"Word" - spoken sentence or word
'Word' - thoughts
Italics- action or current expression
Gotham
Southside metropolitan area
3/05/2017
20:02
Adam POV
Walking through the streets of Gotham at night was a stressful experience,you had to be careful not to walk too fast or people might think you had something valuable to hide and you might get jumped and if you walked too slow, you might appear injured or scared and to top it off, if you walked normally you might appear 'bold and confident ' and make the upcoming gangsters feel 'threatened', So gothamites night walking pattern involved a series of slow and methodical steps so as to appear as invisible as possible but trying to looking as menacing as possible; like an injured animal, but like everything in the world there was no absolute and always exceptions; I was the exception.
POV change
'I just wanted to get tampons men', I thought to myself while slowly retreating backwards in the alley i was in, 'Jeremy, you a strong man, Jeremy nobody will notice if you walk carefully, Jeremy am on my period and I don't feel like having sex unless you bring me MY TAMPONS, STUPID BITCH LOOK AT ME, MY ASS IS ABOUT TO BE SENT TO THE GULAG!!!' , I raged internally but anger wasn't about solve my present problem.
"Just give us some money and we'll be square boi" one of the guys threatened me with a switchblade while steadily approaching me with murderous intent
"But I don't have any money, I just have fucking TAMPONS!", I said pleadingly almost in tears while showing them the bag in my hand containing tampons,
"Well then, we'll just have to take something from you; I don't know maybe your liver or something to 'compensate' us for our stress", the other one said with a nasty smirk with crossed arms, "maybe that will teach you next time not to be a simp for some pussy"
"Next time?", I said with a hopeful tone but was shot down with, "did I say next time? Laughs menacingly, I meant next life, my bad bro", he ended with a snare and brought out a surgical knife,
'am I going to die here?, PLEASE GOD!!, I SWEAR IF YOU LET ME GO I WON'T BE A SIMP AGAIN,I PROMISE on my momma...I SWEAR ON MY MOMm...!', my inner raving was cut off when a loud sound behind me and when I turned around tensed expecting to see another attacker yet all i saw was a blurry figure dashing at me and before I could react was shoved unceremoniously out of the way but was quick to balance myself after a few stumbles but I guess my attackers weren't so lucky cause without turning around I could hear the sounds of confusion and people being bodied and when I did turn around, saw one of my attackers trying to pull up his dazed and confused companion from the floor and in that quick second realised my chance so I screamed inwardly, 'thank you GGOOOODDDDD!!!', and then broke out in a dead sprint and heavily shoved one of my attacker that was still standing out of the way and made a mad dash out of the alley into the street before running into the night like a mad man, "YAAAAHHHHOOOO", I screamed out loud, "I AIN'T SIMPING AGAIN, BBITTCHHH IF I GET HOME AM GONNA FFUUCCKK YOU WITH THE FORCE OF SEVEN MEN, YOU WANTED TAMPONS FOR YOUR PERIOD, Ohh you really gonna need them NOOOW CaUse your period is gonna look like a nosebleed when am done with you", I continued to rage and rant into the night.
Adam POV
I was moving fast. I was running and doing all kind of sick parkour through the streets and alleyways of Gotham, moving carefully and swiftly. I learnt this trick earlier on that the streets of Gotham weren't safe and like my now dead classmate once said 'you are more likely to catch a frog than a hummingbird' and so for 6 years I practiced. I practiced and practiced to confidently run the streets and alleyways of Gotham, and while sometimes I failed; broke a few bones and even one time ran into a kidnapping, I still continued because I knew that this was one of my 'reach the age of 20' cards and if someone was in my way?, let's just say that a moving human against an unprepared human is an unfair matchup. After 10 minutes of running, tumbling and rolling through the familiar nooks and cranny, I finally made it to my apartment and slowed down to a halt
Breath, I stood there trying to calm my heartbeat and compose myself, and after awhile calmly adjusted my backpack and headed to the gate and upon carefully entering the gate, stopped when I saw something unusual; I saw my landlord standing there talking to somebody while being subtly watched by the inconspicuous gangbangers hanging around; which was somewhat usual given my landlord's unpopularity, 'i am seeing him twice today, that's rare', but that was not the problem, the problem was who he was talking to; 'Principal Jonathan, what was he doing here??', already I had a sick feeling in my gut but i braved it and walked towards them, i was immediately noticed by the idling gangbangers but was promptly ignored and only when I was in a 6-feet distance to the two men was I then noticed by my landlord who shot me a dirty, shit-eating grin;which only served to make the pit in my stomach grow bigger, then the principal wondering what he was grinning at turned his head to look at me,
"Well if it isn't the man of the hour, Mr lazpunk himself, LAUGHS, your luck is so good you ass might not know what cum is for awhile", my landlord said in a loud, mocking voice for all to hear, my principal visibly uncomfortable with his vulgar statement jusry smiled encouragingly at me and said, " Good evening Adam, how was your evening and....why are your clothes so dirty?", he questioned looking at my dirty attire in which I just replied,"blood" in a neutral tone while still looking at him with a frown, "ohhh, Pauses, hope it's not yours and you're alright?", he replied but I just frowned harder,'why is he asking me this meaningless questions? Why is he here', I thought to myself in confusion but decided to voice my concern, "Sir, not to sound rude but why are you here? I didn't receive any prompt about school staff coming to checkup on me, and another question, I never gave the school my address?", I asked in one breath while watching the uncomfortable-looking principal who replied after a moment of silence,"well because I was worried about today's incidence so I came h....", but he was cut-off by Mr Croba who was starting to get annoyed from hearing our conversation, "Enough with this gayass shit, you sound like two guys wanting to bone each-other, for fuck sake he payed your rent lil nigga, and now your black ass can stay off the streets for another day", my landlord said practically yelling but yet all i could hear was, 'he played your rent ..payed your rent....payed...rent....he must....have me FUCKED UP' and with every thought, my boiling point kept reaching tipping level and when it was about to explode, i took a deep breath and suppressed my boiling anger and allowed cold fury to take its place," So", I started with a neutral tone, "you payed my rent??, why?", he looked hesitant and when he wanted to reply I cut him off,"let me be clear cause it feels like either my voice is not loud enough or your ear is too fucked up to comprehend, Glares, I never and will never need your money, our transaction finished a long time ago so I am in wonder as to why you here disturbing my life" with each word coming out of my mouth, the frustration I was trying to restrain was leaking in my voice till I ended the sentence with my fist clenched but with another deep breath I composed myself and continued,"I don't need you; not anymore atleast, I don't need your money so take it back", I turned to Mr Croba, "I will get your money before the end of the week".
Mr Croba just watched me with a sly look before shaking his head and saying," and what if I don't want to wait till the weeks' end and want to throw you out tonight on the dot", but I just replied unperturbed, "then you throw me out, Shrug, but one thing that you can understand about me is that I can say fuck it and fuck shit up, right 'nigga'", that statement made the idle lurking gangbangers to get alert and start moving from their positions towards me in threatening manner.
"Ohhh, smirks, is that a threat lil 'bro'", he said in mid-suprise while motioning for his 'body-guards' to be at ease, "you really did lose my rent money, laughs, as I live and breath, Mr calm and collected is no longer calm nor collected", as if he had said the most funny thing known to mankind he started laughing uncontrollably but yet I just watched him with a straight face and asked him, "so is that a yes?", he composed himself after a while before keeping a thinking expression, "very well, nods, you have till the lord's resting day to get me my money and you", he turned to my principal; who had been silent all this while, " you heard the lil shit, your money won't be needed anymore but the problem is, smirks, getting it back, friend", he said mockingly to Mr Jonathan who just scoffed and replied, "you think I'd come here without having evidence of my payment?, raises eyebrow, or is it your little thugs that is the problem , pause, I have been in Gotham for 20 years so you can ignore the suit, so if 'they'", he then indicated to the lingering hoodlums," are the source of your confidence, then okay I'll be your 'friend' but know the f,r,I is silent", he ended his statement with menacing glare. The mood was tense and any slight aggressive movement could trigger violence but I got bored of this 'cat standoff' so I walked past them and headed into the building, trudging up the old stairs that would creak from time to time, and on walking through my hallway heard the sounds of heavy coughing, i got to my apartment door and opened it , walked in and locked it behind me before walking to a big wooden counter with cabinets in the middle of my small living room, after dropping my bag on it, i opened one of it's drawers and opened it to reveal the contents; a bar of used soap, sponge, a neatly folded towel and other necessary toiletries, picking out the soap and sponge, I closed it and headed to the bathroom while undressing along the way and on getting to my bathroom I stared at the familiar settings; a rusty, tiled bathroom with missing tiles that have various iron 'hooks' sticking out and an equally rusty toilet and sink that had a misjoined-metal contraption with more duct-tape than iron laying conspicuous beneath it, Sigh, I walked to my sink and removed the faucet before bending down and taking the iron contraption and attaching one-end of it to the unscrewed sink, after securing the iron to the sink, I held it and attached it to the strategically placed iron 'hooks' around the bathroom and when finally done I had 'shower system' with a 'shower head's attached firmly at the right end of the bathroom and with another sigh proceed to open the valve under the sink and heard water slowly moving through the mismatched 'shower system' before walking to the 'shower head' and sat down on the cold, humid tiled floor waiting for the water to stream down on me which had already start to drip little by little.
'when you think of insanity and evil intent, Mr Croba should be the face you should see first; from constantly exploiting and harassing the tenants to abusing basic human rights, but it wasn't till 2 years ago that it finally sunk in that what little humanity he had was already fed to the dogs.
Flashback
I, like every tenant was confused as to why a group of contentious, unfriendly looking men; calling themselves 'plumbers', were forcing themselves into people apartments and removing people's showers on 'orders of the landlord and we should wait outside if we had any questions' and so we gathered in the open space outside the apartment building waiting to hear from the landlord, the crowd was getting rowdy from standing in such a closed space with people asking and giving probable answers
"Is he removing the showers because there is a leak or something?" Somebody asked loudly and was answered by another person,"what leak?, Scoffs, brother am a plumber and I would have noticed signs of a leak especially a leak so massive and destructive that constituted mass removal of the entire building's shower system or did anyone of you notice a massive leak in your various flats?", the self-proclaimed 'plumber' questioned the crowd and was met with sounds of disagreement, "i didn't have a leak..", "john was our bathroom leaking that much?","No, it wasn't,it was just a little spill..", as the tenants were questioning themselves and trying to find out the possible cause, "maybe he wants to renovate the building?" Somebody in the crowd suggested in an uncertain tone but was swiftly shut down by the people,"that greedy bastard would never do anything good in his life!!", "renovate, Laughs mockingly, him?? the devil's masturbatory hand", " for fuck sake 2 months ago the bastard fucking kicked out all the tenants from the ground floor all the way to the 2nd floor and even some people on the 3rd without any notice whatsoever", "that black nigger would rather destroy than build and I can bet both my legs on that sure bet", and with that the dam broke and people start raining insults and different accusations on our landlord but nobody;and I mean absolutely nobody came to his defence even the new tenants that just moved in; which was mostly the elderly as far as I know. The mob was getting rowdy and tensions was starting to flare that when the 'plumber' from earlier decided to pacify the throng before it turned to a riot, "CALM DOWN!!! EVERYBODY CALM DOWN!! DO YOU WANT THE LANDLORD TO HAVE REASONS TO KICK Y'ALL INTO THE STREETS!!??", he screamed his lungs out in a bid to calm the people down and after sometime the crowd started to settle down and so he continued in a strong voice,"he hasn't said anything yet so all this is just speculation so let's wait and stop getting angry before the reason have been made known, and besides am sure it has something to the 'secret project' he has painstakingly tried to keep under wraps", he said while pointing to a large tarp-covered structure adjacent to the building complex,"and besides it must be tiring for the new tenants gathered here amidst all this yelling and shouting", he said gesturing to some old people sitting in chairs brought from their various apartments, one of them;an old woman, nodded her head in thanks, "thank you very much, true the noise was not very good for my ears but I understand y'all frustration and am a little bit frustrated too, even when on the ground floor it's too tiring just from walking out", she said in appreciation to the 'plumber' who just nodded back with a stoic ambiance but what he said had people thinking and nodding in agreement but then a clanging sound echoed through the courtyard and disrupted the calm so everybody paused and turned to look at the source of the sound and we all saw standing there was a bare-chested Hispanic-looking man with slicked-back hair and various tattoos lining his open body holding a metal bat and rapping said instrument against our structurally-compromised gate and lined up behind him were other rough-looking individuals each holding metal...buckets? and with that, a single thought went through everyone's head,'Gangbangers', when he saw he had our attention he stopped, strapped his bat to his waist and began swaggering towards the crowd; that parted for him to pass, he walked towards the mysterious tarped structure before turning around and with the crowds' full attention took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, then starts reading from it, Clears throat "Attention tenants, it's me, your gracious landlord and today I have a good surprise for you people", the man paused to look at crowd,
'this can't be good' I already had a bad feeling in my chest about this 'good suprise and so did others cause everyone had a worried and dreadful expression but with a devious smile the man continued, "you all must be wondering why i ordered the removal of everybody's shower system, the thoughts going on in you people's mind is probably what I, your great and generous landlord have in mind for you, but do not worry I have thoughts of good and not of evil and so I have decided for everyone's good that from today there will no longer be any individual shower system"
Silence
"What da fuck"
"See I told You!!, he has finally gone MAD!!"
"Where The Hell Are we supposed to shower Then!!??"
"YESSS!, does he expect us to stink?? Then what am I paying rent for"
"This no different from this and living in the streets"
But the spokesman just stood confidently in the face of heated protests from the outraged tenants while the other thugs just flashed their various weapons in warning and when the mob settled down a little he dropped another bombshell, "everyone that wants to shower will come down to the new public BATHROOM!!!"
"???"
"What da hell'
"Have I gone senile"
We stood there in a general state of shock and confusion as the 'thugs' pulled down the tarp and, lo and behold, we saw a small room sized 'building' with a flimsy wooden frame that hardly be qualified to be called a 'door' but something else quickly caught our attention.
"Am I blind? Why...why is there no roof?"
"Am seeing it too or am I going senile"
"I have a bad feeling about this"
"Mommy where is the roof?", a child asked her mother who just replied with uncertainty, "maybe the bath-house is not yet completed"
But the gangbanger spokesman quickly dashed her hope with another statement,
"I know you people might be wondering about the lack of roofing but I want to assure you that the new bathroom, Smiles deviously, will have no Roof!!"
Silence
"Yes, I believe you people are too contented with your privacy so think of this as a 'tenant-bounding exercise'"
"Noooo...no this can't be happening"
"Diablo.."
"What a wicked man...even lady Gotham would be ashamed"
Fear and confusion became the order of the day with people still trying to come to terms with this outrageous abuse of authority but I knew, I knew it wasn't over and I was proven right,
"If you want to have your showers restored, the new shower system will fitted with money counters that will only allow shower privilege on payment; and the payment per use will be $10, Silence, and the cost to install the new shower system will be $100 per tenant and with subsequent payments of $50 per month and let me warn you, If, and if one person, just one does not pay his or her fees, the whole buildings' shower system will be removed again"
Silence
What little hope people had at the beginning of the statement was ruthlessly crushed, everyone was just dazed and dumbfounded by this point and even I was affected by the myriad of life-damning series of events but it still wasn't over yet
"And if you still insist on 'personal privacy', look around to the various gentlemen holding buckets. From now on this is the new compound policy bucket; notice the word 'policy', which means it is the only legal bucket allowed in this building from today onwards and any defaulter will be punished 'accordingly', Pauses, but do not fret, I benevolently lighten your load by making the cost of the bucket 1 dollar per usage but don't worry I made sure everyone is treated equally"
Silence
Despair. Disbelieve. Outrage.
That was the general emotions saturating the courtyard.
"B...but we are...we barely afford rent"
Laughs, " I must be dead because this must be hell"
"NNNooooo...this cantttTTT BE HaPPeninG.."
While people were throwing tantrums, losing control of their emotions and/or sanity but to me the landlord's last words had an ominous feel to it
'.... I made sure everyone is treated equally... bastard kicked out...ground to 2nd.....new tenants ... mostly elderly... exhausting... walking out..'
Then something just clicked in my mind and looking around noticed the same sense of realisation on some people faces too before their facial features turned grim so I decided to voice it out,
"Is that why he drove off the tenants on the ground all the way up to 2nd floor and replace them with elderly or weak-bodied people", the whole yard turned silent as people were trying to process what I just said but I continued," he didn't want able-bodied people on the ground floor to easily access the water so he threw them out and replaced them with people that have weak bodies so it would be on 'the same playing field' as the rest of us."
The other tenants both old and new stunned at the implication all faced the landlord's spokesman who just stood there watching me with narrowed eyes before responding, "what heinous accusations, you make it sound like your landlord is trying to make life hard for you people but I can assure you that it's all a coincidence and nothing more", he finished with an ugly lear at the gathered tenants,"well, my job here is done, now if you want to use the new facilities just enter and we promise not to look, right boys", he said jokingly to his associates who just smirked or whistled back, "see, we can be nice. And if you still feel quote unquote 'unsafe', just hire the buckets from my hardworking brothers that are always here to attend to you 24/7". He pointed once again to his 'brothers' and which some just waved back lazily.
"NOO", a woman sitting on a pavement yelled out while breastfeeding her child, "we have spent so much and constantly casually exploited but i would be damned if you think am gonna turn around and endure 'rape',"
"YEAHH!!"
"YOU CAN'T DO THAT US!!!"
"WE'LL BURN THIS BUILDING DOWN!!!!
YESSSS!!"
"LET'S SEE HIM MAKE MONEY FROM A BURNING BUILDING!!"
"FOR FUCKS SAKE WE FUVVCCKINNG PAY RENT"
"LET'S RETURN THEIR BODIES BACK TO OUR 'GRACIOUS', Spits, LANDLORD AS OUR REPLY!!"
The outraged mob were hurling out threats and picking up various blunt or sharp object around them and even the thugs were starting to look worried but yet the leader appeared unfazed and he proved it in his next sentence,"you people forgot something very, very important, pause, this is Gotham.", his words doused the anger of the mob and replaced it with cold realisation, the crowds' momentum was destroyed and the spokesman starts walking unperturbed through the gathered tenants,"this is the place that if you fall, you shouldn't bother getting up", he stops to stare at a man holding a long pipe;who couldn't keep his gaze and looks down in defeat and drops his weapon, the gangbanger leader just scoffed and continues to walk about, "I don't need to tell you what would happen if you spent only one day, just one day in the streets with no secure location especially if you're almost expired", he paused again to stare at look at an elderly woman who just glared back defiantly before he continued his languid stroll, "let it be know death is not the worst thing that can happen in Gotham. Incase you people didn't know, you need the big man and sorry to tell you but THE. BIG. MAN. DOES. NO. NEED. YOU. PEOPLE".
By the time he ended his speech he was standing Infront of me, with a smirk on his face he made a finger gun and pointed it at my face the asked me, "what's your name boy?", but I just stayed silent, "ohhh, not a talker I see, you seem sharp but let's hope it's good sharp and not bad sharp, Smiles, I feel like we are gonna be seeing alot of each other but hope not on my bad day cause I might go phew phew", he said while make gun sounds before laughing and walking away, "Vamos perros", he barked out to his underlings while heading to the gate and was quickly followed by said members.
Sigh "when you think shit couldn't get worse, bullshit decides to join the chat'
"We can't allow this, if we continue to take this shit he will just continue to lay more obscene rules for us to follow", a tall middle-aged black man spoke out in a bid to rally support from the silent," i mean this is how it begins and soon we'll be too numb to resist any of his sick, twisted ideas because this is how slavery begins"
"Am sure you would know alot about 'slavery'", an old white man snarked back before the woman next to him; presumably his wife, reprimanded him, "Jerold!, now is not the time" but he defended himself saying, "what?,am just telling facts and besides I find it ironic that one of his 'people' will practice the old ways on his own 'kind'", the man;Jerold, just offhandedly remarked but the tall man just let his words flow off his back and continued his speech,"we need to outsmart him somehow and i have an idea. you", he then pointed at the man that coordinated the tenants earlier,"you said you were a plumber right?, so is it possible to increase the pressure of our water supply so we can customise our bathroom sinks to function as a shower too" he questioned the self-acclaimed plumber who looked hesitant before replying in a somber tone,"it....might be possible if we to increase the valve output to 5000 miltornins of pressure and construct a 6-way valve deadswitch system...but...I don't know....am just trying to....you know...live another year", he looked unwilling and uncomfortable with the attention being given to him and so tried to avoid being involved but then the tall man put a hand on his shoulder and told him, "look I don't really know you but what I do know is that even you are smart enough to realise it's only going to get worse if we don't do anything"
"Yes, please we won't survive for long if you don't help us"
"Brother, I have a wife and 2 daughters, can you imagine what would happen if those hoodlums get antsy one day if they or any female was bathing in this....this thing", an angry resident said while pointing at our 'bathhouse'
"Am too weak.."
"Am too old for this shit..."
Hearing the different pleas and complaints from his fellow residents he heart starts to waiver and the dark man quickly decides to get him a little mental push by saying," and by the way this isn't free, Laughs, we will pay you duly for your services", and with that the 'plumber' finally looks resolute before nodding his head,
"And by the way my name is Frank, Frank the plumber", and which the tall dark man nodded and replied, "Edward".
Seeing this, the tenants finally let out a sigh of relief before starting to discuss amongst themselves with them finally reaching a consensus; after arguing back and forth for sometime, everybody decided to pay an individual fee of $50 and in which Mr 'Edward' was incharge of collecting.
Everyone was going into their various homes to provide the money and I just stood there watching the ongoing drama with a flat, dull expression and when everyone was done paying said money, it was discovered that the money was short by one person and when people were questioning each-other about who it might be, I indicated myself by saying,"Me" while raising up my hand, Silence
The whole crowd turned to look at me with a stoic silence with expressions ranging from disapproval to plain disdain and start whispering to each-other but I lowered my arms before crossing it whilst radiating nonchalance.
"Why didn't you pay, don't you have money?", Mr 'Edward' questioned me aloud from afar in a sympathising voice
"No", I shook my head, " first nobody in Gotham is good enough to think well of other people, and I don't feel it's sensible in giving you my money, forgetting the part that I hardly know you and this is Gotham, my bullshit meter is ringing and besides you look like a thief", I said boldly to the shock of my fellow tenants who were quick to jump to his defence
"STUPID KID, someone is trying to help us in this stupid city and you are here act... acting like a IDIOT!!"
"Son just pay the money, granny can't survive if she has to always walk down the stairs"
"Stop acting stupid and pay up"
"Maybe he wants us to pay then he use our moneys worth for FREE!!!"
"YeeeaH!, he thinks he's smart!"
"Look kid you better pay up before I teach you a lesson your obviously dead parents couldn't teach you!"
And while all the threats and pleas were flying around, I just stood there, calm and unbothered before with a shake of my head headed into the building whilst feeling the angry and heavy stares on my back,
'this isn't going to end well'
...
I was right.
...
And I knew it when the first thing I heard early the next morning were screams and cries of anguish but I continued my morning activities as usual; excluding bathing of course, and when I was travelling down the flight of stairs on my way to school was when I heard bits and pieces of information and the general context was that the 'helpful neighbours' from yesterday ran away with the money and on grounds of inspecting the bathrooms for 'proper documentation' stole some valuables, 'well...i warned them didn't I", I thought to myself before promptly discarding that trail of thought.
Through out my time in school that day I idly pondered my shower issue and after long quiet contemplation finally got a rough of idea and I based it off the scammers earlier idea,
'Hmm...if I can adjust the water and convert my sink...hmm...I could maybe..well it's worth a try', and with that I skipped the rest of my school day and headed to the "Charlton South Gotham Library", which was a semi run-down complex with an unnecessarily tough security check-up; which involved showing them an active ID card with a minimum of 20 balance points, and on getting in, read through any and every book involving water systems in building and how to maximise water output. After close to 3 hours of intense research finally had a plausible plan, 'so if I can get like a booster pump...and install it after locating the proper pipes I could.... increase the water speed and pressure and I could also make a makeshift shower system that is detachable and designed to maximise water output.... Sigh...this shit is too hard' I thought in despair with my head in my arms before chuckling tiredly, "well..no rest for the wicked", I told myself in a soft voice before getting up and putting my plans in action. Heading back to the school and giving them an early notice of indefinite absence on grounds of health and accommodation issues and after lying, convincing and showing old injuries and wounds;that I opened up again to my slight discomfort and pain, I was finally granted freedom with a weekly-interval checkups and so I headed to the 'Outlands of Gotham'; the official dumping site and unofficial graveyard of Gotham or as the scavengers call it the Gotham metal Grave Yard or GoMeGY, I paid the 'officials';who were just thugs from different gangs with the shared interest of exploiting a lucrative business, the required toll before entering the world of trash and began to rummage furiously through planets worth of garbage and scraps hoping to find with I was looking for with ease and escape this hell-hole before it got real bad....but like always, thinking of good things is a punishable offence in Gotham
"Ooiii you ther, yeah you, that idiot crawling through our territory, what clan are you part of?"
Hearing the question, I just brought out my hammer from my bagpack with a sigh.
Navigating this hellish landscape with fights breaking out every second and almost getting stabbed every other hour was pure torture on my physical and mental facilities especially when I didn't belong to any so called 'clan', i navigated through the heaps of debris and bodies, after 12 hours of intense searching and little to no rest concealed in the trash, I finally found manageable parts for my shower idea and decided to leave this dirty hell; which always turned out to be worse than entering ironically, I got out with some heavy bruising and muddy, blood caked clothes but decided to wash up when in a relatively safe place;my apartment. Walking through the Gotham was still the same as always; getting robbed every other 50-footsteps and thiefs trying to sneakily or boldly steal my stuff, I finally reached my building complex and on passing through the gate saw the spokesman and his 'boys' from 2 days ago gathered round the new bathhouse doing different activities with some playing cards, others doing their own things and the leader coordinating the 'bucket business' and immediately I was noticed; well given the fact that I looked like something that crawled out a nuclear waste septic tank, and was immediately approached by the leader and his goons with uncertainty, "maldición i almost didn't recognise you my friend if it wasn't for your dead eyes", the leader said after visibly recognising me, "well not my fault with you covered in mierda, Smirks, what? Did you finally snap and decide to live the pig's life, Laughs, or you didn't want us to see your little junior. Afraid you might go 'hard' from all the attention".
I could hear his underlings snickering but I ignored them and tried past them but was blocked again, "and who told you you could leave, Smirks, I certainly didn't, right boys", he asked rhetorically and was met with sounds of agreement, "so when I t...".
I didn't allow him to finish before moving past him again to his surprise but when his goons was going to get back at me for my 'disrespect', he told them to stop before saying, "leave him, we are incharge here and we will have enough time to train him all we want", he statement was concurred by wicked laughter but I just continue walking, " I thought you were a smart kid but looks can be deceiving I guess....ohhh, and before i forget, we were asked to look for any and every bucket owned by the residents to dispose of but when we knocked on what I assume was your apartment and got no response, we were worried and decided to checkup on you so 'we let ourselves in'..", I stopped and stood still, "...hope you won't mind the mess".
'I could have let it go and assess the damage before properly responding...but I know how messy gangbangers can be when inside someone's home...and with the ill intent and the 'trying to show authority' aspect.....I knew it was bad'
Sigh
'They couldn't just walk away could they?'
While thinking of this,only a few seconds passed and in that few seconds I subtly opened my backpack and retrieved a thin, slick iron and concealed it under my sleeve before turning around and walking up to the thugs leader and questioning him, "huh, couldn't hear you, I got dung in my ear", I said flicking my ear and in which he looked at me with a smirk before responding, "I said that ho...."
Shhlurr
I swiftly and forcefully jabbed the rod into his head till it came out the other side
"Uggg..hhhgg..", he looks at me in surprise and shock as blood pour out his eyes, I just stared back with a neutral expression and the yard became silent.
"Bbboo..boss", his goons all step back in shock before one of them yelled in fury and rushed me, I removed my rod from the leader's head and let his body drop before flicking the remaining grey matter left on the rod unto the face of the incoming assailant who tried to stop his momentum and cover his face; and in which he did, but that gave enough time to reach him and stab my rod under his mouth and push it till reached into his cranial cavity.
And like that 2 was down and the others was starting to react, soon they surrounded me with murderous intent but I just held on the guy whose head was kebabed on my rod, waiting for who else I should release from this worldly torment.
Clap
Clap
Clap
Everyone turned to look at who was making that sound and saw a large hunched man with a gun; Mr Croba. 'what was he doing outside his apartment??'
"That was exhilarating", he began with a laugh, "the way your lil ninja ass took out captain Perez and 1 of his guy"
'Captain Perez??.. who's that...wait was that the name of the gang leader??....who calls themselves 'Captain Perez'??'.
".....ou are an okay nigga I'll give you that, so don't worry you can go", he said waving me off and after standing there for sometime, I dropped the body I was holding then used the shirt to clean my rod before turning around to walk away while still on alert.
"Bbb..but sir..he killed the captain...he was my BROTTH..."
Bang
And with that sound, another body dropped to the floor and I stood there thinking I was about to see myself with a bloody hole on the ground but I was okay so I looked around and saw a man with an open neck and leftovers of a head on the floor, body still twitching.
'Damn'
"Next time I give an instruction", Mr Croba started while lowering his gun, "you follow it like a good little sheep without any signs of resistance", he stated with a jovial voice and continued, "and you, Pause, you barely flinched, ain't you afraid of death, Silence, ohh not a talker I see. Well 'Mr calm and collected'.... I hope to see the day you ain't so calm nor collected...so better not let me catch you lacking lil nigga" he then broke out in a loud laughter that honestly gave me chills but my weary mind reminded me that I had shit to do so walked through the glaring hoodlums and made my way up to my apartment and on getting there prepared myself for the worst and the worst came to pass when I saw my door was wide open with signs of damage, bracing myself i entered my apartment and saw pure carnage; with broken furniture, glass, ceramics etc. and torn drywall paper with walls that had signs of spray-paint and then I heard sounds coming from my room and picked up a piece of sharp ceramic before cautiously approaching my room when suddenly I saw a small figure trying to run past me but I was quick to respond and gripped it with an iron grip while posing ready to strike
"You hutting mee!", the figure; a small boy probably six or seven years with dirty blond hair and and eyes that was tinted yellow, cried out in pain struggling to break free from my hold
'whhaa???.... isn't this my neighbour's child....what is he doing here'
"What are you doing here", I said in a rough voice and narrowed eyes
"Noy'ting Sir.. Sniffs.... I was playing and you scwared me... Sniffs", the little boy starts tearing up but I just looked on with indifference
"Kid cut the crap, you were obviously here to steal so you can stop your third rate acting and show it to someone who gives a fuck", the boys stops his performance and starts glaring at me, " now I don't really care what you stole cause I obviously don't keep any valuable here so am going to let you go", i pause for awhile before staring at him with a dead look that had him gulping, "but if I catch you near my house again. I. Will. Cripple. You. And I will replace your hands and legs with noodle sticks, understood chopsticks?".
"John!, where are you!!", were the words that broke our silent staring contest and the owner of the voice showed their face, which turned out to be his sister; cindy or something, who appeared at my doorstep calling for her brother and on seeing him showed an over the top surprised expression on her face, "John, mum is looking for you, what are you doing in this nice uncle's house?, come quick", she beckoned for the boy who I let go before he quickly scrambled to meet his sister before disappearing into the hallway
'Such a poor performance, do they take me for a fool?', I grumbled internally but still chose to let them go especially since I've already warned the boy and he will make sure to inform the sister to take their thieving habits far away from me, and besides, seeing the way he ran out from my apartment like a chicken from a KFC kitchen was funny
Sigh
'I hate Gotham', I idly thought before heading to the bathroom
..
??
..
"THAT MOTHERFUCKERRR!!!!"
Flashback end
By now the water was fully running and I start to latter myself before forcefully scrubbing my skin trying to get the grime and bodily fluids from it.
"I discovered that the gun fucker lowered our buildings water supply pressure to make even fetching a cup of water long and tedious but I was ready for such nonsense and was smart enough to plan ahead and with enough brain and guess work, luck, tears, scars and elbow grease, was finally able to construct an initial workable model that day, well maybe not as a shower but more of a hose, but it didn't matter cause I washed away 3-days worth of dirt from my body and had a structure to build upon and let's not forget the walls I destroyed to trace the pipe I needed before sealing it again, the thugs gave me an excuse to 'renovate' my walls and change my door lock.....which he requested for the key again....and the kid...apart from the cursed coughing fit that have been fucking him up for the past few months, let's say his mother can't make or order noodle related products again'
Chuckle
'I traumatized a kid and I don't even feel bad...but it wouldn't be the worst thing I have done..'
And with that thought, a hundred-dollar bill flashed through my mind and for some reason it's like I could see it through the walls and through my trousers' pocket, laying there covered in blood and a weak, dying smile printed on it
Sigh
'Damn bro, what's with all the sighing and reminiscing today??... Sigh... Fuck'
After sponging up and letting the water to wash away the soap from my body, I leave the steam of water to turn off the sink's valve switch effectively stopping the 'shower system' water supply, then I took down the makeshift shower to return it to the earlier position under my sink.
'should I shave??... whatever, better do it now before I sleep and can't be bothered to do it tomorrow', with that thought of action i took up my shaving stick from behind my sink faucet and lattered my face with soap and stared into the wall mirror directly above the sink
'i thought I'd more hairer' looking at the barely noticeable 'hair' on my cheek and jaw area, and with a huff I start 'shaving'
Adam Lazarus, a 17 year old 5 foot 11 'man' with light brown skin and charcoal dark hair with permanent dark circles around eyes that always had no life in it and a face which default look was expressionless, and an evenly muscular and toned body that had an ugly, nasty scar running from the left side of the stomach all the way the right side of the ribcage
'i really need to start applying something to it', I thought idly to myself as my eyes landed on the scar,' my points might soon be enough and I can't have the officers see such an untaken care of scar like this'
After 'shaving' I guess?, I rinsed my face with water and processed to exit the bathroom before heading to the wooden cabinet that contained my toiletries and extracted my towel, after drying myself and wrapping the towel around my waist, still hearing the dull sounds of a coughing coming from the next flat, I walked over to the other side of my kitchen/living room and picked up a half bottle of water from a pack on the floor and drank it's contents as I walked to my bedroom. Gulping down the warm water was not satisfying but was familiar and on finishing, chucked it to some unknown part of the room before back-flipping unto my bare mattress on the floor and laid there deep in thought while staring at my mouldy roof.
'I need to gain fresh ideas on how to make the money.... today's shower made me remember the GoMeGY....but....if I go there am sure to loss more than I gain since I ain't have no clan's protection....you know what?? Forget it, if worst comes to worst I'll just take some 'safe cash' and run it from there....but if I do....points are gonna go down....
Sigh
And my mind flashed to my trousers and the clean, folded $100 bill just.....there....and my mind kept on interchanging the currency with a golden watch
"Just show my parents.... peacefully"
Sighs
'What wrong with me today, am just having this dumbass flashbacks and random fits of emotions....am I on my period???..but am not a girl... Sigh... and for fuck's sake need to stop sighing all the FUCKING TIME!!!'
..
..
Sigh
...
I rubbed my eyes in exasperation at my own internal arguement before suddenly remembering something
'This shit almost made me forget to remove my contact lenses, I'd have been fucked by tomorrow
I sat up and dug my finger into my eye and removed the lense covering it and after removing both, revealed dark purple eyes that I immediately closed before shoving the lenses under my mattress and laying back down
'i always wondered what I did to be born in Gotham with the most recognisable eyes on the planet, I mean I get normal purple and maybe light purple but...does mine have to glow whether in light or in the dark.... if it wasn't for my contact lenses, I won't ever be able to get away with anything in the hell's furnace....it's like everything was against me since my birth'
'stop thinking and sleep bro'
And with that mental command I closed my eyes and forced myself to doze off, and I drifted off into a light sleep still vaguely aware of the wheezing and coughing coming from the next flat
"Somebody better get that kid a checkup before his lungs finds themselves on the floor", were my last thoughts for the evening
The Next Morning
Waking up, I cleared my mental facilities and calculated the time with my internal clock
'6:25, give or take 3 minutes..hmm...8 hours plus worth of sleep...I must have been more mentally exhausted than I thought, well time to start the school day'
And with a stretch, reached under my mattress and brought out my contact lenses before fixing them on, I then got off my mattress and looked around before finding the plastic bottle that I used yesterday, upon picking it, i head to my living area and on the way picked up my clothes on the floor and dumped it all on the large wooden counter before selecting the bottle and trashing it, retrieving my toiletries before heading into my bathroom. On completing my daily morning rituals I left my apartment and headed down the building and on exiting the complex saw people gathered round the bath-house with each holding a bucket with a despondent aura surrounding them; which included the elderly and handicapped, they formed a disorderly queue with some arguing or murmuring amongst themselves; all waiting to bathe or fetch water to take into their apartment,'Gothamites, still stubborn till the very end', and left through the gates to school
Gotham
Southside metropolitan area
4/05/2017
07:13
Gotham community project school
Adam POV
On reaching school I tried to locate the nearest mirror to properly wipe my face after a slight alteration on the way here but was directed by the staff on duty to head to the school auditorium for 'important instructions from the police', and was shuffled off to the gymnastics auditorium, on entering noticed the large crowd of noisy students standing and half-heartedly listening to a suited man on stage who was talking into a microphone and on the stage was also some seated officers in uniform. I looked around for any reflective surface to clean my face effectively but on finding non that was reachable, settled on vigorously wiping my face with my sleeve and hoping for the best before joining the crowd to hear what information was been passed on
"....girls should be extra cautious because they are the main victims", this was been said by a slim, average height, blond man with a face mask that nothing to mask his disinterest and general apathy," so if you see any suspicious activities around you, run, don't wait to find out, run. And the boys, if anybody offers you any job that looks shifty, report to the police. And remember....", but he was rudely cut off by a student in the crowd who roared out,"REPORT To you??!, Scoffs, Everybody knows the police are dogs and might even BE WORKING WITH PEOPLE YOU ARE WARNING US ABOUT!!!", his loud accusations was met with sounds of agreement from the other students, yet the man just stare at the crowd before continuing to read from his manuscript,"And remember that whoever or whatever group is killing this innocent girls that the police will soon be arrested and persecuted with the full wrath of the law. Now if they are any questions?...AHH yes, you there", he pointed at a girl from the crowd that raised her hand,"thank you sir, my name is Nancy Smith for the school's news catalogue and my question is this: what reasonable way can the affected; which is mostly girls, effectively protect themselves from the savages prowling the streets....well apart from the usual savages, like do you know their true Modus operandi or any new information sir?".
"Well..", the man started with a slow drawl after shuffling his manuscript and finding the necessary response,"we do know that they target young girls that are usually from the ages of 13 to 19 with little to no protection and that they don't usually kidnap their targets from protected areas like schools or protected establishments.."
"Bro, we already know that"
"Yeah, you already released that information yesterday"
"That's trash, brah"
"You niggas really are useless"
But he was once again rudely cut off by the students again who was calling him out on releasing old information and getting more rowdy so the man tried to placate them by saying," I know you people are already up to date on the latest and we promise that any new information will be promptly passed through the proper channels but know the police are working tirelessly to..", the students tired of hearing his lazy drawl and his obviously scripted responses yelled back in agitation,
"Bitch fuck YOU!!!"
"Get out of here!!!"
"We don't neeD YoU Guys!"
"You idiots ain't even doing your normal fucKING JOBS!!"
'well this can't be good...time to bounce', I and other smart minded individuals decided to leave before it got messy and discreetly headed to the exit and the man, finally showing some emotions which was expectedly anger responded with a snare, "well if you little thugs and whores were not around maybe it would be safe around here.."
Fwoop
Crash
Bang
'Yep!'
And with that warning shot; hopefully, fired by the police, I swiftly exited the auditorium while hearing the ensuring gunshots and rampant chaos behind me
'but don't want to be caught in a stampede now, do I?, I'll just head to the boy's bathroom and wait it out'
And so instead of heading towards my classroom like the other I turned the opposite direction and headed to the boy's bathroom
'just another school day'
Tap
Tap
I heard the sound of fast approaching footsteps behind and turned around tensed only to see a chubby shifty-looking white guy with numerous piercings on his face, eyes that was narrowed like a snake's wearing a gray beanie running at me.
'I've seen this guy around before but we've never once talked, so what does he want??..am I getting jumped', I thought to myself with suspicion while making sure that the hallways was well in my range of sight
"Youhu finally stophuh....bruh... Coughs... wait let..let me...catch my brea..", he says when he reaches me before bending down to catch his breath while still indicating with his hand for me to wait
"Look bruh, I have shit to do and bitches to feed", I said not really caring about what he had to say while still keeping an eye out for any slight movement
"Okay huh..", he responds after composing himself before then straightening up to look at me with a slight snare on his red sweaty face, "you really know how to move around, I thought you were heading to class but you had to turn around! Do you know what I h...",
"Look if it's only nonsense you have to say, am personally going to make sure breathing is gonna be the least of your problem", I said cutting off his bullshit small talk, "okay, okay bro...i should have remembered you had a no bullshit attitude", he raised his hands in surrender with a friendly smile in which i just stared back, "damn bro tough crowd, okay then, well yesterday i heard you were looking for some money to pay your due rent?", he questioned me and I just stayed silent and he continues,"I'll take that as a yes, so luckily for you I have a job for you, pause, now normally I'd observe you to make sure you were capable, Smirks, but bro seeing the way you stand so... professionally?, yes professionally that you can't be attacked from behind and yet still keeping an arm close to your bag ready to bring out something to break my skull gives me confidence that you have the skill and mindset to fit the job, my guy"
"Oh really?" I responded with a raised eyebrow
"And I know what your worried about, is it safety? That this isn't a trap or harvest scheme?, Then don't worry cause the spearhead of this little 'project' is the big brother at the top; Capi himself", he paused for dramatic effect but i looked on with disinterest which caused him to cough awkwardly and continue," so you can be sure that nothing like that will happen cause a gang head wont go through such length for an insignificant figure such as you, no offence bro, Smiles, or is it anonymousity? Maybe you don't f..."
"Anonymity, it's anonymity not anonymousity", I corrected him
"..Ohh", he stops and shakes his head, "whatever,you know what I mean. You can be guaranteed that, because you can choose to wear a mask to not reveal your identity. So as you can see the plan have been fully thought out so no need to worry and now most importantly the pay, you will be payed at the end of the transaction and for how much? That depends on your performance but I was assured that the lowest pay was not less than 300 bucks so you can be sure to eat well no matter the performance"
Throughout his sales pitch I just kept a mask of disinterest but inwardly
'lowest 300, hmm... Shit ain't right....does he need more cannon folder for a gangwar??? Or is he trying team up with a big bad?? But most importantly.."
"What assurance can you give that he's or his men is going to give my money when all is done and dusted"
"Non", he replied with a head shake, "this job is for the desperate or lucky so if you don't get paid; which I admit is a real issue, i have no power or futher involvement seeing as am just a messenger, Pause, but a person such as you should have a way to gain something from it regardless right?", he threw the question at me but i was deep in thought
'I can't bet on gang members morality and such, and my luck have been pretty shitty lately...but...if I can..'
Suddenly a cold feeling encompassed my entire body and a sense of foreboding filled my heart
'What da fuckkkk..oh shit..'
It's said that every gothamite can sense their death in a near future, it is like a sixth sense granted to every gothamite in exchange for living in the devil's anal cavity that was Gotham
'Was that what I think it was?....shit.....no no no...wait damn..fuck'
"So what do you say?", he stretches his hand for a handshake, "you in?"
I just stare numbly at the outstretched hand and was just lost in thought.....because I could feel it...that...this decision was going to be very important in my nearby future.
..
..
Sigh
..
..
~~
FIN
~~