Murder On The Air

Ma Jolie Maman

You never know what life will throw at you in the future.

You take life for granted, certain that the same old routine will last forever.

Then, all of a sudden, a drastic change comes charging at you like rabid dogs or a stray bullet, leaving you a stunned deer in the headlights of fate.

New Orleans was a regular bustling city like any other, people going about their lives with no care in the world. With music, art and culture, the citizens did not predict that anything would go wrong in the near future.

Then the Spanish Flu Pandemic of nineteen eighteen hit.

It was the deadliest in world history, caused by an H1N1 virus. An estimated five hundred million people were infected worldwide. No effective drugs or vaccines were available to treat it. In fact, researchers didn't know it was a virus. Citizens were ordered to wear masks and businesses were shut down. People were advised to stay indoors, disinfect, and to quarantine themselves. Back then it was called "crowding control," while the term "social distancing" would be used a century later.

A mild wave began in the spring, but a deadlier second wave returned in the fall. The sick experienced typical flu symptoms such as chills, fever, and fatigue. More severe symptoms included blue skin and suffocation via fluid in the lungs. More U.S. soldiers died from the flu than were killed in battle during World War One. In an effort to be patriotic, media downplayed the disease's spread.

The pandemic wouldn't end until summer of the next year.

The Corona Virus Nineteen pandemic would begin a century later in the year two thousand and twenty.

Twenty two year old Alastor first heard rumors of troops coming to and from the city, many of them experiencing coughs and fevers. There were many people who started to fall ill, but Alastor didn't think much of it. Like many citizens, he thought it was "just the flu," and that it would go away. Being a neat freak, he took care to stay away from those who coughed and gagged.

So he continued to work in dull occupations, play in his band and cook with his mother. His mother continued her jobs as well. At this point, he could sew a dozen Voodoo dolls all on his own. He could make not only jambalaya, but crawfish dishes, and pretty much any classic meal for Mardi Gras.

Plus there was his side hobby of killing racist people or those who mocked him. Alastor had cut off his pony tail and left his dark brown hair smooth, short, and straight, though she still wore his round glasses.

On one walk in New Orleans, Alastor discovered something new and disturbing.

The newspaper headline read: "New disease spreads into cities, hundreds killed and counting." The article detailed the symptoms of soldiers in camps who had gotten the illness. In an obituary, Alastor saw a small picture of his African American uncle: Joseph Duvalier.

Alastor wasn't particularly close with him but he was a nice man to visit. He was his mother's older brother and he was apparently a great comedian.

But then he was drafted off to the war and never seen again.

There were signs everywhere on the streets and in shop windows. They had large bold letters on them.

"Facial coverings are now mandatory...$5 fee for anyone caught not wearing a mask."

"Stay indoors!"

And then there was another announcement that stunned him.

"Mardi Gras parades canceled due to spread of new disease."

"No Mardi Gras?!" he thought. He had never heard of such an influential cultural event being canceled just like that.

Then Alastor realized something else. If the disease kept spreading, then he couldn't go out and kill people. His band members had already quit and headed off to their homes in the poorer part of the city.