Cross Roads: Pick a Path (20 page)

“Understood,” responded Verone in acceptance
to my proposal.

I was glad to see his acceptance, knowing it
was a tough task. I turned away from Verone and continued to gaze
upon the rebuild of a kingdom.

“We should get going,” suggested Verone.

~

Verone walked back into the crowd, and now I
had center stage to make my voice heard. With time meeting it’s
end, I felt at peace staring at the dead body of Miran. A pleasure
of sorts, though I insured that Marona and Raja got my undivided
attention. I drenched my hands with the blood off my face, and
wiped it on the both their shirts.

“That’s the blood of my father, a man
capable of forgiving,” I started.

“
How unfortunate for you both, I may not
be as kind as assumed. Marona, I honestly did see of you as a
father, and to you I was a son I assume. Though at the end of the
day that too is a lie. A world maybe built on lies, but a
functional world cannot be a lie. The life you promise me will be a
lie, unless I act accordingly. I want you to stare out into the
crowd. The mass crowd of blameless people you’ve slaved and leeched
off of for decades. I want you to beg for their forgiveness, and if
they do forgive you, you will be spared. Beg!”

Marona lived to his name; the moment I asked
him to beg, he sucked up all the pain and remained speechless. Raja
on the other hand whom was helpless, weak, and unworthy of life
begged for forgiveness. It was quite depressing; no one came to his
aid. Bang! The moment he dropped, I looked out in to the crowd of
watchers.

Amongst the crowd, I saw tears, I saw
smiles, and I saw liberation, preparing to break free.

“
Marona, Marona, Marona. You’re surely a
man of your image aren’t you? So much pride, what shall we do with
it. Why don’t we dismantle it?”

“You! Kid in the black shirt, and khaki
pants. Come here,” I ordered. Nervous, shaking to the bone walked
forth a young boy. Probably seventeen years old in age scared of
what might happen to him.

“Spit on this guys face,” I demanded,
yanking back Marona’s head. The kid was scared, and I didn’t want
him to be. He needed a little push.

“
Kid look me in my eyes! Men like this
guy right here are responsible for the fear you feel. You’re a
young man, strong, powering, and a leader of the future. You cannot
be scared of people who abuse their power! Men like him are
responsible for the deaths of parents, leaving children like you
orphaned and alone! Men like him are responsible for the rapes of
woman, woman that are scared to look at themselves in the mirror,
because they’re unable to remember how beautiful they are! Men like
him are responsible for the hardships in the lives of every single
person in this crowd right now. Now spit!”

Hawking back, the kid gave Marona a nasty
one to the face, and smiled up at me with great satisfaction. It
caught on, I held his head back as men would come and give him a
punch to the face. Woman would take off their slipper and slap him
across the face. Children even came by and urinated in front of
him. I let it go for a bit, and when I asked them to stop, they
did. This time around I saw the liberation in the eyes of almost
every individual standing in the crowd. Liberation from a world
they were oppressed by, an independence day of the new century.

Letting go of his hair, you could see the
life just drained out of him. A man left without his biggest asset,
pride. I stood a meter away from him and watched as his head hung
low in shame.

“
You see Marona, you thought you had it
all. You thought you had them all controlled. You helmed your pride
so high, but where is it now? Why has your head fallen so short?
You see this is it, a snap second. It’s all that it takes, to
change the story of a life, and yours ends right here.”

Gun to the floor, the crowd roared in
acceptance. A crowd symbolizing a new found family, and among them
a heartbroken love. I stood bloodied and transformed; within the
midst of my next crossroad, I rose to be the king of my domain.