literature

District 9 - PoHa - 08

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Prayer of the refugee

"Love what you've done with your hair, Syrup."
Syrup clicked her tongue and stroked the top of her head narcissistically.
"Yeah, it was about time, huh? Everybody was thinking it too. Blue was way too artificial. Purple's much more natural."
"You're right" Ana agreed amusingly, stirring her coffee so as to distract herself from the urge to giggle. Laughing in Syrup's face would probably never bother Syrup, but just in case…
They had decided to have breakfast at a cheap pub after they'd realized they had no power at home for the third time that month. Syrup and Ana ate together more often now that Syrup had taken up another job that didn't require her having to spend the nights out. She looked much healthier in her new purple hair than she had in a long time.
"So what of your friends, then? You're still seeing them?" Syrup asked casually, referring to the Poleepkwa and the people at PoHA, though she didn't know it.
"Yeah, I see them almost every Sunday."
"You're so mysterious, Ana. You have a secret gang and everything."
"Not a gang. It's an association."
" I wonder when you'll let me meet them."
"Maybe someday. I'll have to ask them, they're very picky about who enters the association."
"Yeah, yeah" Syrup flapped her hand at her and took a sip from her Mocha. "Meanwhile you keep confiding in me all this soap opera going on in there."
Ana smiled. She had been telling Syrup about her friends for some time now. Syrup knew all their names, but couldn't imagine that many of those names did not belong to humans. She really did wonder everyday what would happen if she told Syrup the truth, but she couldn't make up her mind. Maybe she was too afraid of losing them.
"Nothing new, really" she commented. "Well, Black Jack's taken up patrolling."
"Oh, yeah, you told me. How's he doing with that"
"He seems happy. At least he gets to do something rather than just sit around watching TV.  I just hope he doesn't get out of hand if they do come across something. Like if there's someone to defend. I think Jack would get overexcited."
Syrup nodded like she knew exactly what Black Jack would do. Then she lifted her head from her breakfast and stared at her confidently.
"How about Kyler?" she whispered.
"What about him?" Ana replied, thinking she knew where Syrup was going. It wasn't the first time she had come up with this.
"Come on, I know you guys like each other."
Ana inhaled patiently and rolled her eyes so that Syrup could see.
"This must be the thirtieth time I tell you. There is nothing between Kyler and me, there CAN'T be."
"Why NOT?" Syrup protested.
"If you knew him you'd understand" Ana said dismissively, taking another sip from her cup.
"He's not gay, right?"
Ana chuckled "No, he can't technically be gay either."
"Well, I'm still waiting to meet him. That way I can find out what's so wrong about him."
"Right. So what time you getting out of work today?" she asked quickly in order to change the topic.
"Ugh, I'm stuck inside that gas station until six with "Merry Bob". Let's see what the idiot comes up with today…" Syrup complained pretending to be angry. It seemed Syrup was incapable of feeling anger. Only of simulating it.
Syrup kept talking, but at some point Ana stopped hearing, for there was something else that was catching her eye at the other side of the pub's windows.
Just across the street from them, two policemen had stopped a poleepkwa in its path and now seemed to be questioning it.  The poleepkwa faced the two policemen looking nervous. Now that she looked at it, that poleepkwa had a certain feminineness about it. After all these months, Ana could actually tell when a poleepkwa's human name was female. The poleepkwa was bluish green and wore black pants and a yellow trench coat with a sleeve torn off. She was carrying a black trash-bag which now was being emptied by one of the men in uniform, all its content spread on the ground.
This was not at all unusual, though what really bothered Ana was that she couldn't see a reason for it this time. Her doubts were cleared when all three of them moved over a little and Ana could see what was surely the cause of all the commotion: in the wall behind them there were big letters in red saying D10 CONCENTRATION CAMP. The first set of three characters meant nothing to Ana, but the style was unmistakable. It was one of Raddy's graffiti.
"…does the worst W.C. Fields imitation I've ever heard…" Syrup went on in the background.
But Ana's attention was still on the poleepkwa in distress. The policemen were clearly accusing her of painting that graffiti and were still looking through her things. The poleepkwa opened up her coat to show them she wasn't hiding anything, especially not a spray can, and revealed a bandage-covered torso. It must have been for decoration, because she didn't look wounded at all.
Ana felt she should do something before they took her away, but what? She would expose herself as sympathizer of the prawns. Not illegal, but still worth suspicion. And she didn't want to expose PoHA either.
"Anyway, I gotta go" Syrup finished suddenly, getting up from her chair. "Work."
Ana stuttered, not taking her eyes off the poleepkwa in trouble.
"I should go too" she said distractedly, getting up as well.
"You coming to the minibus?"
"No, going this way."
She and Syrup went outside. The poleepkwa's concerned gargles were now slightly audible, though Syrup didn't seem to notice.
"By the way, I found this sticker for Jasper's collection. Think he'll like it?"
Ana turned to face Syrup, trying to concentrate on what she was telling her.
"Oh, hey, thank you!" she exclaimed, taking the big round sticker from Syrup.  "He'll love it. I'll tell him it's from you-"
"Really? So can I meet them already?"
"D- err- I'll think about it, but I gotta go now, bye!"
"Bye, Ana!" Syrup sang happily and practically skipped away down the street.
Ana turned the corner and waited until her roommate was out of sight. She knew she would never be able to convince the police, or prove, for that matter, that the prawn hadn't painted that on the wall. She had learned how unnecessary evidence was to arrest a prawn. It was enough that someone believed the alien was guilty.
She noticed a police car parked down the street from where she was standing and made up her mind. Thinking fast, or rather not thinking at all, she picked up a brick from an abandoned building and, after making sure there was no one around, threw it at the car's windshield. The alarm went off immediately and Ana ran. She didn't run away, though, but back round the same corner from whence she came, towards the police agents.
Before she had reached the corner, one of the agents appeared behind it looking agitated and sweaty.
"It IS our car!" he screamed behind him, no doubt at his mate, who still had the poleepkwa pinned against the red letters. "Miss! Miss, who did it? Did you see it?" the first asked Ana. She did her best to appear frightened, which was not very difficult considering she had never defied the police like this before.
"Uh, yeah, it was a poleep- one of those prawns, it ran off that way…"
"Leave that one, come on!" the policeman closest to Ana said before she could finish. "We'll catch that filthy bastard!"
The other one spat at the alien "you stay here or you're in serious trouble, you hear?"  and the two men hurried off leaving Ana and the alien behind.
Ana was still shaky when she decided to step up to the poleepkwa with the yellow trench coat, who was now hastily gathering all her things from the ground and stuffing them back inside the plastic bag. She stopped the moment she saw Ana's shadow and looked up to her in fear, her antennae twitching nervously.
"< I didn't do that! >"  she stated quickly, signaling towards the red paint behind her.
"I know" Ana replied, looking around anxiously. A couple of people had stopped walking to take a look at the human who was actually socializing with a prawn. "Have you given them your name?"
"< What? >"
"Do they" Ana pointed at the policemen "know your name?"
"< No, they didn't ask me…  Wait, you understand me? >"
"Yeah, most of the time. I'm getting there. Well, come on, we'd better get out of here before they come back."
The alien watched doubtfully for a few seconds as Ana started helping her gather her things.
"Come on!" Ana insisted. Her hands could barely hold objects from the tension. Finally the alien reacted and they both finished picking everything up from the ground.
"< Did you set off that alarm >?" the poleepkwa asked.
"Yeah" Ana breathed, getting on her feet and pulling on the poleepkwa's arm until she would follow on her own accord.  They jogged until they were well out of sight and entered a small park area.
"Uh… well, those people over there are watching us, but what the hell" Ana commented, trying to ignore the staring faces. "Anyway, hi, I'm Ana" she said holding out her hand.
The poleepkwa looked at Ana's hand uncertainly, like she wasn't sure about what she was supposed to do. A few seconds later, though, she took it and they shook.
"< I'm Crystal. >"
Ana smiled inside for having guessed the gender of her name. Now that all was calmer she noticed the bracelets on the alien's wrist and the beads in her antennae.  Strangely whimsical for a prawn, she thought.
"This is the first time I save a poleepkwa" Ana giggled timidly. Crystal raised her head at the mention of the word poleepkwa, which seemed to quite please her though she didn't seem to know what to say. "Well, not really my first" Ana added after remembering about Kyler. Somehow that seemed so far away she had forgotten about it. "It's really the first time I've saved a poleepkwa voluntarily" she chuckled.
Crystal emitted a soft gurgle for lack of a better response.
"I hope those cops didn't treat you very roughly."
Now Crystal lowered her head, sighing through the slits in her throat.
"< I can't even read. I told them, but I don't think they understood a word I was saying…>"
"Yeah, well, just remember to stay away from the red paintings from now on. And the cops. You might want to lose the yellow trench coat too."
"< No, I couldn't >" Crystal caressed her coat, shaking her head. "< But how did you know I hadn't painted that on the wall? >"
"Because I know the guy who did" Ana replied with a sigh. "Speaking of which, you might want to meet my friends…"




PoHA met the next Sunday. Ana went to the patrol's encounter after their round to head towards Glenda's house together. Kyler was with the patrol and greeted Ana with a squeeze that lifted her off her feet when he saw her. It always felt like a lot, but it was obvious Kyler was controlling his strength which, as a poleepkwa, was quite overwhelming. Once Ana was back on firm ground she greeted Kyler's newbie.
"Hi, Crystal."
Kyler had taken up sponsoring now that his leg was practically cured. There was still a slight limping to his walking, but at last he could do away with the crutch. It felt great seeing him this free after all this time that Ana had known him limited to a walking stick. Now he was finally standing tall on his two feet, lively and agile like she had never pictured him, and he had just agreed to becoming Crystal's guide on her first days at PoHA.
"Hi, people!"
Everybody greeted her back. Jasper, Amelia, Josh and Sam were there. Also Moeketsi, Kyler's human superior and friend from the mine. Ana had only seen him a few times. Moeketsi had a family to care for and could rarely make it to the meetings.
The troop was abnormally small today. A lot of people were missing for some reason. Nothing to be worried about, it happened sometimes. People had other things to do.
The group decided to stall for a short while before continuing their walk towards Glenda's.
"Jasper!"
"< What's up, Ana. >"
"Look" Ana took out the sticker that Syrup had given her and showed it to him. It had some kind of company logo imprinted on it, but it was shiny. Jasper took it like it was made of gold.
"< Thank you! >"
"It's from a friend, she got it for you."
"< A friend? Is it from the association? >"
"No, but I think she'd like to be."
"You've told her about us?" Amelia interjected, but didn't sound too alarmed.
"Sort of. She doesn't know about the Poleepkwa."
"And what do you think? You think she'd like the poleepkwa?"
Ana was thoughtful for a moment.
"I think she wouldn't mind… Actually she was the one who told me about Prawnsarelove.com…"
There were a few snickers in reaction to the site's name.
"<Maybe you should bring her one day >" Sam suggested.
"Yeah, maybe. Where's Rineke?"
"Don't know" Josh said. "He hasn't showed up in two weeks now."
"< I think something's been troubling him >" Kyler said. "< He won't say what. >"
"There's a lot of people missing today."
"< Yeah I don't know what's up with that >" Jasper added distractedly as he fixed the sticker onto his upper right arm. He had recently taken up collecting stickers to decorate his shell. It seems he got the idea from a neighbor of his. He looked like a typical traveler's suitcase.
"So what can we do today?" Josh said clapping his hands together.
" <Twister was fun >" Kyler commented.
Just then, a loud huff caused everybody to turn around to look at Black Jack, who had just appeared out of nowhere. At first Ana thought he had laughed at Kyler's comment, but behind that proud, solemn aura of his he looked somewhat restless.
"< Something's going on at Glenda's. >"


Something was indeed going on at Glenda's. By the time they reached the house, the entire back yard was surrounded by poleepkwa of all sizes and colors, all chattering nervously and flickering their antennae in what looked like a sea of living twigs. There could easily be around forty poleepkwa standing just outside Glenda's fence. But what worried Ana the most were the few human neighbors and passer-bys that stood watching from a safe distance.
"What happened?" Ana asked worriedly, grabbing Kyler's arm as they got closer to the entrance. Kyler did not respond.
A human voice yelled among the chattering.
"Please, just go to your homes and we'll send someone to inform you as soon as we know anything!"
It was Rineke, who was trying to induce some order with little or no results.
The poleepkwa pushed each other closer to Rineke, desperately trying to be heard above the others.
"We'll do everything we can, but please, right now I need you to GO!"
"All of you, come inside" said another voice near them. Glenda had made her way through the crowd towards the group of friends and now was indicating them to follow her.
"< Through the front door?>" Kyler asked.
"There's already a horde of prawns around my back yard. A few of you entering through my front door will be hardly noticed. Come on" Glenda said, holding the door open for them as they went inside one by one. "You're the new one, right?" she asked Crystal with a sweet smile just like she would any other normal occasion. "Welcome, dear, make yourself at home."
They all headed for the sitting room with the same feelings of confusion and uneasiness.
Tau was already there, looking horribly stressed out, angry and miserable, his right leg crossed over his left vibrating violently. Jen was there too with Saskia, and they both greeted Sam with a couple of hugs.
As soon as they were all in the room, Rineke made his appearance through the back door, slamming it behind him. Suddenly the room was filled with loud clicks and questions.
"Please, guys, not you too, let me explain" he pleaded stroking his temple and the noise faded slowly to a suspenseful silence.
"I'm guessing none of you has heard anything."
"About what?" Amelia frowned.
"< What happened? >" inquired Sam.
Rineke raised one hand requesting silence.
"MNU has just started a massive eviction. They announced it today on the news, and poleepkwa who had a human friend found out and the word spread like fire. There are poleepkwa back there I've never seen in my life. They're moving the entire non-human population from District 9, to demolish it."
"< Moving? To where? >" Sam said.
"They've built a new settlement for the Poleepkwa some two hundred kilometers from Johannesburg."
"< What? >" Jasper gargled, clicking his mandibles excitedly.
"They can't do that!" Jen exclaimed, remaining close to Sam.
"Apparently they can. It's all set. All they have to do is get every poleepkwa to sign the eviction notices. "
"< What if we refuse? >" Kyler suggested.
"I don't think you want to do that. It's best not to resist. There's already been one poleepkwa casualty that we know of."
"Who? " Amelia demanded.
Rineke shook his head.
"No one we knew."
"< Why didn't you tell us before? You've known about this for days >" Black Jack asked, undoubtedly annoyed.
"Not just days. Neil gave me the information weeks ago, but we agreed that you didn't need to know yet, especially since MNU didn't want you to."
"Since when do we care what MNU says?" Josh exclaimed.
"You're forgetting our policies. We don't break the law, it's the whole point of PoHA. We've done all this" Rineke made a movement of his hand to embrace everyone in the room "staying within legal boundaries. We don't need confrontations with MNU."
Rineke peered at Tau through the corner of his eye. Tau only sneered.
Jen was on the verge of tears.
"So when were you planning on telling us then?" she whimpered.
"You'd find out on your own in due time. And here it is."
"That's a very serious lack of trust on all of us" Amelia commented with disappointment. There were some cries of agreement.
Rineke gave another deep sigh and closed his eyes as if they hurt.
"We couldn't afford rumors getting out. It would've put MNU on the lookout, don't you see? MNU would've found us eventually, and although we haven't done anything to break their laws, that wouldn't have stopped them from interrogating all of us! We could not risk it!"
Silence flooded the room once more and was only broken by Tau's puffs of impatience.
"So what are we going to do?" Moeketsi murmured a few seconds later.
"I've already mobilized all of PoHA through our web and Deviantart. All our members from around the world are supposed to be writing in their blogs about this, spreading the word. We'll summon a manifestation, get all the people we can to come and hope to make an impression. Some PoHA members from abroad told me they were coming as soon as they heard. Thomas is one of them."
"When are they starting this?" Glenda asked.
"Tomorrow."
"Already?"
Ana could hear murmurs and clicks of anguish. She looked up at Kyler. His frowning expression was not at all soothing.
"We'll have to make things quick" continued Rineke. "Whatever you have to do tomorrow, just miss it. Tell all the people you think might want to help, even outside PoHA, and we'll meet here tomorrow morning. We'll all head to the gates of District 9 together."
"That'll cause an impression" Tau growled sarcastically from his seat.
"Do you have any better ideas?"
"Yes!"
"Something that does not involve rioting or vandalism?"
"Is that all you have to propose?" Tau got up from his seat to confront his old mentor. "A demonstration? You think that will change their minds? A bunch of nerds with signs?"
"All I know is we can't provoke them any further, it will only make things worse! They're moving the poleepkwa precisely because people don't feel safe! More violence will only prove them right! Don't you dare give them a reason to arrest you, THAT would be worthless!"
"Let them arrest me! It'll be all over the news! That's what we need! We're not going anywhere by your methods, Rineke! You've all seen the usefulness of it! I will summon my own followers and unlike you I will make a difference! Who's with me?"
Tau became quiet waiting for someone to stand beside him, but no one made a move. He looked around him, his brow sweaty with despair.
"BJ" he called.
Black Jack did not remove his eyes from the carpet beneath his feet.
"Come on. Jasper, Amelia, Moeketsi, anybody!"
"Think this through, Tau" Rineke insisted. "Don't do anything stupid."
Tau only gave him an enraged look and ignored his plead.  
He faced Kyler instead.
"You do agree, you do understand what this transfer means, right?"
Kyler shook his head slowly and said "Sorry, Tau. I can't."
"Ana."
Ana could barely stand to look in his clear eyes. She lowered hers to speak in the loudest voice she could manage.
"The other day, two police agents were going to arrest a poleepkwa for painting your graffitis. They would've taken her away if I hadn't distracted them."
Ana could hear Rineke give a deep sigh. A couple of steps from her, Crystal was respectfully keeping quiet. Kyler took Ana's hand and squeezed it.
"If that's how it's going to be… You won't get a reproach from my side, but I will have to do this alone, because I for one will not sit here watching how my people are taken away to their oblivion!"
"You're not a Poleepkwa, Tau."
"As far as I'm concerned, I am!" Tau yelled and after dedicating everybody an offended look he stormed out of the house with determination. Ana thought it was over, but then Jack started towards the front door himself with a firm step.
"Jack, don't" Rineke said. It was not an order.
Jack halted.
"< He's right >" he said. "< The demonstration won't work. >"
"Of course it…"
"< No, it won't! >" Jack interrupted, raising his voice. "< It won't work. The worst thing is you all know this. You just don't care. >"
"That's not true" Amelia said.
Black Jack didn't listen.
"< You will go to that demonstration convinced of your good intentions and when it's all over and all this turns out to be completely worthless because we have all been taken two hundred kilometers from here, you'll just pat each other on the back saying 'we did all that we could'… >" Amelia was fiercely shaking her head as Jack spoke "< …and then go about your comfortable lives, proud of yourselves, happy for having been of some small help. You act like you care, but you wouldn't take risks for any of us! >"
"We don't risk?" Jen repeated and Sam placed his hand on her shoulder so as to calm her down. "How d- that does NOT make any SENSE! What do you mean we don't risk? We DO risk! A lot!"
"Tomorrow we will be risking our lives too" Amelia added.
"You, unlike me, have rights. You are not risking your lives by going to a demonstration."
"Maybe not literally, but we risk all that we have to defend you" Amelia went on with incredible ease. "Our friends, our family, our careers… all just to be of some help."
"Well" Jack said "your help is obviously worth squat" Black Jack spat and stomped away and through the door, slamming it shut behind him.
Edit: omg I forgot! Thank you so much :iconviolette-aner: for helping me when my muse was away on vacation. She's probably the real reason why I finished this today :hug:

Look out. Trouble approacheth.

This took forever to plan and just a few hours to write, but it was worth it. I bet some people are going to get very angry at me, but I guess I'll have to take that risk as a writer :fear:

Soooo I wanna take this opportunity to thank everybody for all the lurv and support and hyperness^^ And a special THANK YOUUU for all the wonderful fanart! You guys make me want to write more, you're the reason I do! I dedicate this to all my readers!! :heart: :hug:

I have GOT to finish those illustrations!!!

Black Jack belongs to :iconhigh-guard:
Crystal belongs to :iconalorix:
District 9 is obviously not mine :(

List of Chapters: [link]
Next Chapter: No place like home   
 
The district's guard towers loomed over the dozens of protesters casting their shadows on the many signs that danced above the crowd showing words like "LEAVE THEM ALONE" and "NON-HUMAN RIGHTS". It was more than Ana had expected at first, which made her hopeful. TV cameras all around took images of people chanting in unison as the MNU employed guards kept watch armed exaggeratedly for the occasion. Overall there must have been over two hundred humans and a whole bunch of Poleepkwa gathered before the District's concrete walls. There were people there Ana had never seen, and many were from abroad.  T
Previous Chapter: Tale as old as time   
"Ugh!" Ana exclaimed after seeing herself in the mirror. The collar looked especially out of place over her sky blue shirt, and she took it off with a smirk to go and put it away until she would use it again for going to PoHA.  On her way to her bedroom she crossed paths with Syrup, who was having a day off, like her, for the holidays and looked more awake than she had ever known her. Ana did all that she could to hide the collar from her roommate, but she reacted too late.  "What is that!" Syrup snapped, stopping dead and making her slippers squeak in the floor.  "Oh, just a piece of junk that
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XxLyraLunaSilviaxX's avatar
A demonstration would be effective... with a few hundred blasts of C4 in government-owned-only buildings... and if a few hundred thousand people went WITH the Ple's... If fences were removed... if cars were set on fire... MNU officials poisoned...:toohot:  I need to chill... XD
I'm with Jack. I think it's because I just get too worked up about this sort of stuff... And I think he's fairly right. To build an empire you need force, but to maintain it, you need kindness... and Revolution is Evolution with one simple R... -babbles all sorts of existential and philosophical crap that somehow relates to my current feelings-
You've a gift for words, my friend! It's simplistic, this style, but because it is it really plucks at your heart strings. It forces you to see fractals of life you normally wouldn't contemplate--and in such a way. You've painted a world. I love it! :D
'Course, I also love Jack. XD Tau and him are totally my OMG ANOTHER SHOCK. favorites; right up there with Kylar.