LARRY: Hey, John. How’s it going today?
JOHN: Not bad. Mmmm, what happened to your flagpole, Larry? Could’ve sworn I saw it yesterday.
LARRY: Yeah, got a letter from the HOA telling me to take it down. I have it in the garage.
JOHN: Why? What’s wrong with the stuff you had on it? American Flag, Marine Corps flag, POW/MIA…?
LARRY: Oh, I violated the “Neutrality Ordinance”. I should have known better. My fault. I need to go to the Compliance Store today and by the New American Banner.
JOHN: Wow. Did you get reported or was that your first warning?
LARRY: First one. (Larry lowers his voice to a whisper, looking up and down the street before he continues) The Johnson’s were warned twice! I’m kinda worried for them, you know.
JOHN: (also speaking in a whisper) Larry, the Johnson’s were “relocated” last night. I know I shouldn’t have watched, but I couldn’t help myself. A “Cultural Ministry” van pulled up at around 2 or 3 this morning. Man, you should have seen the shit they pulled from his house. American flags, a framed copy of the Old Constitution…sad, really. Linda was crying and so were the kids. Jeff tried to console them, but I think he was just as frightened as they were. This is getting out of hand…
LARRY: (in a normal tone of voice) Well, John, have a good day! Thanks for telling me about that New History meeting tonight. I’ll see you there.
John looked around to see a neighbor approaching. She was Vice President of the HOA and a real “New America” cheerleader. John despised her.
JOHN: What? Oh, yeah. The meeting. Sure. We’ll be there.
At 2 A.M. the next morning, Larry heard the sound of a truck pulling into John’s driveway. He lay there in silence wondering if he was wrong to email the government about their discussion the day before…
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