by RJ Pritchett
The United States of Rebellia
By RJ Pritchett
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 by Roy J. Pritchett
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected]
Book cover design by Devin Seymour of Dekree Studio
FIRST EDITION
CONTENTS
Title Page
Chapter 1 (The Bonfire)
Chapter 2 (Benny's Story)
Chapter 3 (Prison Break)
Chapter 4 (Home)
Chapter 5 (Sanctuary)
Chapter 6 (Racism 101)
Chapter 7 (Vincent's Story)
Chapter 8 (The Debate)
Chapter 9 (Maria's Story)
Chapter 10 (Secret Society)
Chapter 11 (Courtney)
Chapter 12 (Playing God)
Chapter 13 (Obliteration - To Liberation)
Chapter 14 (Moment of Clarity)
Chapter 15 (Vivian's Story)
Chapter 16 (What happens on Earth...)
Title Page
This book is dedicated to everyone who believed in me. Thank you.
To those who are still with us; to those we’ve lost. You are loved.
Chapter 1 (The Bonfire)
“Rule one in this world: Never get too attached to anybody.”
“If you really want me to speak on the holy father, let me tell you that he’s been there for me through thick and thin, testing me. He’s been testing me, but I’ve been studying for his tests since the day I was born. Through my studies, I’ve learned that he’s been good to me. He’s been showing me love through the littlest things in life and without him, I would feel like I have no purpose. He’s allowed my family to have food at the table, clothes on our backs and a roof to sleep under every night. He made it all possible. He’s blessed me in so many ways, that I can’t thank him enough and I will always be indebted to him. He gave me this life. I know that my life is precious -and when it’s over, we’ll finally meet face to face. His arms will be open wide as soon as I take my first steps past the beautiful golden gates of Heaven. He’ll open those gates for me, accepting me for who I am and ignoring all the mistakes I’ve made in the past. He knows I’m not perfect, but he didn’t create me to be perfect, he created me to be human. Just like every other human, I’ve made my mistakes and learned from them. God is the reason why I get up in the morning and look at the world through rose-colored lenses. I see beauty in hard times because I know he’ll help me through it. I know he will. Not everybody sees his beauty, but I do, and I love him with every ounce of my being. I will forever live with love in my heart because of his presence. I love God more than anything in the world because, without him, I would have nothing. As I say this, tears are falling from my dark brown eyes, but I know that these are tears of joy because I have the power of God inside of me. With his power and his presence by my side, guiding me, light will be shed on all of the dark times that await me in my path...”
… and so she said, “Let there be light.”
The roaring of the intense flames broke the silence that once filled the atmosphere. The darkness was no more. The crackling wood and roaring flames were the only sounds they heard as the small crowd sat and stared at the woman standing motionless in front of the great fire.
Staring directly into the fire, she stood with the reflection of the powerful flames in her dark brown eyes. Her black hair was neatly tied into a single braid that wrapped around her entire head, resembling a halo. Her dark clothes had a few patches of dirt on them, but that seemed to be the least of her concerns as she watched the flames dance in front of her. She felt its heat as a large piece of wood dissolved, cracking and popping as the fire consumed it.
She placed her hands on the fanny pack resting around her waist before she finally turned her back to the fire. She faced the crowd for the first time.
“I am Rebellia,” she said when she locked eyes on a few glances, “I see a few new faces this time around, so I thought I should start by formally introducing myself. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let me also start by saying that this event isn’t for the faint of heart. I’m here to tell you my truth and as some of you know so well, I will not sugarcoat anything. I may not tell you what you want to hear at this moment, but I don’t care. You’re all dead, and this is the afterlife. Crazy, right? When I first opened my eyes in this world, I was both angry and heartbroken. During my short life, I was a strong believer in God. I went to church, I read and cherished the Bible, and I was still denied at the gates of Heaven after my death. I have no memory of actually being at the gates, but it was soon explained to me that this world is God’s waiting area. We’re here waiting to be accepted, because the lives we lived weren’t good enough in God’s eyes. This is a world where we’re supposed to cleanse ourselves of whatever sins we carried from Earth before we can make the transition to Heaven.”
The flames grew behind her when a couple of young men tossed small logs into the bonfire.
“My first few days here, I thought about the words I would say when I finally met God. I couldn’t wait to give God a piece of my mind and probably throw the very first tantrum inside of those peaceful gates. That’s not a future I want anymore. I don’t want that future anymore because I’ve decided that this world is my Heaven. I don’t know what Heaven is like, but in this world, we don’t have to bow down to a golden throne; we don’t have to follow any laws because we have the power to make our own while we’re here. I’m surrounded by a bunch of people that believe in my vision. I’m surrounded by a bunch of people that also weren’t seen as valuable enough to walk through those gates immediately after their deaths. They say stand for something or fall for anything. I stand for something alright. I stand for a world of paradise. I stand for a world where all good people may enter so that the tiny mistakes they’ve made doesn’t cost them a place in it. I stand for a world where people can make their own decisions without being told how to live. A world where life never truly ends. I stand for this world we’re in right now. The real free world.”
She paused as applause rang out from the people in the crowd before her. A half-smile stretched on her face as she patiently waited for the crowd to settle down.
“Everybody here has a past that they’re probably embarrassed by. We don’t judge good people in this society we’re building because nobody here is perfect. We all have sins that attach us to this world outside of Heaven’s gates -some bigger than others, but they’re all sins nonetheless. I can tell you another small piece of who I was when I was alive. I was a girl who was naïve to the real struggles of the world. I believed almost everything my parents, and their pastor told me. But I soon understood and saw that things haven’t been what I thought they were,” she took a second to think and turned back to the fire until she continued speaking.
“The president is a puppet, feeding us all false information -or should I say fake news, but you know that already. Most news anchors are wolves in sheep’s clothing, but you know that already. Well, some of them are real sheep, following blindly on the path of lies these politicians are leading them on… but I digress. The government plans on flooding the city’s streets, killing millions of people just to collect insurance, but you know that… you probably don’t. NASA is looking for real estate on other planets before Earth is too dama
ged to inhabit any longer, sending only the rich and valued to the next world and leaving the poor to fend for themselves on a dying planet, but you… wait a minute. There goes their plan for the new world. I can’t believe I let it slip out like that. Oh well,” she shrugged as many people in the crowd chuckled.
“Before I go any further, I would like to clear up something. Although I was raised in a Christian household, cherished the Bible, and went to church religiously… I can admit that the church is corrupt. Okay, not every single church is corrupt, but the vast majority of them are run by people that are using people’s belief in God to make themselves rich and famous. Let’s talk about it. They say money is the root of all evil, and I want to elaborate on that. Money is the root of all evil… but what is on the money? If you really think about it, the presidents -or should I say the government is really the root of all evil because they use those pieces of paper to tell us our value. Do you think God gives a fuck about a Forbes list? You think God gives a damn if you paid your taxes or not when you were alive? Do you think you can buy your way into heaven? Money doesn’t mean shit in this world or the next… and this is coming from someone who was born into money. You have people starting cults and disguising them as churches for profit… They’ll learn eventually…” Rebellia watched the footprints that her boots created after pacing back and forth in front of the fire, “they’ll learn eventually,” she repeated in a much louder voice. Her fists were tightened, but they loosened after she took a deep breath. She took a moment of silence to gather her thoughts as she continued to walk back and forth in front of the fire.
“I’m not a preacher; I’m not a politician; I’m not a conspiracy theorist; I’m not telling you that the government is completely evil and that you should join my rebellion against them. My rebellion isn’t against the government. Not anymore anyway since there is no jury of our peers in this world. I’m not telling you to leave that cult that you call a church. No. If you don’t see the problem that’s in front of you, who am I to get in the way of that? I’m not in the business of freeing the slaves that don’t want to be free. I gave up on trying to change the world because it’s pointless. Humans are already stuck in their ways, and who am I to fix that? I’m not a God, nor do I want to be. I’m not holier than thou… all I know is, there will be a lot of ‘holier than thou’ pastors and religious folk sweating in the courtroom on Judgment Day when the skeletons in their closets are used as evidence against them. That’s for sure. But all in all, I’m no different than you. Live your own life and make your own decisions. That is the point of the world I’m in -the world I want to help build. We’re all free to do as we please.”
More wood was thrown into the fire. A young woman did the honors, before smiling at Rebellia and walking back to her seat.
“I’m from a place called the United States of America: the land of the free and the home of the brave. Some people look at it as the greatest country to ever exist, others look at it as a wannabe superpower hell-bent on controlling the whole world while maintaining its clean-cut image in the eyes of the majority of its citizens. I happen to agree with the latter… I was born in the United States of America: the land of the greed and the home of the slaves.”
The crowd erupted in another raucous cheer before she was able to continue. Most people gave her a standing ovation.
“Talk your shit, Rebellia!” one person shouted, clapping their hands with the rest of the crowd as piercing whistles were added to the ovation. Rebellia smirked and continued… the crowd settled down once she started talking again.
“The country was built on two things, greed and slavery. Today, both things exist. Let’s do what America wants us to do and look past the many years of the old slavery for just a second. Today’s slaves are the people mentally enslaved by political views, fashion trends, religion, the prison system, etcetera. The greedy ones are the ones in charge. The greedy ones are the people collecting money for treatment of a variety of diseases when they have already the cure locked away somewhere. Trust me, that’s not just a simple conspiracy theory. They’re sitting back and watching you die so they can wring every last dollar away from your cold hands as you fade away. Population control. The greedy ones are the people who stand in their football stadiums and arenas all over the world, preaching the ‘word of God’ to the blind sheep that look at them as a messenger of God when in fact, they are just as blind as the sheep that follow them. They collect money from their loyal followers and turn other people’s religion into a thriving business. These false prophets will hug you and tell you what you need to hear as they reach for your wallet without your knowledge. Take away the possibility of gain, fame, and fortune -and watch most of these false prophets disappear,” she sighed and shook her head. “The greedy ones are the political leaders who pump billions of dollars into war but leaves their physically and psychologically broken war veterans on the sidewalk with a cardboard box to call home after the fight is over,” she paused as something else was tossed into the bonfire.
“Freedom is the word that gets thrown around all the time when talking about this country we call America, but for some reason, America has held slaves for more than two centuries and currently hold well over twenty percent of the world’s prison population. And with this high prison population, somehow some people aren’t sent to jail for the crimes they commit. The justice system is flawed… but you know that already. They’ll lock someone up for not paying taxes while another person can get away with first-degree murder.”
“That’s a fact!” someone shouted from the crowd, but her attention was caught by a man that sat in silence. He looked to be captivated with what he was staring at.
“Benny, I don’t mean to take long, but I have to address a few things before we truly begin,” Rebellia said to the large man wearing an all-white uniform sitting down in the first row the crowd. He laughed, shook his head, and gave her the OK to continue. She nodded at his approval and looked at the rest of the people that stared at her.
“I want to spend some time talking about the Bible now. The Bible (in my estimation) is a group of manmade stories that uses mythology to try to explain why the world is so fucked up. Its main purpose is to preach morality and common sense which turns out not to be as common as we would like. Humans are so fascinated with the mythology that they learn the basic elements of life through these fictional stories. I started to look at that book differently when I noticed how much it condemned true freedom. Humans wrote the Bible, and that’s plain as day. You can see it if you read between the lines because humans usually condemn things that they don’t understand… Anyways, if these manmade stories were actually based on real people, then the Bible’s Abraham was most likely just a schizophrenic man who thought the voice in his head belonged to God. At the time the Bible was written, nobody truly understood mental health, so it’s easy to mistake that voice in your head as the voice of ‘God’” she shrugged, “imagine what that kid went through, seeing his dad almost kill him because a voice in his head told him to…”
“Tragic,” someone in the crowd said, loud enough for Rebellia to hear it over the flames behind her.
“According to the Bible, all of the pain and suffering we endure is because the ‘first humans’ disobeyed God by eating an apple from a tree that God left in their presence. God could’ve easily removed the tree, but for some reason -left it there. Now, if you’ve been taught what I’ve been taught about God, you would have the idea that God doesn’t make mistakes. You will have this idea that God knows everything that happened, and everything that will happen. If this elaborate story is true, then that means that God knew ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’ would bite that apple, and God knew that it would have to inflict pain and doom humanity for generations,” she put on a sarcastic smile and shook her head in disgust, “even in this world, God allows us to get hurt. But the pain isn’t the same as it is on Earth because the pain doesn’t last as long.
“By the way I’m talking, most people woul
dn’t think I’m a believer. I am. I believe in God, but I will no longer allow others to use my belief in God as a prospering weapon formed against me. As much as I disregard the Bible, I never questioned that there is a God because of Pascal’s wager. I would rather live my life believing in God because I feel there’s more to gain and less to lose when you believe in God. If I didn’t believe in God, chances are, I wouldn’t be here right now. My consciousness would probably be floating in another world where nothing exists… and that is another problem I have. How the hell are people supposed to believe in you, if you don’t show your face or make your presence known? I’ve been asking a lot of questions and as I wait… there are still no answers. Will I ever get them? Maybe. Maybe when God finally allows me to speak with it face to face then I can get some answers but until then, I’m confused. The world is confused and that’s why it’s burning behind me as I speak. That’s why they wrote a book to try their best to explain it. There are some people in this crowd who have lost their faith and that’s completely understandable. I can understand because it’s hard to believe in something that you can’t see or experience for yourself. It’s hard to imagine brighter days when your entire life has been filled with gloomy weather… but I never lost faith in my life; not even while I lay dying in a pool of my own blood. I always stayed true to my belief in a supreme being that created the world, and immediately distanced itself from mankind.”
She stroked the bag around her waist and turned to face the fire, “I want to talk about life now. What is life? Life is this beautiful thing, right? It’s all around you when you’re on Earth. When we’re alive, we breathe in and out. Inhale and exhale. Why must we inhale to survive? That’s because for you to truly survive on Earth, you must come to grips with the fact that you are in hell. If you don’t know that, then your mind will continue to be enslaved. Earth is no paradise. It’s a trap. It traps our mind, body, and souls onto this planet and doesn’t allow us to truly wander the universe. The average human can close their eyes and imagine, but their body is forever trapped. Even after you die, your body never leaves the Earth. It is most likely buried inside it.”
