A New Beginning

“My name is Tyler and I want to share with you my story. I was buried in debt. My marriage was falling apart; we were going to lose the house! I was near the end of my rope, but, then I heard about a new beginning. No debt! A brand new credit score! Was it possible? Honestly, it sounded too good to be true. Just another scheme, right? I thought, ’Oh, how much money do I have to put into this too–good–to–be–true solution’? Nothing! Believe you me. Nothing! I didn’t believe in miracles, until one happened to me. The credit chip is my miracle. If you don’t believe me, try it yourself.” the man on the TV changed his position, as he unbuttoned his right dress shirt sleeve and rolled it up to his elbow. On the inside of his wrist was a mark. It was something close to a barcode, but with less lines that varied in thickness, and fewer numbers: 033060330. “This is no scheme. I’m going to quote our great President. ‘Money is worthless. It’s just sheets of paper. It’s just a way to hand out power. But, with the credit chip, everyone is equal.’ A new beginning? Equal classes? Isn’t this what we all want?” A phone number appeared at the bottom of the screen. “The procedure takes less time than a visit to your doctor. It hurts less than a tattoo. And it heals faster too.” the man smiled. “I started out by telling you a story. Now, let me finish it. We not only got to keep our house, we qualified for a better one.” a woman walked into the picture to join him. “And my marriage is better than it’s ever been.” they both smiled as he put his arm around her. The words Credit Chip appeared above the phone number. And then the commercial ended.

Ken Cardiff watched the TV with his eyes wide open. This credit chip was already too close to him. His older brother, Kyle, in and out of jail for the last few years, now owned that very thing. It was only one of the many markings on his heavily tattooed arm. But, it scared Ken. His brother had always been misunderstood. He fell in with the wrong crowd early on and never recovered.

He only wanted a new beginning, like this ‘Tyler’ from the commercial had. But, the words Rosy said only earlier that night scared him. She talked about the book of Revelation. She said the credit chip was the mark of the beast, and that the newly elected President was the beast himself. She said that the fact that he’d done more for this country in less than two years, than any other leader had before him, was only another sign. If what she said was true, Ken knew that his brother was already lost. But, she had to be wrong. The President was a humble man, who received people as they were. It was one of the things that made Kyle go ahead with the procedure. A new beginning. Don’t we all want that?

Even though they didn’t see eye to eye on everything, Ken and Rosy were a close pair. They met as kids. She was a giant compared to him when they were young, but now the equation was flipped. Ken was six foot three, and Rosy five foot seven. They were already thinking about marriage. Kids. What comes after high school had been done for almost two years now. They had tried college, but debt was the only outcome. They were a close pair with many things in common, but they were also mismatched. When Rosy wasn’t around, Ken would make fun of her faith. He would say, “It’s old words from an old book.” Yet, on this night, all he could think about was that old book. And those old words. And how, since his brother got the procedure done, something in him had changed.

And not for the better. He wasn’t bright and full of life like ‘Tyler’ from the commercial. He was quiet and reserved. He wasn’t the brother Ken grew up with. Only two days after his procedure, and Kyle was already a shell of his old self. Sure Kyle had been troubled, but at least he still had sparks of life. Now, they were gone.

Rosy closed her eyes, thinking about Ken. She thought about his ocean blue eyes, his dark blonde hair, and his smile. Oh, that smile. When she first met him, that smile was more gaps than teeth. He was the smallest boy in her grade, and the quietest. But, he grew into a loving man who had hold of her heart. No one else compared. No one else had that smile, or those ocean blues.

The only clock in her room was digital. A red glow in an otherwise dark room: 1:18 am. She had just given nearly an hour of her time to studying the book of Revelation, and even though the bible was closed, the words still stuck with her. That mark on Kyle’s wrist could have been pulled from the scriptures. Even the numbers. Though not three sixes, it still came to it once adding the first and last set of threes together. When she thought about Ken, she also thought about Kyle. He had had a quiet crush on her for years. And even though she didn’t feel the same way, it didn’t mean she didn’t care about him. Ken was her someone, which made Kyle nearly her brother.

“Jesus.” she whispered with her eyes closed. “Please be with Ken tonight. And please, don’t let it be too late for Kyle.” But, she already knew it was.

Kyle laid with his face turned toward the wall. His right wrist itched badly, like the time he had accidentally picked poison ivy to wipe tree sap from his hands when camping. It was a mistake he regretted, much like the one he had now. Ever since getting the Credit Chip implanted, a voice had followed him home. He didn’t feel empowered like ‘Tyler’ from the commercial. He could only think about all of the rejections in his life, from the way his parents looked at him when he was hauled away due to possession of heroin, to the sorry smile Rosy gave him when she said she didn’t feel the same way toward him.

His life was only rejection. F’s in school. Alienation from his peers. Never good enough for anyone. Never the first choice for girls. Always the lesser choice. Every rejection he ever had was playing on his closed eyelids like they were a movie screen. And he was watching as something unfamiliar started to build up inside of him.

He saw his first days of school. He saw fights with his brother, and how his parents would always side with Ken. He saw every disappointed look his mom gave him, and every embarrassed expression his father would display. And then, he saw Rosy, and how she reacted to him telling her how much he liked her. That was right before she chose Ken. Another rejection. But, here is where it stopped. The rejection from Rosy. It started back at the beginning, when he told her he liked her. The result was the same. And when it got to the end, it started over again.

He started to cry, loud, heavy sounds. It was something close to the exhausted moan of an elephant. It didn’t stop. It only intensified. It didn’t matter that Rosy had rejected him nearly five years before, it still hurt. And he still wanted to be with her. She was everything sweet and loving that he wanted. But, of course, his little brother got her too. He got everything.

If Kyle had lived in a state that wasn’t so progressive, the procedure would have been illegal. But, Iowa was a progressive place. It was the fourth state to sign the New Beginning Bill, following New York, California, and Florida. The state was now in a building process. The Credit Chip Scanners were starting to pop up in local grocery stores, fast food restaurants, and retail outlets. Everything was “free” for those with that little chip.

For those without, the world was continuing to crumble. Debt was no longer a hole to climb out of. The option simply wasn’t there. The country owed too much money to other countries. And it looked for the money from its inhabitants. Money that just wasn’t there. The poor continued to lose; the rich continued to gain.

But, President Pummel set out to change that. He came from poverty himself. Always looking in from the outside, always wishing he could have nice clothes, a warm place to live, and meals that would stuff him full. His story was a best-seller: From Poverty to Power. Critics called it many things, summed up in these words: the humble beginnings of a great man.

Equality was his pitch from his obscure start in the Senate to the Spotlight. Equality. No lower class, no upper class. It baffled and amazed his predecessors how he could change the status quo in less than two years. Or at least start to change it. He had a plan that was coming to fruition, something no one else before him could claim. There were still many hurdles to overcome, but he was making progress.

It was late enough that nothing remotely good was on the TV. Mostly infomercials, and old reruns of shows that didn’t interest him. Ken shut off the TV. Immediately, his eyes focused on the closed door only feet away. Kyle was in there, once again having to live at home because he couldn’t keep a job. It was the second time in two years. Their mom was about second (and third and fourth) chances; their dad was about tough lessons. He didn’t agree with Kyle being at home again. But, he let him stay for the night: a very short grace period. He still had a soft spot for Kyle, because he knew the potential his oldest had. The potential he had wasted.

Ken was a body of goose bumps as he heard his brother’s moans. Slowly, he stepped toward the door. Cold air was slipping from the crack at the bottom. Cold air that wasn’t just cold, but heavy. And sad. And almost paralyzing. His bedroom was upstairs, past a dark kitchen in an already sleeping house. He was scared. He wanted to call for his brother, but he didn’t know what would answer. Something unknown was down in that basement, something Ken had never felt. All at once, the lights shut off. And he could only hear the almost inhuman sounds his brother was making. They weren’t just the sounds of crying, they were the sounds of manifestation. The unknown was surfacing.

Ken closed his eyes and ran toward the stairs on the opposite side of the basement. It was an aimless, desperate attempt to escape a fear even his worst nightmares hadn’t produced. But, he tripped and fell and was knocked out cold.

A peace rested over Rosy that she couldn’t explain. At times the dark was filled with weird sounds and monstrous shadows. Tonight, it was filled with peace that was undeniable, and palpable, and everything she needed. It was like Jesus was sitting at the edge of her bed, calming whatever worries she had. When she would close her eyes to sleep, she saw clean light. She didn’t see Ken, or Kyle, or the increasingly dangerous world. She saw light.

Life is but a vapor, Rosy. It was a quiet thought that fell into her mind like a small stone into a body of calm water. She knew that her life was almost done. When she opened her eyes again, she had to call Ken. She had to say goodbye. Her phone was a fancy touch screen; her background was a sun setting behind the three empty crosses on Golgotha.

She unlocked her phone with a swipe of her finger, and then pressed 2, until the goofy picture of Ken cross eyed with a small helicopter beanie on his head came up on the screen: calling Future Hubby. The words swayed across the screen. It rang four times and then went to voicemail: “Hey, you’ve reached Ken. I’m sorry I missed your call, but leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Okay, um, bye.”

Hey baby,” Rosy held back tears as she said goodbye. “I needed to call you tonight, because, I love you. And I’ll miss you.” her bottom lip started to quiver. “And Jes–Jesus loves you. I know you–you’ve grown up in a family that doesn’t believe in Him. I know that you don’t want to hear about Him. But, it’s what I have to tell you, because I won’t be here much longer. I’m being called home.” she nearly ended the call there, but instead continued. “This world is only going to get worse, baby. I know the character in you. I know there’s a man of God waiting to rise up. But, I also know that it’s your decision. Jesus is real. He is the only freedom, the only new beginning. Anything else is a lie. There is no freedom that the world can give you. Don’t believe the lies. No matter how bad it gets, please, don’t believe the lies. I love you, and really hope to see you again someday. Bye, baby.” Rosy ended the call and then closed her eyes again.

She saw that same light, getting closer and closer to her. She didn’t have much time left at all.

Kyle only saw Rosy. She hurt him so much. Every kiss she gave to his younger brother when he was around, every happy laugh she made, every cute giggle; they should have been for him. But, they weren’t. They were for his brother, just like the new car he was given because of good grades, or the happiness that always seemed to be with him. Kyle was barely able to get a loan from his dad to buy a beater. He was a disappointment. Kenneth was the good boy, the ‘perfect’ one. He was the privileged, the favored, the loved.

The sounds now coming from him were almost inhuman. It wasn’t low moans, but sharp shrieks. He could feel something in the room with him, something sitting right behind his eyes. It planted an idea in his head that only grew: what if you were to take something he loved away? He kept his eyes closed, but the thought became images. Then sounds. Then a surge of power flowing through every part of him.

He was going to take away Rosy. And how his brother’s happiness would fade. He imagined a Ken that wasn’t privileged, but devastated. And it made him happy.

Two days before, when that little chip wasn’t in his wrist, Kyle would have been deep in conflict. He would have thought about all of the good his brother had done for him. He would have thought about the first time he went to jail. When his dad wouldn’t post bail, Ken did with his own money. Or, maybe the time he was broken down on the side of the road, and Ken got up in the middle of the night to pick him up. Two examples to a very long list.

But, because of that little chip there was no conflict. Just a satisfying smile. It would feel so good to take away Ken’s happiness. Kyle got to his feet and walked toward the door.

The President had gotten used to the voices. They had been with him since childhood. Since the accident. The voices and the man, the man no one else could see, the faceless man in the red striped suit. He was always watching him. Always watching. And the voices were always leading.

When he was only a boy, the President should have died. He fell from a third story window and landed on his back. He was in a coma for nearly two months. When he woke up, he wasn’t brain dead as the doctors expected. He was fine, but he wasn’t alone. The man was by his side. Faceless, yet not. It was him, in the future. A portrayal of the power he could have. The voices said that he would rise above poverty and have power, if only he listened to them. He was only six when he should have died but didn’t. Only six. Now, he was forty two.

He was handsome, like a fifties ad man: dark hair slicked back, face cleanly shaven, with a voice that was crisp and authoritative. Women wanted him. He was the poster child for humility. Even though he lived in the white house which had 132 rooms, he had a small bed in his study. He wasn’t accustomed to rich living. Thirty five bathrooms? Eleven bedrooms? Three kitchens? Three dining rooms? One library? One bowling alley? And a movie theatre? He did what no one else had before him, instead of inviting the powerful to stay in the white house, he invited the poor.

The only way to unite the people is to show that classes don’t exist. Races don’t matter. We are people. We are all equal. One nation, not under God, but under us, as a people. Only then is peace possible. It was a speech he hadn’t yet given. But, the time was approaching. There were still those believers, who claimed that Jesus was the only way, and that everyone else would perish in a lake of fire. Lies! Lies from people who won’t open their eyes. People who only spread judgment. And hate. They are the enemies of this peace. They are the enemies.

Only feet behind Ken’s unconscious body, the bedroom door opened, and Kyle walked through the darkness, up the stairs, and out of their parent’s house. But, in a realm different from this one, Ken was very much awake. He was dreaming about Rosy, and their wedding day. He saw a portion of her thick light brown hair pinned up in a fancy bun with the rest of it hanging free. He felt her body against his when they danced to their wedding song. It seemed to last forever. And then everything faded away, and it was only them, in a place of complete white.

“Goodbye, baby. I love you so much.” Her green eyes watered.

He couldn’t answer her. He couldn’t speak a word. And then, like everything else around them had, she began to fade.

No! He couldn’t say it. It was just a loud thought in his mind, a scream that he couldn’t scream. And then he woke up. Gray daylight was pressing through the window above the couch. Many hours had passed. He was crying in this realm too. That dream was too real, almost like he had actually said goodbye to his Rosy. He ignored the pounding headache he awoke to, desperately trying to find his phone. He had to know she was okay. He had to know that it was just a dream, that he would call and she would answer with that excited hi baby! she always answered with.

But, when he fished his phone from the couch cushions, he saw that he had a new voicemail. It was from Rosy.

When Rosy fell asleep at 1:32 am, she never woke up again. Instead, just like Ken, she was in a realm different from this one. Before Kyle suffocated her with her own pillow, she found Ken and had one last dance. One final goodbye. At 2:15 am, she was gone from this world. She walked through her goodbyes in spirit and then stepped into the light. Jesus met her with a smile, saying, “Welcome home, My daughter.” It was January 15th, 2022, a Saturday, when Rosy Andrea Matthews made it home.

After Kyle left the house, he walked over to Rosy’s located only a mile down the road from his parent’s house. He was in a white t–shirt and ragged blue jeans. It was only ten degrees above zero. But, he didn’t notice the cold. He only thought about killing Rosy. Would it be a fun mess or a quiet victory? The pronged end of a hammer, or a pillow? When he closed his eyes, he imagined blood. He wanted to hurt her. Oh, he wanted to hurt her so badly. It was that chip, that Thing that now lived inside of him. It had no mercy. It had no conscience. And so, neither did he.

He thought about the first moment that he liked Rosy. She had been a tall, lanky tomboy, until that one day came where she no longer was. The day where her breasts started to develop, and her hips started to expand. The day Rosy started to become a woman was the day Kyle wanted to be with her. If she had only liked him back, things would have been different.

Kyle and Ken had been over to the Matthews’ residence enough that they were considered family. They were privy to the ‘family secret’ that they never locked the second story deck door in case someone got locked out. Kyle planned to use this. He imagined her blood, but then he imagined what would come next after he was caught. He wouldn’t be able to watch his brother suffer. He would be taken away. So, he decided to make it a quiet victory. He would slip in, suffocate her with her pillow, slip out, and leave no trace. And that’s exactly what he did.

When the gray morning came he was back in bed in the downstairs bedroom, happy. There was no guilt in him, no little voice telling him what he did was wrong. This was a new beginning. He could be anybody he wanted to be. And after killing Rosy, he was happy. Yes, happy, like ‘Tyler’ from the commercial. This is what the Credit Chip promised. But, what was the cost?

The President wasn’t able to sleep the closer it got to the second year anniversary of his inauguration. It was only six days away. He had worked on the speech he was going to give tirelessly. He had his topics neatly organized, with a flow that could poke holes in any of the peoples’ retorts. He would start with his New Beginning Bill, trying to make it nationwide, swaying the undecided by attacking the wealthy. He would point out that while everyone else was drowning, they were flourishing. He would lead by example, saying how he lets the poor and unfortunate stay in the white house instead of the wealthy. He would say how he detests the rich and their over inflated egos, and their ’give–me–give–me’ attitudes, and their god complexes. And then he would say, the only God is the people of this great country united as one.

The only problem was the believers. They were against equality. They said no to gay marriage. They said no to a religion for all people. Anything that didn’t fall in line with their old book, they opposed. It was that old book that had people thinking he was the devil in a man’s body. The only devil he knew of was those against his plan, against the voices, against the man he was destined to become. The believers were the devils of the world. But, he had something planned for them. If he could fire the people up enough with the beginning and middle of his speech, they would get behind the end. This would be something memorable.

It was a day he both dreaded and anticipated. If the people said no, the voices would tear him apart. But, if they said yes, the faceless man, his potential, would be fully realized. The President always knew there was a reason he didn’t die when he should have. He was meant for great things. He was the man who could bring peace to the people. That was his purpose.

Ken closed his eyes as Rosy’s message started to play:

“Hey baby. I needed to call you tonight, because, I love you. And I’ll miss you. And Jes–Jesus loves you. I know you–you’ve grown up in a family that doesn’t believe in Him. I know that you don’t want to hear about Him. But, it’s what I have to tell you, because I won’t be here much longer. I’m being called home.” a pause. “This world is only going to get worse, baby. I know the character in you. I know there’s a man of God waiting to rise up. But, I also know that it’s your decision. Jesus is real. He is the only freedom, the only new beginning. Anything else is a lie. There is no freedom that the world can give you. Don’t believe the lies. No matter how bad it gets, please, don’t believe the lies. I love you, and really hope to see you again someday. Bye baby.”

He listened to it three times, hardly able to keep himself from getting Sick. He tried to call her phone, but she didn’t answer. It just rang. Over and over again. He finally stopped trying and dropped his phone. It felt like the air had been let out of him. He tried to breathe, but he couldn’t. It hurt so much. He had just seen her the night before. And now she was gone.

Sadly, he wasn’t able to think about her green eyes, or her cute little giggles, or her contagious laughter, or her all around wonderful personality. That’s what he wanted to be thinking about, but instead, he thought about his guilt. Something that he had kept hidden from her was the fact that he saw her as a smaller person when she talked about her faith. Even though Rosy never knew how Ken saw her, he felt, and feared, that she had. Now, as the reality of a world without her began to weigh on him, he regretted even thinking it.

Ken’s family didn’t believe in Jesus. They didn’t fake it by attending church. They were a family of other horizons. Gay marriage? Sure, love doesn’t have just one pairing. Take God out of schools, courts, and every place public? Absolutely! God shouldn’t be something we are forced to acknowledge!

Ken’s mom came from Catholic origins. Jesus was routine, not God. He was a boring Sunday lesson. Ken’s dad came from an atheist father, and a mother who became Christian. It was what caused their divorce. Ken’s dad was old enough to choose who he wanted to have as his primary guardian. He chose his father.

Ken and Kyle were raised to believe what they wanted to believe. If it was nothing, that was their choice. And nothing is what they chose.

But, on this morning, this nothing was lonely. He just blankly stared at the closed bedroom door, wishing it was all a dream. So, he closed his eyes and tried to live in a place where it was. Impossible. As soon as he closed his eyes, they opened again. He was alone. She was gone. And this nothing had left him an empty man.

Rosy’s family was comprised of all girls. She was the oldest, with two younger sisters, and a widowed mother. They all loved Jesus with genuine hearts. That’s the only way to explain it. Genuine. It had become hard to find in people.

Rosy’s body was found by her youngest sister, Lily, who was fifteen and fully aware of the coming dangers of the world.

When Lily found her, the first thing she did behind falling tears was smile. Not like Kyle did after killing Rosy. No, Lily’s was a peaceful, selfless smile. Her sister was home with Jesus, and that was the greatest reward. Anybody who had eyes to see, and ears to hear, knew that the end had begun. And Rosy, a kind and soft hearted person may have died because she was too fragile to witness what was coming. Maybe she loved people too much, that it would have broken her heart to see what they would become.

Her body was found early, just as the gray day began. Lily dreamt that Rosy said goodbye, as they were sitting beneath a cool cloud streaked sky in the middle of summer. She had told her to be strong. It didn’t startle Lily awake. Instead, her eyes just opened. And she knew before she ever found her body that her sister was already gone.

Everybody in Rosy’s family had a dream where she said goodbye. Willow, the middle and quietest sister, dreamt of her goodbye where Rosy had one of her warming smiles. They were standing under an endless starry sky. She said that Willow was strong. Willow was the last to wake, and the second to wander into Rosy’s room. Unlike Lily, she didn’t smile behind falling tears. She just cried.

For Rosy’s mother, Melissa, her goodbye was in the calm of her bedroom, with the song Nothing But the Blood lightly playing in the background on her CD player. Rosy told her not to mourn her, but to look forward to the day when she would join her. She said it would be soon.

When Melissa wandered into Rosy’s bedroom, she was already crying.

“No!” her cries weren’t soft, but loud and painful. “No! Jesus, why?! Why?!”

It was too much to handle. She still missed her husband as if he had been gone for only a few months, when it had actually been almost twelve years. But, he was her someone. Her perfect fit. The life she had when married to him had never fully returned. And now, as she looked at the lifeless body of her firstborn daughter, she wished it was her instead.

In a realm one over from this one, Kyle was running down a tall flight of stairs. Up above him, a sign of flashing neon displayed in bright color:

A NEW BEGINNING?

WITH THE CREDIT CHIP

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

An arrow pointed down. These steps were very much like the ones at the place where he had gotten the procedure done. It was the same tile layout, a square within a square. He sprinted down the steps as fast as he could. He wanted a new beginning, more than anything else.

It was an endless staircase, always leading down, always promising something new, but only getting darker. There was no door. No new beginning. And once Kyle realized how long he had been running down the steps, he stopped and looked back from where he came. There was a light on up the stairs. He started to step back toward it, realizing his mistake. But then it went out. And there was only darkness.

He woke up. There was a soft pound of fear deep in his chest initially. But, because of that little chip, the fear faded fast. Something substantial to his soul had been taken away. An element that made him human. Maybe it can be described as a lobotomy of sorts. His body was still there, but the most important part of him was gone: the part that loved.

Even with all the power he had, there was nothing The President could do to quiet the voices. As the anniversary day got closer, they got louder. They assured him if his speech failed to catch fire with the people, he would die. At first they were just soft whispers. But, as time passed, and as things happened in his life, they became familiar voices: a mother who never found him good enough, a father who left for another family, and his little brother, who fell out the same window the day he did, but died on impact.

That day always haunted The President. They were visiting his Aunt’s house out in the country. She was wealthy enough to have an acre and a half of land with an old three story house, full of wide windows. They were in the attic, the highest room of the house. They weren’t supposed to be up there. He was supposed to be watching his little brother behind the house. But, he knew about the attic, about the wide window that swung open where you could see everything. He snuck past his parents visiting with his Aunt, crept up the old wooden stairs, and followed his curious instinct to that forbidden place. And his little brother, a mini version of him, followed. He was a curious boy, despite being unnaturally quiet, as his mother said.

The President never forgot what he saw when he got to that wide window. His mom and dad were now outside, fighting. His mom slapped his dad across the face; his dad answered with a slap of his own. It knocked her down.

“Fwankie!” his little brother tugged at his white t–shirt as he swung the window out so that he could hear. “I wanna see too!” The screen was missing. “I wanna see too, Fwankie.” His full name was Francis Abraham Pummel, but his little brother called him Frankie, or at least tried to.

Frankie lifted his brother toward the window, high enough so that both could see. But, he wasn’t strong. And his little brother was getting heavy. It happened so fast. His weight pulled them both out of the window and into a free fall of thirty feet. He landed on his back; his brother landed directly on his head. The last thing he heard before his coma was the snap of his little brother’s neck.

His mother never forgave him for that. She said he was the reason his dad left. He was the reason she felt empty. And only moments before she died, unable to speak, her eyes said the same thing.

These were things that The President hadn’t written in his tell-all book. These were secrets that no one else knew.