The Loyalist

In a country named Landfar, there lived a man by the name of Jerry Tinone. Jerry was a long-time supporter of the country’s government, which was described by their neighbors as an oppressive dictatorship. However, that fact didn’t dissuade Jerry from being a staunch supporter of the government whom he proudly praised in front of the rest of his family as being guardians of his country and people. This would often lead to arguments between him and his family members whenever there were gatherings.

During one gathering, the arguments became particularly severe. One of his sons, named Timothy, was dining with the rest of his family when he told them that one of his friends had been arrested on suspicion of being a criminal and a rebel even though Timothy said that he had known him for decades, and could attest that he would never suspect him of being a rebel.

“I have known him since middle school,” said Timothy, “he would never be a rebel.” “He is too shy and anxiety-prone to be a rebel. What the government is doing is not only wrong, but it is incredibly stupid. I am certain that they didn’t even bother doing a background check, and just arrested him based on flawed and stupid assumptions.”

Jerry was having none of it and angrily argued back. “The government is doing their job,” yelled Jerry, “what they are doing is keeping us safe.” “You never understood that, because you are foolish and juvenile.” Jerry’s accusations visibly caused discomfort amongst the rest of his family, but none so more than Timothy who was furious at what was being said about his friend, named Alex.

“How can you say that about Alex,” said Timothy, “you had known him for decades.” “You had called him a decent man before.” Jerry looked visibly confused when he heard that, mostly because he had genuinely forgotten about that. “He came to our house many times to help us with repairs on our house and car. How can you sit there and be so confident in our government when they willingly take away our neighbors and friends for no reason.”

Jerry was stunned by what he heard, but he continued to stubbornly and obediently support the government. “You do not get to say that,” yelled Jerry, “who do you think keeps us safe from criminals and invaders.” “Who do you think grew the food you are eating, and helped build the house that we are living in. How dare you act ungrateful to the government in my house.”

“Who grew the food we are eating,” said Timothy, “why it is underpaid and mistreated laborers.” “You think the police and government officials grew the food we are eating.” Jerry was furious to hear that, but quickly remembered that his son was four inches taller than him, and knew better than to stand up.

“Yes, I truly believe that it is the police and government officials grew the food that we are eating,” said Jerry. His son groaned when he heard that, and the rest of the family also groaned but hid it using the tablecloth so that their father wouldn’t see it. “I believe that we are protected by our hard-working government, and you should be on your knees thanking them for everything they have done for you.”

Timothy almost laughed. “Father, you haven’t worked in years now,” said Timothy, “you have been happy to collect money from them for almost decade, because you have been a loyal supporter of them.” Jerry looked like he was about to explode in rage, but his son stood up, reminding him that he was taller than him.

“How dare you sit there and support them,” said Timothy, “have you forgotten what happened to mother.” “She developed cancer, because she was working at an unsafe factory. They knew the whole time that it was leaking unsafe chemicals, and she developed cancer because of it. We had to sit by and watch as our mother slowly died in the hospital. I had a test kit from my university and when I tested the factory, I learned that it had been leaking hazardous material for decades. Now you still sit there, taking their money, and telling people that they are either corrupt or insane for not supporting them.”

Jerry finally exploded at his son. “How dare you bring up your mother,” said Jerry, “they are here to help us.” “They have given us food and jobs, and so what if people died. People die around the world, and in many different jobs. Why should we be sad for what happened to her when people die around the world for many different reasons.” Jerry’s face was red from the yelling.

The rest of the evening was quiet as Timothy had all but left the house, storming out of the building after what his father had said about his mother and friend. “It is better now that he is gone,” said Jerry, “he is a terrible influence and a fool who has no clue what he is saying.” The rest of his family then had to endure him talking about how great the government was, including a story where he said that he captured an entire group of criminals for the government.

“You see,” said Jerry, “it was a glorious day.” “We managed to capture an entire group of rebels who were also drug dealers.” “They were terrorizing this one town for years, and they were grateful for what we have done.” One of his family members then asked if what city this was in. “This was in Icemine. It is a city not far from here to the east.”

The rest of his family were too polite to tell him that not only was there no city named that in older maps, but they knew the incident he was talking about was actually a fraud set up by the government in order to scare both the public, and make them seem like they were trying to do their jobs. The government had never released the identities of the criminals that were captured.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. “Well, who would that be at this hour,” said Jery, “it might be a government inspector come to congratulate me for doing a good job.” As Jerry opened the door, he was surprised to find government police at his door as after two decades, he had never had this happen.

“Jerry Tinone,” said one of the police officers, “you are arrested for financial fraud.” “For taking checks from the government that you are not entitled to.” Jerry then tried to explain and showed them the paperwork to prove that he had not taken them illegally, and that he deserved them because of his patriotic service. The police officers look unconvinced.

“You are under arrest,” they said, “there is a new law.” “You will be in a prison cell until the government decides that you are innocent.” Jerry argued and tried to tell the officers that there had to have been a mistake, but they remained unconvinced. He knew that they meant he could be in prison for decades before having a chance to be released.

“There has to be a mistake,” said Jery, “I have done nothing wrong.” “I have even talked to a government official about this earlier.” Jerry then remembered that the conversation he was talking about happened decades ago. As he looked out his house, he could see many of his neighbors were also being arrested. He then looked towards the television in his house, and on the news, it was announced that the government was cracking down on corruption including on financial fraud. Jerry was quick tor realize what that meant and what fate now awaited him in the local prison.