Nolan didn’t know about the governor or the airport but he was enthralled with this conversation. There was something almost supernatural happening as the two men spoke. Nolan felt like a fly on the wall inside the halls of power and he was about to learn that not all the business inside was on the up and up. He didn’t know about divine intervention. He didn’t know that the Lord could put him in the middle of something over his head to advance his destiny. He didn’t realize that God was planting a seed of interest in his mind decades before he would ever need it. Nolan only knew that this was the most interesting grown up conversation he’d ever been around.
The governor’s brother had been caught several months back, smuggling drugs. He had flown hundreds of pounds of drugs in from south of the border and landed at a tiny airport in the middle of nowhere. The official story was that it was all a big misunderstanding and despite his criminal record and the war on drugs, the governor’s brother wasn’t charged with anything. After that a few reporters started looking into it. All roads led seemingly to nowhere. Even the newspapers told the reporters to stop digging. Some law enforcement officials and attorneys were trying to find out more but they were all told to stop looking. Move along, nothing to see here, was the only information available through proper channels.
But this was too big to keep covered up and some people kept digging. They went down to the airport and did their own investigation. They found military planes that shouldn’t have been there. They found a CIA front company operating there at the airport. Nolan only knew of the CIA as the guys who protected America from spies, what could they have to do with anything? Yet there it was and he didn’t know what to make of it all. They said they were just painting planes but why would an airplane painting company be located at an airport with virtually no air traffic? Why would the governor’s brother be caught smuggling drugs at the same airport? None of it made sense but it was fascinating!
DJ and Charlie both seemed to suspect the governor to be involved in organized crime. Nolan had never heard of the Dixie Mafia before, but that’s what they were calling it. It seemed to be connected to other organized crime in other parts of the country. What did the governor and the CIA have to do with mafias and gangs? Nolan knew about the gang problem from the other kids at church. HBO was going around the country covering the rise of the Bloods and Crips. They started in Los Angeles but their next stop was right here at home. What did the kids from public school have to do with all this? It was so big, it was like seeing behind the curtain and realizing that everything you thought was real just might be a lie. Nolan needed to know more.
As it got closer to being time for church, DJ talked about getting outside of the system. “Things are moving pretty fast right now aren’t they? It may be time to start looking at the old roads. They’re making it harder and hard to live the old ways, it’s by part of the plan. But the smart people, Charlie” DJ said with a little grin, “the smart ones will find the old roads and learn to make get along the old way.”
Practice Outlaw 