Chapter 15: Ugly America

Me and Frank Li stood by his body in the hospital room at Sanford Hospital in Bemidji and he could see what he looked like jut lying there but he also saw what I looked like too finally.

“Who is that?” Frank's spirit said, “He looks like death itself!”

“In a way it is, Frank Li,” I said sadly, “That is your body. Only your medulla oblongata, a part of your brain stem is working right now. The rest of your brain is not functioning, Frank.”

“You mean I'm dead!” he asked.

“No,” I said, “Your brain was once, but they kept it alive with a respirator. Now it is living on its own without one. My wife wanted to bring you here before, but I was afraid you were not ready yet. You're okay with it now, aren't you, Frank?”

Frank looked awestruck by the sight of his body as he asked, “Where is your wife. Why can't I see her?”

“You scared her with your prophecy, Frank,” I said, “She's recuperating.”

“Will she be alright?” Frank asked as he touched his face, a thing I had never seen anyone else do.

“Oh, yeah,” I said, “The others like us are there to help her adjust. You see a religiously insane man blew up the Baptist church she was part of and as a result she's always had a little trouble when it looks like someone is flipping out religiously. And you very nearly did that, Frank Li. Thanks to Them your writer took a full PRN and slept for about two hours afterward.”

“Do you mean-?” he asked.

“Yes, Frank Li,” I said, “He is mentally ill also.”

“What's his diagnosis?” Frank asked, “Schizoaffective disorder?”

“Does it matter, Frank?” I asked.

He shrugged. Then he looked around the room paying particular attention to the intravenous tubes. Then he looked at me and I understood his question.

“No,” I said, “It doesn't affect you and it's just a saline solution to his fluids in good shape.”

He looked away and said, “They sure are fond of white, aren't they? Then he laughed.

“I brought you here, Frank Li, because I hoped it would settle you down a little,” I said, “How do you feel?”

He giggled. Then he said, “It sure helped to get that all out though. Is any of it true?”

“Do you remember when you were off your medication that time and you sided with the Arabs as you called them back then and prophesied in your spirit to their leaders' spirits?” I asked. “It was true to the Islamic Extremists, you know? They thought New York was the New Babylon like you said in your prophecy. Why were you so anti-American? Do you know?”

“Did you ever see an old movie called, 'The Ugly American?'” he asked, “They were as stupid as John Wayne and Ronald Reagan. I hated people like that. so full of their own self-professed strength they were scary but only human. Like the rest of the world I viewed all adult Americans like that and so many of them were it was ridiculous. But the extremists never used the prophecy until it was too late. And even then, They almost let it destroy America. Does that tell you anything?”

“What are you saying, Frank?” I asked, “That is why you went into a minor episode when 911 took place?”

“Yes,” he said, “I knew the only way to wake up America was to hit it in the pocket book. They followed my prophecy in detail, but their timing was off. They hung onto the surprise until it was too late. And by then I thought America had changed. I was routing for America and praying for the victims even before 911 took place. I knew it was going to happen eventually and I carried that anxiety for years. I am so thankful to my counselor at Hope House in Bemidji for talking me down. I wouldn't have made it without him.”

“What about now, Frank?” I asked, “Are you back to being an American patriot?”

“I was excluded from America for so long, I don't think I'll ever be that. But it's not my fight anymore. I'm an alien just like Abraham and them realized they were. That's all I've ever really been.”

“Do you mean, you're not loyal to America?” I asked.

“I am loyal to Them and Them only,” he said, “They turned their backs on Them. It's not my fault if they want to buck Them. I have to be loyal to Them. Besides I've been on Welfare almost all my life. It seems nice of them to give you enough to get by on instead of making you go entirely without. But they watch you like a totalitarian government making you report every damn cent to them or they kick you off. They canceled my unemployment check the Friday before Christmas when I was lucky enough to get a good job only to get laid off. And when I was eighteen they kept my tax refund because I rounded the number up instead of down. You don't forget a thing like that. You don't need to tell me what they are.

And the people they have to steal the money from to give out Welfare hold every damn cent against you too. Like anyone is going to get rich on Welfare. No there isn't much to praise when it comes to America. All that freedom and crap they talk about is only for the rich. If it wasn't it was mostly Republicans that are truly ugly Americans I wouldn't ever have voted. But I find voting something that produces guilt feelings anyway. If you keep voting for the lesser of two evils you are responsible for the evil liars you get in the end. It's an exercise in futility.”

“You're right, Frank Li,” I said, “But they are only human.”

“Yeah human beings pretending to be like my Brother!” he snapped at me. “They are no different and besides they're so blind they think the Republicans are the lesser of the two evils! They vote their pocket books just like rich people always did, will this time and will continue to do until my Brother looks them straight in the eyes and they will know He never knew them for they can't lie to themselves anymore when they see the Light. And I'm still glad He's going to do that. They even have their own flag, but it ain't worth the match it would take to burn it. They're ain't nothing to it or them.”

“Don't you love any rich people?” I asked.

“I read about Nicodemus,” he said, “He was alright, I guess. But times were different then.”