CHAPTER 4 – THE MASQUERADE PARTY

CHAPTER 4 – THE MASQUERADE PARTY

4.1.2022

“The masquerade party began at noon,” announced Madoff, the warden who was already dressed in a cowboy costume with two toy guns in their holsters, to the people at the “White Mouse” facility who were sitting in the ballroom around tables loaded with the best food and drinks that Monro had sent to the facility ahead of time. The prison deputy warden had an Indian costume on with a bow and arrows and screamed to the partygoers:

“Why are you not wearing masks? What kind of masquerade ball is it without masks?” Everyone sat in his chair like a mummy except for Mike Satanic, who stood up and explained:

Dear Warden and Mr. Deputy, because we are now eating, we don’t want to put the masks on. They will bother our intake of food and beverage. I promise that right after we eat, we will be free,” he laughed. “You will be greatly surprised by our masks, and you will not recognize us.”

The assembled laughed together with the warden and his deputy and with the rest of the prison guards who were in cowboy and Indian costumes and laughed without knowing why. Some prison guards wore waiter costumes and started bringing the appetizers while in front of the dais, the police band was playing, and its musicians were dressed as can-can dancers. The prisoners ate quickly and devoured the great food as if they had fasted for a long time and waited impatiently for the moment, they could put their masks on.

At the same time, in the Parliament, a bitter argument was taking place between Monro’s representatives, who believed in peace and comradeship, against those representatives of the opposition who had lost the elections led by Jay Leno, who hated what the Free Islamic Forces signified.

Neno attacked Monro:

“I warn you that the Free Islamic Forces are leading you on and are planning a war. President Aswad undoubtedly wants to become the undisputed Arab leader and he secretly bought weapons in spite of the anti-arms agreement between the Selected Democratic Organization and the Free Islamic Forces.”

Enthusiastic applauses were heard from the opposition benches along with screaming and contempt for Arabs. Monro tried to talk but the “boo” screaming intensified, and the Chairman Gargoma struck her new gavel with great force and called:

“I warn the opposition for the first time. Now it is Mr. President's turn to reply.” The “boo” calls resumed, and she stood up, again using the gavel:

“I warn you for the second time and for the third. I am expelling the Parliament members George, John, Ringo, and Paul. Actually, I'll expel the entire opposition band from the hall.”

As if under a magician's spell, there was silence in the chamber. Members remained glued to their seats. Monro said:

“Honorable Chairlady Gargoma, honorable coalition and opposition, I am glad that after several gavel blows to the table, truth and justice, common sense, and reason have taken their rightful places,” he laughed. “I still repeat and emphasize that we have a peace agreement with the people of the Free Islamic Forces and its leaders since 2013 that has not been broken and there is no reason to fear them. The Selected Democratic Organization and the Free Islamic Forces have a good relationship. President Aswad and I cherish and honor each other. For those who don’t remember, two days ago, Aswad and I met in a warm and friendly atmosphere during his visit at the facility “The White Mouse” where Arabs, Americans, Jews and Chinese live together and maintain a model social life, both useful and productive.”

The member of the opposition, Obama interrupted: “What about the warm eternal friendship of President Aswad with the prince of terror, Mike Satanic?”

Monro laughed:

“Come on, my friend, Obama. I do not decide who President Aswad’s friends are. Do not forget that the prince of terror was sentenced and will remain in 'The White Mouse' for the rest of his life. He can do no harm.” He turned excitedly to the TV cameras. “I and the Selected Democratic Organization bless Mike Satanic and 'The White Mouse' population in honor of the successful and enjoyable masquerade ball that is taking place right now. I, Monro, the selected leader and great general organized it.”

The coalition representatives clapped their hands and blessed the success of the ball while the opposition was angry and bitter.

At the same time in the “White Mouse” the partygoers at the masquerade ball clapped their hands as they watched TV during the meal. It transmitted the political debate in the Democratic Parliament. Soon all the participants in the Parliament took an hour break announced by the Chairlady Gargoma. At “The White Mouse”, Mike Satanic ate from his plate with indifference, and every once in a while, he looked at his watch and gazed secretly at his friends who were scattered at different tables. He nodded his head at them, his friends secretly responded as agreed with their head movements and they continued to eat and drink.

Barney and some government representatives sat at the President’s table in the Parliament’s cafeteria and devoured donuts, sandwiches, delicious pies with their beauty and aroma, choice fruits and wonderful cakes that lay peacefully near the pots of steaming coffee. To Barney’s dismay, during the meal, members of the Parliament and reporters stopped near them and shook Monro’s hand and congratulated him for his appetite and health and afterwards shook the rest of the government members’ hands with lack of interest, but somehow, they didn’t approach Barney as if ordered to ignore him, as if Barney and his chair did not exist. He decided to take the initiative and pressed himself with his hand extended towards everyone, but he became angry and frustrated when his extended hand was ignored. Barney felt once again that he was alone in the governmental system, frustrated and embarrassed.

Barney felt sorrow and vexation for not being accepted and for being outside the handshaking business that formed a festive routine for these hypocrites and self-righteous people in this cafeteria. He tried to concentrate on the meal, stopped waving his hands like a schmuck and did not notice when Monro whispered in his visitors’ ears to salute Barney also. Suddenly, to Barney’s surprise, each one who finished shaking Monro’s hand approached Barney, introduced himself, shook his surprised hand and even dared to ask how he was doing while Monro smiled secretly, and Yeats suffered from anger and jealousy. After a short while, Barney was getting sick of all the annoying handshaking that prevented him from enjoying his meal. He answered people with a lack of interest, with disrespect. He shook their hands with the speed of snakebite.

At “the White Mouse,” when Mike Satanic’s watch pointed to 12:45, he turned to the chief warden:

“Dear Warden, we are going to our cells to put on our masks. At 13:00 the ball begins.” He turned to the crowd, “ we will go back to our cells, put on our masks, and meet back here at 13:00.”

In a complete, strange and annoying silence everyone stood up and went to his cell, left open since noon, the moment they entered the hall and sat down to eat. Mike Satanic rushed to switch on the TV and watched it with tension. At the Parliament, everyone finished their coffee and dessert and Barney felt like one of the participants of the “The Biggest Loser” program, heavy and bloated from eating and drinking so much. Soon enough they took out all types of smoking stuff: cigarettes, pipe, cigars, and started smoking while Monro looked at his watch that pointed to 12:58 and turned to Barney:

“Hi, Joker, tell us a good joke before we begin our rehearsal,” he joked, “when the belly is full, the brain is glad.”

“Okay, Boss.

A Jew and Arab escape a mental institution. After a short while, they arrive in a military area and are astonished by the high tower that is known to all of us. The Arab says to his friend with surprise: look, look...Where did the Israelis get such a tall ladder? The Jew answers: It's not just a ladder. It is a ladder with a wall and an elevator. The Arab quickly asks again: Are you nuts? How can you build such a high wall? Who would be able to get up there without falling down due to the wind? The Jew answers again with arrogance: There is no problem at all. They built the top floor first and then the workers stood on what they were building and continued building downward until they reach the ground. The Arab stared at him suspiciously and afterwards he smiled with satisfaction: You are right, my brother, I didn’t think of that.”

Everyone tried to make sense of the joke until Barney and Monro started laughing hysterically. Barney said to Monro:

“Look at Yeats” who listened while being unseen “he didn’t get the joke. Should I tell it one more time with translation?”

For a brief moment, everyone joined and started laughing, even Yeats, who might have understood or might not have understood the joke, but also started to laugh. Suddenly a phone rang. It was Monro’s cellular phone. He fastened his ear to his apparatus and turned pale. He hung up quickly and screamed at his bodyguards and at the government representative and to all those who stood around him.

“Turn on the TV. There is a special news flash. The Democratic Organization just suffered from a terrorist attack, please hurry.”

They rushed towards the TV in fear and trepidation.

The prison warden, his deputy, and the prison guards who had been informed of the terrorist attack left their posts and rushed to the prison’s distant and isolated TV room to watch this special news broadcast while the prisoners put on their masks, planning to return to the party. Mike Satanic and his friends hid the three loaded guns in their clothes.

Everyone stood in the Parliament's sitting room watching the report in disbelief. The TV reporters who presented the news looked straight ahead with a solemn expression and explained with sadness in grave voices:

“Good afternoon to our viewers, today at 13:00 a terrorist attack took place in Demos and in several central cities that support the Democratic Organization. In the C.I.A- Europe headquarters, in the Hong Kong nuclear facility, in a power station in London, and in Canadian refineries. In the particle accelerator in Basel-Switzerland, in nuclear power stations in France, Netherlands, Italy, and Germany supervised by NATO, to our great luck all the terrorists were killed by the security guards at the facilities, and we suspect that Mike Satanic’s people from “Bell Aida” are responsible for it; they might have infiltrated the Selected Democratic Organization last year with the help of the Free Islamic Forces. We found the video tapes made of the Arab Shahids before they left for their destinations to eliminate those facilities and murder their security guards. To our great surprise all the terrorists in each site were disguised as President Monro and his government representatives. They thought that it would help them to penetrate the facilities without complication. Thanks to the resourcefulness of the guards at the entrances to the facilities, who suspected the poor English spoken by the impostors and the irrationality of the government representatives being in different places at the same time. The terrorists managed to break in up to the gates of these facilities where bloody battles took place. To our great regret, fifty of our best people were killed while physically preventing the entrance of the disguised terrorists into those facilities so very important to the security of the Selected Democratic Organization, to the army’s deterrent capability and to the economy of the organization. Let’s wrap up with the words of our admirable President Monro: 'War isn't won by the righteous, but by the survivors'...”

Each member of the Selected Democratic Organization who watched the broadcast on TV was in shock, felt fear and some even burst into tears. Monro immediately returned to the plenum and announced an urgent government meeting within the next hour.

The warden, his deputy and the prison guards who were watching the TV broadcast did not imagine that all the prisoners were already in the ballroom. When the warden, his deputy and the guards returned to the ballroom, they froze in astonishment. They were sure that someone had laced their food and drink with drugs. They were sure that they were hallucinating. All the masks on the prisoners’ faces were identical. Each of the prisoners seemed to be a double of Mike Satanic with the keffiyeh, the gallabiyah and the thick beard. One of Mike Satanic's guards raised his gun and threatened the prison warden:

“Tell all your staff to get rid of their weapons or else, I will fire some bullets into the little brain of yours and of your deputy.”

Madoff and his deputy trembled like trees with leaves falling in a storm, certain that their end was near. They shouted at their guards:

“Morons, idiots please throw your weapons to the floor. Do not do anything that might jeopardize us. If anyone is to die it should be you, not us.”

The guards were ready to draw their weapons, but they understood that they had no choice, so they lowered their holsters, with their loaded pistols, to the floor. Some prisoners quickly removed the weapons from the floor and pointed the weapons at the heads of the guards while other armed prisoners burst into the control room where prison guards were and took their weapons and tied their hands and feet to one of the support columns. The guards in the ballroom were forced into the control room and were tied up by the prisoners. The warden and his deputy were left in the ballroom.

The prisoner carrying the previously concealed weapon called aloud:

“Anyone who tries to escape will be shot in the head before he can manage to say hallelujah. Some of my friends are outside standing watch so if you try to break down the door, your name will appear in tomorrow's newspaper with a black border around it.” The prisoner screamed towards the warden and his deputy “you, come with me, if you try something, we will say Kaddish for you.” He turned to his friends “Lock the door and shoot everyone, if necessary.”

The warden, his deputy and the prison guards walked ahead with their heads lowered, with shaking legs and heavy movements, understanding that any wrong move could end in tragedy. The entire group arrived at the control room. The warden and his deputy were pushed into their seats, astounded to see the guards tied up near them. The prisoner in charge whispered something to another prisoner who left the room.

The warden felt more comfortable in his seat and with more confidence asked about the other prisoner with fascination and confusion:

“I don’t understand why everyone is disguised as Mike Satanic. Do you all want to escape? Where is the real Mike Satanic? Is it true that he is no longer with you?” The prisoner hit the warden’s head with his gun’s grip and told him to shut up. The prisoner in charge, however, scolded him.

“Stop it, don’t hit him and don’t hit anyone else.” He turned to the warden “we are all disguised as Mike Satanic, so you won’t find out either his identity or ours” and burst out laughing “also Mike Satanic is disguised as Mike Satanic. You will soon meet him. Don't forget that the Selected Democratic Organization treated us like lepers, humiliated and ridiculed us, but we do not want to hurt anyone. The Democratic Organization can assassinate anyone it wants and eliminate innocent people, but not us. We have honor, morals.”

Suddenly Mike Satanic was revealed to the detainees in the control room, disguised as President Monro. Behind him stood his security guards and his mistresses carrying suitcases with all that could be taken from his room.

President Monro's worried voice came through on the radio:

“Madoff, prison warden - Madoff, this is Monro. Do you hear me?” The prisoner in charge held a gun to Madoff's head and whispered in his ear:

“Answer that everything is normal and nothing unusual happened in this stinky prison of yours.”

“Hello Mr. President Monro, this is Madoff. I can hear you loud and clear.”

“Have you heard about the terrorist attacks? They were from “Bell Aida,” Mike Samanic's people. Is everything okay in your prison?” The warden chuckled with a false laugh, fearing the worst.

“Everything is okay, everything is okay. The prisoners are celebrating in the dining room, and they are unaware of whatever happened outside the prison. As for the terrorist, everything is fine. Everything is calm and under control.”

“Okay Madoff, I’m glad to hear that. If any problems come up, let me know and I'll send you reinforcements.”

Monro hung up and thought, his expression serious and guarded. He remembered the opposition attack regarding the issue of the relationship between the Selected Democratic Organization and the Free Islamic Forces and regarding the suspicious friendship of Mike Satanic and President Aswad.

Mike Satanic pointed a threatening pistol at the warden.

“Now my friends, I, you, and your deputy are leaving in my helicopter. I will treat you well as long as you obey orders” The prisoners tied the warden and his deputy while all Mike Satanic’s entourage went out.

“If you try to trick me, I'll throw you out of my helicopter without thinking;” Satanic laughed. “Don’t forget you don’t have parachutes.” The helicopter quickly ascended while Madoff spoke to flight control.

“This is Madoff, the warden of “White Mouse.” We are in Mike Satanic's helicopter. We are doing the usual patrol and will return within an hour,” he chuckled. “Our Mike Satanic is tied up and under my and other “White Mouse” prison guards’ control and supervision. We'll be in contact again when we return”.

The helicopter continued to fly towards the Free Islamic Forces border. During that time, the rebellious prisoners in masks threw them and their weapons into the prison furnace and returned to their cells as if nothing had happened. The helicopter stopped in “Fata Morgana” desert and innocently landed near the border station of the Selected Democratic Organization, where Mike Satanic generally landed during his helicopter tours. He used to distribute expensive gifts to the Democratic soldiers at the post. The soldiers, as always, were expecting to get such presents and ran enthusiastically towards the helicopter. Instead of receiving gifts they were shot by the weapons taken from the armory at the “White Mouse” that had been hidden in the helicopter. The aircraft immediately left the place and flew on to the Free Islamic Forces border post. Mike Satanic got out of the helicopter and ran enthusiastically towards President Aswad who was already waiting for him at the border station. They fell in each other’s arms to the cheering voices of his soldiers; they hugged warmly in front of the press cameras from all over the world that had been invited to perpetuate the event while President Aswad screamed:

“Take a photo…. Take a photo. Of the greatest Arab hero of all, Mike Satanic the great warrior, the Arab general, the new prophet of Muhammad.”

As Mike Satanic had planned it beforehand, the prisoner in the helicopter released the prison warden and his deputy after placing guns in their hands with empty magazines and kicking their butts and telling them:

“Get out bastards, go and thank President Aswad, who decided to spare your lives. Hurry before he changes his mind.”

The prison warden and his deputy started running towards the President without noticing they were still holding their guns. Mike Satanic heard their footsteps while they were running. He screamed with fake terror while he was running towards President Aswad as if in order to protect him with his own body:

“Be careful, President Aswad. They are armed, they want to eliminate you. Monro sent them.”

President Aswad’s security guards emitted killer gunfire towards the warden and his deputy, who died before their bodies hit the ground. Meanwhile, the live media cameras were shooting the horrifying incident. Mike Satanic rushed to take the guns from their hands and handed them to his friends who quickly replaced the magazines with loaded ones while President Aswad hatefully and impressively said to the cameras:

“Did you see? Did you shoot this? Monro sent them to eliminate me. The Selected Democratic Organization will pay the price. This is a declaration of war again the great Aswad, against the Free Islamic Forces and against all Arabs. This is a Jihad war. The holy war against the Satan, against the Selected Democratic Forces starts right now.”