It all started at the train station. Or is that where it ended? I don't much remember.

We were celebrating somethin for someone, some kind of party or whatever. There were big bright lights in the sky. Fireworks? No, no, it was too cold for fireworks. Yes! That's right. It was winter! Maybe November or December. And what were we celebrating?

Was it thanksgiving? No, no, it couldn't be that. There wasn't a morsel of food. Well, that's not true, there was cake, but that's about it. Maybe it was Christmas! No, no, it couldn't of been that either, there weren't any presents. Not for me, any ways.

Were we going somewhere? Or were we coming from somewhere? To see who? Family? Probably. But no, that wasn't it. We don't have no family, not anymore. It's just sis, bro, and I, ever since, well, ever since everyone started getting sick.

It was a horrible sickness that ravaged our people. A sickness which strikes you down and kicks you and spits in your face and leaves you for dead. An illness much worse than dying. Yes, dying is easy compared to that...that...thing. But no one ever did much dying. At least, not on their own anyways.

No, at first it was just a few, maybe ten, tops. They always start like that, don't they? Just a fever and some symptoms from the very poor and the very stupid. No one thinks much of it at the time, cus, well, a fever wudda killed them anyways.

Then a couple more people start dying. Nothing serious, no, nothin like that. Just a couple of low life's and ex prisoners and that sortta thing. So no one much gives that any trouble either. Then it gets in the prison system. And that's when it got real bad.

When you're in close quarters like that, showering and sleeping and eating and all that in the same building, well, things just start to spread. Especially when it's a disease like that. No, for the prisoners, there was no jail breaking such a horrid thing. By the time anyone found it anyone was sick, they were all dead. Metaphorically, of course, the disease didn't much kill of anyone. No, that was left to the people.

So the disease spread, from one camp to another to another. Whether it was a guard or a prisoner it didn't much matter. No one took the time to care who started it. There wasn't time for such silly nonsense. No, instead they just fretted and screamed and whimpered and wailed and then just stopped. It's not like they were dead, no, it was nothing like that, they just stopped, right in their tracks. Men in white coats say the brain just eats itself right up, and by the time anyone figures anything much about it, well, by then, well, it's too late.

So now you got all these numb brains walking around like zombies or whatever in prisons across the country and the governments like "We gotta do something about this!" And the people are like, "Ehh." And the republicans are like "They got what they deserve!" And the democrats are like "This is bigger than any crime!" And the republicans are like "What's worse than murder?!" And the democrats are like "Touché congress, touché."

So there they go blabbing off their big mouths talking large and saying little and not really getting much of anything done. So the people are like, well, it's not our problem, so they don't worry about it either. But then it starts getting in the black community. Poor south side Chicago and the like. The news says its from all these new prison breaks, but my sister always said it had not a thing to do with the prisoners, but those goddamn guards.

It's not like my sis had anything against guards or whatever, she was really indifferent about the whole prison thing. Sure, our big bro sat a couple years in there but sis says he deserved it. So I don't think much of it until that disease thing start spreading. So here it come on our side of town, the railroad separating the cheap from the poor and all that, and people start dropping like flies. I mean, not literally, cus no one actually dying, but the thing is spreading like wildfire.

So my sis is all like "We gotta get outta here!" And my brother is all like "We got no money to leave! What are you thinking!" And my sis all like "If we don't leave now, we gonna get sick like ma and pa!" So my brother all like "Yea, well, I guess your right." And then we're off or whatever. I guess they never thought to ask for my input or anything like that.

Not really fair if you ask me. I had a lot to say about the subject. Still do, in fact. But they don't much listen to me. Not really, anyways. Sure, they pretend and all that good stuff, but they never really listening. It's cus I'm the youngest, probably, and a boy. No one ever finds boys cute anymore. Plus, my sister ain't ever think I was cute. So I have to go on blabbing and whining and complaining and not a person listening to a word I say.

But I get over that real quick cus I know we're going somewhere new. Where that is I'm not really all that sure, but anywhere is better than here. It's not like I don't like Chicago and all, it's just, well, I've never really left Chicago before, being a poor black child and all that.

So we take the one car our parents got us on my sister's sixteenth birthday, my bro was always mad about that cus he never got a car or none of that, and we off.

So we drive for a good long while, a couple of days or whatever, and now we're in the middle of no where. I mean nowhere nowhere. My sis says we in some place called Nebraska. I say I've never heard of no Nebraska and my bro said its as real as this soil and I'm like "Welp, if that's how it is, that's how it is."

So then the media gets coverage of this disease or whatever and they start blabbing about how the government hates black people and is run by a bunch of old white folks or whatever. So more and more black people get the disease and more and more white people get mad about it and before you know it there's whole race riots going on. But it's none of those cool race riots like you read in the magazines or whatever. No, it's nothing like that.

It's really just a bunch of people throwing fists and bottles and that kind of stuff. And after a while it gets real confusing cus you don't know whose on whose side. You got black people on the white's side and white people on the black's side and it's all just a big hubbub of noise and bruises and that kind of thing.

I asked sis if there would ever be that kind of stuff here and she said "There ain't never been enough people for no race riots in Nebraska." So I get all depressed and stuff but I don't do much complaining, cus I don't really get why anyone fighting in the first place.

So I sit around and help on the farm and watch the news whenever I can, but most the time I'm just bored. Ever since the race riots, there hasn't been much of anyone to work the tv, so I mostly just have to watch the news and all that. It's not real exciting or anything, but sometimes it gets real good.

Like there was this one time when they were showing one of those race riots or whatever when an old black man plucked the microphone right outta the young white lady's hands and he start blabbing about how this is the end of the world and all that and I start laughing and bawling and getting tears in my eyes, cus it's so funny and all. When my sis come in to ask what all the hub but about, I tell her the funny joke but she doesn't get it and just get this cold stern look on her face and tell me that I can't watch the tv anymore.

Of course I thought that unfair so I go complaining to my bro or whatever but he won't have a word of it. Says sis is right or whatever. So I have to stay up real late to sneak in the living room to get a peak when everyone else is lounging and snoring and all that.

Sometimes I don't even get to turn the sound on, cus bro will fall asleep right on the couch or whatever, but I always sneak a peak anyways.

For a while it got pretty boring, just weather and that kind of stuff, but then it got real exciting. I guess the government gotta hold of this whole disease and all and the president was all like "America is stronger than any disease, and will not be stopped by some dumb riot or whatever." Of course I'm paraphrasing but that's pretty much exactly what he said.

So then the news start showing lots of government stuff, with our president talking and our congress blabbing and our senate filibustering and all that. What is filibustering, I'm not really sure, but bro says their always doing it, so I assume that's what their doing.

So then more and more people get sick and soon the whole world seem to be outta their minds. Every day they show a big globe on the tv with a number at the bottom just rising and rising and rising. I'm not much sure what the number means, but it sure is exciting to see.

Soon the whole world is this dark blood red on the screen and I get so excited that I scream and sis and bro come running in and they start screaming and bawling and all that kind of stuff. They don't seem as happy about it as I do, but I just shrug it off as their own silliness or whatever.

So then the next night I go sneaking in to watch the news or whatever, and guess what? The tv is gone! Bro went and threw it right out in the trash! So I try to move it or whatever but it won't much budge so I'm crying and whining and all that but no one much listening so I just go back inside. Plus, it's real cold outside in the winter when it's snowing and all.

So then we start eating this gross weird paste and I start telling them how this stuff is gross and we should go back to the good food and all that but they'll have none of it and they start spanking and scolding and yelling and all that. So I stop saying much after a while.

Then a couple weeks later we go out to this big farm a couple blocks away. I get real excited and stuff cus I haven't been outta the house in months and the weathers finally turning and the sun's singing and all that good stuff.

So we hop in that raggedy car but it won't much start so we decide just to rough, like back in the old days. This was real fun, and bro and sis shoot at me like Cowboys and I'd shoot at them like an alien and we'd go back and forth, back and forth, shooting and running and all that good stuff.

So then we finally get to the farm and I have to wait outside while my sis go in for a while and my bro talking to one of the other guys or whatever. The farmer gives us lot of food in a wheel barrel or whatever and bro is all smiles and giggles like a little girl or something.

So then the old man goes in and I start to hear this moaning kind of thing. I start to get real scared cus my sister is in there and I sprint to the door and up the steps and in the house and the moaning gets louder and louder and this time I know it's my sis so I start breaking down doors and all that, when outta no where, my brother got my arm and pulling me outside for no good reason.

So I start to tell him about this moaning thing and he just sits there with this stern face almost sad like and I start hearing a spanking and men laughing and I really start to cry cus I know their spanking my sis and she ain't done nothing to deserve no spanking. But my bro will have none of it and he throws me outside and wrestles me to the ground, and all the while hearing the moaning and the spanking and the flap flap flap of something.

When sis finally leaves the house her hairs all rattled and her clothes are all put in the wrong place but I don't really say much cus bro told me not to. So we walk home but there ain't much playing this time. I can't just seem to get into it and sis seems real tired and such so we just go home all silent and such.

We do this about once a week every week for a good long while till it start to get cold again. At first, I refuse to go back. I didn't want my sis to get hurt again. I begged and pleaded but sis said she had to and it was just a game and all that. But from the look in her eyes I could tell it wasn't just a game and I could tell she didn't like it all that much. But bro said we had to be strong so I was strong and let sis do her thing and all that.

At first it was real boring and sickening and all that, but it turns out I wasn't the only kid in Nebraska and this nice little white girl come asking if I want to play or whatever. Now at first I'm all like, ewe, no, cuties. But my bro start teasing and saying I'm just in love with her and all that and so I start showing him how it is and start playing with the girl and all.

She was a real nice girl, one of the nicest girls I ever met. We played all kinds of games, though Cowboys and aliens was always my favorite. But she always wanted to play house, and since she was so nice or whatever, I let her play most of the time.

Usually I'd be the husband and she'd be the wife and we'd cook and clean and raise kids and all that stuff. It was real fun and all until this one day I got so caught up in the playing that I actually missed her! Me! Kissed her!

My brother saw the whole thing and he start teasing me and telling me how I'm in love and all that and that makes me real red or whatever and I don't play with her for a real long time. But then I hear my sis say she in the back crying or whatever and that makes me real sad so I pick her some flowers and put them in a nice bouquet or whatever.

To be honest, I didn't much make the bouquet, my sis did most of the work, but she was so proud of me and so happy for me that she smilin all the time, laughing and giggling and all that for the first time in months. So I gave her the flowers and her face got all red and my face got all red and we kissed and this time it was one of those real long ones and I got this real weird feeling in the lower section of my body where I usually, well, you know, go to the bathroom and stuff and I start to freak out cus I think I got this disease or whatever but my bro just says I'm finally growin up and he laughing and smiling and teasing all over again.

But I don't do much avoiding of her this time around. I kinda liked the whole kissing thing and we decided to start to make it a habit, just before I leave. At first it seemed a little silly but after a while I just couldn't wait for that kiss at the end. But then I get all scared cus I thinking what if she have a baby and all that and I start crying to my bro and he say you ain't doin nothin that making babies, are you? And I blush and I say I don't really know and I'm being all honest or whatever and he starts to laugh and sis starts to glare and he take me in this other room and tell me how babies are made and all that and I'm like "Whoah! Whoah! That's how babies are made! That's gross!" And he's like, it sho is and that was the end of that.

So winter comes along and I get all sad cus I ain't gonna see my friend for a real long time and we have a great big kiss, much longer than usual, and something weird happen. She ask me to touch her in places and I get all excited and I do and she start making these sounds and I get all scared and she says don't get scared and I say I don't know what to do and she says it'll all be okay and then before I know it she making this real mean face, like a scowl almost, and then she take a deep breath in and say I love you and I say I love you and then I gotta leave cus sister stop moaning and bro got lots of food for the winter.

Of course I don't tell my sis about this cus I was afraid she'd get all mad or whatever, so I tell my bro and he stretch this big long smile across his face and he tell me how proud he is of me and how I hit a home run and all that and I start saying what does this have to do with baseball and he start telling me about bases, but I don't really much get it, cus I never really watched baseball, and he just keep smiling and laughing and saying how proud he is and all that.

So that make me real happy and I decide when I come back in the spring, we'll do that again, whatever that was. I don't feel much guilty about it, cus I didn't get much naked or anything, that would be gross. But she seemed happy and my bro seemed happy so that made me happy and I decided I'd do it again.

But then something strange happened.

I was playing in the snow and all that when everything just seemed to go black. I figure it's cus it's cold or whatever but when I wake up I'm in my bro's bed and I ain't never sleep in his bed before. So I get all excited and start jumping but my bro come rushing in and scolding and telling me I have to sleep or whatever and my sis start crying and I tell her how it's all gonna be okay and she don't have to worry none cus we got everything a person needs.

Then I sleep a real long time and when I wake up I hear my sister talking about how we have to leave and go to this one place and find help or whatever. I'm not really all sure what this help thing is about but I'm too tired to much care and the next thing I know I'm standing at a train station, waiting for the train.

Sis looks real tired and bro look all said like like he bout to cry or whatever and I tell'm both to cheer up cus we goin on a train for the first time in a long time and that a really exciting thing. And my brother starts to snort and my sister gets this weird smile on her face but I don't think much of it cus I start to get all cold waiting for the train and the next thing I know I'm sitting on a train eating cake.

The cake was good and my sister was happy and they kept apologizing for not having any presents and I say "Why would I need any presents? It ain't my birthday!" And they start laughing and giggling and I feel real good about my self and start talking and blabbing and even tell sis what I did with that girl I'd been playin with.

She wasn't much happy about the whole thing, not like my bro was, and she start hitting and bawling and cursing and saying things I ain't never heard before. I don't know what it was, but I know it was nothin nice, and I tell her that you shouldn't be mean to people and she was a real nice girl and my best friend and I think I'm in love with her and all that. And she just start bawling all the more cursing and kicking and hitting my brother and I don't know what else to do so I start singing an old tune mama once told me before she left.

"Oh when the saints,

Oh when the saints,

Oh when the saints go marching in,"

My sis gets all happy at this and she start singing and my bro start singing and everyone real happy and joyous and singing and such. That was the last time I ever saw my sister smile.

After the train we went to this real white place with men dressed in white and women dressed in white and lots of old people and people with big cuts and that kind of stuff and they put me in this dingy old room with only a tiny window of a parking lot and I start whining cus it just ain't fair I have to be here instead of home and my bro start telling me how they gonna make me better and I say how I ain't a smidgen sick and don't need any of this stuff but they don't much listen.

So the next couple weeks men and woman walk in with clipboards and say hello and make my sister cry and my bro frown and I start getting real mad cus no one makes my sis cry and I start yelling and biting and telling them how they can't do that to my sis but they just don't seem to listen.

So then they stick needles in my arms and butt and all over me and take me from this room to that room and put me in machines and make me lie still, and make me fall asleep and all that kind of dumb stuff. So this goes on for a couple more weeks and then my sis really start to cry and I ain't seen anyone ever cry like that before so I try another tune but not much will come outta my mouth but a croak and I get all sad and start jumping and fussing and whaling and trying to get my voice back but it just won't come.

So here we are now with my sis crying day and night and my bro not saying a single word and me not being able to do much more than croak and men start coming less and less often and soon there's just one who comes about just once a week but last week he said this week would be his last. I'm not sure why, and I start crying cus the guy is real nice to me but they don't get it and just put this clear liquid in my bag and stroke my hair and all that.

Then this guy with a a T necklace comes waltzing in and starts bowing his head and my sis bows hers and so does my bro and so I start bowing mine, cus that's what you're supposed to do or whatever and they start talking about something called heaven and God and all that and I get real confused but I don't say much and I just sit there and wait and wonder when it'll all be over.