Would White Survive?

If you were one of the truly fortunate, would you welcome being so? Would you believe yourself to be so?

The council assembled for truly the most important meeting they could have ever imagined. Dignitaries from all nations sat ready to listen to the proposal. Finally, the head of the council approached the microphone and spoke. The chamber was silent. 

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said in paused terms, allowing translations to be delivered, "as we all are aware, our time on this planet is now considerably numbered. We have successfully designed the means for evacuation to another celestial body with the newly designed spacecraft we have been working on since the destruction of Earth was determined, but this feat will be minimal due to time restraints, so we wish to regard those who will be selected to carry on the remembrance of our sacrifice here by letting them know we will be doing it solely for them. This is why, throughout all our history on this planet, we have taken all factors into consideration as to who the survivors will be and why we are choosing them. Because of our place in the formation of this world and scores of injustice heaped upon persons at various moments in mankind's existence, the fifty survivors selected will be thus; twenty-five male, twenty-five female, forty-six of African heritage, four of Anglo heritage. In this way, all of us who will perish shall see to it our demise will offer some small retribution for the events that have so divided us since the dawn of time. Thank you."

And so the conversations all across the globe turned to who would be one of the fifty people to enter the space craft and be propelled into space in search of a new home, be it Mars or Venus or wherever. Sufficient supplies were able to be loaded on the space ark to provide for their new home. Now it was just a matter of determining who it would be. 

In one seemingly random American city, three youths in a typical neighborhood were discussing the matter as well.  

"What you think, Cordrick?"

"I don't know, Cash. You want to survive?"

"Man, ain't no way they'll pick someone like us to go in that rocket. It's going to be all the rich people and politicians."

"Forty-six of them have to black, Feldrick." 

"They can get all of that black out of Hollywood. Face it, guys, we're doomed."

"They want it to be because of all the slavery and harm that has gone down in the world in regards to the black man. Maybe they feel since we are still surviving, after slavery and famine, we deserve to be saved."

"Don't hold your breath. We get to blow up, man." 

"They'll just put all white people on there and tell us they was black."

"Hey, guys look here. Is that a limo?"

"They in the wrong neighborhood." 

"They gonna speed up when they realize they . . . . "

"No, they slowin' down."

"Are they stoppin'?"

"Yea, Cash. They are stoppin' . . . . "

The vehicle came to a stop directly in front of the young men. They were silent as the door opened and a military figure stepped out. Feldrick actually stepped back as if they needed to run. 

"Gentlemen, I'm Lieutenant Hopkins. I believe I have found, . . . " the lieutenant looked at his keypad, ". . . Mr. Feldrick Ray, Mr. Briando Lawrence and Mr. Casion Morton?"

"Who wants to know?"

"Ah, gentlemen, you three have been selected to on the escape rocket when Earth is destroyed. May I shake your hand?"

"What do you mean, we've been selected? I'm not Briando Lawrence."

"Oh, you're not?"

"Briando lives in this neighborhood, but I'm Cordrick Hollins."

"Oh, I see. Is there some way to get in touch with Mr. Lawrence."

"I said he lives in the neighborhood. In that building over there."

Hopkins looked in the direction Cordrick pointed. 

"Ah, thank you. Is he home?"

"So I don't get to go?"

"Pardon?"

"You gonna send Cash and Feldrick and Briando, but I'm not on the list?"

"Ah, no, young man, but then neither am I."

"Oh, that makes me feel better."

"Well, I'll go inform Mr. Lawrence of his selection."

"Yea, he'll be glad to hear it."

The Lieutenant got back in the car and drove down to the emphasized building. Once there, he got out and walked up the step. Of course, there were curious on-lookers to gather around. 

"Well, congratulations, guys, I guess you get to be saved and I don't."

"Why should we want to go up in their rocket? How do we know it is safe?"

"I guess you get to find out, but I don't."

"Hey, Cash, look who's coming."

"Hey, baby."

"Don't hey, baby, me. What did those men want."

"They wanted to tell us something."

"Don't play with me, Cash. What did they want?"

"Don't get mad, baby."

"What did they say? The whole neighborhood saw that guy talking to you."

"They wanted to know if we wanted to go on that rocket ship and leave Earth."

"Who? Us?"

"Not all of us."

"Cash, quit playing with me. What did they say?"

"They want Cash and Feldrick to go in the rocket and the rest of us get to stay here and be destroyed with the Earth," Cordrick stated. 

"Is that true, Cash? You gonna leave me?"

"Cordrick, why you open your big mouth, man? Don't listen to Cordrick, baby."

"Don't baby me, Cash. You gonna go into outer space and leave me here? Huh?"

"Deconda, . . . "

"Don't talk to me, Cash," and with that, she turned and walked away from him. Cash ran after her. 

"Deconda, wait, baby. Wait."

"How you like that?" Feldrick said to Cordrick. 

"Don't matter what I think. I ain't invited."

"Just gonna be me and Cash and a bunch of brothers and sistahs!" 

"So what did you two do to be so lucky?"

"I don't know. If they chose us at random, can't get more random than us."

"How you gonna tell your daddy?"

Feldrick stopped. 

"How am I going to tell daddy and momma?"

"They should be glad their son is going to survive," Cordrick said, looking away as he did so. 

The two young men walked a bit more. Some others stopped them and asked them what the military fellow in the limo wanted and the story varied; we might go up in the rocket ship, one of us might, two of us might. After a while, no one was with them and they stood alone again. 

"Well, good luck telling your folks, Feldrick."

"Yea, I'll need it. Later, Cord."

"Or not." 

Feldrick turned to laugh, then the reality set in. He continued on his way. 

Cordrick looked up to the sky, all bright blue. Up until about fifteen minutes ago, the three friends didn't even think they would know who would be selected for the rocket ship, and now he knew three of them. He watched a cloud slowly make its way across the sky, all white and like cotton. With the thought of the cloud being cotton, he had to laugh. 

He stood and walked back up the way he had come. The neighborhood seemed to be a bit bustling with the news of the three young men. The commotion was short-lived and suddenly gave way to distant screams. Then people were running about. He watched to see what might have happened. He moved in a bit closer with caution. What could have happened to out-do the declaration that three of them were going into outer space. 

"Cash is dead!" the old man declared when Cordrick came near him.

"What?"

"She shot him. That girl."

"Decondra?"

The police cars and an amublance had pulled up by then. 

"Fastest I've ever seen the police arrive. But they won't do any good now."

"Where's Decondra?"

"She's dead, too. They was at Cash's place in his bedroom. Don't know yet what it was over."

Cordrick simply looked at the milling crowd and concluded if Cash and Decondra hadn't told anyone else, nobody would ever know what happened. If Cash hadn't been selected to go on the rocket, he at least would still be alive now. 

"Man, what happened?"

"Cash and Decondra were shot. They're dead, Feldrick."

"Was it the police?"

"No, man. She probably shot him because he was going to leave her, then she shot herself. Nobody knows, but it was probably along those lines."

"Oh, man." 

"I guess that frees up a seat on the rocket ship."

"Oh, Cord, don't think that way, man."

"How else is there to think? Learned three friends are going into outer space and not fifteen minutes later, one of those friends and his girl are dead. That lieutenant is still over at Briando's place. I ought to head down there and see if he'll let me go with you now."

"Cord, I'm not going."

Cordrick looked at Feldrick. "What do you mean, you're not going?"

"I'm not leaving momma and daddy. I can't."

"Maybe you can take your dad with you now, since Cash is out of the running."

"It's not funny, Cord."

"Your father is old and in bad health, Feldrick. He'll be gone soon, anyway."

"I know, but I want to be with him until that end comes."

Cordrick looked down the street to see Lieutenant Hopkins talking to some policemen.

"The earth may not even blow up anyway. Might just be an attempt to get some of us off the earth."

"Well, if it don't blow up, then I definitely don't want to leave."

Cordrick took off running down the street toward Hopkins. The officers watched him running toward them and took on a guarded stance, but Hopkins waved them down. 

"Cordrick, I've heard what happened, but that doesn't mean you get to go."

"You do know how to make a fellow feel loved, don't you, Hopkins?" Cordrick said between gasps. 

"I heard what happened to Casion and I'm sorry, but that just means the next name on the list will be selected."

"Lucky them. So do you know for certain the Earth is going to blow up?"

"Not necessarily blow up, it's going to be the result of atmospheric . . . "

"Yea, yea, yea, so you know for certain the Earth is going to cease to exist?"

"According to the top scientists assembled in key locations, yes, this is definitely going to take place in approximately the next two months."

"Approximately."

"That is correct, Cordrick."

"How certain are you?"

"Cordrick, what is this all about?"

"I think you guys might just be feeding us a line with all of this, just to get rid of forty-six black people for no reason. Just send us off into space and forget about us, . . . or them, as the case may be."

Hopkins looked at Cordrick. 

"Cordrick, I don't know why you would think that. The decision has been passed down that we are doing this as a way of making universal amends for the immoral crimes inflicted upon particular people."

"My people. You mean my people."

"The plight of the African-American throughout this nation's history is well documented, . . . "

"We was slaves, brought here as slaves and now we get to leave, right?"

"Cordrick, you and I will be staying, so if the world isn't destroyed, you will definitely get to tell me, I told you so. Now would you like that?"

"Feldrick doesn't want to go."

"What? Why not?"

"Doesn't matter. He doesn't want to leave, so that means the next person, number fifty-two, it should be, gets to go, so lucky them, whoever they may be. They don't get to see the Earth destroyed."

"Cordrick?"

"What?"

"You are number fifty-two. You are next on the list."

Cordrick was silent. He wanted to refuse the offer, to insist he wanted to stay, but now he was given the opportunity, and he couldn't pass it up, not after both Cash and Feldrick had met their destinies. Cordrick had no family ties to keep him here. A brother who was off elsewhere he hardly saw and their mother in a nursing home with no idea who he was. Cordrick returned to his apartment and sat up nearly all night. He told no one what the lieutenant had said. He didn't tell Briando. Briando would find out soon enough, he figured. 

The next day, Cordrick decided he would tell Feldrick. He walked down the street heading to Feldrick's apartment and rounded the corner to see an ambulance parked outside the building. A stretcher was brought down the steps and placed within the vehicle, then Cordrick saw Feldrick and his mother, visibly upset, come down the stairs as well. 

Cordrick ducked back around the corner of the building. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was deliver something like this to Feldrick. He made his way back to his apartment. 

A couple of weeks later, the sky seemed to darken. Cordrick wondered if that was a hint of what was to come. Or it could just be storm clouds, which actually it was. He stood at the window, watching the rain pour down into the streets. He concluded this may very well be the last time he'll see rain such as this. 

He wondered where the rocket ship might go. He was given a phone number to receive information and was told how long it would take to reach a suitable destination. Estimating again. Everything was deductions and estimates. Was nothing for certain? 

The morning given for departure, Cordrick packed and made his way to the train station. The craft would only leave when the designated fifty were present. There was no set time with someone being left if they weren't there yet. Cordrick thought about that and, after a lifetime of having to rush to be on time and hurry, was amused by the idea of being given such freedom.  

From there, he thought of that as well; freedom. He stared into the early dawn and thought of his ancestry, however it was, and that now he was the one getting the ultimate freedom. Still, there was nagging doubt in his mind as to if the world would really cease to exist or not. He decided this was a gamble he would just have to take. 

There was no fanfare as the rocket was loaded. The decision was made to essentially tell no one, and actually humanity agreed, that they didn't need to know when the rocket departed until pretty much they saw it leaving. If they weren't selected to go, why fly into hysterics and insist they get to go? Force your way into a situation and see how welcomed you are. 

Cordrick entered the rather confining craft and gradually made his way to his assigned seat. As he did so, he observed all the lovely young black women also summoned forth. He could only smile at such an observation. He wondered where his woman might be? Which one of these would he be taking into a new existence? They all seemed friendly enough as they too took note of him and many gave very sly smiles. 

Cordrick sat down and looked at who was in the seat beside him. It was Briando. 

"Hey, man! How'd you get in here?"

"Same as you. I was . . . . on the list."

They began laughing as the other passengers looked back at them. 

"So we get to leave the Earth? We get to survive."

"How'd your parents take it?"

"They were okay with it. They didn't want to leave, even if they'd been asked. They want to live out their lives right there, where they began when they married."

"Yea. I didn't have to bother about any of that."

"Did you go see your mother?"

"No need, Briando. She wasn't there. Just her body."

Briando and Cordrick looked out the portal at the last sight of Earth they would apparently ever see. As they did so, another one of the fortunate chosen had made his way down the aisle and sat on the opposite side of Cordrick. 

Cordrick heard the buckling of seat belts and slowly turned to look at the new arrival. He stared at the fellow for a bit. Slowly the new person turned to look at Cordrick as well. 

"How old are you?" Cordrick asked, since the whole selection process seemed to be based on age. 

"Thirty-seven. And you are twenty-two." 

"They couldn't find any white person younger than you, Hopkins?"

"My number came up, Cordrick."

"So now I get to survive and of all the white people I will be with, which is only a count of four, you are going to be one of them."

"That's correct, Cordrick. And you know what else?"

"Yea, I know what else."

'What's that?"

"We go off into outer space and the world doesn't blow up, I still get to say I told you so."  

 

Reviews

[Spamalot]

Seriously, dude, if you're gonna write fiction you need to look into the basics of how to do it. Nobody stops to think. They never change expression, fidget, or do more than toss their lines back and forth.

You know what you mean, but the reader needs to know, too, as they read.