Heavy

Broken shells and cracked bells displayed the toll on the citizens of Newark, Delaware. The main concern was with the mayor. He’d promised that he would protect the Delawareans from attacks by Pennsylvanians.

“Please, everyone,” Governor Chris Venino gasped. “It’s not my fault.”

Boos and hisses rose up from the crowd which had formed. There was literally blood in the streets.

“Now, I know you’re thinking ‘He’s a cheater’ but I assure you, I did not double-cross any of you. This just happened. With Philly niggas especially, we have to account for their use of brute force.”

“This is a heavy burden placed on every individual out here,” Chester Yao said. The crowd exploded in approval with applause and chants of Yao’s name.

“I will show you how this is not my fault. I had just had talks with the mayors of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg. We convened about this very topic. I told them they had no right to come and destroy our lives and property. I stood up for you, honestly, I did,” Venino damn near whimpered like a puppy dog.

“This is an all-out attack on our way of life. Fellow Americans fighting each other is the way of the nineteenth century explicitly and has been implied ever since the founding. That’s what makes us unique. We should have kept it at ideas instead of trashed homes and businesses, though,” Linda Lennell explained. Applause continued to follow the speakers not named Venino.

“This may come to you as a surprise, but I was afraid for my life,” Venino admitted.

“Okay, okay,” Yao said.

“No, really. I had been walking down the road here and saw a Molotov cocktail strike just a few feet away from me. The blaze singed my shoes and the smell of gasoline stung my nose. My guards took me into a bunker and I was safe. I know that wasn’t the case for far too many Delawareans, including children.”

“So, what you’re trying to say is that the blood of children is not on the Pennsylvanias’ hands but yours?” Linda asked.

“I’m not saying that at all. I did everything in my power—”

“Save it,” said Fela Bique. The crowd burst into applause once more.

“Honestly, it wasn’t my fault. This can be remedied without retribution….”

“Without?! How?” Neliwua Brody asked.

“We can set up trade restrictions on the people of that state. The trade that goes on between the two stops can be stopped. All we have to do is sacrifice a little here. You have every right to be angry. Just don’t take it on me,” Venino pointed out.

“What if we don’t wish to sacrifice? What if that is what got us into this goddamn mess in the first place?!” Neliwua asked.

“I know you’re upset but listen to reason. Sacrifice is a beautiful thing. All of us must make sacrifices for the greater good. Our fellow neighbors are our Pennsylvanians who caused all of this destruction and death. You don’t have to like your neighbor but you must love them.”

“That’s really rich,” Bob Grammar shot back at the governor. “You talk all that hot shit and you know it’s trash. We’re individuals who have gone through the worst in a mini civil war and you want us to love them for that. I don’t value them enough to like them much less love them. Are you daft?”

“It’s okay. I get it. I knew a day like this would come once I was sworn in. I know for a fact that I can show you the ways that we can be selfless and unselfish in the face of this crisis.”

At that, the crowd turned their backs to the governor and went about picking up bodies and sweeping up shards of glass.