johnny wilson - 43. 2006

by bofa xesjum

part forty-three of 52

to read previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

on march 5, 2006, the movie crash was a surprise winner of the best picture award at the annual oscar ceremonies. the choice of the film, an earnest attempt to deal with the relationships between caucasian and african-american people in the united states, was widely derided. johnny wilson continued to struggle in his weekend training with hank browning’s crew of freedom fighters, which had expanded to fourteen members and now called itself the “freedom’s ashes brigade”. hank had a long talk with his second in command jack strong and they agreed that johnny and two other weak members should be “relieved” of their training requirements but not actually expelled from the group, as they might contribute in other ways (such as with money). on the night of november 19, hank decided to drive out to johnny’s house and break the news to him. he had never actually been to johnny’s house before. johnny was not at home, as he was working a late shift at wal-mart. jenny answered the door and invited hank in, and insisted on giving him some tea and chocolate cake. hank politely accepted, and after a few discreet questions, was convinced that jenny had little knowledge of, and absolutely no interest in, the freedom’s ashes brigade. hank was finishing his tea and cake, and getting ready to take his leave, when the door opened and he received one of the great shocks of his life when kim entered, accompanied by d’sheena. hank stared, stupefied, at kim, who stared right back at him. “who you be?” kim asked hank. “this gentleman is a friend of johnny’s,” jenny told her. to kim, johnny had always been “johnny” and never “dad” or “daddy” or anything similar. “huh. whatever.” and kim departed for her room, followed by d’sheena. seeing hank’s bewilderment, jenny gave him a somewhat confused account of kim’s origins and how she had come to live with johnny and herself. hank asked a few questions - mainly to make absolutely sure that d’sheena was just kim’s schoolmate and not herself a member of the household - and made his escape. what a balls-up! hank thought as he drove away. who was johnny anyway? some kind of fifth columnist? a fucking f b i agent? no, hank told himself, he couldn’t be that, ha ha. but hank would have to talk to jack strong about it and decide what to do. or would he? on december 30, saddam hussein was hanged. the execution was carried out by the iraqi government, to whom he had been handed over by the united states military. 44. 2007