Walt Whitman Junior High School - Pioneer Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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-T '51'3 3'- 3.31, ..-Z! THE WRONG MAN YOU SAY? HOf course, I have political and military differences with Rodriguez, but he's the dictator of our country,H continued Emanuel Hsure, Manny, sure,H answered Miguel as he made his exit. HOne of these daysin Lopez to his ambitious young bro ther Miguel, as they busily chat ted during a late dinner at home HOur country?H laughed out Miguel sarcastically. HListen, I have no say in his Latin-American or any other af- fairs,H Emanuel went on disgust- The louder haired opened l1Hi vtkiri' knocking grew louder and until a short grayish man, on the heavy side the door. Pedro,U said Miguel. HShhh,U Pedro motioned as he quickly shut the door. HGood edly. HI am only one officer in his great army.H HWell, I guess that's enough of my problems for one night. Why talk about it during my va- cation. And a well deserved one at that, may I add. I'll lock myself in the house for a whole week. That'll make sure it re- mains a vacation. I think I'll get some sleep for the time beingf yawned Emanuel with a tired coun- tenance. Hjoin me?U HNo,H responded his brother Miguel quickly. UI must see Pedro immediately.H HOne of these days why don't you invite that Pedro Gonzalez over to the house? I've yet to meet him.n l Ze news. The waiting is over. Our plans for the revolution are com- pleted. We should overthrow Rodriguez and his government within a week.U HExcellent,U responded Miguel. HThen the dictatorship will be ours.H HYes,H said Pedro slyly, Hourd' HBut does your brother Emanuel know anything of our plan?H Pedro questioned uneasily. UNO, he knows nothing.H HGood.H Within a week the revolution approached its finale. In a day or so the dictator's government would be overthrown and another,

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,X lr. p C nm! f i I ml5 'Llm i . HH , I - a ii , si if .eta -1 1 E I I i i A THE LAST MILE ,R l My footsteps fell with dull thuds as I moved along the nar- row corridor. HPressH, said I, flashing my credentials at the guard standing by the gate. This was not my first hanging nor would it be the last. I had been in other prisons, but this particular one had an eerie feeling at the moment. I walked by the cells and glanced at one sullen prisoner after another. They seemed to look at me with a dull curiosity, probably due to the fact that I was a well-known news correspondent. Oh, I hated this place. I could think of two hundred other places where I'd rather be, but a job is a job. This prison seemed so familiar, but then again all death houses are alike I had reached the witness box and the heavy metal doors were swinging open. I entered the room and was momentarily blinded by the sun shining through the solitary window. I approached the window and gazed out. Before me was the gallows. Here is where I would stand and see a man pay for his crimes.and,tonight, before retiring,would write a story that would capture the reader's attention. A man's life would end and the reader paying ten cents would enjoy reading about it. The more grue- some the story the better! Oh, well, mine is not to reason why. Mine is to do or-- Nwhat are you doing? Let go of my arm. I'm from the press. Don't you understand? I'm here to cover the hanging. I'm not the victim. Where are you taking me?U HThe gallows? No, not the gab lows. I'm from the press, the press,H I repeated frantically as the trap door sprang shut andl darkness enveloped me. jane Berman 23

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arise. HTomorrow Rodriguez will sur- render,H said Pedro Gonzalez. HI doubt it,H answered Miguel. HHis defense is holding.Q HHe must,H screamed Gonzalez in an uproar. UOkay, he must,H agreed Miguel. UTomorrow the dictatorship will be ours.n UNO Miguel, that's where you are wrong. It will be mine, all mine. How foolish do you think I am to let a young ambitious no- body like yourself share a dicta- torship, government, country, with the great Pedro Gonza1ez.H At this point Pedro drew out a pis- tol and pointed it at Miguel. UNO Pedro, no, please don't...H x w + k Emanuel, enjoying his long de- served vacation, did not leave his house for a week. As an of- ficer in Dictator Rodriguez's army, he surprisingly knew noth- ing of the plotting of his bro- ther and his brother's friend Pedro. Turning on his radio, Manuel heard an hourly newsflash. 'Click'! UAn attempt has been made to overthrow Dictator Jose Rodriguez by two Latin-Americans. The leaders in the revolution, were Pedro Gonzalez, a colonel in the former dictator's regime, and Miguel Lopez. Lopez was found dead this afternoon.n--'C1ick'1 Manuel did not wait to listen to the explanation. Emanuel was too overcome with grief at the news of his brother's death. He assumed, moreover, the attempt to overthrow Rodriguez's government had failed. Emanuel assumed too, that Rodriguez had captured his brother and had him shot down before a firing squad. At this very moment Emanuel's brotherly devotion overcame his loyalty as a soldier. He vowed to avenge his brother by killing Rodriguez. At approximately midnight, Emanuel stealthily entered the Dictator Rodriguez's sleeping chambers through an open window, It was a dark night. Thinking the sleeping form to be Rodriguez Emanuel drew his pistol and as- sassinated the dictator. To as- sure himself of vengeance, he took a closer glance. It wasn't-- no it wasn't Jose Rodriquez. But then who was it? It was too late to escape. The pal- ace guards crashed down the locked doors. The personal bodyguard to the dictator said to Emanuel, HI hold you under arrest for murdering Pedro Gonzalez, the new dictator of our country.H HDictator?H Emanuel question- ed with astonishment. He then thought to himself, NYes, now I understand. Gonzalez and my brother were successful in their attempt to overthrow the dict- ator. Then-then the man I had just killed was the true murd- erer of my brother-Gonzalez killed my brother in greed and took over the dictatorship for himself. Wiki To Emanuel's astonishment, although he failed to kill Jose Rodriquez, he succeeded in assass- inating the right man. Yes, the supposedly wrong man iron- ically ended up the right vic- tim. Pate can play games, weird games, and it did, with Emanuel Lopez as its lonely playmate. Steven Jacobs 25