Page 109 of Longing for Liberty
“Are you coming, honey?”
“Yeah. One minute.”
She seemed to understand, giving me one last smile and nod before leaving me to stand there. I stared at the gray brick building that housed the people I loved. It stood halfway around the world from the house where I’d grown up. The language was different. I sniffed the air, which even smelled different. But this was home. Not because of where I was, but because of who I was with.
Yes, we were immigrants here, refugees even. I wasn’t foolish or naïve enough to think things would be perfect here, but I wasn’t seeking perfection. After all we’d been through, I only wanted one thing for me and the people I loved—the same thing everyone in the world wanted. To be free.
My loud, soaring phoenix finally came in for a landing on my shoulder, closing its colorful wings and quietly surveying all that we’d fought for. There was still much to be done.
But for now, it was time to live.
* * *
Inside,Jeremy looked around and asked, “Where’s Pops?” It was then that we learned his father had passed two years ago. We were still mourning hours later after midnight and poring over every detail when Summer sat up straight on the couch, her eyes bulging at her phone screen. Asher had fallen asleep curled up beside her, and I’d covered him with a blanket.
“Turn on the news! Something is happening in the State!”
Jeremy and I clasped hands, sharing an anxious look before turning to the footage.
A graying British news reporter stood with a microphone. Behind him were buildings on fire, massive smoke plumes rising.
“You will never believe where I am. For the first time in six years, we have breached the boundaries of what was once the United States of America, now known as the State. I was brought in through Mexico by a group calling themselves resistance members. What you see behind me is the city center of Community One, which some say was the capital of the State.” I gasped. “The three tallest buildings where government officials resided were all bombed during the quiet of the night. According to the resistance, President Samuel Roan and Vice President Walinger are presumed dead.”
I let out a small scream as our whole room cheered, Jeremy leaping to his feet to punch the air. He grasped my hand and held me as I simultaneously cried and laughed, overcome by the euphoria of the news.
“Wait, shh,” Aidan called, waving at all of us and pointing at the screen.
“Our sources tell us that NATO troops are now surrounding two U.S. bases in the former states of Alaska and Hawaii, the island of Oahu in particular, in hopes of a peaceful surrender. And in a mysterious turn of events, the third notorious leader of the State, Secretary of Arms, Amos Fitzhugh, was apprehended and arrested in Italy, if you can believe it. It’s rumored he was vacationing incognito with other persons from the State.” The reporter shook his head and raised his eyebrows. We all glanced around at each other, and I was grateful the public didn’t know about me yet, though I was certain our pictures would soon be in the papers. “We’re looking into that and hope to have more on that developing story soon. For now, we’ll cut to my colleague reporting from Community Five in the former Orlando, Florida area.”
Our entire group leaned forward on the edge of our seats, me still grasping Jeremy’s arm as another British reporter appeared on screen.
“Yes, thank you. Behind me at the podium is Dr. Marian Duphre, former professor of economics at Ole Miss University, here to address this crowd of newly liberated, uh, Community Fivers, I believe they’re calling themselves. Let’s listen.”
The camera panned to a woman with thick braids wound smoothly on top of her head like a massive bun. The dress she wore had probably been very sharp business attire at one time and was now worn-looking and slightly baggy. But the way she held herself as her voice rang out made me forget about any of that.
“They call us Community Five,” she said, and the crowd went absolutely silent. “They spent six years breaking the spirits of the first four communities, molding them into business models that would have eventually made them a lot of money. But they saved our conversions for last, knowing we would be the most difficult. Yeah, I think they knew.”
She grinned, and the crowd made noises of affirmation, and everyone laughed, quickly quieting again. “The fact is, many of us have big servants’ hearts. We give and we give, and that comes from the heart. But never again will we beforcedto serve, nor should anyone be.” Again, the cheers rose, and she spoke loudly over them.
“We were a full working network inside of these walls,” she said. “And we had a network outside of these walls. We even had Lady Liberty herself on our side.” At that, the crowd cheered, and Summer yelled, clapping her hands. My face heated, and I held tighter to Jeremy as Dr. Duphre went on.
“We came together in the name of love. Love for our families. Love for our communities. Love for the higher powers many of us believe in. Love for our cultures. Love for freedom. Love for that very idea of being able to pursue happiness. You know…I thought a lot about happiness these six years.” She paused, and the air seemed to stir around her.
“What does happiness feel like? It seems like something we should be able to easily seek and find as individuals, but it’s not. At the root of life, happiness is collective. Cooperative. Whether we want to believe it or not, we are all connected in spirit. If one suffers, we all suffer. Perhaps we don’t realize…in those moments when we seek and we seek, but we just can’t seem to reach that pinnacle of happiness, because others are hurting. But instead of reaching out to those hurting, we continue to look inward. What else canIhave? What else canIexperience and achieve? Surely, a bit more of all of that will make me happy.
“The world will continue to hurt for as long as it takes for us to come together. Joy will not come until all humans are equal. All free. All accepted. Don’t you see? Every single issue that humanity faces can be fixedbyhumanity! Every war started by humans can be quickly endedbyhumans. Every starving child can be fed. Every thirsty woman can have water. Why, God? We cry out, Why? Why do you not fix this? Why do you not stop evil people? I tell you all today…a spirit of love and power was breathed into each and every one of us to do those deeds that need to be done! All we have to do is come together. That is where true, fulfilling happiness will be found—as you are serving another from your heart, with your heart. And sometimes it is not pretty. Sometimes, what we need to do to achieve freedom and seek happiness is the very thing that our spirit wants to reject. Sometimes seeking joy means fighting. And that’s what we have done.”
I closed my eyes, hearing the sniffles of my mom and Summer, feeling the strong hand of Jeremy’s in mine, and I knew the wise professor was right. No matter how good things were here in this home, I would never have true happiness knowing others were hurting and I was doing nothing to help them. But first…I needed to heal myself.
EPILOGUE
One Year Later
When newsfinally broke identifying me and Jeremy, naturally the whole world was curious. Well, “curious” was not a strong enough word. Some were obsessed. I suppose I understood. Everyone wanted answers. Everyone wanted the pieces to the puzzle that would make the whole picture clear. But I wasn’t ready at first. The offers for interviews poured in. It got to the point that I didn’t want to leave the house, and I didn’t feel at ease when any of the family was out of my sight.
Don’t get me started on the first time one of my kids got a fever.
Or the first time I heard a kid flying a toy drone outside.
