The Passer By: Darius Kennedy
There is a small town by the name of Min. This town is populated with people of the darker skinned minority group. This has led to the city not getting enough resources and having to find different ways to survive.
The best way they have found to survive is getting parts from the city of Majo. This city is home to people of the light skinned majority group. This city has all the resources in the world to survive.
However, the only way someone from the town of Min can enter is if they can pass as someone from Majo. This person has the title of the Passer because they are able to enter the city. This title belongs to a teenage boy named Reggie. Reggie is one of the few people from Min that can enter Majo without being caught and captured as a prisoner.
Luckily, for Reggie he has one more journey into the city to collect the last piece for the energy grid the town needs. Once he gets the piece, the city will no longer need to go to Majo because they will have enough energy to survive.
Reggie heads to the town council members to recieve the information about his next mission. He enters the town hall where the council members are discussing the final details of the mission. The council greets him and tells him about his next mission. They tell him that the last piece of the grid is located in the heart of Majo, at the city market. Before then he will have to meet with Imani to get the exact coordinates of the piece. He thanks them and heads out on his mission.
To get to Majo from Min, Reggie has to walk a three mile dirt path. During this time he mentally prepares himself for his mission. He does this by practicing the culture of the people in the city, such as the way they talk and greet each other.
By the time he gets to the gate, he is ready to past the tests to get into the city. The first of the tests is a physical check that ensures the person entering has the traits of the upper class in society. The other test is verbal, making sure that the person entering speaks like the upper class. “That is quite some journey for a kid, what brings you to Majo?” questioned the gaurd. “I need to retrieve a electrical piece for my father’s job,” responds Reggie. The guard looks him over and says, “Your dad does electrial work? Is that not a lower end job?” “No, he is an electrical engenier and needs the piece to finish his generator,” Reggie replies. The guards look shim over once more. “Alright son don’t stay to late, otherwise it will be dark when you walk home,” says the guard. “Thank you sir,” responds Reggie happily. “Oh, one last thing,” says the gaurd, “Do not spend to much more time in the sun, otherwise you might get mistaken for the other people.” Reggie smiles and shakes his head as he entered the city.
Entering Majo he is greeted by the loud hustle and bustle of the city as people are scrambling to get other parts of the city. The skyline of the city was covered in highrises and skyscrappers. He makes his way down Main Street so he can meet Imani at Mooncash coffee shop, where they always meet. As he walks down the street, he makes sure to blend in by smiling at everyone and saying hello when people say hi to him.
He makes it to Mooncash, entering the shop he notices that Imani is already sitting at a table with his drink ready for him. He greets her with a hug and sits down. She smiles at him and they begin to catch up. Reggie finishes telling his story and she laughs at him. “You know this is going to be the last time you will need to come right?” asked Imani. He sighs and replies, “yeah I know, I think I am going to miss this city a little bit.” “Will you be coming home?” he asks her. “I do not know yet, I have built up a great life here,” she replies. Reggie nods.
“Are you ready?” she asks. He looks at the city then turns to Imani and says, “Of course.” They get up and leave the coffee shop and head to Imani’s apartment to work out the details. At the apartment, Imani goes over where the piece is with Reggie and how to get it. She tells him that it is located at the Top Purchase store in the heart of the city. There he will have to ask for the 917 piece for an electrical grid. If questioned he will say that his dad works for Majo City Electrical Company and is working on building a new electircal grid for the city.
“This piece is one of the rarest pieces in the city, so you will need this,” says Imani as she hands him a key card with his name and face on it. “I will walk with you to the store but once we get there it is your mission from there on,” she tells him. He nods.
They make their way to the elevator of the building and before they get in Reggie hugs Imani. She says, “What?” He says, “Just in case we do not see each other again.” Then they head to downtown.
A block before they reach Top Purchase, Imani tells Reggie, “This is as far as I can go, so people are not suspicious.” She wishes him good luck and waits for him there so they can formally say goodbye.
Reggie walks to the Top Purchase from there. He is now wearing a polo from the Majo City Electrical Company because only company employees are allowed in such a prestigious and vital store. Reggie shows his badge as he walks through the front door of the building. The guard nods in approval, and Reggie heads to the part of the store he needs. He arrives at the generator section of the store. A man is working the counter. Reggie asks, “How are you doing today?” and the man responds, “Good, how are you?” Reggie says, “I am doing great.” “That’s good,” says the man, “What are you looking for today?” Reggie responds, “I am looking for the 917 piece.” The man raises his eyebrows in shock and says, “That is one of our most rare pieces in the city. What do you need it for?” “My father is a top electrical engineer for the city and is working on a new groundbreaking electrical grid for the city to run,” replies Reggie. “Wow, let me go to the back and grab it for you,” the man replies as he leaves to get it. He
returns a couple of minutes later with the piece. ““I forgot to check your ID. Would you mind letting me take a look at it?” asks the man as he puts his hand out for the ID. Reggie gives it to him.However, Reggie is scared because this was never part of the plan. Imani did not tell him if the badge would work or not. Reggie has to choose whether to take the piece or wait to see if the badge works.
Reggie chooses to grab the piece and run. He sprints past the guard, and the alarms for the store goes off. He hears from behind him the guard, yelling, “What are you doing?” and then hears footsteps follow. He makes it to Imani. She is baffled on why he is being chased, but knows she has to join him. “What happened?” she yells at Reggie. “I had to take the piece because he was going to check my badge to make sure it was real, and I was not going to take a chance on it being fake,” he responds. At this point, the store has informed the city officers about the theft, and now they are trying to track them down. “We need to shake the guard, so they have a harder time looking for us,” says Imani. “Ok, he knows my face but he does not know yours, so take the piece and we will split up,” replies Reggie as he hands her the piece. “Meet back on Main Street,” says Imani. “Okay,” says Reggie, and they split.
The guard follows Reggie. Reggie now heads to Tech Avenue, one of the city’s busier streets, to try and lose the guard in the crowded area. As he runs over to the avenue, he sees a cop car barreling down the street toward him. Reggie forgot that he left the badge with the employee, making it easier for the cops to find him in the city by using a facial ID. He breaks for a tight alley so he could lose the car. He makes it to the other side onto Tech Avenue and starts running through different crowds of people. He has almost made it to the end of the avenue, and he turns around to see he has lost the guard. He makes it to the end and turns left to head toward Main Street to hopefully find Imani. As he closes in on Main Street, he hears a drone overhead and looks up to see it is following him. Now he really is in trouble; there is no way to shake it. He makes it to Main Street and hears sirens wailing all around him. He looks around for Imani. He spots her running down the other side of the street, being chased by officers. He sprints toward her.
He runs full force into the officers, knocking them over. “Nice to see you again. I see you brought a friend,” she breathes out, referring to the drone above them. “What are we going to do?” Reggie asks. “Well, the main entrance is going to be blocked off, but I do know an area of the gate that is being restored,” she says. “Alright, let’s go then,” responds Reggie. They make a sharp turn on one of the side streets. They hear a siren coming up on them fast. “How much longer?” Reggie yells. “It’s at the end of the street in another block,” Imani yells back. The car is almost right on them. Reggie sees the opening in the gate. Three more buildings then they are free.
The car is almost right beside them now and about to cut them off. Reggie and Imani push even harder for the opening. One building away. The car is now beside them and about to drift right in front of them to block the opening. “We are going to have to dive through the opening. It’s wide enough for us but not the car,” screams Reggie over the siren. “Ok, on 3 then,” replies Imani, “1, 2, 3.” They dive for the hole as the car is drifting to block the opening.
With a hard landing, they make it through and immediately get up to keep going. The drone is still following them. They have to make it another half mile before they are out of its range. Sprinting to get away, they still hear the sirens. “We are almost there,” says Imani, “Then we can hide.” The drone stops. They had made it. Imani and Reggie quickly look for somewhere to head in the plants that surround the city. “We are going to have to wait until morning, then make our way back into town,” says Imani. Reggie shakes his head in agreement. They find a spot in a field and hide out for the night, hoping they do not get caught. After a long restless night of listening for sirens and people searching the area, the sun finally breaks the horizon. Imani and Reggie carefully make their way out of the field and head to Min on the back route. “I guess you have no choice but to come back to Min,” Reggie jokes. Imani sighs, “Yeah, I guess I have to make sure you stay out of trouble.” Reggie laughs.
Half a day later they make it back to Min. Reggie and Imani head to the town hall to give them the last piece. When they arrive, the council is overjoyed to see them since they had not heard from them in a whole day. Imani hands one of the members the piece, and they praise her and Reggie for their contributions to help build the future of their city. Reggie and Imani leave them and head out to the town. “I sure am relieved that we do not have to go back, and we can live normal lives now,” says Reggie. “I completely agree with that,” laughs Imani. “What do you want to do now?” she asks. “Maybe we can relax for once,” says Reggie. So they sit down on the town hall steps and enjoy the view of the city.