Snapshots

I drink some more Imperial Blue. This siege is now officially 21 minutes old. Have the cops laid siege on this building or have I laid siege on this city ? I light another cigarette. My throat hurts with every drag.

I had a happy childhood. Not a single unpleasant memory. My family died when I was 21. I didn’t think of it as a great tragedy. I miss them but I won’t pray to a God for their resurrection. It was all quite convenient. A fiery car wreck or some accident on a means of public transport you’d think ? Nope. My parents and elder brother died of terminal stupidity. A midnight knock on the door, a man asking for water for his car, my brother doesn’t close the door and suddenly there are three men with choppers in the house. My family was butchered because all the jewelry was in the bank and the thieves got pissed. As simple as that. They killed my family simply because they could. Now that’s power for you. The power of flesh, of life and death. Thulsa Doom was right. The power of the flesh is powerful all right. Very powerful.

A football field. A scrawny lad of 13. To be pushed around was a part of the job description for me. The guy neither team wanted even when three of my classmates were absent from the Madras Eye. A liability on the field. Pants torn at the knee and bruised elbows were a daily occurrence. Rocky was an asshole. Didn’t matter if we were even on the same team. He’d still extract his pound of flesh. Push me, trip me up, grab me by my shirt and throw me around. I didn’t plan it. Just happened. I picked up a stone one day and threw it at him. We were on the same team. The stone hit his head and he fell down. Unconscious. I was in big trouble but I didn’t care. Suspended from school and I didn’t care. I felt like I was well over six feet tall. I felt like Stone Cold Steve Austin. And you all know what Austin 3:16 says. My problems with Rocky were far from over though. Luckily for me, I wasn’t scared anymore. Its amazing how little pain a bully can actually withstand. School passed easily enough after that. I even managed to score some goals on the football field. By the time I was 16 I was well over 6 feet tall and nobody’s chump.

Thank you Rocky.

They have snipers on the roof now. I think Baava’s on the roof opposite my lodge. He’s the best they have. Fearless, with a faith in the law that is most disturbing. I still have a story to tell. I hide and light up a cigarette. A shot rings out. I can feel the heat of the bullet on my hair. That was close. Baava is better than I thought. Night vision scopes and he’s tracking the smoke from my cigarette. Shooting blind and hoping to hit. Almost hit. I have no hostages. The hole in my plan. I’m a lone gunman in a lodge that now definitely is empty. Why am I still alive ?

Saturday was my favourite day of the week. Everything just seemed to be so much happier on Saturday. People would smile for real, the girls would always be at their prettiest and coffee in the morning would taste superb. My family died on a Saturday. I was out drinking that night. By myself.