Pride

Oliver Jones woke up gasping for air and clutching his chest, feeling cold sweat running down his face and back. He took deep breaths of the cool air coming from the window of his tiny bedroom. It was always the same recurring nightmare that woke him up in the middle of the night. He dreams of his little sister being taken from him from the soldiers fighting on the side of the Straight Alliance. Oliver blames himself for what happened five years ago during the war on LGBTQ rights. He threw back his sheet and sat on the edge of his bed, reminiscing about what got him here.

In the year 2032, a conservative man by the name of Martin Comanche was voted into the presidency and changed everything. His campaign was based on hate and got the attention of many conservatives that wanted things to change. More specifically, he wanted there to be a border across the U.S. that kept people of the LGBTQ community away from heterosexual people. Comanche hated the way people of the LBGTQ community walked around with pride. He wanted the country to be divided and that is exactly what he got.

It began with the requirement of tattoos showing your sexual orientation. People of the LGBTQ community were required to get tattoos of a rainbow flag on the inside of their left wrists and people who were heterosexual were required to get an American flag tattooed on the inside of their right wrists. At first, the tattoos seemed innocent. Later on, it became a mark that cast you out. Certain businesses wouldn’t allow you entry if you had a rainbow flag on your wrist. This caused a massive uproar between the two groups. Riots broke out, businesses were shut down, and the entire country verged on a civil war. The military did their best to keep the peace but the war was inevitable. The LGBTQ community came together and created their own military that included heteros that were allies. The two groups battled, killing thousands on each side and resulting in the two separate communities bordered off by a massive wall that went directly through the middle of the United States.

Olivia Jones was fifteen years old at the time of the war. Living on the coast of central California, life was pretty great. She had recently came out to her parents as female to male transgender. As soon as she did, her mom dragged her out of the house and forced her to go to the nearest tattoo parlor. She screamed but her mother held her down while they tattooed the flag on her. The pain was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. The needle dragged over and over agonizingly, her blood dripped on the floor and all she could do was cry and scream. Her mother took her back home where her father stood on the front steps of their home with all of her clothes. Her sister tried to come to her but their father wouldn’t let her. “Don’t you ever come back to this house you disgusting piece of shit,” her mother spat at her. Her sister was dragged in the house and her mother gave her one last disgusted look before slamming the front door.

Olivia sat on the front curb of her home and cried. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there but when she couldn’t cry anymore, she stood up and walked with no real place to go. She held her duffel bag close and made sure to hide her flag tattoo. She had seen what can happen if the wrong person knew you were a part of the LGBTQ community.

Olivia walked out of her neighborhood and sat on the nearest bus stop she could find. She knew this bus went to downtown Los Angeles, far away from her parents. An old beat up red Pontiac approached her. The window rolled down and a woman old enough to be her mother gave her a puzzled look. “Get in sweet pea, before some idiot decides to attack you,” the woman said with an encouraging look to her wrist. Olivia was confused until she realized she wasn’t doing a great job at hiding the flag that was burning on her wrist. She quickly covered it up and looked down, awkwardly. The woman sighed impatiently and shoved her sleeve down, revealing a flag identical to her own. With nowhere else to go, Olivia got in the car with the stranger.

The strangers name was Lila and she identified as a lesbian. She took Olivia into her home that was a home to other children who had been homeless because of their parents not accepting their lifestyles. Lila began helping Olivia transition into Oliver. Within weeks, Oliver had cut his hair, got a new wardrobe and started taking testosterone. There was an underground network that helped Lila and her runaways. They helped Oliver get his medicine for a lower price and Lila was happy to pay for it. After debating back and forth with Lila, Oliver called his younger sister, Ella who was, to his surprise, ecstatic to hear from him. They met up after school at a park near their childhood home.

Ella embraced Oliver expressing how sorry she was about what happened with their parents. They talked for hours, both of them so happy to be close again and so sad when they had to leave each other. Before they parted ways, Ella gave Oliver a heart shaped locket that contained a tiny picture of them. A promise was made to meet up every week to check in with each other and so they did until the war was brought to their neighborhood. They were forcefully separated by soldiers once they saw the flag on Oliver's wrist. That was the last time they saw each other. Oliver always thinks about what happened, feeling like he could have done something differently. After that, the laws changed and the wall was built, shutting Oliver out from the only person in his family who loved him.

A knock on the door broke Oliver out of his thoughts. The door opened slowly and his best friend, Remi poked her head in.

“Was I screaming again?,” he asked her, reproachfully.

“Like you were being murdered in cold blood,” she smiled and stepped into the room, joining him on the bed.

He chuckled and shook his head, “I’m sorry for waking you.”

“I was up anyways,” she shrugged. He knew Remi had issues with sleeping. They often found themselves talking in the middle of the night. It had been this way since they first met in Lila’s home. Remi identified as pansexual and also was kicked out on the streets by her parents. She arrived at Lila’s a few months before Oliver did. According to Lila, Oliver was the first person to make Remi smile in months. Oliver and Remi became fast friends. They bonded over their shared experience of being kicked out and made each other feel better. After the war, an abandoned apartment building became home to young members in the LGBTQ community. Lila turned this into a refuge for the kids that were under her care. Oliver and Remi share a two bedroom apartment in this complex. It’s small, but perfect for them.

“I need to find Ella,” Oliver said.

Remi rolled her eyes and sighed, “Come on Oli. You know you can’t cross the border. You’ll be killed.”

Oliver knew this of course, but every time he had this nightmare, he thought it was a sign to try to find his sister. Communication between people on the opposite side of the border was forbidden. If he ever tried to contact his sister or go find her, the penalty could be death. This was life now. It had been this way for five years but Oliver couldn’t accept being away from his sister.

Oliver sighed and placed his face in his palms, “I know.”

Remi rubbed his back gently, “If there was a way, you know I’d be right there to help you. I know how much this means to you.”

He leaned into her and rested his head on her shoulder. Her scent was the most comforting thing for him. He desperately wanted to just turn his head a bit and kiss her but he fought his impulses. A long time ago, he decided that this would have to be enough for him after Remi made it clear that her only interest in him was his friendship. Oliver loved Remi so much that it hurt. He had to be okay with just being her friend or else he may lose her altogether.

“We should try to sleep. We have to be up in a few hours to hunt,” Remi told Oliver.

He groaned and looked up at the clock, realizing it was 4:18am. “You’re right. Stay here tonight?,” he asked her hopefully. Every once in a while she would stay in his room. It was comforting for him to have her right next to him and when she was there, there were never any nightmares.

“Sure,” she smirked and made herself comfortable on the bed. He laid next to her, wishing he could pull her close to him. They slept peacefully until the alarm blared, startling them both out of their sleep.

Oliver and Remi got ready fast and met up with a few others outside of their crappy apartment building. Today they were hunting for food for the complex. The war left the LGBTQ side with way less resources than the heterosexual side had. While the heteros lived like kings, the LGBTQ community was left to basically fend for themselves. There was almost never any hot water, the electricity only worked sometimes, and they had to physically hunt for food.

The group walked through the rubble of what used to be the beautiful city of Monterey, California. A huge border now blocked them off from Northern California where Oliver was sure his sister was. Luckily, they lived near the woods where they could often catch wildlife to eat. Oliver got pretty good with throwing knives over the years to catch wild turkeys and the occasional squirrel. They each separated hunting in different areas of the forest. Oliver chose his usual area, close to the wall. He liked to be there because he felt closest to his sister. The smell of the ocean wafted into his nose, making him want to ditch hunting and run to the sparkling sea nearby. He trailed the wall slowly, looking for tracks, trying not to be loud so he wouldn't scare off dinner. A rustle of leaves brought his attention to a huge wild turkey. It was too far for him to throw a knife so he crept up behind it as slow as he possibly could. Just when he was in range to throw the knife, a noise behind him scared the turkey away. Cursing under his breath, he turned around to see where the sound came from. A balled up piece of paper amongst fallen leaves on the ground. He picked it up, sure that it was Remi messing with him. Sometimes she liked to prank him to keep the day interesting. Usually, it would be some sort of note that would make him laugh. He opened the paper up and gasped, his heart thudding in his chest. It wasn’t Remi’s handwriting. It read:

I’m not even sure you’ll ever see this, but you have to know I’ve been doing everything in my power to get back to you. I took a job on the wall and everyday I’ve been throwing these paper balls over, hoping / would get your attention. I love you Oliver and one of these days, our little family will be back together again.

Love,

Ella

Oliver couldn’t believe his eyes. He was really reading a letter from his sister. There was hope after all.