“Over here,” he said. After locating him, she nervously looked at the shotgun. She thought guns “just went off” and could explode at any given moment. They frightened her.
“What do you want?” Ron asked gruffly. She had woken him and his family up, and she was a Loyalist bitch.
“Carlos, Ron, and Scott are coming back at dawn to get you,” Judy whispered.
This was simultaneously a surprise to Ron and perfectly expected. It was a surprise because no one had ever told him people were coming to attack his family; it was expected because he’d spent hours planning for this. But hearing it made it real.
“Why are you telling me this?” Ron asked. He didn’t necessarily believe her, but was curious why she was telling him this.
“For you and your family,” Judy said, stunned that anyone would ask why she was warning them.
“Judy,” Ron said, “you’re not exactly a friend of mine. You’re a Loyalist. I’m not. You are part of the shitty system that caused all this.” Hearing that the Patriots had taken the capitol earlier in the day gave Ron a sudden burst of confidence to speak his mind. He kept going, because he’d bottled it up for so long. “You have a fully stocked FCard while I have to scratch out food for my family. I’m not really interested in your pure motives.”
Judy was stunned. She was a “judge.” No one ever talked to her that way. But she was hurt that Ron was questioning her motives.
“Your kids,” Judy said, still stunned, “your adorable kids. I don’t want anything to happen to them.”
Ron couldn’t help himself with Judy. He had held back on the truth for so long it was like an avalanche now.
“It might be true, Judy, that you don’t want anything to happen to my kids, but ‘teabaggers’ like me need to go to one of your TDF concentration camps. The camps run by your little friend, Nancy Ringman. Nope, Judy, I’m not buying that you care about me or my family.”
Judy was absolutely floored. She had expected to be treated like a hero for risking arrest to warn the Spencers. If the legitimate authorities caught her out after curfew, she’d lose her FCard. This was the most courageous she’d ever been in her entire life. Her heroic moment wasn’t turning out like she’d thought.
Judy just stood there in the cold on Ron’s front porch, unable to speak, staring at a man with a gun, which was against the law to possess, her judge mind started to tell her.
Ron was starting to sense that Judy might actually be sincere. Or, again, she was a magnificent actress. He thought he’d test her.
“Why did you really come here, Judy?” Ron asked. He knew that the first thing people blurted out was often the truth.
“I was just trying to keep my job,” flew out of her mouth. “I’m not really a Loyalist. I’m not. I have just been doing what I needed to do keep my job and my FCard. I didn’t want any trouble. Things were changing so fast. Everything got crazy. I didn’t know what to do. I just did what everyone else was doing.” She started to cry.
“I’m sorry,” Judy whimpered. “I’m sorry for what I’ve done.” She had her face in her hands and was crying loudly.
Ron was a sucker for a crying woman. There was something genetic about it. Ron relaxed his grip on his shotgun.
Then he regained his senses. He swung around and swept the area with his shotgun. A hysterically crying woman would be a great trigger for an ambush. He swept some more as Judy had her face in her hands. There was no one. She really was alone.
He started walking up to her, with his shotgun lowered, but ready to point and aim instantly.
“Let’s go inside,” he said and she quietly followed him inside.
“I hope I didn’t wake your family,” she sobbed as they got inside.
“Too late,” Sherri said from the living room, where she stood with a revolver in her hands.
The sight of the gun startled Judy. Those were strictly illegal. Judy wondered if her FCard would be taken away for even being the same house as a gun.
Ron offered Judy a seat on the couch. “Okay,” he said, still not entirely convinced that this wasn’t a scam or ambush of some kind, “what is it that you want to tell us?”
Judy had felt miserably guilty for weeks. It welled up in her and was pouring out right now. She started her confession by repeating how she was just doing her job. She spent several minutes rationalizing why she went along with the government.
“I was just trying to help people,” Judy said. Yeah, Ron thought, trying not to roll his eyes. She was trying to “help” people by presiding over “fair” hearings that took everything away from them? By accepting all the benefits of system that took things from people? Ron wasn’t persuaded by Judy’s ramblings, but was letting her get it out of her system so he could find out about the supposed Carlos Cabal raid coming at dawn.
“I was just following the law,” Judy stated. Ron almost asked if Judy ever thought to question the laws she was following, but he didn’t want to get into a philosophical debate. He wanted information that could save his family’s lives. He’d put up with the left-wing babble for a little longer if it meant getting that information.
“So that’s when I decided I had to come over here and tell you,” Judy finally said. That was Ron’s cue to find out what really mattered.
“Tell me about what Carlos is planning,” Ron said patiently, relieved that she finally was telling him something he cared about. He motioned for Sherri to take the kids back into their rooms. They didn’t need to see one of their neighbors describing how some more of their neighbors were trying to kill them.
“Well,” Judy said, defensively, “he and I talk,” referring to Carlos. Ron let that go. Judy talked to Carlos, Ron wanted to say, because they were two Loyalist peas in a pod. A “Lima bean” Ron joked to himself. Humor was his coping mechanism these days
“Apparently,” Judy said in a whisper, “the tea-bag…” she corrected herself, “the Patriots have taken the capitol.” Ron grinned. Yes, we have, Ron wanted to say. And, Ron thought, that’s why you’re here, you sniveling little bitch. You’re here so the “teabaggers” don’t haul you out and shoot you. And stopping by my house is your desperate plan to stay alive.
“Carlos, Rex, and Scott got scared,” Judy said.
“Why would they be scared?” Ron asked sarcastically. “They’re the ‘legitimate authorities.’” He was having too much fun.
Judy crinkled her face and scowled. She didn’t appreciate the smartass comment. She was used to being the judge, where no one got to be sarcastic to her. “I’m trying,” she said, “to help you. Can you just let me talk?” She was coming out of her crying and turning back into the bitch she was. Oh well, Ron thought. Who cares if she’s a bitch? She might have useful information.
“They’re scared,” Judy continued, “because on Christmas morning they had black ‘L’s painted on their doors.” She whispered, “I think that means ‘Loyalist.’”
“That’s what I’ve heard,” Ron said, trying not to smile, though the tone of his voice did the smiling for him.
“When the attack started,” she said, referring to the New Year’s offensive, “they left to go to the capitol and help. They turned around when they saw all the tea…”
“Patriot?” Ron said sarcastically.
“Patriot soldiers,” Judy said. “They came back here a few hours ago and then left. They said they’re going to come and get you.”
“How do you know all this?” Ron knew that Judy had talked with them, but wanted to test it anyway.
Judy looked down at the floor. She was ashamed. “They told me.” She looked like she’d betrayed someone. She had.
“Told you when?” Ron asked.