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Leonard Earl Johnson (photo credit Frank Parsley) covered Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (2005), and the 2010 British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico for ConsumerAffairs.com. He is a contributor to Gambit Weekly, New Orleans Magazine, SCAT, Baton Rouge Advocate, Advocate Magazine, The Times-Picayune, Country Roads Magazine, Palm Springs Newswire and the anthologies: FRENCH QUARTER FICTION (Light of New Orleans Publishing), LOUISIANA IN WORDS (Pelican Publishing), LIFE IN THE WAKE (NOLAfuges.com), and more. Johnson is a former Merchant Seaman, and columnist at Les Amis de Marigny, New Orleans; and African-American Village. Attended Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship at Piney Point, Maryland. Winner of the Press Club of New Orleans Award for Excellence, 1991, and given the Key to The City and a Certificate of Appreciation from the New Orleans City Council for a Gambit Weekly story on murder in the French Quarter.

Tuesday, July 01, 2025

⚓Red Women Warriors, Redux The Third / July 2025

 

 DRAFT III

~ Fiction ~

Roman à clef, cher!

Created AI-free

by Leonard Earl Johnson

of Lafayette and New Orleans, Louisiana

 www.LEJ.world 

⚓   

💜💚💛

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🗣😷

LEJ's 
Louisiana

a monthly e-column at 


Yours Truly in a Swamp

July 2025


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Return of the Red Women Warriors,

Redux The Third

by 

Leonard Earl Johnson

© 2025, Leonard Earl Johnson,  All Rights Reserved

The Rosa Parks clock Tower shows the time at half past 5 p.m.  

The Sunset LimitedAmtrak's train #1 is late for its 5:15 arrival from Los Angeles and points between.  No one waiting is surprised.

"If it were on timethe ten-gallon red hatted Trump Warrior Woman says, "It would be considered early." 

Amtrak regulars, 
Amtriklers have a jargon of their own for train schedules: Early-LateOntime-LateLate-late, and Tomorrow

"On time, the old fashioned kind, is not in our vocabulary," she says, pulling down the front bill of her big red hat. 

👒🤠👒

Just now the train whistles in the near-distance, and the Red Women Warriors grab the green alligator briefcase and run under the clock and up to the loading platform.  Amtrak doesn't stop long in Lafayette whether on time or not.

Inside the last coach, the three shove their bags into the boarding deck's storage rack and scramble up the ladders to the top deck.  They rush along the aisle past the seated passengers, and dance down the steps of the forward car to the comforting snack, coffee, beer, wine, and whisky bar below.

The train jerks forward, then softly rolls off towards New Orleans, Louisiana's notorious Big Swamp City.

They are traveling to Big Swamp City after viewing America's July 4th fireworks display in Lafayette's Parc International.  Now they are going to celebrate July 14th's French National Bastille Day, by gathering in New Orleans with the masses, for free bread on Bastille Day at Café La Madeleine ~ free for those wearing the French tricolors.

🚩🏳📪

 Each Warrior Woman has added a red, white, and blue pompom to her hat.  

"If you dine in, they give you real butter and jam," the three tell each other, "and delicious coffee."

At a table set aboard the train under a huge glass canopy they open their green alligator briefcase and extract the clear plastic cube containing the frozen Republican Snow Ball, and fan out on the table a spray of self adhering lapel and bumper stickers. 

talkative 

judge 

and his quieter Wife ~ on a grand tour from Sydney, Australia ~ pick out two of the Warriors' proffered campaign stickers. 

One reads, Street Gorillas for Peace, the other, Turn Back Voter Turnout. 

"Traveling to the Upper Earth is a dream of most all Australians," the Judge tells the three women. "Isn't that right, Duck," he says to his Wife, who nods agreement. 

"We like taking Amtrak across America, after hanging sixteen hours in the air from Sydney to Los Angeles," the Wife says, opening her blue Outback frontier-looking knitted teardrop handbag, and extracting an airplane boarding pass to prove her point.

The big red hatted Texan holds up the frozen snowball to prove hers.

🎀

💧

 The Judge tells The Donald's Red Warriors, 

"We once took Amtrak's Zephier out of San Francisco, to Chicago.  In the high Rockies, that run!"

Duck adds, "Unfortunately the train was very late and it was dark during our decent into Denver." 

The Aussies say they are "Smitten by  America's Brazen Chainsaw Republicans."  Also, they admit to being connected supporters of Australia's rabid political exporter to America, Rupert Murdock. 

"So pivotally important to your Donald Trump," Duck says. 

"We have two daughters working for Rupert Murdock's American Dream Diversion.  Both live in Chicago."

💥 💣 💥

"We all know where this is leading.  Still, here you sit, 

US TOO, FOR THE MOMENT, 

smack in the middle of your Hurricane Season, with Republicans reducing satellite weather coverage and FEMA support!"  


The big red hatted Texan tells everyone not to worry
.
"If left dangling from your rooftops,
 House Speaker, Piety Mike Johnson
 will pray for you in The Donald's private golden chapel.
Besides, Global Warming is a myth,
" she says, tapping her wine glass against the plastic cube and its frozen snowball.

💀🙏💀

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© 2025, Leonard Earl Johnson,  All Rights Reserved

Next Month's Column

Continuation of the Red Women Warriors Series
            
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© Leonard Earl Johnson 

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 LEJ's Louisiana, Yours Truly in a Swamp
is a monthly e-column @ www.LEJ.world,
Hosted by GOOGLE BLOGGER,
and historically at
Les Amis de Marigny, New Orleans
publication of the
It is written by Leonard Earl Johnson
of Lafayette and New Orleans, Louisiana
© 2025, Leonard Earl Johnson, All Rights Reserved