johnny wilson - 52. 2015

by bofa xesjum

part fifty-two of 52

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on january 1, 2015, johnny wilson woke up in the stairwell of his building. after ringing in the new year at billy’s bar downstairs, he had been unable to navigate the last few feet to the door of his apartment. later that month it was announced that the wal-mart johnny had been working in since 1998 was consolidating with another at a new location. johnny, who had been warned about his declining job performance, was not invited to work at the new location. he decided to be in no hurry to seek new employment, as, besides the unemployment benefits he could collect, he still had some money from the sale of his childhood home, and he began spending both afternoons and nights at billy’s. on the night of march 16, alberto, the bartender at billy’s, cut johnny off after he fell off his stool. instead of going up to his room, johnny decided to seek some fresh air, and wandered down to the river. a big bearded man was preaching to a few onlookers. he did not carry or flourish a prayerbook or bible, but punched the air with his fists. although johnny did not know that his own father, joe, had been such a preacher, the apple does not fall far from the tree, and he found himself responding to the man’s words. “he looks like a jew,” one of the onlookers said to another, about the preacher. “brother clyde is as christian as you or me,” the other man replied. “you just listen up.” although johnny had no way of knowing, brother clyde’s message was the opposite of joe’s. where joe had preached the lord’s mercy, clyde dwelt on the relentless punishment due the unrepentant sinner. johnny took solace in his words, in no way applying them to himself, but to those who had done him wrong, such as the phoenix ashes brigade, and his former employers, as he listened to brother clyde’s thundering voice, a great light flooded johnny, and he began to weep. on june 16, donald trump formally announced his candidacy for president of the united states. the end

johnny wilson - 51. 2014

by bofa xesjum

part fifty-one of 52

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on june 11, 2014, the rebel army known variously as the islamic state of iraq and syria (isis), the islamic state of iraq and lebanon (isil) and by the arabic acronym transliterated as “daesh”, defeated the army of the state of iraq and took control of mosul, the second largest city in iraq, and surrounding territory, and proclaimed itself a caliphate with authority over all muslims. on august 5, a 21 year old woman calling herself kim lee , who had served nine months of a two year jail sentence for selling drugs, was released to a halfway house about fifty miles from st louis. the residents of the house were encouraged to write letters to family and friends and “loved ones”. kim wrote several letters, including one to her childhood friend d’sheena nelson, whom she had not heard from in years and whose exact address she could not remember or find by googling. but she mailed it to the address as best she could recall it. she sent another letter to jenny wilson, not knowing that jenny was dead. dear jenny , the letter read, i hope you are o k and hanging in there. i call myself kim lee now instead of kim wilson or kim montgomery or some other american name because people are always asking me about it and they tell me two thirds of the people in korea are called lee so that sounded good to me. my present situation could be better but what are you going to do? i just want to say i know you always meant well and treated me better than most which i have found out for damn sure and i am sorry i was such a little bitch and baby. xxxxx kim the letter did not reach johnny wilson beause he had moved and the time period for forwarding his and jenny’s mail had expired. when the letter was finally returned to the halfway house kim had disappeared. johnny had become a regular at billy’s bar. he had never been much tempted by alcohol before and now discovered he had a low tolerance for it. his performance at work began to suffer. on september 19, an iraq war veteran named omar jose gonzalez jumped the fence of the white house and ran across the north lawn and entered the main residence. he was apprehended by security officers and found to be carrying a knife. the director of the secret service, julia pierson, resigned on october 1. 52. 2015

johnny wilson - 50. 2013

by bofa xesjum

part fifty of 52

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on february 11, 2013, benedict xvi announced his retirement from his position of pope, citing advancing age and ill health as the reasons. he became the first pope to resign since gregory xii in 1415, who had resigned in an attempt to resolve a conflict between three rival claimants to the papacy. on april 30, johnny wilson returned home from at four in the morning, as he often did. he was surprised to hear the television on, as jenny, as much television as she watched and as late as she watched it, was usually in bed at that time. when johnny entered the small living room, the old black and white tv show perry mason was on the screen, and perry was saying to the judge, i have no more questions for this witness. jenny was slightly slumped in her chair. she had had a heart attack and died three hours earlier, watching the big valley. she was seventy years old, had become very heavy, had not worked in years and did not get out of the house much, with johnny doing most of the shopping, mostly at wal-mart where he worked. johnny sold the little house where he had lived his whole life, and moved into a small apartment only a couple of miles from the wal-mart. the apartment was above an old-fashioned neighborhood bar called billy’s. johnny became a regular at it. 51. 2014

johnny wilson - 49. 2012

by bofa xesjum

part forty-nine of 52

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on february 1, 2012, violence broke out at a football match in port said, egypt, between adherents of the el masry team of port said, and the al ahly team of cairo, after some of the visiting cairo fans displayed signs questioning the masculinity of the port said fans. 73 people were killed. members of various political factions accused others of fomenting and/or allowing the violence. on july 5, johnny wilson spent much of his night instructing a new hire, a 31 year old woman named doris hutchinson, on the best ways of stacking boxes containing computers and television sets. as doris moved the boxes around with her fork lift under johnny’s supervision , and later, as they were drinking coffee in the break room, she kept up a commentary on such subjects as the afghanistan war (she was for it, but only because the taliban treated women so harshly) and same-sex marriage (she was all for it). johnny just nodded through it all, barely listening. as he drove home just before dawn, it occurred to johnny that only a couple of years earlier, much of doris’s monologue would have outraged him. so? he thought. what difference did it make? he wondered if he would ever really care about anything again. on october 7, hugo chavez was elected to a third term as president of venezuela, and on november 6, barack obama was elected to a second term as president of the united states. on december 14, 20 year old adam lanza entered the sandy hook elementary school in newtown connecticut, and shot and killed 26 people, including 20 small children. conspiracy theories quickly followed. 50. 2013

johnny wilson - 48. 2011

by bofa xesjum

part forty-eight of 52

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on may 2, 2011, united states troops and c i a operatives invaded a house in abbotabad, pakistan, and shot and killed osama bin laden in a gun battle. abbotabad, a city of 500,000 population, was home to a pakistani military base and military academy. as usual with such events, the exact nature of bin laden’s capture and death would become the subject of controversy and conspiracy theories. on the night of june 6, johnny wilson awoke to find himself seated behind the wheel of his car, which was parked in a sandy area on the side of the highway he regularly traveled between his home and workplace. for a few seconds on waking he thought he was in the fifth grade and was worried he had not done his homework. then he remembered who and where he was. he assumed he had driven himself off the road because he had become sleepy, although he had no memory of actually having done so. this is the most interesting thing that has happened to me in a while, he thought. he wondered if he should mention it to jenny or anybody else, decided not to, and started the car and drove home. on sptember 25, king abdullah of saudi arabia granted women the rights to vote and to run for office, effective in the year 2015. on october 18, galid shalit, a 25-year old israeli soldier who had been held prisoner by hamas for over five years, was released to israel in exchange for the release of 1,027 palestinians who had been in jail in israel, including 280 who had been sentenced to life imprisonment. 49. 2012

johnny wilson - 47. 2010

by bofa xesjum

part forty-seven of 52

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on february 12, 2010, amy bishop, a professor of biology at the university of alabama in huntsville, opened fire at a faculty meeting and killed three of her colleagues and wounded three others. it was assumed that she was upset at having been denied tenure the year before. bishop had shot and killed her brother 24 years previously, in what had been ruled an accident, and been a suspect in a mail bomb incident in 1993. johnny wilson continued to search the internet in hope of finding a new band of patriots to join, but did not have any success in finding one close enough to home for his purposes. johnny was now 46 years old, and in poor physical shape. the long hours on the floor at wal-mart, and spending up to four hours a day driving back and forth to work, had taken their toll. he began to wonder if he had what it took to fight for freedom. johnny found himself sitting in front of his dell computer, playing simple games like tetris and pac-man and solitaire. he was too old to get the hang of the more elaborate games, with movie-like visuals, that the younger generation enjoyed. he spent hours just playing old-fashioned klondike solitaire, endlessly putting red cards on black cards, and black cards on red cards. on the night of april 20 he fell asleep in front of the screen, and when he woke up his legs were cramped and his feet had fallen asleep, so much so that when he tried to get up he stumbled and fell, severely fracturing his elbow. he put an ace bandage on the elbow and drove to work. on june 13, the united states government announced that american geologists and military personnel had discovered more than a trillion dollars worth of previously unsuspected mineral deposits in the mountains of afghanistan, including large amounts of gold, iron, copper, cobalt, and lithium. on december 2, it was announced by f i f a, the governing body of world football, that russia would host the world cup tournament in 2018, and qatar would be host in 2022. 48. 2011

johnny wilson - 46. 2009

by bofa xesjum

part forty-six of 52

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on march 2, 2009, the insurance conglomerate american international group reported a fourth quarter 2008 loss of 61.7 billion dollars, bringing its total losses for 2008 to 99.3 billion. on march 14, the company announced the payment of 165 million dollars in “non-negotiable” bonuses to some high executives. this generated some outrage, as the company had previously received 170 billion dollars in bailout funds from the united states government. march 25 was the twentieth anniversary of johnny wilson’s first promotion to foreman at wal-mart. he had not actually held the position continually for the twenty years, as he had lost it for seven months when moving to the new location down the road in 1998. nobody except johnny himself noticed the date, and when he informed jenny of it she congratulated him and told him she was proud of him. johnny decided to celebrate the anniversary by buying a large chocolate cake he saw at the bakery in the local supermarket. he ate the whole thing himself, washing it down with cups of decaf, while scrolling through long threads of patriotic outrage and rhetoric on reddit. on june 25, michael jackson, “the king of pop”, died suddenly at the age of 50. he had been a famous popular music star since he was about 10 years old. on june 30, united states troops withdrew from baghdad and other iraqi cities, though over 100,000 remained in the country. iraqi prime minister nuri kamal al-maliki declared june 30 “national sovereignty day” and a public holiday. on october 1, u s president barack obama signed an executive order prohibiting federal employees from texting while driving. 47. 2010

johnny wilson - 45. 2008

by bofa xesjum

part forty-five of 52

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on february 3, 2008, the new york giants defeated the new england patriots.17-14, in super bowl xlii, preventing the patriots from becoming the first team to post a perfect 19-0 record in a full american professional football season. on february 19, fidel castro resigned as president of cuba, after 49 years. in 2006, he had handed over power “temporarily” to his brother raul because of his failing health. raul now assumed the presidency. fidel retained his position as first secretary of the communist party of cuba. on march 2, dmitri medvedev was elected president of russia, succeeding vladimir putin, who was prevented from succeeding himself by the terms of the russian constitution. putin now assumed the title and duties of prime minister. on may 13, johnny wilson, who had been one of the last persons in the united states not to own a personal computer, finally purchased one. his two brief marriages had cured him of interest in women, but his unfortunate experience with hank browning and the phoenix ashes brigade had not cured him of patriotism. what he had read of the internet in the newspapers and seen about it on tv led him to believe he might use it to find another band of patriotic brothers, perhaps even one directly rivaling the phoenix ashes brigade. johnny also thought that jenny might enjoy the computer, but she showed little interest and professed herself unable to “get the hang of” it. deeply depressed by the forced departure of kim, she found solace in watching increasing amounts of religious programming on television. she particularly enjoyed the preaching of pastor joel osteen, of the lakewood church in houston, texas. on november 4, senator barack obama of illinois became the first african-american elected president of the united states. 46. 2009

johnny wilson - 44. 2007

by bofa xesjum

part forty-four of 52

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on january 4, 2007, nancy pelosi , the representative of california’s 12th congressional district , which comprised most of the city of san francisco, became the first woman to be elected speaker of the united states house of representatives. on january 10, president bush announced that a “surge” of an additional 20,000 u s troops would be deployed to baghdad, which had been experiencing unrest. this move was met with skepticism by members of the democratic party and elements of the media, but bush asked that it be “given a chance”. hank browning and jack strong were not inclined to give johnny wilson a chance. after a couple of months of vacillation, with hank scoffing at the idea that johnny might be some sort of government agent, and jack insisting that they could not be too careful, they decided to let johnny go from the freedoms ashes brigade, with no strings or qualifications or second chances. jack strong’s wife, amanda, an attorney, had an idea. an anonymous call was made to the police, pointing out that johnny’s adoption of kim night not have been legal, and also suggesting that johnny was having sex with kim. johnny and jenny were visited by representatives of the child protective services. no charges were filed, but kim was removed from their custody, and placed in a foster home on the other side of the state. hank and jack and amanda were happy with the success of their ruse. although it did not settle the question of whether johnny was a government agent, it removed a source of possible embarrassment to the phoenix ashes brigade. on december 27, benazir bhutto, the former prime minister of pakistan, was killed in the city of rawalpindi. standing up in a moving car, she was fired at three times from about eight feet away by an assassin who then blew himself up with a suicide vest. 45. 2008

johnny wilson - 43. 2006

by bofa xesjum

part forty-three of 52

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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

johnny wilson - 42. 2005

by bofa xesjum

part forty-two of 52

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on april 2, 2005, pope john paul ii died. he had been pope for 26 years - officially the third longest reign of any pope, after st peter and pius ix. on april 4, askar akayev resigned as president of krygystan, ending weeks of turmoil after allegations of corruption in the parliamentary elections held in february and march. jenny wilson encouraged kim to bring friends from school home with her. d’sheena nelson became a regular visitor, and kim and d’sheena spent hours in kim’s little room, listening to music, more or less doing their homework, and smoking such dope as they could get hold of. jenny and johnny didn’t care about the dope, but johnny was troubled by d’sheena’s influence on kim, especially on the way she spoke, such as saying “be” for “is”. “i wish she would talk more like a white person,” johnny ventured to say to jenny. “but she’s not a white person,” jenny pointed out. johnny’s reply was “but i still think she should. it would help when she looks for a job”. but he did not think of this answer until the next day, when he was “in training” in hank browning's fighting force, running up a hill and gasping for breath under the cold eye of hank, who was gliding effortlessly behind him. on october 26, the chicago white sox won the world series by completing a four game sweep of the houston astros. it was their first world series win since the “black sox” scandal of 1919, when a number of players on the team had conspired to lose the series to the cincinnati reds. on november 11, ellen johnson-sirleaf was elected president of liberia, becoming the first woman to be elected head of state of an african nation. 43. 2006

johnny wilson - 41. 2004

by bofa xesjum

part forty-one of 52

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on april 28, 2004, the american news program 60 minutes ii broadcast a story about abuse of prisoners by u s military personnel at a prison in abu gharib, iraq, which had been taken over by u s forces after the fall of saddam husseiin’s government. on this program, and in many subsequent media stories, photographs taken by american soldiers themselves, showing the prisoners being humiliated and abused, often in a sexual manner, and often by female soldiers, and with the soldiers smiling and laughing, were spread worldwide. u s secretary of defense donald rumsfeld, and other high ranking american officials, civilian and military, expressed dismay, and some of the soldiers involved were later tried and convicted of various charges. one served six and a half years in prison, another four years, a third 18 months, and eight others less than a year. in september, kim entered junior high school. she made the acquaintance of d’sheena nelson, an overweight african-american girl who wore coke bottle glasses, and like kim, seemed to have no close friends. d’sheens expressed a lively curiosity about kim’s origins and ancestry. “where you from, china?” kim explained that she was a korean orphan. d’sheena absorbed this information, and returned the following day. “my mama say you eat dogs.” “excuse me?’ “you korean, my mama say you eat dogs. you calling my mama a liar?’ “i don’t know what you eat, but whatever it is, you must be eating plenty of it.” d’sheena shoved kim, kim knocked d’sheena’s glasses off her face, and they went at it. the fight was broken up, and both girls were suspended for two days. on december 26, a earthquake occurred off the north coast of sumatra, triggering a series of tsunamis that killed over 200,000 people and displaced over 1,000,000, mostly in indonesia and sri lanka. casualties extended as far as the east coast of africa. 42. 2005

johnny wilson - 40. 2003

by bofa xesjum

part forty of 52

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on january 23 , 2003, u s president george w bush declared in his state of the union address that he was prepared to go to war against iraq, even without a united nations mandate to do so. on march 19, 2003, president bush declared war on iraq, johnny wilson began to see his new friend hank browning on a regular basis in the mornings at the burger king and they continued to discuss world affairs. johnny was surprised and intrigued to find that hank was not impressed with the american effort in iraq, being particularly contemptuous of president bush for making any effort at all to please the “jew-nited nations”. hank browning belonged to, and was effectively the leader of, a small group of “patriots” who “trained” on weekends and aspired to the status of a government defying band of freedom fighters. hank sounded out his second-in-command, a life insurance salesman named jack strong, as to inviting johnny wilson to join them, and arranged for jack to happen to be at burger king one morning to meet johnny. johnny, of course, was unaware that he was being sized up. “i don’t know, hank, “ jack said after johnny had left. “he doesn’t exactly look like a fighting man. he might take some getting into any kind of shape.” “i will worry about that,” hank assured jack. “his mind is in the right place.” jack shrugged. “bring him on, then.” so it was that hank invited johnny to join the group, and gave him a copy of the group’s bible, a book titled the fight for america’s soul , by retired brigadier general mark volson. johnny took it home and read it and was transformed. on december 13, the deposed president of iraq, saddam hussein, who had been hiding in the town of al-dawr, literally in a hole in the ground, was discovered by american troops, who dragged him out of the hole and captured him. 41. 2004