Famine

Chapter Twenty-Three

Because Warren Crabtree had kept Jonah busy by scheduling him for an extra lecture through most of March, it was early spring before Jonah was back in Owensboro.  In spite of the oppression of the times, he felt more comfortable in his hometown than anyplace else.  It was just less friendly nowadays.

   While on the lecture circuit, Jonah had gotten word that the next meeting of their cell was at the Hagar’s home.  He hadn’t a chance to reconfirm that, but he was anxious to see his unofficial son Sean.  They lived in the West End of town, which Jonah had remembered to have been a neighborhood unfriendly to boys unable to fight.  He had grown up there and had to learn to fight fast.  It would take but a few minutes to get from Hathaway Street to the Hagars.  Within the old beltway around the city, one was never far from anybody.

   Once there, he took none of the usual pre-meeting precautions before getting out of his car.  It was quiet.  Too quiet as he approached their house.   Then Jonah noticed a neighbor peeking out his front window between his bay-window curtains.  Another neighbor  turned around and stared.

   Jonah stopped dead in his tracks.  He pretended to be confused as to where he was going while he shot quick glances left and right.  How had he missed it?  The curtains to the front windows were open.  That was an agreed-on signal that a Christian could not enter the house or someone inside was hostile to his faith.  Then their dog whimpered behind a door left slightly open.  Nobody was home.

   The Committee on Social-Environmental Ecology had raided the Hagar home.  D. Boron’s goons left the door open by mistake when they drug the Hagar family away.  That meant they had Sean as well.  He was too young to deal with the Circus.

   Jonah managed to hide his sudden surprise.  Mustering a look of nonchalance, his moves back to his car were as deliberate as they were slow.  Maybe the neighbors might be convinced he had been looking for someone else.  Wrong house.  Something like that.  He pretended to look for another house.  He smiled and nodded to a nosy neighbor still standing with bush trimmers. Jonah pretended to be entering a memo on his phone.  He smiled at the neighbor.  Then he whistled as he got back into his car.

   It would be minutes before some else came back to recheck the Hagar house.  Jonah was in no hurry to leave the street in his car, but he laid rubber once out of sight. Jonah pulled out his holophone and called Sonny on a secure line.

   “Sonny, did Dr. Boron get the Hagars?”

   “Yeah, an hour ago.  Where are you?”

   “Never mind where I am now.  They got all of them?”

   “I hope you’re not heading home, Jonah. Get out of there now and out of Owensboro.”

   “Why?”

   “They may give out cell names.  Ours!”

   “It will take a while to break them down into telling.”

   “Jonah, we already have our emergency travel bags, we’re cutting out now and heading for the safe house in Bowling Green.  Is your bag in a safe place.”

   “I can get to it anytime, but I’m not going to the safe house.  I’m heading to the Sports Center now.  We both know that the Hagars already had so many things in their house that would convince the committee that they will not hold them for the Inquisition.”

   “Jonah, you mean?”

   “Yeah, they’ll be having them at the Circus for Humiliation right now.  The people haven’t been entertained for a month.”

   “Jonah, you cannot do anything for them now.  Come on with the Thompsons and me.  Get out of Owensboro now.  If the Hagars don’t give us up, we can come back in a few days.”

   “That will be too late for Sean,” Jonah said.  “This isn’t about saving myself.”  He barreled down the streets, “Sonny, you know what Sean means to me, don’t you?”

   “How can you save him now?” Sonny voice already was resigned to the fact that Jonah’s mind was made up.

   “Maybe I cannot save him, Sonny!”  Jonah continued.  “Sean needs me to share his most horrible moment.  He must not be alone.  I gave him my word.”

   “They’ll get you too.”

   “It doesn’t matter. Let them freeze me for a million years.  I know that God will be there for me when they thaw me.”  Jonah pushed on faster.  “Now I know what kept Michelle going,  she was not concerned for herself.  Maranatha, Sonny.”

   “Peace, Jonah.”  Sonny broke contact.

   Jonah almost hit a biker as he sped down the street.  His narrow car zipped through the parking lot, coming to a stop at one of its entrances.  As one of Dr. Boron’s goons began to make his way to bar Jonah’s entry, he decked him with his fist.  Neither knew it was coming.  As he fell, the emergency alarm on his uniform went off, but by the time anybody noticed, Jonah was already inside.  More of Dr. Boron’s thugs passed him without taking notice of him.

   This time Jonah wasn’t his usual polite self as he shoved his way through the jeering mob.  Dr. boron had already put other family members through the sick ceremony.  His goons had taken them away.  Only Sean remained.

   By the time the goons had taken Sean to the center circle, Jonah had muscled his way to the front of the ravenous, growling wolves.

   As far as the crowd were concerned, a small subversive is just as dangerous some day as a grown-up.

   As Dr. Boron raised his hand to stir the crowd into ah higher frenzy, Jonah broke through the center and confronted Dr. Boron face-to-face.

   “Jonah! Jonah!” Sean was in tears.

   Dr. Boron took quick note of Jonah’s presence and moved in his path to confront him.

   Jonah kept his hands at his side but his fists clenched.   He stared Dr. Boron down.

   “Stand aside, Dr. Boron, if you don’t want to find yourself in need of emergency repair.”

   Shaken, Dr. Boron tried to hide his wimpish look as he stepped aside and allowed Jonah to join Sean in the circle.  They crowd fell silent as Sean ran up to Jonah with open arms.

   Jonah held Sean with one firm arm while he brushed back his hair and to a cloth to wipe away his tears.

   “Jonah, I know you would come no matter what1.  Sean recovered his composure, he managed  brave smile.  “We’re not going to get out of this, are we, Jonah?”

   “No, Sean.”

   “You came anyway?”

   “I had to be here with you.”

   “Jonah, you know? I’m not afraid of what they can do to me anymore.”

   “Sean, I m here with you for the first part of the way to make some of it easy.  God will take you the rest of the way.  I will follow soon.”

   Jonah looked up at the then silent crowd, stunned that anyone dared to confront someone with so much power as Dr. Boron and could order him aside with so much ease.”

   He stood aside, cowered and silent.

   Jonah looked around at the docile crowd.  He had the certainty of Elijah.  “so this is how you treat children because of the hope that is in them.  We must he suffer for having something you do not have and what that man (Jonah pointed to Dr, Boron.) cannot give you?”

   One by one the hushed crowd dispersed, dropping the confetti they had saved for Sean’s torment.  They filed out ashamed and silent.

   Having recovered, Dr. Boron managed to signal his goons.   They took hold of Sean, but did not molest him.

   Jonah stood alone without making resistance.

   The goons surround Jonah and tased him.

   Stunned, he fell unconscious.