Electronic Gags (27 page)

Freddie and Jennifer took out their
guns.

“Ladies and gentlemen, as you all know,
the Ward regime is gone,” Freddie said. “Democracy is taking over. We want to
make a live broadcast to the nation, now. Who is in charge here?”

A fat, short man raised a hand. He was a
celebrity, having worked as a TV presenter for more than ten years. Freddie was
surprised to note how short the man was in real life.

“We want to address the United States of
America,” Freddie demanded.

“Okay sir,” the station manager said,
looking at Freddie’s gun. “Please follow me.” He turned to his colleagues.
“Everybody, take your positions, we are making a live broadcast.”

He quickly took them to a newsroom.

“Look confident,” Freddie whispered.
“Don’t say anything about me.”

“Okay.”

“Sit here,” the manager said. “Tell me
when you are ready.”

“ Michael nervously looked at the
camera. “I’m ready.”

“Look at the screen. When you see
yourself on that screen, you are live on TV.”

Michael froze for three seconds after
seeing himself on the screen. He began to read the speech, nervously at first,
and gained confidence when he realized that the speech was good. In the speech,
he urged the nation to celebrate their freedom, unite, forgive each other and
work for common good. He also promised the people elections as soon as possible
and appealed to the international community to help the United States of
America return to democracy. He invited the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia
and other traditional allies of the United States to send peacekeeping forces
to monitor the situation in the country. He told the American people that
giving them a choice between two parties with the same ideologies was not true
democracy. There should be more parties other than the Democratic Party and the
Republican Party. The Freedom Front was one such party.

“Go into the streets and film the American
people celebrating the fall of fascism,” Michael ordered the manager when he
was off camera.

“Yes sir.”

“From now onwards, stop playing Ward’s
national anthem or any of his propaganda programs,” ordered one of Michael’s comrades.

“Okay sir.”

“We shall be back with more updates,” Michael
said.

“That was a nice speech,” one of Michael’s
comrades said. “You should be in politics, Freddie.”

“This is the last part I have played in
the politics of this country,” Freddie said.

Jennifer looked at him with
bewilderment. They had freed the country and they deserved a place in
government… they deserved power.

“Come on, Freddie,” Michael pleaded.
“All this wouldn’t be possible without you.”

“To thank Jennifer and me for what we
did, you must promise us that if you get in government you won’t be like Ward
and his gang.”

“We promise,” Michael and his comrades
chorused.

“One more thing… don’t mention my name
or Jennifer’s name.”

“But reporters will ask us about the
whole thing,” Michael protested.

“Don’t tell them my name or Jennifer’s
name. Just tell them it was team work.” He took Jennifer’s hand. “See you guys.
My girl and I are going away to live happily ever after.”

As Freddie held her, Jennifer forgot
about power. Having political power was nothing compared to living one’s life
with such a wonderful man.

“What do we do next?” Jennifer asked.

“I promised to take you round my
wildlife refuge after the death games, remember?”

“I would love that.”

He kissed her. “I also plan to exercise
and lose weight.”

“Really? Why now?”

“Exercise increases life expectancy.
Under the Ward regime I had no desire to increase my life expectancy. Now that
the evil regime is gone and I have you to keep me happy, I have every reason to
want a long life.”

Jennifer
kissed him, imagining how handsome he would be when he shed excess weight.

After shutting down NASP, the security
chiefs in the CIB headquarters phoned their junior commanders and ordered them
to send men to take people off the streets. All the commanders said the same
thing. It was impossible to take people off the streets. The people had tasted
freedom and now knew the full extent of their power; and the servicemen had
tasted defeat and now knew they were not invincible.

“We have no choice but to go out of the
country,” General Robinson said. “I’m going away and I will have plastic
surgery and pray they won’t catch me.” He waved. “Wish you good luck my
friends.”

“You are right, Robinson,” Retired
General Sanders said. “We have no choice but to escape. I will also consider
plastic surgery.”

They all packed themselves in an elevator
and went to the ground floor.

“I wish I had listened to Gardner and
Hunt,” Lieutenant-General Palmer lamented when he looked outside. A growing
crowd of protestors surrounded the CIB headquarters. There was no escape.

THE
END

I
live in Harare, Zimbabwe, where I was born. I write fiction for children and adults
and I have one non-fiction book. I enjoy corresponding with readers if you have
anything to say about my books, please connect with me on line.

http://www.facebook.com/KudakwasheMuzirasBooks

https://twitter.com/KudaMuzira

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6586938.Kudakwashe_Muzira/blog

E-mail:
[email protected]

If
you enjoyed this story I would be most grateful if you tell others about it by
reviewing it on Amazon or GoodReads.