‘Returning’ Archives
Returning Chapter 33: A Left Turn
By PATRICK CABELLO HANSEL Patrick Cabello Hansel To say that Lefty’s brother Karl was a retired FBI agent was a lie; he had not retired, he had been pushed out for complaining about the practices of the agency at Wounded Knee, with the Black Panthers and other political groups. He’d threatened to go to the press with documents he had, exposing other as yet unknown misdeeds; they threatened to arrest him and hide him away in a supermax prison. It was a standoff that neither the bureau nor Karl intended to break.Such was life in Phillips in the mid-2010s: Angel and Luz needed to depend on someone who may have spied on their families’ past involvement with the Chicano movement. Someone who knew how to find out things without being found out. And someone for whom tequila, pot and conspiracy theories both left and right were his daily diet.By a strange turn of fate, Karl had been based in Seattle in the late 70’s, met founders of tech companies and was an early investor. [...]
Returning: Chapter 32
Be Not Afraid By PATRICK CABELLO HANSEL Patrick Cabello Hansel Mother Light followed Agnes or Agnes followed Mother Light, and Angel and Luz and Angelito followed them all. Instead of travelling through time, it felt like time was travelling through them. The winter dawn had begun to paint the sky a cacophony of colors: pink, red, purple, fuchsia, blood orange, red. As they walked, they heard the mating call of a cardinal—the first time one had been heard that early in February.Agnes led them back to the senior apartment building; the same one where she had led them into the trap Brian Fleming had set. As they got closer, Luz and Angel could feel their bodies tighten.“We’re not going back into that building,” they said, simultaneously.“No,” Agnes said. “But I have to.”That was all she said, and then quickly zipped in. Attafe (aka Mother Light), took their hands in hers and said, “Agnes will not tell you, but she was forced to help the man who is trying to [...]
Returning: Chapter 31
The Wind ChangesBy PATRICK CABELLO HANSEL Patrick Cabello Hansel The visitor who came bearing the truth was not perfect. Most heroes or heroines are not. And to be honest, most heroines and heroes are not welcomed with open arms by those who they come to help.Such was the case with Agnes; dear old Agnes, who showed up at Attafe, AKA Mother Light’s door. She had been forced to do the dirty work of Brian Fleming, who threatened to kill or sell overseas Amethyst*, Agnes’ granddaughter and only living relative. Torn by guilt over her culpability, she vowed to save Guadalupe, the kidnapped daughter of Angel and Luz. She knew the possible cost for doing so was terrible. But the damage to her spirit if she did not try to save the little child was greater.Mother Light brought Agnes into the living room and stood between her and our little family. That was a wise and necessary thing, because as soon as they saw her, Luz and Angel were up on their feet, shouting and moving toward [...]
