A Simple Rebellion Read online

  Shadows crossed the sky.

  Lionel looked up, his heart swelling to see those fighter planes.

  “Finally, the cavalry arri—”

  Hope died in his chest as the bombs began dropping overhead….

  Chapter 69

  BOB AND JACKSON’S PILOT took the ‘copter right down into the rally, landing on a space kept clear for their arrival on the great lawn near the Lincoln Memorial. Police provided an escort, a lieutenant promising Bob, “We’ll be waiting right offstage when you are done. Everything is going to go smoothly.”

  Bob wasn’t sure whom it was going to go smoothly for, but he climbed the steps to the podium anyway.

  Jackson’s phone vibrated and he gave it a glance. There was a picture of Dolores hugging an ecstatic Perri and an awkwardly accepting Merle on their private plane. Bodyguards filled the space all around them.

  “Thank God,” Jackson sighed, looking up to show his father, but it was too late; Bob Murphy had already stepped onstage.

  There were people as far as the comedian’s eye could see, sectioned off in squares on either side of the reflecting pool, all the way back to the Washington Monument. Soldiers lined the walkways between the sectioned-off crowds, but the millions and millions didn’t seem to mind.

  Their voice was overpowering. “BOB! BOB! BOB! BOB!”

  It took him several minutes to quiet them enough to speak.

  “It’s been a really long time since I’ve seen you, really really seen you,” he said. “And by God, you are so beautiful!”

  The crowd roared its love right back to him. When he could be heard again, he put off his planned speech, just wanting to speak with the astounding mass of like- minded people. “After Mary Angeline passed, I was lost, and I …. I was breathing, and meant well, but I wasn’t really living.

  “Living means more than obsessing on our own personal dramas. We humans, we silly, vulnerable humans, we’re a community, and with community comes a responsibility to get involved, to help, to contribute, to add to the forward progress we all make. “That’s what it means to be alive … really alive, and

  I am so grateful to each and every one of you, and to my son, Jackson, and to my Mary Angeline because right now I can honestly say, for the first time in a really long while, I am so freaking alive!”

  The cheers washed over him in waves.

  He held up a hand, spoke again. “We are a simple gathering, covered by the Constitution, supported by the dreams of our Founding Fathers, the guys who designed this whole crazy experiment.”

  Applause and cheers drowned him out for a minute. “You know, Jefferson and Franklin and Adams and

  all those other imperfect maniacs, they wanted us to have a say in how things worked around here.

  “For too long, that is not the way it has been.

  “But we still have those rights. We still have that voice.

  “And today we’re going to use it.”

  The cheers made him wait a full minute.

  “That’s what we’re gonna do together. We’re all

  going to say our piece now, hands up so no one gets the idea that we are dangerous.”

  An ocean of hands went up. So did more roaring cheers.

  The soldiers seemed shocked by the sheer power of the unified action. Some raised their weapons just a bit closer to their chests.

  “Let’s hold hands together so they really know we have no weapons besides our voice and our votes.”

  Millions of people joined hands.

  Behind him and to the right, Bob saw members of Congress forming at the other podium. He suspected his microphone would be cut off in a moment.

  “Hey fellas,” he waved to them, inspiring gentle laughter from millions, who he returned his attention to. “We’ve got some guests up there so let’s just tell them.”

  The crowd roared its approval. Bob comically pretended to struggle with the podium as he repositioned it so he could face the elected officials or the crowd with just a slight movement.

  The crowd laughed at his physical comedy, applauded his success.

  The elected officials seemed stunned by Bob’s easy command over so many.

  “Congressmen, we’re going to make a simple request based on the suggestions of these fine Americans you see here. I’m gonna read our suggestions —wait, make that demands— and we’re going to give you one week to put them into law. If you can’t listen to We, The People, if you can’t serve us like you’ve been elected to do, we’d like President Statler and every member of Congress to retire at the end of their current terms. If you can’t give us the more perfect union we want, then you have

  204 Christopher Ryan

  failed America, and you are fired.”

  An ocean of joined hands shot up over millions of heads and shook in unison. An incredibly loud cheer shook Bob’s spine.

  And then he heard it. Amid all that cheering. A laugh.

  Just one laugh. The Laugh.

  “Mary Angeline,” Bob murmured.

  Bob couldn’t hear himself over the roaring crowd. In fact, the cheers were so deafening no one heard the shot.

  Bob Murphy fell, dead before he hit the ground.

  For almost a minute nothing happened. The crowd’s faces devolved from elation to shock, from realization to horror ... and then to steely determination.

  Four people raised their joined hands. Others did likewise until the mall was a sea of unity.

  The soldiers were prepared for enemy combatants, not for Americans, real unarmed Americans, arms raised, hands devoid of weapons, their bodies seeming to indicate surrender but their faces ... their faces promising something else entirely.

  Corporal Wilson, always a bit jumpy, shot first. The rest followed.

  It didn’t matter.

  The crowd surged forward, and the military had nowhere near enough bullets for all of them….

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED to my late father, Bernard Patrick Francis Ryan. He was anold school Conservative who taught me about the strength of believing in the Idea of America, and who would want to give today’s politicians a swift kick in the ass.

  This book is written for my sons, Sean and Tyler, and all of my students past, present, and future, because I want them to know the old man spoke up when speaking up was needed.

  This book exists because every day the goddess Tina gives me the strength to try.

  Silvio, my intimidating managing editor, gets no praise whatsoever. Do not believe him if he tries to tell you otherwise.

  My body and health plan thank friends and family who didn’t punch me when I spoke way too often and at length about wanting to write this for years and years.

  My deepest thanks goes to my trusted and beloved first content approvers (“Is it a story? Huh? Huh? Is it?”) and proofreaders, the goddess Tina and the legendary Cindi Ortiz.

  Special thanks goes to a group who agreed to read an unpolished draft to give feedback and, in some cases, crucial editorial guidance. These incredibly generous and insightful souls are Michael Rogers, Caseen Gaines,

  Roger Ross, Maria Perry, Imogene Papp, Elizabeth Walker, Alex Simmons, and Jean-Michael Akey. Special added thanks to Roger for remembering and allowing me to use “Well Fed Sons” which he wrote when we were wee lads. Additional thanks to 107.1 The Peak, and, when I really needed a boost, David Johansen. Lastly, special thanks to Stephen King, whose Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch kept me energized to write.

  An American wrote this novella for all Americans. It is not meant to be used in service of any political party. However, all patriotic souls are welcome to embrace the Idea of America expressed within and work toward a more perfect union together.

  OTHER WORK BY THE AUTHOR:

  ~FICTION~

  THE MALLORY AND GUNNER SERIES:

  Ciy Of Sin City Of Woe City Of Pain

  City Of Love (coming soon)

  THE UNWANTED SERIES:

  Genius High (c
oming soon) Perfect

  The Unwanted

  ~ALEX SIMMONS’ BLACKJACK~

  Blackjack Shooters Ransom For A Dead King Driven

  Dark End Of The Rainbow (Coming Soon) Trial By Fire/Trial By Ice

  ~CHILDREN’S FICTION~

  THE FERGUSON FILES:

  The Mystery Spot (coming soon) The Dance Dilemma

  The Beach House Burglaries

  ~FILM~

  (available through Feenix Films)

  Lock-Load-Love

  (co-writer, assistant producer, actor) Nicky Newark (actor)

  Clandestine (associate producer, actor)

  FROM SEAMUS AND NUNZIO PRODUCTION

  (coming soon)

  Zombies Of New Milford (writer, director, producer, lyrics, actor)

  ~SHORT FILMS~

  For Amanda Kaminsky “In Too Deep” (actor)

  For Michael Errichiello “Presumed Strangers” (actor)

  ~PODCASTS~

  Tell The Damn Story

  OUR FOUNDERS