Harsh Realities: What Lies are You Telling Yourself?

By A. Christian Mann

It's the happiest time of the year in a small town in the USA--Ripon, California. Its annual Almond Blossom Festival offers a carnival, a parade, bake sales, farm shows, spaghetti feeds, and fashion shows among many other festivities.

However, tragedy is around the corner. Life in Ripon will be impacted forever, and the lives of several citizens teeter between life and death.

Forced to face the hypocrisy that is evident in their very lives, will they be able to recognize the error of their ways and resolve to reach out to the only one who can save them?

As the FBI, the police, and the town search for answers and the one responsible, only wise old Christeson seems to have the answers.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9798885400268

Book preview

Harsh Realities

What Lies are You Telling Yourself?

A. Christian Mann

ISBN 979-8-88540-025-1 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88540-026-8 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by A. Christian Mann

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Small Town, USA

Sowing Her Wild Oats

God Just Loves

The Scale of Justice?

Detailed Research

A River in Egypt (De-Nile)

The White-Hot Rage

Gym Class

The Ride-Along

Johnstons under Attack

Remember the Good Ole Days

On the Run

Welcome to the Parade

The Search for Answers

The Interrogation of Billy Owens

The Interrogation of Diane

Suspect Apprehended

Interrogation of Rebecca

Interrogation of Rayonna

The Interrogation of Thelma

Alibi

Harsh Realities Must Be Faced

Twilight Zone Recap

About the Author

Small Town, USA

Life in a small town never seemed to have much excitement. Small town USA can be found all over the country, but Rayonna's town was right here in Central California. She grew up in Ripon, California. The town was just small enough to provide her parents with the type of security against crime and all the bad influences of the big city but large enough to give her some realities of the broken world. Nestled in between large cities like Modesto and Stockton and just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the major metropolitan areas of the San Francisco Bay Area, or even to the north, Sacramento. Ripon offered the small hometown feel but with all the opportunities outside its borders for the influences of the world.

Ripon had very conservative Christian roots as a church could be found on nearly every corner. Right smack in the middle of California's San Joaquin Valley, the influences were as much about conservative Christian values as they were about farming, community, and hometown pride. These were typical values you'd find in most small towns in America, and Ripon was no exception. Street fairs, balloon festivals, and the annual Almond Blossom Festival were regular events that brought the community together along with its high school sports. Rayonna had heard her dad speak about Ripon and how it used to be in his younger years. All she knew is her friends outside of Ripon called it Mayberry.

Ripon had a thriving church community. Although there were only about fifteen thousand folks that lived in Ripon, there were over twenty churches. Rayonna's father would talk about growing up in town when there were only two thousand folks. Still, there were fifteen to twenty churches even back then. He'd ride his bike all over Ripon. He'd spend time going to the local variety store and shopping for models to assemble, or he'd buy baseball cards or candy. He'd buy them with money earned from his paper route. Oftentimes, his buddies would ride down to the local Ripon bakery for doughnuts or icebox cookies or his favorite apple turnovers. As Rayonna listened to her dad, it all just seemed so unbelievable. Her dad would speak of the town as if it were some sort of mini paradise. A time when people were friendly, and folks trusted each other. There was virtually no crime, and everyone knew each other. Folks attended church regularly and even walked to church on Sundays. In fact, shame on you if you were spotted mowing your lawn on a Sunday in Ripon. Sunday was the Lord's day, a day for family and a day for rest. Seemed like a fairytale land to Rayonna. The Ripon she grew up in was still very nice, but as the years had changed the town, it had also changed the community. The seventies and eighties that her dad grew up in were a far cry from the times she had grown up. The idea of riding her bike all over town unsupervised and the thought of doing a paper route by herself early in the morning was simply crazy talk!

Who even does paper routes anymore? she would think. Who even reads a newspaper?

Ripon was part of a new world now, a world that included cell phones, Internet, social media, and the typical breaking down of the conservative Christian values that were so prevalent in Ripon.

Ripon still had its fifteen to twenty churches, however, and even though it seemed like the moral decay of our society was in full bloom throughout much of California, Ripon still had an active church community that was doing its best to stave off the outside influences of the world. Rayonna had grown up going to church each Sunday. She spent time in Sunday school learning about Jesus. The home she grew up in certainly had its faults, but her parents were devoted to Christ. Just as John Mellencamp's lyrics in his song Small Town, she was taught the fear of Jesus in a small town.

This year as the brisk winter weather closed in, late in February, the Ripon Almond Blossom Festival was ready to kick off. The festival was a staple of Ripon for well over fifty years. Each year the whole town got into the act with art shows, bake sales, farm equipment shows, and many other events. The local Lion's Club would host a spaghetti dinner, and there'd be all kinds of barbeque available for those who wanted it, courtesy of the Ripon Quarterback Club. Numerous clubs and charities put on events and fundraisers this time of year to celebrate the blessings that the almond harvest would bring to the community later in the year. Ripon was the almond capital and proudly proclaimed this fact on a large sign as you entered the city. Rayonna loved this time of year—the brisk cool air and the sight of snow-white almond blossoms covered all the almond trees. It was inescapable as you drove around town and especially through the country roads. Blossoms were everywhere with bees dancing from blossom to blossom, pollinating the flowers. If you stood near an orchard on a quiet day, you could hear the hum of bees as they worked busily throughout their day.

The best part of this time of year, however, was the two main events of the festival. Each year there'd be a huge parade on Saturday. Rayonna remembered watching the parade when she was young, and even though she was in her early twenties now, the parade still brought fond memories. She enjoyed watching the horses as they strode by, watching all the beautiful floats that were built specifically for the parade, hearing the marching bands bellow out their tunes, watching the little girls in the local dance classes do their routines and twirl their batons. And who could forget the clowns as they zipped around in their little cars tossing candy to the kids! That was her favorite part when she was little. Dad always seemed to like the old cars that would scoot by, and her grandma was always interested in seeing the Almond Blossom Queen. Rayonna loved the parade, but as great as the parade was, nothing compared to the carnival that came to town for four days and three nights. Especially for teenagers, this was a kid's paradise. Each year the local kids would talk their parents into letting them stay out late at night until the carnival closed. Boys and girls would run around everywhere, goofing off and having fun. The carnival was great, but in reality, it was the extra freedom the kids had to spend time with each other: out late with little supervision and boys and girls displaying their awkward banter back and forth with flirtatious glee. Part of growing up in Ripon, I guess. You might go on some rides, you might play some games, maybe try and win your girlfriend a stuffed animal, maybe eat some pink popcorn or other carnival food, or maybe just run around with your friends hoping to steal a kiss from someone you had your eye on.

This year was poised to be a big year. The festival was held on the last weekend in February, and although once in a while it was just downright cold, it didn't stop the folks from coming out. A typical Saturday of the Almond Blossom Festival saw fifty thousand people visit a town with just fifteen thousand population. Saturdays were busy! This year the weather was unbelievable: the California sun was out, and the temperatures were in the seventies! After the parade on Saturday, everyone headed to the carnival.

The streets of Ripon were cobblestone with quaint sidewalk benches displayed sporadically throughout town. The city had a rejuvenated downtown area that had large sidewalks and antique-looking streetlamps that lit up the nights. The streets were decorated for celebration, and banners were hung all through the town. This beautified downtown area, along with the almond blossoms, was a special season in Ripon; and the decorations and town buzz were rivaled only by Christmastime.

With the town prepped and ready for the festival celebration, and with excitement in the air, everything seemed business as usual for a small town in the USA—Ripon, California.

Flash forward to the night of the festival.

Innocence Lost

Smoke billowed into the night, smoldering from the remains. Canvas, soil, metal, and everything under the night sky lay strewn between the bodies that lay in pieces everywhere. There was no more music; there was no more laughter; there was no more fun. All that could be heard in the cold night were sirens off in the faded distance and the sounds of weeping.

No one knew what had happened. No one could make any sense of the tragedy that lay before their eyes. No one knew what to do or had the energy to move. Any survivors were sapped dry of hope, stricken with fear and anguish, caught in a blur of shock.

The little town that had been filled with joy, the town that had celebrated its blessings of the almonds by having a festival each year was now fraught in tragedy. The small town that had avoided all the social entrapments of the big city and was still quaint and cute and part of nostalgic Americana lay devastated with its innocence lost.

Sowing Her Wild Oats

Morning before tragedy

The sun cracked through the blinds in her bedroom. It seemed to seek out her eyeballs and knock on the outside of her lids. The day was well underway for the rest of the world, but for Rayonna, it was just beginning. She had spent Friday night with friends. Under her pillow, her dirty-blond hair wrapped around her face and was tickling her nose. Rayonna was popular back in her high school days, and now at twenty, she still had her girlish figure—the kind that drove the boys wild. Her blue eyes and fair skin attracted a crowd at every party she'd ever gone to. What really attracted others though was her free spirit. Rayonna never took herself seriously. She was warm and friendly to everyone, and although she was quite the beauty, you'd never guess it with her humble tones. It was as if everyone else knew that she was special but she herself didn't. She was just one of the guys, but a girl version, of course.

Today was a big day for her as she had been training to be an EMT for two years now. Today she would go on a ride-along as part of an EMT training course she was doing. Although she was excited about her ride-along, the thought of crawling out of bed seemed physically painful. Rayonna's mouth felt like it was dry and full of cotton. The night before, as she partied with friends, she had gotten her hands on some really good marijuana. Some of her friends were doing other drugs, but in her mind, she was a good girl and never did anything past a little alcohol