The McKinnens

By Melvin C. Johnson

In this intense family tragedy set in an alternative history, the McKinnen family live in a United States where the Jim Crow laws are actual laws and each race is strictly segregated into different colonies. The McKinnens have been treated horribly for decades. Molly McKinnen the only daughter, has had enough, and she decides to get to the bot-t

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melvin Johnson
• Release date: Dec 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781649904409

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Molly McKinnen

H

i! My name is Molly. In most cases, I’m just another girl who grew up to become a woman, but my life is a little unique, I think. You see I lived amongst the county of the original colonies; I’m in the southern part. There are other colonies as well, but I was always told we weren’t allowed to visit them. I heard there was a huge celebration that we celebrate annually. I believe it's called New Crow Day, but my family does not celebrate that day; my father said that day means nothing to us. I am the youngest of three children. My father and mother do not live the most extravagant lives, but we love each other and do the best with what we have. My two brothers look after me the very best they can, considering they always have their own problems to deal with.

You see, our family isn’t the most popular around the southern colony. Well, we’re kind of popular, but not in the most positive ways. For some reason, people either don’t like us or don’t understand us; it's kind of hard to tell which one it is. It seems as if no matter how hard we try to be nice and pleasant with folks around here, we still can’t seem to get polite things like that in return, except for a few people. Some people are nice to us when no one is around, but when people begin to notice, they stop and start doing and saying mean things again. For some reason, our family has been used to it and never really talk about it. My father and mother say, Never return a negative with a negative; always give people your positive equation.

Our colony is rather large; we have beaches, mountains, rivers, and forests. We live closer to the forest area of the colony. I really like it there; it's away from most families and people, actually. I’ve asked my parents why we live so far away from everything, but my parents always tell me it is due to the amount of money that they have. It's just not enough compared to how much the land and housing costs further north and east. I have always been the type of person who accepts what someone says and rationalizes it, assuming things given to me are honest. When you live next to nature, you tend to respect what is given to you, honor what happens, and take what is given to you with appreciation.

Our family has some traditions, like making sure that we eat breakfast together because at night time, my father is always working at our station. We own a gas station in a pretty deserted area; we don’t get that many customers, but we’re there just in case someone needs gas or a pit stop on the way north or back to town. I have been to the beaches a few times, but we don’t go often. For some reason, my parents don’t enjoy it or any place, which has a lot of people around. My parents enjoy being with our family only. I notice that my parents are more relaxed and comfortable then and when they are working too. My family tends to do and keep things to ourselves. It seems as if we’re limited to places and things we can do outside of where we live and where my parents work.

My brothers are two of the funniest people I know. At home, they are so silly, quirky, and loving, but when we go somewhere it's a different story. They keep their head down and don’t say much. I can see their whole personalities at home, but when we’re outside of our home, like at school or shopping, they shell up; they are quiet and don’t talk or play as much. My brother Micheal was born before me; he is the middle child. He likes to play sports and be active; he is always outside of the house, climbing trees and playing with sticks and stones. He doesn’t like school much, but he does his very best there. He gives his best effort in everything he does, but he smiles when he does the things he enjoys. He is one of the fighters of the family, who would stick up for my older brother Mark anytime he saw Mark getting treated unfairly, which was quite often.

My oldest brother, Mark, is almost the opposite. Mark is named after my father, and my mom calls them both by their names even with my father being there as well. It can get confusing sometimes; when she calls them, they both look, and as soon as they figure out who the other person is addressing, things get less confusing. For us kids, we call him Dad or Father so that is less confusing for him. We never did understand why we never came up with a nickname. Mark loves to read and remain indoors; I think he despises going to the beach the most, partly because once he almost drowned there. People said it was an accident; they say he got caught in the undercurrent, but I think it's more than that. Mark has always been the different one; he tends to like using his imagination more than dealing with reality because reality does not treat him well. Mark and Michael are only a year apart, and it seems like Michael is always looking after Mark considering Mark doesn’t really like physical contact as much. Mark has always done well in the classroom, but socially, outside of the classroom, he is a magnet for other kids to pick on him. It was as if there were a target on his back or something, but he has always said, Molly, the world around us isn’t the only thing that the world has around us. I hope that you find the other beautiful places and people that we’re not allowed to see. I didn’t know what he was talking about at the time.

My parents, Mark and Kate, met in high school and love being in the outdoors together. I think this is why they chose to live in the outskirts of the city on purpose, but they just don’t tell us. They love the wilderness and the peace that it provides. They always want to keep the family close despite how old we get, which is why I think they built this really big house so that we would not leave once we became adults, plus it is close to the business that they own. We don’t make much money at all, but we always have enough to eat and have good enough clothes to wear. My parents have instilled values of family, love, closeness, and appreciation of moments in our lives despite some of the great challenges that all people face. My parents seem stressed out at times, but won’t talk to us about it because they say, When you reach this age, that stress will come. Why? Cause we are McKinnens. My mother is often trying to make sure my father is ok and does not lose his temper; there have been many times that he has lost it, but my mother has managed to calm him down by reminding him to think about the children and what we have at home and that no one can take that away from us. There have been many moments as a family that we have all lost our tempers and had to remind ourselves that we need to make it home to our peace. Our home is our peace; no one bothers us there.

One weekend we decided to go out and eat food at our favorite fast food restaurant, Wendys. My brother Michael almost made us late because we couldn’t find him; he was outside. We normally eat dinner at a certain time so that my father can begin the night shift at his job. Michael was at the river, looking for some baby frogs—I think they’re called tadpoles— yea,that's right … tadpoles. Well anyway, we get to Wendys, and Mark seems very uncomfortable. I asked Mark, Hey. what's the matter? as we walk in. He looks at me as if he doesn’t want to be bothered, and he seems very nervous and unsettled. As we walk in, as usual everyone is looking at us as if they don’t really want us there, but I pay it no mind and grab my dad's hand. That's one of the reasons we don’t go out much. People don’t really want us around them for some reason.

As we approach the end of the line, my brother Michael asks me if I’m getting the usual, and of course I say, Yes, kid's meal for me.

My father begins to make the order for us and says, Two number ones, a kid's meal, and a chicken sandwich. The chicken sandwich is for Mark because he fully believes that a sandwich without sides like french fries is good enough, especially when you’re going to sleep afterward. He's been reading up on dietary options and health stuff lately.

The man at the counter then says to my father, We don’t have any more number ones. My father looks surprised, and then turns to my mom and gives a look as if we have been through this before.

My mother then says to my father, Honey, let's just get a number two. No need to make a fuss about it this time.

My father grins and turns around and says, Sorry about the delay, sir. If you have two number twos, we will have those.

The man hesitantly says, Yes, we do.

He then gives the order and asks for the total amount. My father gives it to the cashier and says, Thank you.

Once my father received his change, we went to find a place to sit. We sat towards the back of the restaurant because that was the only available seating for a family of five, according to my mother. I noticed there were other places, but for some reason, she wanted to make sure that we were secluded. I didn’t want to mention anything due to my excitement for the kid's meal. My brother Mark, who seemed a bit unnerved, decided he needed to use the restroom, and as soon as he went to the restroom, I saw some of his classmates from junior high walk in and beeline to the restroom once they saw us. I waved at them and let my brother Michael know. He quickly, without hesitation, got up and asked my parents if he could use the restroom as well. I found that odd, but thought nothing of it as our food had arrived. I began eating, and once I finished my burger, I noticed that my brothers hadn’t returned yet. I saw that their buddies from school had left the restroom and begun to fix their clothes as if they had had a strenuous workout. They didn’t even eat any food or wave goodbye. A few moments later, my brothers came out of the restroom, looking the same as their classmates, as if they had been in some kind of workout. As they approached us, I looked at my brother Mark and asked him, What is wrong with your eye?

He replied, Nothing … just ran into the bathroom door on accident.

Once my mother looked up at him, Michael chimed in and said, Yea, I’ve done that before. Where is my burger?

My mom looked up with concern, and my father said, Yeah, it’ll be fine. We will take a look at it when we get home.

Later, when we got home, I could hear them all arguing about what should have been done after learning Mark was getting bullied by some kids from school in the bathroom at the Wendys. Michael went in there to help, but did not want my mother to say anything about it. My mother later found out that this happened more often than she thought.

CHAPTER 2

The Little Girl

T

he scene at the restaurant was just one of many incidents that we have had as a family, and I never really knew the reason. As a McKinnen, I was always taught to give your best effort and treat everyone with good manners and care. As a child, I made sure I did that and thought if I did, then I would make a lot of friends, but it turns out that I really didn’t make any. During class, a few people would talk to me; Kevin and Megan would, but once we reached the playground, it all would stop every day. I stopped and asked them how come we don’t hang out, and they simply said their friends don’t like me. I didn’t understand because I thought I was their friend. They did that from the first grade until the fifth grade; we were in the same classes every year. I bet you’re wondering why I didn’t say kindergarten. Well, my mother taught me the basics and wanted to keep me in home school, but the law spoke against keeping me in home school after kindergarten, so she had to put me in the same elementary school that my brothers went to.

My brothers had some issues there from kindergarten through fifth grade, and she did not want similar things to happen to me, which made her reluctant. Megan, Kevin, and I were really close in the first grade and had many things in common. We always helped each other in the classroom; it was interesting because I was good at science, Megan was good at English, and Kevin was good at math. It was an academic trifecta, and we always supported each other. As we got older and social constructs began to matter, we started to drift apart. The conversations and laughter in the classroom turned to whispers and notes to make sure no one was paying attention. I settled for it and never made a fuss about it because I wanted to remain connected, plus we would visit each other at the parks and play after school until the fifth grade. During school, at every recess and lunch break, I spent time alone, never really saying anything or concerned with anyone socially. I would be preoccupied with watching other kids have fun, looking at insects and soil in the grass, and paying attention to the weather shifts at different seasons, which I didn’t make a fuss about until one day.

In the fourth grade, on a Friday, it was a gloomy afternoon when Kevin and I had a really interesting conversation about people being different. During a science lesson we