Impossibilities

Impossibilities

XX

"My fault, my failure, is not in the passions I have, but in my lack of control of them." -Jack Kerouac

XX

For Okeena, the war wasn’t what destroyed her.

In the end,

It was what created the war.

XX

“But papi, I don’t want to go out there!” the young girl whined, her high-pitched voice slamming echoes against the cold metal walls. Their home had become such a dull environment since Impact.

“Bebecita, you know we wouldn’t put you up there if it wasn’t safe,” the girl’s father replied, his black mustache itching across her face as he knelt to hug the child. “Your brother’s gonna be there to pick you up, so you’ll never be alone up there. And you can always wire mami and me. We’re never out of contact.”

“But it’s not the same,” the girl continued whining. “I’ll be so…so far away from you two.”

“You know we would love to go with, bebecita, but we can’t. This is the only way to keep you safe.” The girl’s father stood up, admiring the small girl who was closer to the floor than the ceiling. Black glossy curls framed her dark angelic face like a portrait.

“Now, you sure you got everything you want to take with you?” he asked her in a serious tone. The girl nodded her head, the small black suitcase to their left suddenly daunting. “Okay. The mobile pool will be here soon. Mami and I will come get you and Kahn as soon as we can. All right, Okeena?”

Okeena’s silver eyes were filled to the brim with tears; she knew that it would be a very, very long time before she saw her mami and papi again. They wouldn’t be coming back to her any time soon, and she was highly aware of that fact.

She was, after all, old enough to be in the Educational Program. Eight was enough to know that her family wasn’t.

Coming.

Back.

And so, when the mobile pool came to pick Okeena up from her mami and papi’s home, she sucked up her tears and hugged her father tightly. The darker, older man walked her down the short span of sidewalk to the mobile pool and said hello to the driver, shaking hands and introducing Okeena. The driver didn’t look so bad. He was only an A.I., anyway. He would take care of Okeena through thick and thin, and they all knew it.

Okeena’s papi hugged her once more for good measure and scooted her up onto the mobile pool. “Take care bebecita,” he advised gently, “and remember; mami and I will be up there with you by the end of the week. Kahn will take care of you until then. And if he doesn’t act like he’s supposed to around you, I’m granting you special permission to tell on him.” Papi winked, and Okeena tried to smile but in the end it was forced. She was eight years old; telling on people wasn’t her thing. Oh no, she was way better at this new lying thing.

Unfortunately, the second the mobile pool moved away from the curb, Okeena knew something was wrong. Impact had only happened about two weeks ago. The world was still in turmoil.

It was insane of her parents to send her out into the unknown with her brother, especially sending such a small girl.