The Lie

The Lie

From the shadows, Yvonne peered out of the window at the darkness of snow. She sighed with a weary tiredness. I am tired, so tired of it all. How did we get here, she thought. She knew the answer; she always did.

Eight years ago, during the pandemic, there were people with power who used extremist propaganda news conduits to float the theory that the women of a specific race were the carrier of the deadly virus. It was, of course, not true. But the notion was used as justification for the seizure of DNA records from the ancestry companies to identify any who had any African blood, no matter how little. She’s always known: one-third of White US citizenship hid their African roots. Incredibly, these falsely empowered and privileged men were able to stretch existing law so that an already compromised FBI had access to every woman’s records and pass laws that allowed them to mandate the thralldom of any woman whose DNA was not deemed “pure.” Then the purge began...Women with even a trace of Black blood were forcefully corralled; the younger women were then sterilized in an effort to change the face of race. Lawsuits proved fruitless as the courts had been stacked with men of the same mindset, years before the purge.

Evelyn, a research technician for the FBI, heard about the mendacious theory years ago, dismissing it as office gossip. Besides she had real problems deal with. Eric, her husband, was cheating on her. Again. She’d endured the verbal abuse, the gaslighting, the criticism and the threats of physical abuse because she loved him. Or at least she thought it was love. Maybe it was just her pride. Maybe it was because her mother abandoned her as a baby, giving her up for adoption. Evelyn found out about her adoption when she and some of her college friends participated in a DNA study for extra cash. She loved her parents dearly, but the shock of the truth created insecurities that at times overpowered her beauty and intelligence. She didn’t think it mattered that her fraternal great grandmother was a slave. So she never told anyone. She never told Eric either.

Eric abandoned them the day after Yvonne turned fifteen, when he was told Evelyn was “flawed goods” by a friend and member of his closeted organization. Evelyn was devastated and heartbroken by his actions. Evelyn knew eventually they were coming for them; there were rumors in her office of the coming purge. She chose a plan Yvonne wouldn’t be aware of until it was too late. It was the hardest thing she ever had to do.

As she gazed through the window, Yvonne fingered the gold heart shaped locket hanging on a gold chain around her neck. It was her last connection to her mother. Yvonne was sent to stay with an aunt for the late summer weeks before she started college. The summer before the purge began. Her mother gave her an envelope and told her to open it when she got to Aunt Lucille’s house. Puzzled by her mother’s sadness, her stomach was in knots during the two hour bus ride to Philadelphia. She was always so close to her mom; they were more like friends than parent and child. As soon as she arrived, she tore open the envelope. A gold locket fell to the ground. With a sense of foreboding she opened the tear stained note. Her mother told her to put the locket on and never take it off. “I am so sorry I never told you about your heritage. I never thought it would have this outcome. I was able to get one of the purity lockets they are quietly distributing. A purge is coming. Destroy this note and never tell. This is how a mother can best take care of her child. I am going away now, just know I will always love you.” She returned home to find her mother had disappeared into thin air. She left a large sum of cash in Yvonne’s bank account. Yvonne had just turned eighteen and was leaving for college in a week. She would be on her own. Weeks later, the purge began. Yvonne had escaped because she was wearing the locket. But now, years later, she was tired. Tired of the fear, the anger, the anxiety, but most of all, the lie. She now understood what Black women experienced by being seen as the lowest human being on the scale of humanity, having to assimilate while proving they are enough.

The increasing darkness of snow outside indicated another purge was starting. It was time for the truth.