to Perri, who giggled, that sound a shaft of golden sunshine in this endless night.

  He turned in his seat to face forward again, whispering so only Bob heard. “Dolores is having bodyguards meet us somewhere and will fly with them to California personally. They’ll be safe.”

  Perri said, “We don’t have port passes.” “Passports, Periwinkle,” Merle corrected.

  Jackson turned back to the child, twisting himself until he could aim his phone straight on at Perri. “Give

  me a serious face, honeybunny,” he said She did.

  Jackson took ten photos on his camera, making adjustments as he progressed. Then he did the same for Merle.

  Bob, who was driving, glanced at his son snapping away. “Don’t tell me; Dolores’s going to work some magic and turn these poorly lit car pics into acceptable passport photos?”

  “She’ll start the magic,” Jackson replied, sitting properly in his seat once more, sending the best selections to his outrageously resourceful executive assistant. “The firm sending the bodyguards will take care of the rest.”

  Merle leaned forward in his seat. “The rest?” “Bodyguards, transport to a private plane, transport

  to California.”

  “You’re gonna have us live with strangers? In California?”

  Perri patted her brother’s arm. “Merle, it’s okay,” she assured, “Dolores is magic and I would like to see where Uncle Bob used to work.”

  Merle gazed at his little sister for a long beat, and then squeezed her hand. “If it’s good enough for you, Periwinkle, it is good enough for me.”

  Bob pushed the gas down a bit more. With safety suddenly a possibility for any of them, his grip on the wheel tightened, knuckles whitening as if he feared even this thin hope would be stolen from them too….

  Chapter 55

  BACK AT THE HOTEL, Nasal rolled fat joints as Brain bragged on the phone. “Mannnn, I’m tellin’ you, we are working for Bob Murphy now,” he insisted. “We’re definitely good for the money.”

  He listened, a look of disappointment crossing his face. “Are too, man! And look, look, look, you front us and we’ll introduce you to THE Bob Murphy. How’bout that, man? Yeah, I definitely know where he is! Highway Heaven Motel, D-13, my dude!”

  Elation lit his face. “Cool! Yeah, we’ll wait right here, D-22. Come over soon, they’re doing Tom Petty on Rock Legends. Yeahahahahahhaaha!”

  Chapter 56

  WHILE THE RESIDENTS OF Hattiesburg gathered their kids and meager possessions, the marines loaded up trucks with all the supplies they could find. Food storage units were emptied, the contents put on camp trucks. Cases and cases of bottled water were loaded. And the entire munitions supply facility was placed carefully in a separate vehicle the marines supervised themselves. They put the elders and youngest in transport vehicles, but everyone else had to walk. It was slow going but spirits were high.

  Freedom and the promise of home inspired the long traumatized citizens to dream again. Lionel was moved by the beautiful universality of their aspirations.

  “All I want is to sleep in my own bed,” one said.

  “I want to stand under my shower for three days.”

  A guy chuckled. “Not to be rude, but there’s another use for that room,” he said. “Some privacy and store bought TP? That would prove this nightmare is really over.”

  “I want to cook a meal on my stove, with my pots and my pans, and set it on our table, using our plates and knives and forks and spoons. And I want Tookie to use his favorite plastic Stars Wars cup, and real napkins. ”

  “I’m coming over to your house,” another giggled.

  An older gentleman limped as he walked, having given his seat in the transport vehicle to a young mother and her baby. A gallant gesture but now his leg was getting worse. A woman near him took his elbow. “You want us to get you a seat in one of the trucks?”

  The older man smiled. “That’s kind, Shallah, but the next seat I want to use is in my living room, with a cup of coffee and one of my Walter Mosley novels.”

  Lionel Jackson overheard most of these exchanges as he made his way to the marines. “These people are all talking about domestic bliss,” he told the largest one. “Good to know what one is fighting for,” the marine

  answered.

  “So you think they know they’re going to have to fight to keep what’s theirs?”

  The marine kept marching, head on a swivel. “When have we ever not had to fight for what’s ours?”

  Lionel nodded. “I hear that, but they’re thinking ‘Great God Almighty, I’m free at last.’”

  “We’ll make the situation clear once they see their houses again. After they touch their property. Smell home. Memory keeps them walking now: reality will put fire in their hearts. That’s when we’ll explain what’s coming.”

  “Get me a working phone and I’ll pay for the lawyers we’ll need. Get my godson on the case,” Lionel offered. “Much appreciated. That’s the long-term war,” the soldier agreed. “Right now we got to get them onboard

  for the more immediate battle.”

  Lionel felt a small spark of hope. “So you have a plan?”

  “Marines always have a plan.”

  “Semper Fidelis indeed,” the comedy icon nodded, marching a little taller now toward home.

  Chapter 57

  MERLE FOUND THE LATEST Amy Brooks report on YouTube. Curious as to why it was only a few minutes long he plugged in ear buds and hit play.

  The first thing he noticed was that once again she wasn’t in a studio. Actually, she didn’t even have a set behind her. Amy Brooks was standing in front of a brick wall, clearly recording on a phone held by a shaky hand. The white streak in her hair seemed wider, and she needed a brush and some make-up. And better lighting. And a proper microphone. Maybe a camera operator other than herself, one with a steadier hand.

  “This is Amy Brooks. We may not be able to broadcast regularly for awhile,” she said, eyes wide, lips chapped, breathing elevated. “Those who would shut us down are … pursuing aggressively.”
<
br />   A voice off camera shouted, “They’re here! Go! Go!

  Go!”

  Amy ran, the screen view flailing as her thumb crossed over it and the broadcast was cut….

  Merle shut down his phone, plugged it into the charger, and then stared out the window. Amy posted it so she must have escaped, he reasoned, but dark forces were closing in one many fronts. How long until they closed around those in this vehicle, he thought, his gaze turning to Perri sleeping next to him, “We gotta

  get out of here,” he murmured. “What’s that,” Bob asked.

  “Just drive faster, please,” Merle pleaded.

  Chapter 58

  “HE’S HERE!”

  Brain went to the window sure the headlights shining through the dirty drapes belonged to Johnny Crispino’s weed mobile.

  Nope.

  “Dude! They’re filming a scene across the way!”

  Brain marveled as huge Klieg lights lit up the night and actors performing as black-clad soldiers crowded around D-13. With a boom they knocked down the door and ran inside—

  A matching boom shattered D-22’s door. More black uniforms rushed in.

  Brain backed against a wall as black uniforms swarmed the two of them aiming huge guns point blank.

  They weren’t actors, man, Brain realized.