Democracy vs Corporatocracy

Chapter Eighteen: Reasons For Running Away

March 20th 2042

It had been about two days since a group of LGBT kids were liberated from True Directions by the Freedom Democracy League. The F.D.L had bought them to their headquarters in Boston, boosting the League's membership to over 120. The new kids were still learning how to do things around Boston, but had started to settle in ok. It was about 12:30pm and the kids were all having their lunches at the Mess Area. The Mess Area was the park in the North Village with picnic benches in an open area. Lunch usually consisted of Apples and Corn that they farmed at their gardens. It wasn't the best food, but it tasted decent. Jane was eating some bread and was looking at Carl with love filled eyes, the two had talked almost all night and enjoyed every last bit of it. They could tell they were made for each other. Ryan was sat next to Samuel, eating some tuna from the fish that the League kept in fish tanks. Samuel was eating an Apple and some Corn. Ryan swallowed the tuna in his mouth and said to Samuel "I heard Marcus is headed of to Providence to see if we're in the news". Samuel took a bite out of his corn and said "I wonder when he'll be back". Just then, they all heard the rumbling sound of an engine and turned to see Marcus arrive back on his personal motorcycle. Marcus parked it by the road, got of it and started walking towards the Mess Area. Marcus had his motorcycle helmet in his left hand and a newspaper in his right. He placed both onto the picnic table and the headline said "True Directions School for Troubled Youth burned by unknown assailants!!!" The kids at the table gathered around Marcus as he showed them the newspaper. Jane was next to Ryan and upon seeing the title said "It should say True Directions TORTURE School". The other kids agreed and all nodded at this comment. Marcus turned the page and showed them a photo of the LGBT kids parents. The LGBT kids starred with shock at the title, it was "Parents of kids claim that what they went through was 'needed' to discipline them". The kids were disgusted at this, even after learning that their children were tortured, their parents had learned NOTHING.

Marcus slammed the newspaper on the table and said "Perhaps they'll learn their lesson after a while, just give them time". Jane looked at her father in the photo and said "He is the most stubborn man on Earth, my 'dad' will never learn". Eivor was sitting on the branch of a tree above them and said "My mother's never gonna learn as well, last I heard some guy paid her like a 1000 to go out with him". Marcus rolled his eyes and said sarcastically "That woman might as well start up a strip club, oh wait, she did". Marcus turned the page to show a photo of "The Flower Shop". Eivor's eyes widened with shock. Eivor climbed down the tree and ran over to the table. Eivor looked at the paper and saw her 'mother' posing in front of a newly opened strip club. Eivor sighed and said "Of course she calls it the Flower Shop". Samuel looked at Eivor and asked "What do you mean?" Eivor timidly said "When I saw her with that man, he called her Flower. I guess it's her nickname or something". Marcus looked at Flower and noticed that her bra was in the shape of sunflowers and said "Doesn't suit the gold digger one bit". Eivor agreed and said "If you ask me, she's more of a weed". Ryan then said with disgust "Looks like she don't care that your gone". Eivor grunted and said "Well she did dump me at an orphanage". Samuel was equally disgusted and said "A mother should cherish and care for her children, not abandon them at the first opportunity". Marcus clapped a little bit and said "We are making that a piece of propaganda". Eivor closed up the newspaper and said "Why is it that some parents are evil enough to commit such crimes?" Jane took a drink from her water bottle and said "You think your moms bad? My 'dad' made me wear boys clothes to school and shaved me completely bald!" Samuel looked at Jane and said "My parents branded me upon learning I was Muslim". Samuel then pulled up his sleeve to reveal the brand marks. The LGBT kids all gasped in shock and Jane asked "How could they do that?" Sam rolled back down his sleeve and said "They hate religion, so they hate me. But if they don't accept me for who I am, then they may as well not be my parents at all".

Marcus then remembered how his 'mother' and step-father treated him and decided to tell them about it. Marcus sat down on a chair at the end of the picnic table, as his shoes touched the grass below him, he said "My father was a real nice guy, he loved me a lot and taught me almost everything I know". The kids all turned to him, including the High Council, who already knew this sad story. Marcus bought out the only photo he had left of his father and put it on the table for the others to see. Joseph was not the strongest man, but he was in decent shape. He had combed black hair and tanned Hispanic skin. Marcus continued with "Dad was the manager of our building, unlike most Corpo managers he didn't overprice the apartments in our building in Harlem. He made decent and affordable housing. He was always willing to lend a hand around town, he had a lot of friends, mainly because he was a super nice guy. My Mom, hard to call her that by the way, was away a lot on business trips for MegaCorp. I only saw her like ten days a month and we barely interacted. Then the worst day of my life happened". Jane asked with concern "What happened?" Holding back tears, Marcus said "My dad was on his way to buy groceries, when his car got hit by a drunk driver.....He didn't make it". All the kids, with the exception of the council, gasped in horror. Carl, who had glasses and was of Asian descent, timidly said "Sorry about your dad". Marcus wiped a tear falling from his left eye and said "Thanks". Marcus continued his backstory with "Mom married her boss about six months later and he was every kids worst nightmare for a step-father". Jane's face turned from sad about Marcus's father, to shocked about his mother's decision. Jane said with disgust "How could she get married so quickly after your dad DIED!?" Marcus said sternly "It was a marriage of benefits". Marcus then said "We then moved out of Harlem to the downtown area and into a luxurious penthouse. Albert then burned all the photos of my dad that he could find and forced me to change my last name to his. The next thing ya know, I was sent to a private school. The kids their all had rich parents and they were spoilt rotten".

Ryan remembered the unconventional way his mother raised him and said "I bet they thought it was normal to get what they wanted, when they wanted it. Like how I thought it was normal to prepare for the apocalypse". The kids all burst into a fit of laughter. Marcus then sternly said "They all harassed me because of my Hispanic origin". The kids all stopped and turned to Marcus. Marcus continued with "The teachers did nothing about their harassment of me, they would just yell at me to stop 'lying' for attention. It wasn't any better outside of school. I wasn't allowed to go anywhere and I had to study banking and economics when I got home. I would be woken up at five AM and be forced to study those damn topics I didn't even like for three and a half hours straight! When I got home I would be forced to study for FIVE HOURS! All the way up until nine PM!" The kids were all disgusted at this and Carl asked "Didn't you report them to Social Services?" Marcus turned to him and raised his left eyebrow. Carl then corrected himself with "Oh right. Social Services are run by the Corpos". Marcus nodded and said "Weekends were the worst, I would be woken up at five, given breakfast and study non stop until diner". One of the kids asked "What about lunch?" Marcus looked at her and said "There was no lunch". Marcus then said "I lived like that for two and a half years, until finally I just couldn't take it anymore. I ran away a year ago and made my way to Boston. I started up the league not long after that". Carl remembered his parents and said "I was homeless in that alleyway you found me in three months back because my parents gave me an hour to get out". Marcus and everyone at the table turned to Carl as he said "My parents were like super rich, anything I wanted, I got. Except my dream. Musical arts". Eivor asked with curiosity "What do you mean?" Carl then explained with "My dad told me that he wanted me to go to Harvard to become successful in life, but I told him that I wanted to become a musician". Marcus's eyes widened as he said with shock "Wow, I knew you could play the drums, but I didn't know you were serious about being a musician". Carl sighed and said "My father told me that I either got to be happy, or I got to be rich, I couldn't be both. Only now I realise that he was trying to teach me some lame Dad lesson, if only I had asked him what that meant".

Jane was on the chair next to him and asked "What happened?" Carl took a deep breath in and said "I broke into my dad's credit card account and made all these purchases in his name. Did this for over a year and my dad didn't notice. We were so rich, that he didn't even know he was spending a fortune on a mistress I had made up for him.....but I made sure my mom knew". Marcus asked calmly "What happened next?" Carl answered with "I anonymously sent her all the receipts for the hotel rooms, the clothes, the jewellery..... all of it. They fought all night long. He denied it, she wouldn't have it. I sat in a corner and pretended to cry to make it all look real. My little sister Haley cried to....for real. When the divorce was final, I told them the truth. I mockingly said that they either got to be happy or got to be rich, they couldn't be both". Everyone on the picnic table and the surrounding ones stared silently at him. It was so quiet you could hear a mouse fart. Carl finally broke the silence and said quietly "Ya know, those two could've stayed happily married forever, but then I had to be a vindictive little butthead". For the next thirty seconds they were all silent, but Eivor finally said "That's.....That's real messed up". Carl agreed and said "I don't even know the person I'm talking about, it's like all we have in common is the same name". Carl said with regret "I was homeless for six months after that, it was all because of me". Marcus reassured him with "My father told me how we all do things we regret, there are some things that we can never undo. But we rise above them and be a better person". Jane looked at Carl and he looked back at her. She could tell he regretted it and he could tell she forgave him. Marcus noticed this and realised that there was something between them. That was when the kids all smelt something that they had not smelt for a very long time. They looked and saw Ryan's cousin Mary, walking over with a PIE! Mary was wearing an apron that said "Kiss the cook" and white oven gloves. Marcus's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. Marcus finally said "How did you make that!?" Mary smiled and said "My ma taught me, had to make do with that there barbeque, but it's good enough". It was the best pie they ever tasted. As Marcus swallowed his last piece of pie he said "Right then, lunch is over, so will everyone please return to their daily duties". The kids then all got back to work. They were either headed to the church to learn important academics, or to the various workshops and farms to make equipment and grow and harvest food crops. Life was hard, but good in the North Village.