The Obstreperous

Chapter 1

When the school day was over I was walking home with my friends. At school we recited section three, paragraph four of the 'new laws' twice. I have a great memory so it was easy for me, but my best friend -Becky- had some trouble with it.
“Becky, wait up!” I said. My shoelaces were untied and I had to stop to double knot them. Although I’m taller than Becky and have longer legs, she’s still faster than I am. We were walking back from school. We stayed a little longer to help clean up the class room for Mrs. Jones. My Principles wife.
“Becky, Joe, wait up!” I repeated.
When I finally catch up with Becky and Joe, they start to slow down for me.
“Raquel, Joe and I were talking about the redhead from math class, who disappeared last week. Hear anything about that?”
My full name is Raquel Dawn Watts. Some people call me Rachel though. I don’t like the name Rachel or Raquel though.
“Just the rumors. I’ve heard that she moved to Mexico with her aunt. I have also heard that she and her family went to jail and also heard that she died. So not certain on really anything,” I replied, “I never really knew her.”
It is a very short walk from school to my house, so it only took a few minutes. We walked into my driveway and saw one of the DFS cars. (Daring, Fearless, Soldiers.) The reason their name stands for that is because they want people to fear them, but every word is true. They don’t fight in war even though their soldiers. They are part of the National Guard. They enforce the “New Laws” that the government made. About three decades ago, there was an agreement with the government. They agreed that we’re living in a dangerous world. So they decided to make new laws, to make it a safer place. Some of the laws where a bit to the extreme though and people started disobeying them and it started getting ugly. So they made more laws and added more soldiers. Eventually, people gave in and did what was expected of them, even when it meant they had to lose everything. My mom says that if we comply with the laws we should be fine. She also said to live life everyday as If it were your last, which is hard to do with the soldiers and new laws. So now we have a bunch of DFS watching our every move. “What’s going on here?” I asked.
The DFS Wear Gray T-shirts, Black pants, Black shoes, Black round sunglasses and Red ties. I’ve only seen a few women soldiers in all my life and there was one in my driveway.
“This place is being re-investigated. Safety is satisfying.”
That’s the DFS’s Model. They use that Model every time something bad is going on. They say that to try to keep the people under control.
“Okay? Where are my mom, dad and brother?” I asked, “Are they alright? Can I see them?”
“Negative. Everyone is to remain separate from each other. No one is to speak to one another unless authorized,” Responded the female soldier.
She flicked her wrist motioning for me to go away. I kind of figured that she would say that because it’s standard procedure for a DFS soldier.
Becky gave a gentle pat on the back trying to comfort me as if nothings wrong and everything will be okay. Becky has dark brown hair and green eyes. She’s about five inches shorter than I am. She also likes to wear the color yellow, she says it a happy color, but the DFS only allow a small portion of any bright colors in your school or work uniforms.
Today Becky wore a yellow hair band with a black flower on top. Joe wore his usual school uniform but with a hazelnut colored tie with black stripes.
I however just wore my normal gray and black school uniform with my blond hair in a braid. The female soldier was busy talking to my father, but a tall male soldier came up to me and told me he needed to ask a few questions. Joe gave me a nod to tell me he had to go and Becky gave a quick wave and walked off.
“We found something that requires farther investigation and we need to know whether you will be corporate or not,” the tall soldier raised his eye brow.
“Of course I’ll be corporate. If you don’t mind me asking, what did you find sir?”
Curiosity with the DFS is wrong. Article 2, subsection 3. We have a whole book full of rules for safety. The DFS soldier stood there and looked through his sunglasses at me for about twenty-five seconds before he finally said something.
“No, you may not ask what we found. I suggest if you want to stay out of any farther trouble you stand here and wait patiently.”
“You should know something about me; I am the least patient person you’ll ever meet,” I replied while looking behind him at my house. Through the window I could see my mom looking out at me. Her facial expression was blank. I’m usually good at guessing what people are thinking, but mom had no expression at all. From across the street I heard a dog barking. When I looked around at my neighbors’ houses, it was easy to tell that people knew the DFS was here. The windows were shut and most likely locked; also there was nobody outside, the dog I just heard was nowhere to be seen, supposedly it was inside, there was no movement anywhere but our house.
After what seemed like forever, the DFS finally started to leave. One by one our driveway looked less full of DFS cars. When the one guarding me left
-and he was the last to leave- I ran inside to find my family.
As I opened the door I heard the dog bark again. When I turned around to see what he was barking at, I saw one of the DFS cars coming back. I believe it is the one with my guard inside it. I was right, the soldier came back out of his car and comes up to me before I can go on inside with the rest of my family.
“Please tell your parents that this is strike two. Also hand them this note.”
He hands me a small piece of white paper with red writing on it and the DFS symbol. There symbol looks like a lizard with a pattern around it and sometimes has the words ‘Safety is satisfying’ under or above it.
The soldier walks off with a stern, unbreakable look on his face.
After he left, I walked into the house and realized that everyone was pale and had beady, scared looking eyes.
My brother ‘David’ was as stiff as a stick. My mother had that unreadable look on her face. My dad was sitting down scratching the back of his neck in that weird way he does when he’s nervous.
The place was trashed; clothes everywhere, a few books on the floor, beds stripped, every door open and pillows on the floor. My dad stood up, he turned around to help mom pick up the clothes and other stuff on the floor. When he turned I saw that he had purple around his eyes and a bloody nose.
“Dad! Are you okay? What did they do to you?!” I ran up to him.
“I’m fine Raquel. They just thought that they found something, but had no proof.”
“What did they think they found?” I asked, “How come they gave me this?”
I handed mom the note that the man gave to me for them.
“They told me to tell you you’ve got a second strike. What does that mean? What happens when we run out of strikes?”
I always ask too many questions.
Mom took the note from my hand and silently walked off to the bedroom, dad followed. My older brother looked at me for a few seconds and then started to clean up the mess the DFS left for us.