JULIAN COMPTON

CHAPTER 3

It had been two years now since my father was murdered and things with us weren't so good. Now that I remembered, I had heard some of the arguments between my mom and dad within the last six months of his life, the first six months of his new job. The only words I could make out of their argument were often repeated a lot of times. They were words like'police...., illegal...guns...police... black... and so on. At then I couldn't interpret or find the meaning of those words until I found him in that gutter that awful morning. At that time, it all made sense. I finally understood.

A year ago my mother had been diagnosed with cancer. I was too young to understand what type of cancer but I was old enough to understand that it was a very common type and that the hospitals had refused her treatment because she had coloured skin. We could have gone to private hospitals but the cost of the operation could probably sponsor my siblings and I to college and university.

We weren't round begging and pleading to people to aid us but they all paid deaf ears. My mother's condition had become chronic so we got desperate. We went back to our former neighborhood to ask for help but it seemed like we went to the wrong place. The people there couldn't even pay their rent talk less of helping out. We were done for and the fate of my mother had been decided.

As she approached her final moment, she had only one request, that I should not hate the country that it wasn't their fault. She said that the hatred I had for the country would only bring more death, suffering and pain. I promised her I would try my best.

But what I failed to understand was her way of reasoning at that time. Had the cancer affected her brain? How wasn't it their fault? Not long after I made the promise she died, leaving me alone and orphaned with my three siblings. I handled the burial arrangements with the assistance of my aunt, Aunt Marie, whom we later lived with.

I swore on my mother's and father's grave to get revenge on this hell of a country for all they had done to me. I knew my mission was going to be hard, bringing one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful nation in the world in this modern era. But I didn't let myself be driven by fear. I steeled my resolve and promised myself that even if I couldn't bring America onto it's knees, I was going to die trying.

I was still jobless for a while till I was eighteen when I joined the army. A means of providing for my family because whether I die or not, my siblings get scholarships to go to school and in case I actually die, they'd receive a large sum of money and it was a very good way to destroy the country, from the inside, from it's defense force.

"Um, Aunt. I am thinking about joining the army." I told my aunt one day, as we were watching one of the most beautiful sunrises we had seen.

"Good one dear, son." she said after laughing hard. "But don't you think that this is a bad time for cracking jokes. What's with the change all of a sudden. You never joked like this before, but still, it's a good one."

"But, Aunt. I'm not joking. I'm dead serious. I've thought about it thoroughly and that seems like the best option. That is the only job I can get without being bullied or discriminated all the time. Plus, my siblings and your children get scholarships till they finish college in very good schools. And in case I, um...." I was finding this part very hard to say . I had to say it either way.

As I was thinking of how to say it, it seemed like she already knew what I was about to say and stared at me in horror. She looked like she was going to be crippled again, being one because of an injury she had long ago which she never told me about.

"In case I die in service, you and the family would be given a large sum of money, a house and will be treated as honorary citizens of this country. Then you would be able to report if you're treated unjustly or unfairly or if racist actions were performed against you."

She immediately started crying.

"Aunt, please don't cry." I crouched and tried to console her "That seems like the best option right now. What have you all got to lose, except me." I said the last two words in a very low and almost inaudible tone, but, I was sure she heard it. She had a very good sense of hearing.

"Ok. If that's your decision, I won't stop you. But first, I want to tell you a story. The story of how I became crippled and how I became stuck in this pain of a chair all my life." As she said those words I could feel the pain in her voice.

"Your father wasn't a thief or an armed robber. He was a honourable man who lived and died by his principles." she began.

'It was going to be a long day' I thought.

"I know that you wanna believe that about your brother, after all, he is family. He was my dad too but I can't let that blind my judgement. The investigation report stated that he was robbing a family on tho south west side when he died and they found out that he had done same to other families, he just wasn't as lucky the last time." I said.

"Hmmmm, so that is what you believe happened right?" she asked.

"Isn't that what happened?" I asked, using my question to answer her question.

"No. That's not what happened at all. I think it's time I told you the whole truth, Julian." she said.

'This was going to be interesting' I thought.