Of course they had been studying me for quite some time before this, assessing their target, the potential victim, their prey....They made their move with practiced ease, working in tandem, communicating without words. No rush, no need to hurry, they had all day if necessary. They were friendly enough at the start...a coffee, a beer, broad smiles....always smiles...hyena, shark, cold calculations showing in the eyes, or was it desperation?
Seducing a traveller with tales of altruism and adventure, the perfect combination, left hook, right hook, subtlety and deception, finding weaknesses and gaining my confidence. They wanted to live up to my expectations, and they wanted my wallet to live up to theirs.
Swirls of dust later, I am sat in a room full of people, a table in front of me, beer bottles and ashtrays. The hypnotic bass beat from the speakers lulling me into a false sense of security. The girls dancing, beautiful, graceful, always looking to make sure I was still there, but never making eye contact...except for the unhappy looking one. She must have been new around here, or maybe she was tired of the whole charade which left her feeling empty when all was said and done. Maybe she was the only one with a shred of decency left. She was, however, afraid of the pack leader.
What started off as a beautiful illusion of tranquility began to rust at the edges, right before my eyes. The illusion was quick to change, as illusions are wont to do. The demons made themselves known to me in their new guises. As surely as we will meet again, I knew that I had met them before.
The blink of an eye, the light shining on a girl's hair, the flash of a shooting star, the bubble bursting in the stream. How long does it take before you realise something has happened that you did not expect? A split second? a circular motion of time?
Agression then, voices raised, music stopped. The girls left in a hurry, on some silent command from the pack leader. The unhappy looking one the last to leave. My time had come to be tested. My bubble had burst. My stream of conciousness was laden with rotting logs floating from the dark recesses of my mind to the table in front of me, the air filled with the smoke of strong herbs and the smell of hard liquor. And the stench of greed coming from the now three men, more voices outside, talk of knives and dollars, agitated twitchings and restless spirits. All the while the smiles flashed in my direction, each one slicing me like a machete through vine leaves. Leaving me naked and bleeding, empty and doomed. Or so they would prefer. I had different ideas.
A sudden whirlwind, the trigger to move, and busting out into the wilderness of their yard only to find the way barred by weapons....long stout wooden poles...a 6inch nail jutting from each...reality bites.
Take two steps forward, and one back. A weapon extending from my arms, part of me now, my survival. The smiles rapidly fading, the hackles risen...A whirlwind of emotion in their eyes, specked with fear. They try to circle me, to turn it back around, the dollars slipping from their grasp, but my back is to the gate, breathing deep and slow. The first one to move is the first one to suffer. Where was the instigator? I take the strongest one out of his comfort zone and into my sphere. Welcome to my nightmare. Don't worry, it's just another dream. Life can be like that. A fraction of time taken to blink, and it's all over. Eyes glazed over then, staring at the sun through a swirl of dust, unseeing, too late to change his mind. The others back out of range, and are coralled between the outside wall of their house and their own stumbling efforts at retreat. They started all of this...chose the wrong victim. They made me into what I had then become. There was neither love nor pity.
The weapon scythes through the air, traversing a deadly arc, culminating in the neck of the jackal on the edge of the group. Dropping him like a fallen tree. Changing forever his destiny, and mine also. The terror shone in the eyes of the others, all except for the older one. His eyes remained like two black stones lying in stagnant pools of scum, a faint flicker of twisted mirth around the edges. This one knew something the others could never fathom. I had taught him this, and had learned a costly lesson about life and death in the process.
