Allahtown (5) (922 hits)
Category: NoneLabels: Allahtown
Rating: 1.71 on 35 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Jack McCallum (View user info) at 2005-10-28 16:00:55 EDT
Allahtown (1) http://www.ubersite.com/m/75396
Allahtown (2) http://www.ubersite.com/m/75779
Allahtown (3) http://www.ubersite.com/m/76230
Allahtown (4) http://www.ubersite.com/m/76946
ALLAHTOWN
(5)
Samir was trying to hold on to his faith. Not his faith in any God, or any ideology, despite what the governors seemed to think, but his faith in his country. Faith in America. It wasn't simply slipping away. It was being beaten out of him.
The world had a greenish tinge. He saw pale, wavering shapes leaning over him. A bulb glowed overhead like the light from a distant sun. One of the pale shapes moved and was now standing over him. It was orange-red on top. O'Hare.
Samir was in an old claw-foot bathtub. The tub was in the middle of a dank interrogation cell. He was lying on his back. His hands were bound together by a plastic tie. Another tie was looped around his waist and through the tie on his wrists, holding his hands close to his stomach. The tub was full of water. Cold water was pouring out of the faucet, draining slowly over the chipped and scarred enamel sides of the cast-iron tub. There was a slab of scratched and smeared table glass over the tub. The glass was over one inch thick, six feet by four feet. The massive pane weighed over two hundred pounds. O'Hare was standing on top of the glass, looking down, laughing.
He had not seen the outside world in months. He had been worked and beaten and shifted from one cell to another. He wondered if he would ever leave this place.
When the air in his lungs turned stale and Samir breathed water, his body began to struggle for life. He struck the glass slab with his knees and his head. Threads of red drifted across the green-hued world, and then everything went black.
"Okay," O'Hare said, hopping down onto the pitted concrete floor of the cell. "Let's give him some air."
Four governors lifted the massive glass pane off of the tub and set it against one wall.
O'Hare grabbed a handful Samir's jumpsuit and pulled up and over.
Samir hit the floor on his side. Water was jarred out of him and he was suddenly aware, coughing the burn of chlorine out of his lungs while trying to hold air in long enough to feel as if he were no longer drowning.
Two governors hauled Samir to his feet and set him on a steel chair.
"That was dunk number two," O'Hare said, with mock concern. "I don't want to do that a third time, because according to the ISS interrogation protocols the third time will have to be longer... and I don't think you can survive that."
Samir was still struggling to control his breathing, fighting the urge to vomit. Another light was switched on and Samir closed his eyes against the harsh white burn.
"We're rolling," a governor said to O'Hare.
Samir looked into the dark lens of the video camera and then looked away.
O'Hare leaned over and put a hand on Samir's shoulder.
"C'mon kid. I'm just doing my job. That doesn't mean I like it. You got any idea what kind of shit goes through my head when I go home to the wife and kids at night? C'mon. Just tell me what I need to hear and we'll be done. Cut both of us a break. I don't want to see you die in that tub."
The red-headed governor stood straight and crossed his arms, his posture and expression saying, 'Damn, I'm good.'
"C'mon kid. Just admit that you support the insurrectionists. Just tell it to the camera. C'mon."
Samir took a deep breath.
"You go home every night to your wife and kids?" Water and spit dripped from Samir's chin as he spoke.
"Yeah," O'Hare said.
"I haven't seen my kid since I was walked through those gates three months ago," Samir said. "So go to hell, you florid-faced Irish fuck."
O'Hare's face blanched, and he knocked Samir to the floor with a backhand slap. He raised one boot and said, "Who's floored-faced now, huh, you little shit?"
O'Hare's boot slammed into Samir's cheek, driving his face into the concrete.
The door to the cell opened and a medic squatted beside Samir. True stood in the doorway.
"You do that very well," the assessor said to O'Hare. "The academy did a good job with you."
The governor shook his head, clearly proud of himself. "I didn't learn that at the academy, sir." He lowered his head, raised his hands and parted his short red hair over his left eye. There was a deep depression in his skull and an ugly scar. "I learned it from my father. On a good day he used his fists. On a bad day he used an axe handle."
"Well..." True tried to hide his distaste. He watched the medic give the young Arab a once-over.
Fingers probed Samir's chest and he let out a hollow groan.
The medic looked up at True. "He has a concussion. I should bandage his head. And he has a few cracked ribs. I should tape them so—"
"Thank you," True said. "You are dismissed."
For a moment, it seemed the medic was going to say something more, but no one ever spoke back to an assessor. An assessor's reports had weight in the outside world, and the medic did not want any negative comments placed in his personal file stored in the Federal Citizen Database.
When the medic was gone True snapped his fingers. "Take him to isolation. Let him rest and recover for today."
The governors dragged Samir out of the cell.
When the assessor and the governor were alone, True said, "Tomorrow he goes outside. A little fresh air. Let him see how things have changed."
"Got it," O'Hare said. "Your special order that arrived last week is doing just fine."
"Good," True said. "We're ready for the final stage. With luck, a week from now we will be waking up in a safer, stronger America."
*
The sun actually hurt Samir's eyes when he was shoved out the door. He smelled dust and sweat and cowshit, and grinned. Outside. Outside.
He was told he had one hour. He could walk to the fences and back again. He could sit in the sun, while others worked and hustled from one place to another.
As he walked across the crowded yard, away from the cluster of camp buildings, Samir heard a child scream.
He turned toward the sound and stared.
The women's camp was fully operational. Women of every age, all of them of Arabic descent, were moving past the other side of a double fence. They were carrying loads of laundry and pushing wheelbarrows and tending to a small garden not far away. They all wore drab gray shifts and soft black shoes.
There were children in the camp as well. Small children, on the women's side. A crowd of them was being led from a mess hall to a large building painted in gay colors. The building was covered in large posters. One of them showed a cavorting clown holding a sign which read 'Work is Fun!'
As he looked around his side of the camp, Samir realized that Lupe was more crowded than ever, and a lot of the newcomers were teenager boys.
"Samir!"
When he heard the voice, he was filled with joy and horror.
Ana was on the other side of the fences. She had been working in the garden. She was holding a trowel, and her knees were dark with mud and fertilizer.
Samir ran to the fences and reached for her. There was a one foot gap between the double rows of fencing.
They stuck their fingers through the small chain links. Another inch closer and they could touch each other.
Samir couldn't believe Ana was standing in front of him. "Why are you here?"
Ana gave him a grim smile. "They said I was a threat. Because of my 'associations' with you."
Samir felt the crushing weight of guilt roll over him. He was about to tell Ana he was sorry when he felt a rising panic. He looked over the crowd of children as they entered the dark interior of the brightly-colored building and caught the briefest glimpse of a familiar face.
"Johnny!"
Ana started to cry. "They work us, Samir. All of us. Even the children."
"Johnny!"
The doors to the big building were closed.
"It's not your fault Samir," Ana said, still crying. "You did your best to keep your distance when—"
Ana gasped and dropped the trowel as a huge hand reached around her and grabbed her breast.
The guards in the women's camp were men.
"Get your butt back to work, beautiful."
Samir looked at the man. Tall. Muscular. Hollywood handsome. Pale skin. Blue eyes. Blond hair.
Ana stepped away from the fence. "Don't worry about us, Samir. We still love you."
The guard shoved her toward the garden. "Come on, come on. I want to see that round little Arabian Princess ass sticking up in the air as you pull weeds. Let's go."
Samir's mind was blank, filled with an incendiary rage that burned away everything but his son and his wife.
"ANA!"
Ana went back to the garden.
The guard leaned into the fence and raised one hand, wiggling his fingers.
"I've reached up inside of her," the man whispered. "I've licked those sweet juices off my fingers."
As the guard walked away from the fence, Samir gripped the chain-links and shook them like a madman.
"I'LL KILL YOU," he shouted, filled with wrath and completely unmanned by his helplessness. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"
*
Thirty feet over Samir's head, a security camera recorded his outburst. Samir was alone in the camera's field of view. The microphone was not sensitive enough to pick up a spoken word at that distance, but Samir's shouts were loud enough to be recorded.
In the assessor's office, True and O'Hara watched the live transmission.
O'Hara shook his head in amazement. "You're recording this?"
"Of course," True replied.
"This is brilliant, sir," the governor said. "Just brilliant."
"Learn from this, Mr. O'Hara," the assessor said. "A well-laid plan will always bring about the desired results."
User Reviews
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2005-11-19 14:21:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
To offset the French ass.
Submitted by Psycosis (user info) at 2005-11-17 16:55:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2005-11-16 20:02:01 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
outstanding work my nazi friend
Submitted by sideshow (user info) at 2005-11-08 15:00:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
It is hard to imagine people being that cruel, but I know that these sorts of things happen everyday around this world. Your writing has brought out the worst of mankind, the hatred, the fear, and the unfair accusations. The feelnigs of helplessness because you have done nothing wrong yet are treated like a criminal. This is an amazing story so far. Keep it up.
Submitted by matnotharry (user info) at 2005-11-07 18:46:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-10-28 18:54:23 (#)
Ranking: 2
As I've said numerous times, this series is spookily great.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-11-06 16:05:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-10-28 22:29:57 (#)
Ranking: 2
This story makes me so angry. It's bittersweet reading them...it's so good, but I get SO pissed at the villains in your story, and then I get pissed at myself for being pissed...
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2005-11-01 11:44:09 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
you know what I hate about this story?
The fact that I have to wait for the next bit. good stuff.
Submitted by jack11058 (user info) at 2005-10-31 14:23:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
better and better. i wish i had as many ideas as you. mine come few and far between. probably because i have to write all day every day for work.
Submitted by nrduncan (user info) at 2005-10-31 09:09:02 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2005-10-31 04:19:05 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-10-28 18:54:23 (#)
Ranking: 2
As I've said numerous times, this series is spookily great.
----------
I expect to see it on HBO/Chanel 4 before the end of 2006.
Seriously I read this and my head is swimming.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-10-30 14:02:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Arab (user info) at 2005-10-30 02:07:44 (#)
Ranking: 2
The guy on Lost is Indian, not Arab.
--
I stand corrected.
Still, he is part of a very small minority on American TV.
The same thing applies to Indians, both Canadian and American ('indigenous peoples' for all you politically correct Canadians). There are a shitload of great actors out there who only ever get to play Indian roles. You'll never see one of them playing just a regular guy on a big prime-time show. Sad.
Submitted by Arab (user info) at 2005-10-30 02:07:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
The guy on Lost is Indian, not Arab.
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2005-10-28 23:32:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-10-28 22:31:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh, and Hollywood handsome didn't bother me at all. Seems like a phrase Samir would use in his head to describe a guy.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-10-28 22:29:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This story makes me so angry. It's bittersweet reading them...it's so good, but I get SO pissed at the villains in your story, and then I get pissed at myself for being pissed...
You're fucking with my head, McCallum. And if that isn't high praise, I don't know what is.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-10-28 22:16:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Wisher (user info) at 2005-10-28 22:03:27 (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-10-28 21:34:51 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Wisher (user info) at 2005-10-28 21:28:10 (#)
Ranking: 1
Hollywood handsome ?
Nice writing, but that phrase hurt.
--
It was intentional.
How many handsome Arabs do you see in Hollywood, in the movies or on TV? The guy on Lost? Any others?
******
Lots when watching flicks/tv when I travel. In America such are weeded out for "pc" reasons...
--
Which was the point I was trying to make. The operative word being 'trying.'
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-10-28 22:11:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Yeah, JD, I considered a few different approaches, but I went with one that had more visual appeal, so to speak.
BTW, kill Chronic for me, will ya?
Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2005-10-28 22:09:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
They work cheap. 1 bathtub. Cold water. 1 glass slab, table/desk thickness. Place internee in tub. Place glass OVER tub. Watch him thrash. Repeat until he complies.
----------------
ok, i guess i get it but i'm not going to 'google' to try and sound smart.
<quite impossble>
i still remember in SF "training"(i could think of a much better word) being placed naked on a
tilted, nasty wooden board before they induced the water in the face, you're drowning, routine.
they let you do jumping jacks/run-in-place/yada-yada before they slam your ass down, so as
to prolong the ordeal and not kill you, but it's still fucking brutal.
Submitted by ChronicMasturbator (user info) at 2005-10-28 22:04:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Oh please Jack. Like that matters.
Submitted by Wisher (user info) at 2005-10-28 22:03:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-10-28 21:34:51 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Wisher (user info) at 2005-10-28 21:28:10 (#)
Ranking: 1
Hollywood handsome ?
Nice writing, but that phrase hurt.
--
It was intentional.
How many handsome Arabs do you see in Hollywood, in the movies or on TV? The guy on Lost? Any others?
******
Lots when watching flicks/tv when I travel. In America such are weeded out for "pc" reasons, with exceptions such as the Lost (token) dude, and the one on the Simpsons. He's funny. America is spoon fed pabulum across the media, as it must be, for the sake of $ ratings.
This didn't detract from your post. It was just that one phrase.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-10-28 21:34:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Wisher (user info) at 2005-10-28 21:28:10 (#)
Ranking: 1
Hollywood handsome ?
Nice writing, but that phrase hurt.
--
It was intentional.
How many handsome Arabs do you see in Hollywood, in the movies or on TV? The guy on Lost? Any others?
Now, how many so-called 'handsome' blond-haired blue-eyed guys are there?
Submitted by Wisher (user info) at 2005-10-28 21:28:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Hollywood handsome ?
Nice writing, but that phrase hurt.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-10-28 21:02:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2005-10-28 19:14:43 (#)
Ranking: 1
a glass waterboard?
--
!?!?!?!?
They work cheap. 1 bathtub. Cold water. 1 glass slab, table/desk thickness. Place internee in tub. Place glass OVER tub. Watch him thrash. Repeat until he complies.
Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2005-10-28 19:14:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
a glass waterboard?
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-10-28 18:54:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
As I've said numerous times, this series is spookily great.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-10-28 18:17:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by ChronicMasturbator (user info) at 2005-10-28 17:22:15 (#)
Ranking: -2
What a typical story.
A guy still thinks he has faith in his country. Reeks of bullshit.
--
Until you can do better, shut the fuck up.
===
Excerpts from 'Home (Part 1) by Chronic Master Baiter
http://www.ubersite.com/m/77411
"Many years of hiding in space had weared him down."
"From the surface of any colony, people would dread at the sight of a dagger in space."
"Make contact. We are going to make a grand entrance. Oh yes, also mention that the crew should report to the deck"
"At that moment, everyone procurred a weapon."
"The captain pulled out a pistol shot his communications officer. Several seconds later, the deck filled with gunfire, killing anything and everything. The captain let out a warcry "Jalalalalala-bad!" and started shooting random officers. In return, the officers started shooting at him and each other. In no time, half the people on the ship who were on the deck were dead or dying."
===
The defense rests, your Honor.
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2005-10-28 17:32:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Buy one of these, ChronicMasturbator. It will help you feel better. http://www.hemorite.com/
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2005-10-28 17:23:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by ChronicMasturbator (user info) at 2005-10-28 17:22:15 (#)
Ranking: -2
What a typical story.
A guy still thinks he has faith in his country. Reeks of bullshit.
---
What a little pussy.
Submitted by ChronicMasturbator (user info) at 2005-10-28 17:22:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
What a typical story.
A guy still thinks he has faith in his country. Reeks of bullshit.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2005-10-28 17:00:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The suspense is killing me!
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-10-28 16:44:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2005-10-28 16:11:12 (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm just wondering where it will lead to!
--
<candidmode>Fuck man, me too.</candidmode>
Submitted by Axtumanu (user info) at 2005-10-28 16:31:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Always looking forward to the next one!
Submitted by freebie (user info) at 2005-10-28 16:20:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2005-10-28 16:11:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
cool stuff - I'm just wondering where it will lead to!
Submitted by FartSmeller (user info) at 2005-10-28 16:03:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Excellent, just like always, Jack.