“Kurt! Jesus, come on in. What a great surprise! Looks like you’re going mountain climbing!” Raoul said, looking outside and then closing his front door with a solid thump. He stared at the huge backpack strapped tightly to his friend’s back. “How ‘bout a beer, mi amigo!”.
“Si, compadre’. One for the road, you might say,” Kurt said, slipping the straps off his shoulders and dropping the pack onto the floor. He flopped onto the curved cushioned sofa that filled most of his small living room.
“Dos cervezas’s coming up,” Raoul said, heading for the kitchen.
Kurt lay back onto the air filled cushions of the familiar sofa on which he and Raoul had sat on numerous occasions, drinking beer and solving all the world’s problems. He settled into its softness as his mind and body relaxed. The comfortable relic reminded him of the world in which he grew up when he was living within the cocoon of his family’s stability. His mind slowed as the events of the past days played like a movie in slow motion.
“Kurt? You look whipped. You want to go upstairs and take a nap?”
“No, I’m good. I’m fine. Just thinking about my father,” he said reaching for the smooth, gray mug with foam flopping over its top. “Looks good,” he muttered into the head.
“A new brew, an old recipe, my good friend. It will fire you up. So, amigo, what the hell are you up to,” Raoul said.
Kurt sat up and said, “I’m leaving town, Raoul. You know I’ve been thinking about it and I finally decided that I’ve got to get out of here. There’s no future here for my kind. I’m an alien in my own land. Totally out of place in this day and age,” he replied firmly, resolute in tone.
“Come on. You can hack it. Things are picking up. It looks like they’re going to lift the restrictions on movement,” Raoul replied, sipping on the beer and peering deeply at his good friend.
“Within Atlantica,” Kurt answered. “That’s a good thing, but that’s also the crux of the matter, for me. It’s a State decision because it primarily affects Anglos, as if we are a lower class or special breed. There is nothing about freeing up movement for Anglos out of the country. It’s tighter than a drum for us. I guess it’s something like it used to be for blacks back in the slave days. Besides, there are things going on that might make our lives more difficult.”
“Like what” Raoul asked.
“Well, I think the powers in Nuevo York that run Atlantica are going to take over absolute control of the Aquifer in the coming months. There is too much power and money involved in that system, plus there is increasing pressure to open up the water to other countries. There has been a lot of media coverage about the pressure on the locals here in Alleghenia to relinquish control when the Aquifer is completed.”
“Yeh, I’ve been seeing it on the broadcasts. Makes sense that the government would be concerned. After all, we do own it,” Raoul said.
“No question, but there is so much at stake, especially when water’s involved. We’ve got it and others need it,”
Kurt answered and took a long sip from the steaming crock. “What the hell is this stuff?” he said, changing the subject.
“Thought you might like that! A new brewery opened last week. It’s a Puerto Rican beer. Would you believe?
Actually some people started up the old Allegheny Brewery on the North Side. Been empty for years. Good stuff, huh?”
“Got a bite to it. I like it.” He paused. “Have you talked to Maria?” he added, asking the question he wanted to ask ever since he came through the front door.
“Just last night. Said to say hello to you and wanted to know what you were up to. She’s fine. I guess she’s leading her class in grades, so far.”
“That’s Maria, all right,” Kurt replied.
“So what are you up to? What are you going to do?” he said, this time he changed the subject.
Kurt took a sip of his beer and looked him right in the eye.
“Why do you want to know?” Kurt responded as the vision of Maria’s ivory face, coal black hair, and crinkled smile vanished.
“Wait a minute. What, you don’t trust me? Why the hell did you come here, anyway?” Raoul said briskly, putting down his beer.
“I trust you totally,” Kurt quickly replied. “But when the authorities realize that I’m absent without notification at work, they will check with my associates and friends. They know you are my friend. They’ll come around to check with you and you don’t need that burden,” Kurt added. Then he looked around and said,” Are you
alone?”
“The good wife is with her mother and Carla’s sleeping in the bedroom,” Raoul quickly replied.
“Carla. Christ, if she knows I’m here and heard that I was leaving, I might as well turn myself into Security right now. Jesus Christ, I gotta get out of here,” Kurt said beginning to push out of the cushion. Raoul’s large hand gently pushed him back.
“She’s sound asleep, and beside she wouldn’t tell them.”
“Her boyfriend’s with Security. Carlos, something or other, right? Raoul, let me say what I came here to say and then I have to go.” Kurt paused and began to speak in a whisper. “I’m leaving here. Going to try and get to England, to Scotland, actually. You know my sister is there and my parents were buried there,” he said, moving closer into Raoul’s face.
“I think you’re making a big mistake, my friend. You have a great job. You like the work you do. I think you are giving up at the wrong time,” he replied firmly.
“Raoul, maybe you’re right, but this is your country, not mine anymore. It was my country. The whole world is different than when I was growing up. I see great struggle ahead for you and your people, but by the same token, I see nothing but more isolation here for my people. That’s right, Raoul, my people. It’s always negative to refer to white Anglo-Saxons, as if it’s something to be ashamed of. Bullshit. I’m sick and tired of being so defensive about my heritage. I’m proud of what my people created in this land. Just as proud as you are about your people. Kurt paused took another sip and said quietly, “The bottom line is that this is no place for me in the year 2050, Raoul. That’s why I’m leaving.”
There was silence while they looked intently at each other and then Raoul said hesitatingly, “So what are you going to do?”
“I’m taking a hike, literally. I’m hiking to Columbia by way of the old Allegheny Passage Trail. You know, well you probably don’t know. It’s an old trail that goes all the way to Columbia border. Once I get there, I’m hoping I can get passage to England.”
”You know how tough it is to get out of here, especially for an Anglo. You said earlier they may lift travel restrictions for Anglo’s, but that’s just in the State. For an Anglo it’s hard to get visas for anywhere,” Kurt said.
“I think you taking a great chance trying to get to Columbia. That’s a hard line place, my friend. They’ll kill your ass just trying to get in. I heard there’s a no mans land miles from their border. The got fences like they did in the U.S. fifty years ago. Look what good that did.”
“Raoul, listen to me. All I want is a place where I can work and maybe make a difference in this new world. If it’s with people of my own background, so be it. That’s the world we live in. Some quiet place where I can live in peace,” he said softly. They sat as a faint hint of Latino music played in the audio system.
Raoul finally said to Kurt, “Peace, peace is what you want,” emphasizing the “you”. “We all want peace. It took my people centuries to peacefully gain control of their lives. Now there may be threats to take what we have achieved away from us by people of our heritage. You just said so. Sometimes I think nothing really ever changes in the power needs of all people. People get a little power and they want more, no matter where they came from. You leaving, my good friend, that’s your decision. Me, I don’t want to go anywhere. I think Pittsburgh with or without the Atlantica Republic, is my best hope. You know what we need, desperately?
People like you? People, without an agenda, who’d work for the success of the area, forgetting the politics or the race of the majority. We need skilled people of all backgrounds, even Anglos like you. Everyone is protected, even you, the people who only protected their own for four hundred years. I had to get that in there, Kurt. Don’t you see, mi amigo, most of your people left. Whoever is left must be classified according to skills.
Our Matrix Management System matches skills with need. Take you, for example. We need your research
skills. Kurt. I know you and how energetic you are about everything you do. While everyone works on the future, no one is paying attention to the past. That’s a mistake.” Raoul paused and then said, “I’m looking at you and I can tell your mind is made up to leave.”
“You’re right about me, as usual. Never could hide anything from you. Raoul, I’ve got to move on. If a Sloan feels confined, it seems he has to move on to greener pastures, so to speak. Just like my family did three hundred years ago. It might seem strange to you to go back from where I came, but it may be simply my genetic conscious.”
“My genetic conscious calls me to grab this chance, here, right smack in the middle of Anglo country. No offense, old friend, but if I didn’t know you better, I’d say you’re leaving because you lost control. Your people have to be the boss. I think you’re different than the rest, maybe not?” He stopped, then, calmly said, “You said Scotland, but where exactly is back where you came from, huh?” he quizzed Kurt.
“Paisley, a little town south of Glasgow. My sister went there when a lot of the emigration began. That’s where my parents moved to and where they are buried. According to the historical data I uncovered, my ancestors left that very area in the 1600’s and went to Donegal, in Northern Ireland. From there, two hundred years later, they came here. As for where I will end up, exactly, I’m not sure. First, I have the big problem of getting to Columbia and getting on a flight out of there.
“Should I let you go? I mean I’m supposed to report defectors, especially one so skilled.” Raoul was very serious when he said this and slowly drained his beer, while closely looking at Kurt.
“Only you can answer that, my friend,” Kurt quickly responded.
“What about Martin, the guy that shared your house that you told me was driving you crazy. Does he know you’re leaving?”
“I don’t think so. I’d be worried if he suspected anything. He wasn’t there when I left. It’s really odd. I just don’t know why I seem to bother him so much. I think I represent the “oppressors of old,” as he once put it.
Kurt paused and looked at Raoul without saying anything. Then he stood up and offered his hand to him.
“Anyway, Raoul this is adios. I have to get going because there’s one other person I have to see tonight, Dr.
Alexander. He won’t like my leaving, but I have to say goodbye to him.”
“He’s going to be one sad man, not only as a friend, but as your mentor. I’m sure he’s also going to miss that valuable historical work that you were doing for him,” Raoul said.
“Well, I’ve given this a lot of thought, constantly. I’m thirty-five. There is so much I want to do with my life.
So much I want to experience, to write about, but Raoul, the sacrifice is leaving such a friend as you and Dr.
Alexander. But, I have no doubt I am doing the right thing,” he said as he stood. “I must get on to see him,”
Kurt finished and reached out his hand. Raoul clasped it with both hands. They came to each other and hugged tightly.
“I guess you have your route?” Raoul asked quietly pushing him gently away as they looked at each other.
“I do,” Kurt said as he moved to the door. He opened it and turned, “Fortunately it’s dark out tonight. So it might be slow going, but I really don’t want to run into any Security patrols. I just want to get on my way.
Anyway, after I see him, I should still get a good jump in the dark before daylight. My phones are off, but when I get where I can safely call you, I’ll let you know where I am,” Kurt said.
Raoul stood looking at Kurt in the doorway. He had a sad, empty look in his face, but slowly a crinkled smile spread over the handsome, dark, rectangular face of this new man of Pittsburgh as he looked at Kurt. “Until we meet again, my friend Kurt,” he said slowly.
“That will be a happy day, Raoul. Please tell Maria I wish her the best.” No other words were spoken as he walked out through the opening on to the small porch and into the well-lit area in front of Raoul’s apartment building.
Kurt didn’t look back until he was in the shadows of the woods across the street. He looked at Raoul’s living room window framed by yellow light of the screen. He could pick out one shadow joining up to another.
“Damn, Carla,” he swore to himself and as he ran quickly down the path and began jogging in the pitch blackness of this fall night.