Black to the Past

Chapter 55

"Is Halle coming back," Meredith asked Wilson after he'd clicked off his phone.

"Her mom is there. Her real life, bio mom is there. She's not willing to come back; she wants to spend as much time with her as possible."

"How can that be possible?"

Michael, Jalen, and Brooke looked as eager for the answer as Meredith did.

"We screwed up, big time," Wilson deduced. "We've got to get back and undo what we did."

"How, really, do we do that," Jalen asked.

They sat in their various spaces of Michael's large bedroom. Meredith was more tired than anything and started to nod off. Brooke shook her back awake. "You've gotta stay up."

"Okay, okay. Let's decide what we're going to do and get this over with! I'm exhausted," Meredith said crankily.

"What if we go back and make things even worse," Michael asked them.

"How could we possibly make it worse," Jalen asked him with frustration as he stared at the t.v.

They'd been following the news reports and it seemed as if there was a march headed to Washington full of angry minorities and the whites who supported them. They had weapons of every caliber imaginable. The U.S. government had called in the reserves but the angry mob looked ready to storm The White House.

People were tired of having a racist, bigot in office. They were tired of the police brutality that supported the shootings of innocent blacks, hispanics, Asians, and Indians. Jobs were scarce in many parts of the country. Universities reported on the fact that there were states that had cities that were dealing with worse conditions than third world countries. Due to climate change, flooding, tornadoes, and hurricanes had reeked damage to many communities. Insurance companies were declaring bankruptcy on a weekly basis.

"We have to just go back to that time period and get that telegram back. It's been delivered in the life we know so we have to intercept it somehow. And make sure that Dr. King realizes that the work he's doing is imperative to the future," Wilson said as if it were that simple.

"Okay, so we go back. We undo the telegram. We get back here. Does that guarantee that he lived long enough to change the course of history back and Malcolm X dies?" Michael wanted to know.

"It has to," Wilson answered.

"I think the way things are aren't horrible," Jalen shrugged.

"Jalen, we're only seeing a glimpse of things. How do we know they aren't much worse than they are. Think about it? Where is your father? Your brother?"

Jalen looked at Meredith strangely. He'd thought of them when he'd first gotten back but where he was now felt all too familiar for him. And for the first time in his life he didn't feel the anguish of being poor. He wasn't worried about anything, especially not a sick brother or a father who worked hard just to put a roof over his head.

"I don't know," he said sadly. This life felt right somehow. It was how he'd wished that he could feel his entire life. He just wasn't ready to go back to feeling left out and anguished.

"We've gotta go," Wilson told them as he stood up. "Do you think your parents are in bed?"

"I'll check," Michael told him.

Leaving out of the room, Michael took a left turn and headed up three steps to a suite of rooms that he knew were his parents. He knocked softly on the door that was cracked open. No answer. He snuck his head in before walking all the way into the room.

The room was completely dark. The t.v. that was still on cast a light over the king size sleigh bed. His father had his arm tucked around his mother and her head lay cradled on his shoulder. He'd never seen his parents this close before. He would wonder why this couldn't be what his life was like in the other time. It would feel nice to have a brother living with him and his parents close and affectionate and loving toward him and each other. It would have to be a thought for another day.

Now he had to get the crew back downstairs and get to the time machine.