by Shane Crosby
“I’m feeling great too, but I’m in agreement with Dub. Although we might not feel like we need rest now, we need to stick to the plan.”
“The camp area should be coming up in about an hour or so.”
“Do you remember if there’s any water nearby?”
“I don’t.”
“I think it is. I remember seeing that on the map. The guy in the outdoor store remined me of that.”
“How many extra containers do we have?”
“We all should have one.”
“Do we need to stop and look at the map?”
“No, let’s keep going. If we stop we’re going to want to remain stopped. At least I know I will.”
“When we get to our camp site, we need to fill those containers with water. We’ll need that extra water.”
“I’m so ready to drink now I’m about to dip some of this snow up and eat it.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Why not? It’s clean. No one has been up here. It’s fresh fallen snow.”
“What about the little animals who’ve taken a tinkle in it?”
“I’m like Trev. You’ve always been a dick.”
Dub laughed. “Hey man, I’m just trying to look out for you.”
“Yeah, Yeah.”
“I didn’t say it, but I was thinking.”
“See Mase was thinking the same thing. Is he a dick?”
“Today he is.”
“Stop being a sissy.”
“I was thinking that too.”
As we’ve always done since we were kids, we joked, gave each other a hard time and reminded the other of the most embarrassing times of their lives. This walk down our childhood lane took our minds off the miles we had in front of us and before we knew it, we’d made it to our camp site.
“My tent is done.”
“Same here.”
“Ditto.”
“After I left Afghanistan, I was certain I would never have to eat another MRE.”
“How wrong I was.”
“They come in handy for times like this.”
“What’s wrong with our lives if we have times like this in them?”
We all started to laugh.
“True. We must be doing something wrong if we’re sitting out here in the middle of a field eating MRE’s and there’s no war going on around us.”
“I have to laugh to keep from crying at how sad my life must be to be doing this in peacetime.”
“I hear ya brother.”
“You have to admit, this will make some great stories for the grandkids one day.”
“For all kids and adults alike.”
“What do you think we’ll encounter when we get to our destination?”
“Your guess is as good as mine little brother.”
NAPTOWN
INDIANAPOLIS
Trevor & Don
We were visiting an area with low income homes affectionately known as Beirut. There were three people on our list. The first house is Morgan Green. Because of Trevor’s paranoia regarding low income areas, I had to knock on the door. I knocked a few times until someone with the typical attitude of an oppressed person yelled from the other side.
“Who the hell is it?”
“See, ignorant, this is why I hate coming down here.”
“Be quiet. Hello, we’re here about Morgan Green.”
The door was jerked open revealing they typical angry face with a nasty attitude. I’m beginning to understand why Trevor hates being around these people.
“Morgan. What you want with Morgan?
“Actually, we wanted to make sure we had the right house. Does her family live here?”
“Well ain’t it obvious her family lives here? I opened the damn door, didn’t I? Now, why are you here about Morgan?”
I held up the picture. “Is this her?”
She took the picture to look at it closely. I knew we had the right family because you could see the horror in her face. The tears started.
“What is this? Is she dead? I mean, this is half a damn body mister.”
“Yes, ma’am. We’re sorry to inform you of her death.”
“Mamma! Mamma! Come quick!!”
You can hear the mother’s hurried footsteps in the distance getting closer and louder until she was at the door.
“What is it girl? Don’t be callin’ me like that.”
“Mamma these people are here about Morgan.”
“What people? Can I help you? We ain’t no nothing about nothing so you wasting yo’ time here offasus!”
She reached for the door to close it.
“Wait mamma listen to what they have to say.”
“What is it?”
“Ma’am, unfortunately we’re here to notify you of Morgan’s death. Is this your daughter?” She takes the picture to look at it. In an instant, we knew we were right. She recognized the tattoos.
“Oh my God! What happened?”
“We don’t have all the details ma’am. Her body was found a year ago, has no one notified you?”
“No! No one notified me of anything. A year you say?”
“Yes ma’am. Are you sure? Did you ever go to the police about her being missing?”
“I’m sure. No, I didn’t. My daughter was lost to me a long time ago. I know you’re probably thinking I’m a bad mother. I was used to her not being around and truth be told, I didn’t want her around in her condition. I didn’t have to go to the police. They came here frequently enough. That’s why I thought you were here.”
“No. I’m sorry. We thought you’d reported her missing. We were following up.”
“No sir not me or anyone else in our household. What have they done with her body?”
“Usually, ma’am if they can’t find family or if no one claims the body they’re cremated and buried in a potter’s grave.”
“No one contacted us. Can we still get her body?”
“Well, at this point, I’m sure it’ll be her remains.”
“Well, her remains then.”
“Ma’am please contact the Indianapolis police department. They should be able to tell you where her body is. Make sure you do that, ok?”
“Yes, yes I will today. Thank you, officers.”
“You’re welcome and we’re sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
We took the picture. She shut the door and we left.
“Don, did you hear that?”
“They didn’t even know she was missing or dead.”
“They didn’t report her missing that’s what stood out in my mind.”
“The other houses we went to, they reported their loved ones missing.”
“Remember, we only had a few to check. We were just doing random knocks. Not all of those people reported someone missing.”
“There goes my theory.”
“Damn. I forgot about that. How did this girl end up on the file?”
“No idea.”
“Someone put her on it.”
“That would be my guess.”
“I’m more confused than ever.”
“Me too. I’m more convinced there’s something damn strange going on here.”
“Before we get all emotional about it let’s go onto the next ones, this one might just be a fluke.”
“I doubt it, but we’ll see.”
For the next few hours we listened to the grief stricken family members cry over and question why their loved one was dead. Why didn’t someone tell them? It went on and on like that at each house. It had gotten so bad Trevor was comforting them. We thought we had a clear pattern here and now we are right back in the confused column. The next stop the big apple, maybe this will offer more clarity.
GETTING CLOSE
SWEDEN
Dub, Mase, Scott
We made it to the mountains about twenty miles from our destination. The snow was blowing so hard we could barely see our hand in front of our faces. I grew up in Gochian; the windy city
. I’ve heard wind so loud and felt it blow so hard that it moves your car. The wind we were exposed to on this mountain is far worse. We had to scream to talk to each other. I’ve never been in a tornado but this has to be how it feels. The harder we walked the more it pushed us backwards. In an hour, I don’t believe we were able to log a quarter mile.
I’ve never seen night look so dark. The conditions were so treacherous I was afraid I would walk right into a tree or off a cliff. All I could think was how happy I was that we took the advice of a lady in town who suggested we take snow shoes just in case we might need them. If I ever see her I’ll give her money to buy lottery tickets in Florida. We trekked in blizzard like conditions as far as we could. We thought we’d have to spend another night outside but the Heavens were on our side.
“Mase, do you see that?”
“Yeah.”
“Dub, let’s call it a night.”
“You don’t have to convince me.”
“Thank God for those lights. There’s a town connected to them under all of this snow.”
“Let’s just pray we can get a room.”
“We will. I refuse to believe we’ve gone through all of this to get here and still have to sleep outside.”
“I’m with you on that one.”
It took us several hours but we made it to the town. And, they had a hotel and one room with two beds and a couch that let out into a bed. The lady behind the counter was so apologetic for the inconvenience, we found ourselves trying to make her feel better about it.
Mase and I fought in two wars and Scott about the same. The room she had sounded like a palace compared to the trenches we’ve dug to sleep in. We took the room got some food showered and no one said a word. Each one of us picked a spot and fell asleep.
NEW YORK
WELFARE OFFICE
Don & Trevor
I hate dealing with government workers; especially at the welfare office. Anywhere they work with a bunch of lazy, misguided people the workers frequently have an attitude. It’s always a heavy or just flat out fat ass woman at the desk reeking of French fries, the McDonald’s burger she just consumed and, she usually still has the extra-large diet coke she was drinking sitting on her desk.
I understand you’re tired of seeing a bunch of people who do nothing all day every day coming to you to beg for money they haven’t earned but feel entitled to, but don’t take it out on everyone you encounter. Get another job, don’t sit here and give people an attitude all day.
“Can I help you?”
“I hope so.”
“Well, what is it, sir?”
“I was wondering if your manager was available. I flashed her my badge. This is a police matter.”
“Oh, one second. She gets up and walk to the back. A few moments later a well-dressed lady with her hair in a bun, fake nails and wire rimmed glasses approached us.”
“Hello, sir, what can I do for you today? We can step back into my office, if you’d like.”
“Yes, thank you.”
We walked back into her office and she offered us a seat. We sat down and took out our folder.
“I was wondering if you could tell me if these people are still receiving welfare.”
“Oh sure, one moment, while I look that up.”
You could hear her nails tapping on the keys as she put each name into the system. The computer spits out pieces of paper within seconds with the results.
“No, they’re not. They were for quite some time, but the payments stopped several months ago.”
“Who stopped them?”
“We received notification from the system.”
“The system?”
“Yes, the government implemented a new system that tells you when someone has been missing or murdered. It will automatically notify the system to stop the payments. Or if they’re incapacitated it’ll notify us of this and the person taking care of them will have to come and get the payments sent to them on their behalf.”
“Wait a minute, who puts it into the system? I’m a bit confused.”
“When a family member lists the person as missing, the police put it into the system, it generates throughout the government computers and if they’re receiving any government assistance it triggers it to stop payments immediately. See, right here, it says system generated, payments stopped.”
“Does it list the reason why anywhere?”
“Yes.”
“My problem with this is that I find it difficult to believe people like this would go to the police to report someone missing. Do you think that’s plausible?”
“I admit it’s a little hard to digest, but it’s a computer system that the federal government swears by.”
“These people are normally running from the police. I can’t believe they’d voluntarily walk into a police station a file a missing person’s report.”
“I have to agree.”
“I understand officers. I’m just an employee here. I don’t have any authority with the federal government.”
“What if there’s a mistake?”
“If there’s any mistake, trust me, they’d be down here waiting before I got to work. You’d never get away with that mistake for longer than the next check run.”
“I can imagine.”
“Be glad you only have to imagine it and not actually see it.”
“Have you had many of these so called government triggered stops?”
“In the last couple of years, we’ve had a few. Not enough for there to be any alarm bells. I love the new system. It saves us time, the government isn’t begin ripped off, and we also save by cutting back staff that we need. Now, that may not be a great thing for our employees but we’ve found some ways to keep those who are good workers.”
“Could you check a few more people to see if they were on welfare and now have since stopped receiving payments?”
“Let me put them all in and let you know, one moment.”
She went back to typing, nails clicking on the keys like a machine. After she finished, she pushed the button and we waited for the results. The computer sent everything to the printer. It fills one sheet, goes to the next and keeps going until it gets to the end of the line like the energizer bunny. And, after a few moments, she retrieves the print out from the computer and voilà we have the results.
“Yes, it looks like it. See, a great system. But, it doesn’t just work for welfare, it’s all of the government programs. Social Security, disability, welfare, food stamps and unemployment stop as well. It’s all linked and one input in one system and it kicks in.”
“How does the police system tie into that?”
“You must live out of this country. Have you been gone for a while?”
“Yes, I do. I have been gone for a little while but not years.”
“Hmm, I don’t see how you missed it. You work for the police, right?”
“Yes, we do, but this is something I wasn’t aware of.”
“Well, for the last couple of years, the government started this system that will link the police databases throughout the nation to the government database. So, if someone is arrested and convicted of a felony, it triggers the system and everything stops. I’ve already explained the other stuff. I love it.”
“Wow. Someone put a lot of thought into it, I see.”
“Oh yes, makes my job easier.”
“How does it work again?”
“It’s basically searches your social security number, name and birthdate. Once there’s a match it triggers to stop. For twins, since they have the same birth date, the name and social security number has to match.”
I’d heard enough of how things work in the third realm. I was ready to go. She reminded me of the old woman on Damien who was there to watch over him. All of this was freaking me out.
I got up to leave and Don did the same.
“Ma’am thanks you for your help. We won’t keep you any longer.”
“Thank you for coming by. Let us k
now if you need any more assistance.”
“Will do thanks.”
I almost couldn’t keep myself from running out of that office.
When we got outside we both took a deep breath of fresh air. I think we’d been holding our breaths the entire time we were in there. I’ve never been inside a government office and there was no line protruding out the door. There were plenty of seats available, no wait time, the air wasn’t musty with a mix of sweat, alcohol and stale cigarette smoke. I didn’t trip over anyone as we approached the desk. It was like we were in the United States, but something dented reality a little.
“Trevor, did you hear that?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“Were they doing that before you left the force?”
“Not that I know of, but I worked homicide, not missing persons.”
“On one hand, it’s a good system to have in place. It lessens the government rip-offs. Families aren’t still receiving funds and the person is dead. You know that happens all of the time.”
“True, that’s one hundred percent true but it’s something about it that doesn’t make it all that great. We’re just becoming a number. Computers are taking over. Pretty soon, when babies are born they won’t need a name they’ll give them a bar code on their arm.”
“Don’t’ say that. I don’t want anyone to get any ideas.”
“I say we make one more stop and then we can take this investigation back to Germany. I have a hunch.”
“One more question. If those families didn’t report their loved ones missing, who reported them missing?”
“You’re scaring me now, bro.”
“Am I scaring you or is it what we just heard?”
“Both.”
“Your lead.”
WE’RE NOT THERE YET?
SWEDEN
Dub
Morning came too quickly. I stretched, yawned, moaned and groaned. I felt like Dracula waking up to feed. My muscles had begun to ache. My body wasn’t rested and my feet were feeling like I would need some new ones soon. I didn’t know how Trevor and Don were coming along, but I would lay a nice wager on things going a lot better for them.
“Let’s hit it fellas.”
“I’m ready.”
“A good night’s sleep will do wonders.”
