The Group: Surviving at Year’S End…2023, and Beyond

By Luis Martene

This is a fictional story about a group of people who are strongly against oppression, and they are most eager to expose those who create it. Sheppardsville, your town is the city they love, and call home. The city has problems of that nature for many years, and no one wants to lift a finger to unshackle the grip that is holding this world at bay. The Group has taken it upon themselves to fight this problem head on. No matter what it takes they are determine to succeed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9781467042499

Luis Martene

Louis Martinez became interested in writing after joining the Air Force. During his tour of duty at one point, he was assigned the administrative duty. During that time, he completed high school and one month later, he took a two year course in effective writing. That motivated him even more and he started writing. After leaving the service, he wrote serveral writings that are in the Library of Congress. After the Rain came to him in a dream in 1998, which took years to develop. He started writing continuously after he evacuated from New Orleans, in 2005. Even though, After the Rain was conceived, years before Katrina, it was at a stop or continue writing. Hurricane Katrina kept him motivated and he began writing again; After the Rain kept him together and stress free. His married to his lovely wife of thirty years. He has one son, two step sons and two step daughters.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Themala’s Disturbing News

Present year 2023, is at its end . . .

WE ARE further away from reality now then we were fifteen years ago; and nobody seems to care. In this searing and chaotic world, our way of life continues in awe. Preconceived notions and corruption continue to plague our society. This observable fact spreads like wildfire. It has destroyed livelihoods and caused many to falter for decades. Sheppardsville, your town, is even more susceptible; it cannot escape the wrath of its fury.

Early in the year, the group had all the evidence needed to prove Sheppardsville was corrupt; just like many cities across this planet, and need to change, but that plan was foiled. The raid on the suspected compound failed. The group found nothing out of the ordinary that could be proven to be illegal. Chaos evolved, and corruption spawned new direction. It caused a rain of problems for the group, and the city of Sheppardsville.

It’s Monday evening August 21, 2023. Sampsun and Themala are sitting in their apartment, very much desponded. They are disheartened to see all the work that went into developing this feat destroyed. Now that the agony of defeat has the group reeling, they are forced to slow down and pull themselves together. They had to figure what went wrong. Very worried and pissed off Sampsun says.

Our skillfully planned raid was exposed Themala. They had eyes and ears everywhere. They knew we were coming. Our security was not as tight as we thought. Somewhere down the line someone gained access to our plans; they took advantage of what they discovered and ran with it. They cleaned their act up in a hurry and disappeared off the face of the earth. Tha, Tobe, and Natashe put themselves in danger when they infiltrated their turf. That was a courageous act, but their efforts were in vain! They lost and paid dearly for it. Now there’s no way we can prove illicit acts exist in Sheppardsville. If we want to finish what we started we have to regroup and try a different approach. This time, we will have to be little more careful when planning our next move!

Downtrodden but not beaten, Sampsun heaves a deep sigh of disgust. He leans forward gets up from his chair, and paces nervously back and forth. He stops for a moment, takes a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe the sweat off his brow. He says to Themala:

This is hard for me to believe, the people in this city allow this kind of disturbance in their community! They are decent fun-loving people. They don’t take bias and wrongdoings cluttering their community. You know what I am talking about Themala, you lived here before too. You know what I think; they are scared to death of the people that run this city. They don’t want to get involved. That is why they are tight-lipped. If they were to tell what they know, it could be devastating for them or their families. I don’t blame them for keeping quiet. They want to live too. Without witnesses, it would be hard to prove unlawful activity exists here in Sheppardsville. I think the lack of personal interest at the top has a lot to do with this eyesore. If you are in someone’s pocket it would be easier to turn your head then to lift a finger to help. This is scary to have someone you trust turn their backs on you.

Sampsun stopped pacing. He is overflowing with anger. He is panting so hard he has to pause to catch his breath. When he turns to face Themala, she sees the most ferocious expression on his face. A look she has never seen before and it pierced her heart. She is hurt to see the crazed state that he is in. She’s thinking: "If he doesn’t calm down this could lead to a stroke or a heart attack. Lord, please help him."

You want something from the kitchen? He asked. I’m going for coffee.

She is concerned over the way he is carrying on, and confronts him.

"A glass of water will do me just fine honey. Please do me a favor, calm down; you are scaring the shit out of me. You are letting your emotions get the best of you. If you keep this shit up you might pop a blood vessel! I agree with you baby. I’m in your corner. Those who are in charge need to come down off that tower. They need to stop catering to those who are defiant and unruly. This kind of behavior is dishonest and disheartening. It is mentally unstable for humankind. It really needs to stop. Not just here in Sheppardsville but the entire world! The people that we put in office need to listen to the citizen’s cry for justice. We need to do something Sam! They need a spark under their butts to wake them up. For starters, how about changing the guards from the top to the bottom at the polling booths? That ought to knock their socks off. What do you think Sam?"

Clean house, that’s a good idea! It might turn some heads. Sampsun says. Present it to the group at our next meeting. Maybe we can get enough people around this crazy world to go along with that idea.

Sampsun takes a deep breath and shuffles toward the kitchen; his attitude is not his best. He is slowly losing hope. Everything seems to be blowing up in his face. He’s thinking: "She is right; our leaders need to step up, and stop this shit. I hope the information I am to pick up will provide me with an answer, because right now, I haven’t a clue where to begin." Suddenly his phone rings. It interrupts his thoughts and he answers repulsively.

Hello!

This is Johnny Mr. Collins. You sound pissed off. I hope I didn’t cause that. Are you all right?

You caught me in a bad mood Johnny. My mannerism is a little rusty. I have a lot of distressful thoughts running through my head right now; and it disturbs the heck out me. I’m sorry man. What can I do for you?

"That’s okay Mr. Collins. Everyone gets upset at one time or another. I’m sorry I disturbed you but it is imperative that I speak with Themala. Is she busy?"

No she’s not busy. Hold on a second.

While continuing walking toward the kitchen he gently hands the phone to Themala. He says.

It’s Johnny. He sounds a little disturbed.

She leans forward while still sitting and takes the phone from Sam

Thanks Sam.

As she placed the phone to her ear she’s thinking . . . I wonder what’s bothering him. It must be pretty bad to be calling me at this time of night.

Hey John, what’s up?

I apologize for disturbing you at this hour, Themala. I really didn’t know it was this late. I have something to tell you that have been bugging the hell out of me for days. I have to get this off my chest before I go crazy. It may not mean anything to you, but I thought it was serious enough to call you. Please don’t get mad at me.

Johnny. She says. "If what I say to you sounds sarcastic I am truly sorry. But you should have thought about that before you called me. You damn right . . . I am mad. It’s the middle of the night man! What is so damn important you have to call me at this hour? This had better be good man. Does it have something to do with Sam? Is he hurt?

Indirectly it does have something to do with him, but it’s not serious. It’s something I think you need to be aware of.

Now you are scaring the shit out of me. She shouts. You better have a good explanation, and not some off the wall shit that I can’t understand! You got the floor my friend. I’m all ears.

I’ll try to make it brief Themala. Please bear with me. Sam came home from school crying last Friday, and I panicked. He scared the hell out of me.

In the beginning of his anecdote Themala’s outburst interrupts him before he could continue.

Johnny! She cried out. What is wrong with my boy? Do I have to come back and kick somebody’s ass? Please tell me I don’t have to worry Johnny.

Calm down woman! Don’t get emotional on me. Before you pass judgment, let me finish telling you what happened. Okay?

Okay Johnny. I will try and stay calm.

Good! I asked him why he is crying. I thought he had injured himself. When he told me he was hungry I was relieved. Then I kinda wondered . . . why was he hungry? I gave him lunch money. To make sure he didn’t lose it, I personally stuffed the money in an envelope then I put it in his pocket. When I questioned him about the money he was reluctant to answer. He seemed to be a little nervous, as if he were afraid to talk to me. He kept mumbling some weird off the wall stuff that I didn’t understand, and it irritated me. I raised my voice when I asked him again, he flinched; it must have frightened him because he stopped that stupid mumbling. I didn’t mean to upset him Themala but it was necessary. If I was going to help him I had to do something to get him to talk to me. He settled down and told me one of his classmates called him a nasty name, than he pushed him down and took his lunch money. I asked him what name he called him. He said you told him not to call people out of their name because it hurts them, and makes them angry. I knew then what he meant. I asked him why he didn’t tell his teacher. He said if he ratted he would have gotten punched in the face. At that moment Themala, I had an adrenaline rush. My blood began to boil. I started losing it. Suddenly a thought hit me like a ton of bricks. If I jump into this mess I would be entering into unauthorized territory; a system I know nothing about. I calmed down very fast. I didn’t want to lose control and get us in trouble. You need to come home and take care of this problem. Not next week, but right now Themala. Your son is scared to death, and so am I. I don’t know how to handle this one without getting us in hot water. I need your expertise.

Be cool Johnny. She says. Everything is going to be okay. I don’t know about all that expertise stuff, but I will be there as soon as I can. I’m sorry I came down on you so hard. I didn’t know where you were coming from, and that worried the shit out of me. Just don’t get flustered again, it’s only going to upset you and raise my blood pressure. And Johnny, please don’t do anything foolish. Thanks for calling.

Sampsun is very agitated when he returned from the kitchen. He is in a bad mood. The day’s fiasco is still lingering on his mind, and that irks the shit out of him. When he glanced at Themala’s brood expression; it further ruffles his feathers.

What’s wrong Tammy, you look as if you’ve seen a ghost? He asked. Is there something wrong with Sam? I hope he’s okay. Because the way I feel right now I could kick somebody’s ass; anybody’s ass. I’m not choosey.

Sam, please! There’s no need for that. You know you don’t mean that.

How the hell do you know what I mean woman? The way I feel right now I could kick the whole world’s ass, and think nothing of it! All the shit that we been through in the last couple of days, and you, sitting there brooding. It’s enough to send anybody’s emotion in orbit."

Themala thought about the state of mind he’s in, and remained silent. She stared at him for a moment and sees how uptight he is. To help him keep his sanity, she had no choice but to wait until he calms down and explain the scenario to him. He sat next to her, and says:

I’m going to be okay. It’s just the way I am. I fly off the handle at times, and come at you in every direction

I am sorry you got upset honey. She says. But the expression on your face, and that remark you made, worried the hell out of me. Yes, the conversation I had with Johnny did in fact disappoint me. But that’s no reason for you to get emotional and act crazy. If I looked depressed, it’s because I am. I had confidence in school officials tidying up the system, they fail to do so; it’s still in disarray. I am not sure what the hell they are trying to accomplish. I thought we had that type of intimidation under control years ago. That goes to show you, the news you read on the newspaper, and what you hear on the radio or even see on television, isn’t as righteous as they claim it to be. Just when you think things are doing well, someone or something comes along and screws it up. It seems to me they want the system to fail. You know what Sam, I’m okay. I am just a little perturbed at the way things are going. If the people in charge get off their asses, and stop playing dumbass games with people emotions, the situation, no matter where it is, or what it is . . . will get better.

This problem your son is having isn’t going to go away Tammy. I am sorry honey but I have to agree with Johnny. The problem Sam junior is having needs to be addressed quickly. I’m coming with you.

She is surprised to hear him make a decision so quickly; he has never done that before. In the past he has always weighed situations out before making hasty decisions. She thought about what he always says; you can get hurt making hasty decisions. Think first before you act.

You don’t have to tag alone. She says. I think I can manage. Anyway, I thought you were going to stay here and help Tobey?

I did tell you that Tammy, but your concern takes preference. I’m not going to let you face this alone. You never know what kind of problems you might run into. I’m coming with you, and that’s final. I’ll call Tobey before we leave, he’ll understand.

At breakfast Themala jokingly hinted to Sampsun he had something very important to do.

Honey, if your child was in deep trouble, what would you do to help him, or her?

I really don’t know Tammy. But that’s a good way to get a person to remember what they have forgotten, I’ll call Tobey right now before I forget again.

After dialing Tobey’s phone number a voice at the other end says.

Hello, you have reached the voicemail of Tobey Silkens. At the moment, I’m away from my desk. Please leave your name and a brief message. I’ll get back with you as soon as possible.

Sampsuin left a message then sat across the table from Themala and had a hearty breakfast. They later packed their luggage and checked out of the hotel expeditiously.

Whenever planning a trip, checking the weather conditions has become Sampsun and Themala’s number one priority. But this morning, the weather is the farthest thought from their minds. Unbeknownst to them, and rare to their area, an earlier weather report was issued. Be cautious of severe weather that is approaching the city. Stay inside. Do not leave your homes except for dire emergency.

Ten miles outside of the city, they drive directly into the path of that very storm. The wind is blowing 65mph, and gusting at 70mph. They drive blindly through the rain, dodging debris that is scattered all over the road; driving conditions are beyond hazardous. Several miles up the road, conditions begin to worsen. Visibility is rapidly deteriorating. To avoid an accident, Sampsun pulls to the side of the road. Together, they sit locked in each other’s arms, waiting patiently for the wind to subside or at least until visibility clears enough to continue. Barely five minutes after pulling over, Sampsun and Themala watch dreadfully as their hope for relief vanishes. In a twinkling of an eye the sky seems to explode, sending torrential rain and hail upon earth, turning even specs of dust into mud slides.

CHAPTER 2

Bennie Gets Agitated

BACK IN Sheppardsville, Jack and Tom is enjoying their leisure time sipping beer in one of the city’s finest taverns. Suddenly without warning there’s a loud outburst of discontent.

Why did you shoot that girl Tom? You were given specific instructions NOT to harm her!

The reverberation jolted Tom’s body and disturbed other customers as well. He turned swiftly waved his hand, and nervously pointed a finger at Jack.

What is wrong with you? He shouted. You scared the shit out of me! What the hell are you talking about anyway?

Tom stopped talking immediately when he realized his voice was as loud as Jack’s outburst. He had forgotten how piercing his voice could be when he is angry. Other patrons in the tavern were stunned. They were not used to that kind of commotion disturbing their peaceful setting. They turned quickly toward the direction of the sound to see what the disturbance was all about. Simultaneously Tom had turned to see if he had offended anyone. He got the surprise of his life—EVERYBODY in the place is staring in their direction. He is embarrassed to see so many faces staring at him. It petrified the hell out of him. He hid his face in his hands and slid closer to Jack. He is so nervous he had forgotten his attitude toward him is not very good at the moment. He quickly recovered, and pushed him out of his way.

Get the hell out of my face! He shouted. What the fuck is wrong with you? Did you know you disturbed these people when you broadcasted what we did? It shocked the shit out of me too. Now everyone in this place is looking at us as if we lost our damn mind.

Oh yeah, so all of a sudden you are mister perfect! Jack shouted back. Who gave you the gavel to pass judgment? You go roast in hell!

Since you are still bothered over what happened to Natashe. Tom says. "I better set your ass straight so your dumbass can understand why she was shot. For your information I was not aiming for her. She was in the way and got hit. So stop blaming me for everything that goes wrong. It’s not my fault she was in the line of fire. You just have to suck it up and deal with it Jack. Did you ever hear of . . . collateral damage? If you don’t know what it means I suggest you look it up. I don’t need