Armored (2 page)

The leader caught the youth’s wrist; twisted, strained muscles were bulging branches in the neck, arms and hands. He slammed the youth on his knees. There wasn’t a flinch, or cry for mercy which may come from weaker opponents afraid to die.
This youth sought honor, facing death after fighting bravely was the way.

Sadness, yes, he was actually saddened to take such a promising life. Thus he sliced quickly. The boy would not suffer. The blade severed the jugular; a spurting geyser of potential shot out. The Leader released hold of the strong teen with a sigh of remorse.

He did not hear the soft whimper of the women beneath his feet when the body hit the floor. Below, someone clutched a small child, and another her swollen belly. An elderly man cramped in the underground crawl space pressed his fingers on the worn tome. His eyes closed so tight his head shook from the vibration. Alazar had fought honorably before his death in protection of the family. Wedged beneath the floor, an elder observed from a crack in the boards a battle and his aged heart convulsed in sadness. The last of his great grandsons was a toddler, safely held with his mother right near his feet. He ordered Alazar to go with the women, but the obstinate youth refused to hide. They could not all fit in the space, someone had to stay behind.

“No,” Alazar had said to his
elder. “Great Abahago, you are the last of the aged and your wisdom is invaluable. Not all is found within books. Shield the family and our esteemed guest. I join Abo with pride; your time has not come.”

The intruders were heard then and Alazar was determined.  A
n elder lost the battle of words shortened by time. “Tebarek!” he said and then reluctantly joined the women and child. A reinforced plank concealed the family.

An elder had peered up, witnessing bravery.
Here is where Alazar lay; bleeding rivers on those he loved. A Wedi would not welcome his twentieth birthday; he died in honor as he was taught.

An
inaudible exhalation from an old man joined the wind as the boots marched overhead unaware of silent tears shed for the dead. The boy’s sacrifice would not go unavenged, that he swore.

The leader stood outside of the large modern abode. He rolled his shoulders to loosen the tension. He wiped a wet spot at the corner of his mouth. Blood clung to his fingers.

This was the last house of the elders.

Every adversary was removed
. Yet, an injured boy had struck many blows to a veteran’s ego. The blue eyes of an African would forever dance in his thoughts. He could not underestimate the will of the young who are professionally trained and skilled. The ring he removed from the dead youth’s finger would serve as the reminder.

Several hours later, the
night assassins stood on the tarmac in formation. Chins and eyes rose as the Big Boss inspected men’s faces for weakness.

None of the soldiers blinked.

Cold eyes satisfied with the emotionless gazes, directed his attention on the leader of the murderous band. The men had gone into Eritrea, conflict there was the perfect cover for their heinous crimes. Sudanese and Eritreans fleeing across the borders to Israel for asylum had opened the gates for this operation unknowingly. Had stability been in place, the slaughtered men would have seen them coming.

The eye glaring
at the faces of the soldiers was unreadable. He’d been on the side of Israel, worked to fight against the threat of Muslim extremists seeking to kill his people over territories, but the killings continued and as suspected nothing had changed. In fact, it had become a tiresome undertaking. Demands, and entitlements based on old scriptures, reclaiming soil, and pushing others out. Religious men engaged in these conflicts, indignation over past wrongs made them right in their eyes. There is no reason with men. A select few understand, these internal conflicts were ancient squabbles and there is a time to put them to rest. But greed and stubbornness persists. Thus, a shrug came from the man who paced. He had tired of the bickering decades ago. If he were to kill, it would not be for nations, but himself, his house and power.

The amendment to the 1954 Prevention of Infiltration Law had been initially passed by the Israeli parliament to prevent the entry of Palestinians as part of emergency legislation. The laws were recently expanded to curtail illegal immigration from Africa. The legal ramifications which granted
Israel the power to detain illegal migrants for up to three years came into effect in the wake of widening public controversy over the influx of African migrants who crossed into Israel along its border with Egypt, even those seeking legitimate asylum.

Extreme?

Of course.

The man
clucked his tongue as he paced. Times of war had birthed uncompromising leaders, and well intentioned gatekeepers of morality. Human rights organizations viewed the amendment as a harsh step which contradicts the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The Hotline for Migrant Workers, says the laws are "born in sin" and is a "dark moment for Israel. Instead of acting like all civilized countries and verifying requests for asylum and granting refugee status to those who are eligible, which Israel is obligated to do under the UN convention. But, the state sees mass imprisonment of thousands of people, women and children, whose only offense was seeking escape from murderous regimes, as a solution to the problem. This solution will not solve a thing as it is neither humane nor effective.

Who were the extremists and oppressors now?

Nothing had changed.

Countries worsened.

People were sheep and governments the shepherds.

Who is right?

Nobody; the soil, the earth existed first and will remain long after the pettiness of people are gone. These conflicts of nations were cyclical, and he had become bored.

His father, a rabbi had called a scholarly black man a Kushi, which is the Israeli equivalent of a nigger. Why, because the man debated the moral and ethical grounds in which Israel should revisit the law and their continual use of their religion to seek special treatment in America with the police. Although anti-Semitism exists, it is a form of racism which in turn is what Israel is doing to the Africans with this xenophobia based on ethnicity. He reminded his father of the treatment of Jewish refugees seeking asylum in other nations during the Holocaust. Had many nations given protection to those fleeing persecution, the numbers of slaughtered would not have been in the millions. The conflicts in the African nations were bringing people across borders, not for any other purpose other than safety. There is a moral obligation of a country to act without stripping a person’s dignity wh
en seeking refuge. Skin color should not determine whether aid is granted, just as religion or ethnicity. The brotherhood of man shows each has had their brushes with wars and mass exodus to avoid bloodshed of innocents is why many flee to safe harbor.

His father did not have an intelligent rebuttal, therefore indignation a
nd the derogatory response. But, this was his father, a man of quotes and immovable in his position.

He was not concerned with the course of Israel which called African immigrants ‘infiltrators’. Disillusionment from never-ending wars killed his belief in peace. He could forge his own destiny and the invisible borders for the sheep could not contain him. A son of Israel stepped out of the
Promised Land to self-destiny. There were too many claiming rights to one piece of dirt. Who wanted to die in the herder’s pen?

He’d broken free while the shepherd slept, wolfed down his flock and comrades. The man addressed the team leader of the troop with a curt. “Shalom, you did well.”

C
hapter One

Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation.  For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life. 

~Albert Einstein

Had the heating
system malfunctioned?

Had to, Alfonzo initially thought until noises and bodies broke through his sleep.
The miniature beads of sweat appearing out of pores colored with ink and defined by veins protruded from Alfonzo’s skin. An elbow in his neck, knees in the gut and squeals of kids waking parents on a Saturday morning was cool, but this wake-up sort of hurt.

Alfonzo’s eyes slowly opened to see the ringleader of the crew standing beside the bed, hovering with a smirk
.

“Goddammit Sal,” Alfonzo muttered.

The boy had shot up another foot overnight and Alfonzo appreciated Sal hadn’t flopped his ass on the bed, too.

Alfonzo seized
Vincent first and then caught Angelina. His nephew Carlo certainly wasn’t shy around his cousins and whew the boy scurried away so fast his Uncle couldn’t trap him between his legs. Carlo and Allie laughed when their dad released the twins and then chased their butts around the room. Allie hopped back on the bed, right on her mom, the slippery chica. She accidentally struck Selange in the face with her foot. Selange awakened immediately to participate in an episode of the reality show titled, ‘Damn, Parents Can’t Catch a Break!’

Mom and dad
exchanged a look, they were speaking code. They mastered superpowers that many parents who multitask have; it’s an instinct to know when to join forces and put the raucousness to an end.

Selange
smiled. Alfonzo winked and then she bolted forward to assist her husband and they got the upper hand and squashed the motley crew’s six a.m. attack. The children giggled as they were tickled. Alfonzo seized the eldest, the Captain of the pranksters who coordinated the child wake-up alarm. He body slammed Sal to the mattress, and found every one of his funny bones.

“Okay dad…okay…okay!” Sal exclaimed between fits of laughter as he tried to escape, but his dad had him pinned good.

After they ran out of breath, the long exhalations happened.

The small children ran out of the bedroom when Allie told them her favorite cartoon was coming on and she wanted to watch until breakfast was ready. They all followed except Sal. He
hung back and Alfonzo didn’t need to be told, the boy wanted a favor. A mafia lord reads people.

Selange laughed
and skipped her ass to the bathroom. “You guys talk, I’m going for a long shower.”

Al slapped his wife’s
bottom. Obviously, she had a hand in this dad-son talk. “I’ll join you in a minute, babe.”

Whoa!
Sal’s face contorted; his parents were inappropriate.

“What’s that face about…your mom and I make-out…how do you think your ass got here,
so what’s up hijo?”

“Can I please spend the weekend with my cousins
instead of Nana’s?” Sal talked in rapid excited breaths. “There’s nothing to do at Nana’s, nobody my age. I love Nana but while you and mom are gone, I’d rather be at Tio Nico’s house. Tia Ari said it’s okay, por favor dad?”

“Did you already ask your mom?” Alfonzo enquired, although he had a feeling
Sal had.

“Yes.”

“And?” Alfonzo asked, while adjusting his shorts. His head wanted to snake out in front of a PG audience.

Sal ignored the action. He was a guy. It happened to every dude. “She said to ask you
and if you said yes then I can go.”

“The twins aren’t your age Sal; I don’t want you
imitating their behavior.”

“Dad, I don’t follow people just because…I can think for myself. They’ve got the latest Strike Force game and
they need one more player,” Sal lied, although part of what he said was true.

“I’ll give you the answer after I talk to your mom, now I have a favor to ask.”

“Yeah?”

Alfonzo rose, pressed a hand to
the boy’s shoulder and grinned. “Help your pops out. Round up your posse when it’s time for breakfast so I can have some time with mom before I leave.”

The face of disbelief that adults have sex and like it
couldn’t be hidden. “For real dad?”

“Qué?” Alfonzo replied with a shrug. “I love your m
ama you have a problem with that?”

Sal shook his head. His dad was hopeless. But, secretly he was glad his parents were still in love. They were happy, not many couples were. He could tell. Yeah, his mom deserved to smile. She didn’t have her parents, or her best friend anymore, but she did have her family and her husband to bring her joy.

“You make mom really happy dad.”

Alfonzo stiffened. “So do you and your brother and sisters.”

“I know, but when you’re here, she’s even happier.”

Alfonzo rubbed his chin and sat back down on the bed. He
gave an exasperated sigh. Sometimes he forgot Sal had to grow up fast when he had moved out. The divorce had taken a heavier toll on his eldest son because he took on more responsibility and filled in the gaps during a father’s absence. Alfonzo had a lot of regrets about that, but he couldn’t change what happened. Moving forward is how he utilized the lesson. He’d never make the same mistake, twice.