His eyes rise up to an already half full class. The nineteen-year-old students are all presented in the same exact dark blue, one-piece uniform and they all have the same haircuts, a standard military flat-top. When Mr. Borinski looks down at his uniform, his large belly makes it look like a balloon; he shakes his head and walks over to the board to write something down. The bell rings.
Two boys who are running late bump into each other as they both try to fit through the door. Students are feverishly writing.
“Just in time," Mr. Borinski says, swirling around. "Make sure you get the date." He walks over to the door and pulls the blinds on the window down, "OK move ‘em." The students, in an orderly fashion stop writing and move the desks into a circle. Mr. Borinski grabs an extra desk to join in. Once settled, he points up at the two words he wrote on the board.
“USA” and “Weed War”
He looks around the circle. "Can anyone tell me based on the article last night, what these two represent?"
A light skinned 19 year old young woman with big thick glasses raises her hand. "Yes, sir," she squeaks.
"OK, then give it a go." Mr. Borinski flashes an encouraging smile.
"Um, well, the USA, is well, it was the last vestige of democracy, and a failed social experiment. And the Weed War was the war that exposed the vile truth that brought down the country."
"Bingo, great job Harley. Any other opinions?"
No one says anything; they all look away, trying not to make eye contact.
"Did any of you make it to the web last night and check the archive?" He reaches up to the corner of his desk and presses down. A hidden button depresses and a hologram pops up in front of him. A voice asks him to log in, so he opens his right eye and waits. The hologram in front of him shoots out a laser, scanning his eye.
"Verifying," a calm female voice from the bottom of the desk announces. "Welcome, Mr. Borinski."
“Good morning, Siri, I need my class files please.”
“No problem, sir.”
He thumbs through a number files before stopping on the one labeled Class Check In. He opens it and his eyes get big, "It says here only three of you read the article. Anyone want to tell me why?”
One of the boys in the back yelled, "It’s boring."
Mr. Borinski drops his head and shakes it before he pops up and smiles. "What if I gave you something you've never seen before?"
"Like what?" the same boy yelled, as he lifted his head up off the desk.
Mr. Borinski jumped up and scurried over to the closet door. He rifled through to the very back before emerging with an old brown box. He set it down and a cloud of dust exploded out in all directions.
"What, you got a mummy?" One of the boys asks as the rest of the class snickers.
"No, what I have here is…" he pulls out two books, "…is books."
Gasps fill the room and whispers follow. One of the boys raises his hand and Mr. Borinski calls on him, "Yes, Zack?"
"I thought they burned all the books?"
"Obviously not."
Harley can’t control her excitement. She had heard about books from her grandmother, but she had never actually seen one. She raises her hand and shakes it like a flag in the wind. Call on me, she thinks to herself, so excited she is wiggling in her seat.
Mr. Borinski calls on her, "Yes, Harley?"
"Can we touch them, Mr. B?"
"You are all going to take them home tonight."
Her jaw drops. "What? Really?" She looks around the class at the shocked faces in the room. "Is that legal?"
"Of course, but…" he looks around and then whispers, "…it’s against school policy, so maybe I shouldn't." He starts to close the box.
Harley jumps to her feet, "Oh no. You can’t do that." She hurries over and holds out her hand, "Mine please."
Mr. Borinski hands her a book. She can’t believe it. In her hands is a book, something that changed the world, but then was lost. She thinks to herself, between the pages is a world of the unknown. She brings it up to her nose and inhales the dark musky smell that lends to its mystery. She examines the title.
The Diary of Renee de Garcias, A Weed War Tale
“Huh.” She feels the embossed green leaf on the cover, its seven points protruding out like fingers on a hand. "What is this leaf?" she asks, looking up at Mr. Borinski.
"That is the leaf of the Cannabis plant, sometimes called weed."
"That’s the plant that destroyed a country?" One boy asks as he takes his book.
Mr. Borinski smiles, but shakes his head. "It wasn't the plant as much as the principles that it represented."
"What do you mean?" another boy asks.
Mr. Borinski looks up, and sees everyone in the classroom is hooked. "I can't tell you. We’ll have to read this, and find out what each of you thinks; only then will you understand."
The boy steps forward and sticks out his hand. "All right then, give me a book."
Harley’s best friend Olga rushes over to Harley to compare books. “Can you believe it?”
“No.” Harley shakes her head as she stares at the cover of the book and runs her fingers over the leaf. “I never could have imagined,” she said, her smile glowing with excitement.
After a brief discussion about how to treat the books, the bell rings, and Mr. Borinski hands out the last book. The students scramble to pack up and move the desks back. Mr. Borinski yells over the commotion, "Read the forward and the first entry tonight and be prepared to discuss it tomorrow."
This novella is an original creation by a Native American artist. Duke Kell is a member of Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Tribal ID number 89RD101025.
Published by:
Two Ton Productions
Kona, Hawai’i, USA
www.twotonproductions.com
About the Author:
Duke Kell, Author, Poet, Philosopher, resides in Kona on the big island of Hawaii. He and his wife Nancy, own and operate Two Ton Productions. Disillusioned by the corporate dumbing down of popular entertainment, their company is dedicated to publishing works of substance.
How to support this author
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Freedom Files Books
The Cancer Culture
The Weed War
The Survailance State
Gun Games
Corporate Control
Other full length novels:
The Point of Origin, by Duke and Nancy Kell.(2010)
Hawaiian Heart. The Soul Warrior's Journey, by Duke and Nancy Kell(2013)
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