I managed to pull myself together. I looked at the stairs. Leyla wasn’t
there. She was still up in her room. Good.
I opened the door and saw two gentlemen, dressed completely in
black, wearing long leather coats and fedoras. I glanced at their arms
and saw the badges. Wing signs: Angels .
“Good evening. Mr. Smith I presume?” said the taller one.
“Yes.”
“We are instructed to accompany you to the ministry.
Apparently, there is an irregularity on your family tree. Do be kind
and come with us.”
“Of course, sir. Let me just get my jacket.”
As I reached for my hunting knife that was just hanging there,
next to my jacket behind the door, I looked to see if Leyla was still
getting ready. She was. Good. They never even saw it coming. One of
the advantages of a soul – crushing system, is that when dogs of the
system come to you, they don’t expect you to have a soul to fight.
Which is also why they ended up with knife shaped holes in their
chest. I put them in the closet and closed the door. That’s why Leyla
didn’t see them when she got down.
“I’m ready, dad.”
My sweet little girl. She looked so brave with that backpack
twice her size. I told her before, that when the time comes to put that
backpack on, we would leave our home for who knows how long. She
trusted me so much in my ability to protect her. I was her dad, after
all.
She sat in the car. I told her to close her eyes and start singing.
She started singing Johnny Cash’s “God’s gonna cut you down.” How
on earth does she know that? As I threw the flaming match at the
living room, burning everything we were leaving behind, I saw the one
picture I didn’t pack: the one from our wedding.
I’m sorry Clara . I wish you could see your little girl .
As I got into the car, Leyla stopped singing. We were driving in
silence for a long time before she asked me.
“Daddy, why do they call themselves the Angels?”
Cause they are a pompous uneducated bunch .
“I don’t know, sweetie. They just do.”
“And what is their job?”
“Well, Leyla, they bring in enemies of the Empire.”
“So, does that mean we are the enemies now?”
Montage, May 2017 8