Brooklyn Chronicles: Save our Sons and Daughters

Chapter Ten

"Please watch the gap." The train conductor's voice filled the carriage as it reached a main stop. The flood of crowds spilled out of the tube like ants and everyone went about their business. A few people were left on the last midnight New Jersey transit to New York Penn Station.

Blue was on the last transit and she was sat at the far back. A lot was on her mind, from the events at the hospital to running away from everything and everyone she loved. She had travelled the city and she had been hiding for a while and she was starting to realise, she had been hiding all her life. Something had to change.

At the last stop, Blue got off the train and speed walked avoiding all eye contact. She thought about catching the underground metro to Downtown, but something changed her mind and if she knew what that something was, she wouldn't believe it. The underground metro she would have taken had a man who was offering needles holding doses of drugs and he was approaching those who looked like they were suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

Blue wouldn't have been hard to see and she wouldn't have turned down his offer. The dosage of the drug in the needle was stronger than heroin and one hit would have killed her then and there.

The skies watched over Blue as she ran up the stairs exiting NY Penn Station, she hailed for a taxi she didn't have money for. She hopped to the back seat and kept her hood up and her identity hidden. "Where to?" The deep voice asked her, his brown eyes met hers through the view mirror.

"Brooklyn." She replied avoiding eye contact, he nodded and began driving. She tried her best not to itch her body but her nails dug deep into her scarred arm. She closed her eyes trying to shut down her pain but it was always there.

The driver of the taxi increased the volume of his radio as he listened to the man preaching. He was listening to John 3:16 - The Story of Love.

"But the dad being a good dad keeps one eye on his work but the other eye on his baby - One eye on the world but the other eye on his children. You think God doesn't know where you are? He keeps his one eye on his world and one eye on his child. No matter what you've done or where you've been - It's on one eye on the world but the other eye is on you."

Blue shifted in her seat and tried to block out the words but they were clear and loud.

"See the red light? He didn't see it. So many times we don't see the red light."

Blue began to notice the frequency of red lights as the taxi passed traffic lights and attraction areas.

"See this day, the train came early. The boy can hear and see the steam and he looks and says Daddy the train! Daddy! Daddy the train is early. Daddy! Hey Daddy the train is coming! But the Daddy was looking at the gears making sure he had enough oil, making sure there was enough steam to get the bridge back down for the train. But the boy knew one thing, now listen. The boy knew that his dad one time had shown him where the trigger was."

Blue listened carefully.

"It was a red lever. If he pulls it the train bridge would collapse down fast, and the train would be able to come across. All the boy knew was there were people on that train. There were people that needed to be saved. Some folks just with their friends having a good time like everything's fine."

"They did not know that the bridge was up. They did not know what was coming. They were just living their life like you and I. Just going down the road, just being our own thing."

Blue looked at the crowd of people and the skyline from inside the taxi.

"And the dad all of a sudden hears the train coming. He looks and he says oh my son! He looks out and the boy is gone, where's my son? He looks back just in time - to see his son trying to save the day. All he had to do was pull the lever. He reaches in to pull the lever. He reaches in to pull it, and the boy pulls too far and he falls in the hole!"

Blue's eyes fell onto the radio and for some reason her emotions were in place and attached. She held onto the seat biting her lips and listening anxiously.

"Now it's on the father. And God the father. Did you hear me? God the father has to make a choice. It's his now. Do I save the son or do I save the world?"

"But they don't even know. They don't even know."

"The greatest decision of his life - he could blame it on them not seeing the red light. He could blame - it doesn't matter anymore! Pull the lever, save the world. Leave it up, save your son."

Blue swallowed so loud you could hear the gulp and for some reason a light tear fell from his eyes.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son. Whosoever believes in him would not perish."

She wiped her tears and sniffed silently.

"It's over and they didn't even know. They never would know. They didn't even know the train goes by. It's fine. Everything is cool. The bridge is down, like always. It's always going to be down. Are you hearing me tonight?"

The taxi stopped at a traffic light.

"He gave his only son. For God so loved the world that he gave! I wonder what God did right when his son died on that cross. When he breathed his last breath. We took that breath, when he took that breath it was all over."

The traffic light turned amber, then green and the taxi moved.

"They didn't even know. Just trying to think of their life. Just trying to figure out what they were doing next. Just thinking about the people they're going to see next. To be loving, caring. Doesn't matter if you're blind. Doesn't matter if you're trying to put a little more make up trying to look pretty for somebody or just wearing another mask. It doesn't matter, God gave his Son for you."

The taxi didn't make it past the next traffic light, it had stopped again. It had stopped beside a reflective building made of mirrors of glass. It showed a reflection of her in the taxi, under that hood. She slowly slipped it off and took a closer look at herself.

"In one moment, the bible says everybody gets a chance. In one moment to see the look of the father when he knows what he, when you realise what he did for you. When you realise the sacrifice. When you realise he let his son die so that you can live."

A tear fell from her eye.

"NO MATTER WHAT YOU DID, NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE AT IN THIS LIFE YOU'VE GOT TO STOP, YOU'VE GOT TO STOP. EVEN IF IT'S FOR ONE SECOND AND THINK: MY GOD HE DID IT FOR ME! HE DID IT FOR ME."

"I pray that you drop what you're doing. Drop what you're doing. With all the pain and the hurt, and the sorrow in the world - he did it for You. That's why you're so quiet now."

Blue flung the taxi door open and legged it, she ran as fast as an athlete, the rush and the thrill increased her pace. She jumped over public bins, walking and abandoned street dogs, she rolled over cars until she was far in the distance.

The flow of tears from her eye were swept into the streamlined air and her long jet black hair danced with the wind like a black long curtain. She pulled down the zipper of her hood and danced her way out if it in the pouring rain. Her hood was flung carelessly as she continued to run.

She felt free and she was free. She danced in the rain in the middle of the busy roads and cried her heart out, this was the real her that had been hidden underneath him, the other person she was trying to be.

Nearby, in Malaika's home, the family was gathered together praying for Blue who was somewhere out there in danger. Santanna and Blue's parents cried begging for God to bring her home safely. Malaika held their hands and prayed with them and for them.

In the darkest hour, a knock came from the door. Malaika rushed to go and open it.

A young sixteen year old girl stood at the door. She was dressed in a blank racer back, black sweatpants and worn out trainers. She had long beautiful dark black hair was stopped past her shoulders. Her bright blue eyes stood out and so did her true beauty. Through the pain and suffering, she smiled at the woman.

"My real name is Efuru which means daughter of Heaven. Blue is still my favourite colour and I haven't forgotten who I am, and who I was made to be."