Chapter 12

The South Korean plastic surgeon carefully removed the bandages from Marcus’ face revealing his new face. The skin around his cheeks was tightened; he had thinner lips and eyebrows along with a sharper pointier nose. His head had already been completely shaved and hazel eye contacts would be added. The doctor showed Marcus his image in a mirror and he nodded his approval after a slight pause that made the doctor a little nervous. Zarida entered the makeshift operating room cautiously. “Not as goodlooking like Marcus but you’ll have to do.” She said forcing a smile. She had opted out of surgery and chose to go with a wig, contacts, heavy make-up and shades if necessary. “You’re going to need some time to heal and avoid infection.” The doctor said. “I don’t have time just get me some painkillers and antibiotics.” Marcus said painfully. The doctor’s expression showed disapproval, but he knew not to push the matter. He left to get the drugs leaving Zarida and Marcus alone. “How do you feel?” She asked. “I feel like if I laugh, cry or smile my face might fall off.” She laughed and then quickly turned serious. “The courier came by with the money and documents you’ll need. The doctor’s assistant will take your passport and driver’s license photo. The ship will be leaving on schedule, so you’ll have to be up and out of here soon.” He stared deeply into her eyes. “Don’t you mean we’ll have to be up and out of here soon?” Tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m not going with you.” “What do you mean you’re not going with me?” He said grimacing slightly. “Dotty’s not well. She’ll never make the trip. She’s been experiencing chest pains. Her heart is not well. Janet sounds depressed. Even though I explained everything she is distraught about Dotty, New York, and the fact that she won’t be seeing her friends again. Baby, I love you, but I can’t leave them and they can’t go. We’ll be moving to a safe house in South Carolina. It’s all set up. David Brown is your new name. It’s all here.” She said putting the gym bag next to the bed. “Wong and his men will be there to meet you at the ship.” She added with tears streaming down her cheeks. Marcus just stared at her with a blank expression, stunned and disappointed. “How bad is Dotty?” ‘She’s going to need treatment; it’s all set up.” She said wiping the tears away. “Will I get to see Janet?” He asked even though he knew the answer. “Baby they are hot on our trail; you can’t.” Deep sadness overcame his new face. She bent over and gently kissed his forehead. “I can’t kiss you on the lips, but I can kiss you everywhere else.” She said with sad eyes and forcing a sexy smile. She turned around, dimmed the lights and shut the door. She walked slowly over to him and slowly pulled the sheets off of him. She then backed up and began to undress.

The black SUV pulled up to the surgeon’s private office. Marcus was waiting and ready. He passed the surgeon an envelope and thanked him for his services. Charles, the driver, took Marcus’ bags. “Sir, how are you feeling?” “Fine thanks Charles it’s good to see you.” Marcus observed that Charles was staring at the changes on his face. “Zarida says I’m not as good looking, what do you think?” “That’s not for me to say Sir.” “Good answer, please stop calling me Sir.” “Ok, but you’re second in command now and I have been assigned to be your personal bodyguard so I just thought that you are more than worthy to be called Sir.” “Charles I appreciate the respect but from now on you are to call me David or Mr. Brown.” “Yes Mr. Brown.” Charles said as he opened the back door for Marcus after loading his bags. Marcus hesitated before getting in. He leaned toward Charles and whispered. “Who’s going to take out the surgeon and his assistant, they’re loose ends.” “No one.” Charles answered. “They’re Mr. Wong’s people.” Marcus said no more and climbed into the back seat. Larry was to his right and greeted him first. “David Brown, it’s good to see you my brother.” He said as they embraced, both of them grimacing slightly. “Larry it’s great to see you are all right. It is still Larry right?” “Yes, for now. You hurtin too huh?” “Yeah inside and out but I’ll be ok.” Charles got into the driver’s seat and sped off. “Easy Charles we don’t want to attract any unnecessary attention.” Marcus said as Charles nodded and slowed down. Pam turned around in her seat to get Marcus’ attention. Their eyes met. “Pam, my sister, how are you doing?” “I’m good David but I’ll be better when we are safely aboard the ship.” “You and me both Pam.” “I planted a virus in their system that should at least slow them down a bit.” “Good, you’ve done a great job under some extraordinary circumstances, thank you.” “You’re welcome and thank you Sir for your leadership.” Pam said as Charles looked in his rear-view mirror to see if Marcus would correct her but their eyes just met in the mirror and they both smiled. “All of you have done a great job.” He said patting Larry’s thigh. “Tony’s already on board so as soon as we get there, we are good to go.” Larry said. “Excellent.” Marcus answered as he sat back, took a deep breath and attempted to relax. However, his mind would not let him rest. His thoughts turned to those who were gone. “Warren, Loyd, Roger, Jim, the General and the Senator arrested, my Lisa, the separation from my family.” He paused for a moment as sadness and fatigue enveloped his face. “My friend Zack asked me was it worth it. Now our people are being harassed across the nation even more than before. Was it all worth it?” Only Larry was brave enough to respond. “We can’t have doubts now. We knew what we were getting into.” “Yes we did.” Marcus replied with a strange smile on his face. Pam and Larry looked curiously at him and each other wondering if Marcus was losing it or if the pain killers were kicking in. “Heavy repercussions across the land. Just as planned. The sacrifices we had to make for the greater good. Things are going to get so bad for Black America that Black People are finally going to seriously reconsider going back to Africa. The occupants of the SUV sat in stunned silence. They looked at each other and then back at Marcus. “This is classified information, so it stays right here, understood?” The group nodded. “Understood?” He repeated louder. One by one they repeated. “Understood.” “You can express your feelings later when we are aboard the ship. For now, just listen. We are already in negotiation with the Liberian Government with the assistance of the Chinese. As the repression continues, we have people in place that will launch a massive propaganda campaign to encourage Black folks to understand that this is now a viable and sensible option.” He sat back and closed his eyes. “Details will be forthcoming.” For the remainder of the ride there was dead silence with the exception of the news station that kept them updated on events. As they rode along route 16 Larry broke the silence. “David are you awake?” “I am now. As I said we can discuss what I said further on the ship.” “This is another matter.” “What is it?” Marcus said somewhat annoyed. Pam shook her head feeling he didn’t need to know this now. “Lisa was pregnant. I thought you should know before you heard it some other kind of way.” Marcus looked away from Larry and began to stare out of the window. He put his hand over his mouth as tears slowly welled up in his eyes. As the tears began to roll down his cheek, he frantically wiped them away. “I should have never got her involved. Now I’ve lost her, my unborn child, my close friend; I may never see Zarida, Janet, or Dotty again.” He stopped and tried to pull himself together. He wiped his face again and took a deep breath blowing air out of his mouth. “Are we almost there?” He said suddenly in a strong voice. “We’ll be at the river in 15 minutes.” Charles answered.

They pulled over into a dark secluded area by the river. They got out of the vehicle and unloaded the bags and themselves onto the two dinghies’ that awaited them below. They quickly headed toward “The Mao” which was docked two hundred yards away with Tony and Mr. Wong awaiting their arrival. As they approached the ship, they fought to keep their balance while the ladder was lowered over the side of the ship facing the river. One by one they ascended to the deck with the assistance of Mr. Wong’s crew and were hurried below.

Detective Gene Hacker lie in his hospital bed nursing his wounds. Frustration grew as he watched events taking place on the news but could not participate in the activities. A knock came to his door but before he could say “Come in” Special Agent Kline poked his head in and entered the room along with two other agents. “Gene how are you holding up?” “I need to get out of this bed and get to work. I’m missing out on everything. I was just watching on the news how the Jackson’s have lawyered up. Now they have nothing to say; no more brilliant speeches.” “Well, we have enough on them they don’t have to say anything.” Kline said as he got closer. “I’m sorry for the loses you took at Black Guard. Damn they were ready for us. But they took a big hit too.” Hacker said. Kline didn’t respond to what Hacker had just said. “I’m heading to Atlanta, but I wanted to stop by before I left.” “What’s going on in Atlanta?” “Well, we have some leads to follow up on and a trail to some of the B.L.O. members leads to Atlanta.” “Fill me in.” “First I want to show you this photo.” He took an8x10 photo from one of the other agents and showed it to Hacker. “Have you ever seen or come across this guy before?” Hacker studied the photo. “No, who is he?” “His name is Marcus Brooks. We believe he could be one the few major players remaining. One of the first casualties at the raid on Black Guard was a young woman named Lisa Banks. We found out she was living with this guy Marcus Brooks. We raided their Co-Op in the Bronx but didn’t find much. We also hit his business office and found nothing useful so far. Then we got a call from our C.I. Who we planted in a Brooklyn church which we suspected might be involved in some militant activity. He informed us that two people, Marcus Brooks and Lisa Banks were on the manifest of a church bus that traveled to Atlanta from New York right after the attacks.” Hacker shook his head in disgust displaying a sarcastic smile. “You mean to tell me right after the attacks we allowed a bus load of people to leave New York City.” “Yeah, we are looking into how that happened. Supposedly there was a spot check in Staten Island but they really had no idea what to look for other than weapons. Anyway when that bus arrived in an Atlanta hotel everyone checked into the Hotel except Marcus Brooks and Lisa Banks. Now obviously there was another woman with Mr. Brooks because Lisa Banks was already dead.” “Any cameras at the hotel?” Hacker asked. “I was getting to that. Cameras picked up two people; apparently Mr. Brooks and an unknown female companion, getting into a vehicle registered to a Zack Foster. We didn’t get a clear picture of him or the woman but we are sure that was Brooks. At this very moment we are preparing for a raid on Mr. Foster’s house.” Kline looked at his watched. “So that’s where I am headed now. You’ve been on this since day one so I just wanted to see how you were doing and fill you in.” “Thanks Kline, keep me updated.” “Will do. Get well.” Kline said as he and the two agents left the room.

Kline’s team hurriedly left the hospital eager to get to Atlanta as quickly as possible. As the F.B.I. team got closer to the Newark Airport a black Yamaha motorcycle rapidly began to close the distance between them. “Keep looking; go through his entire house with a fine tooth comb. There has to be something there. Watch out for trip wires, these guys are very clever. What is Foster saying?” Kline asked communicating with an Atlanta agent. “I don’t care if he’s not talking keep questioning him until you hit a nerve. Talk to him about how long him and his wife will be going to jail for harboring a terrorist wanted for killing federal officers.” The motorcycle had now made its way to the rear right side of the SUV. The driver, Malik, placed a magnetic device on the side of the vehicle nearly losing his balance. Malik quickly changed lanes to his right cutting off several cars that furiously honked their horns as he veered off to the exit. The honking caught Kline’s attention as he paused his call. “Hold on.” “What was that?” Asked one of the other agents referring to the sound the device made as it was attached to the vehicle. Kline glanced to his right watching the motorcycle’s hasty exit. As he turned to say something to the agents in the back seat the device exploded scattering pieces of the SUV and its occupants across the highway pelting the other cars with flying debris.

“Greetings and congratulations to you and your team.” Said Mr. Wong to Marcus. Marcus nodded to Wong but said nothing. “David, I’m sorry for your loss.” Tony said as he and Marcus embraced. Tony then greeted and acknowledged the rest of the team who still seemed to be in shock by Marcus’ revelation of the grand mission. “While we are sailing all of you will be given new identities. We have a team and a room set up for you. Liberia awaits us with open arms. This is not the end but the beginning of a brave new era. Tony proclaimed.

The “Mao” pulled out of the Liberty Terminal a short while after leaving behind a trail of death, destruction, and a country in racial chaos.

The End

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin Barron is an activist, photographer, and author of the Black Rising Series. Be sure to continue the saga with book 2; Black Rising: Home and Abroad available at Barnesandnoble.com

You can contact him at BlackRising1619@gmail.com

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