by Kersie Khambatta

He looked downright ugly. His chin had a heavy

shapelessness, and the lines on his forehead were as if scored by a

knife. His short, wiry black hair looked like barbed wire. He huddled

in the narrow alley between the bakery and the bank. A delicate mist

rose gently from the road, stirred only occasionally by a faint breath of breeze.

“Hang on till he’s gone, mate” he hissed, “Then we strike!”.

Lawrence and Jacob heard him. They called him Bull.

Lawrence’s muscular body tensed. He dreamt of money. Jacob was

the planner. He had a hoarse voice and a sharp crooked mind.

“We gonna wait here all night, man? Let’s go” said Lawrence impatiently.

“Shut up!” growled Jacob, “ I been watching this set-

up for days.” His throat twitched with annoyance.

Minutes dragged by like hours.

 
A dirty, black, battered van pulled up. A uniformed

man with a shotgun came slowly down the steps, got into the vehicle

which then roared off.
Revolvers ready, faces covered, they burst into the

bank, shouting:- “Hands over your heads! Down! Down!”
Bull pushed the few customers there into an interview

room. A woman with a screaming child cowered in a corner.
Lawrence leapt over the counter and grabbed the money, stuffing it

hurriedly into cloth bags. The teller tumbled from his high stool.
Then they backed up to the main door and exited.

It was over in sixty seconds.

“Freeze!” a deep voice suddenly barked, “We got you

covered…on the ground…now”.

They were stunned! They obeyed. Who was it?

A rush of heavy feet came up, kicked each one savagely,

and then was gone.

The wail of police sirens electrified them into sudden

action. The bags had disappeared.

“Run..Run in different directions!” shouted Jacob.
But the flashing lights came from all sides. There seemed

no escape. Bull ran for his life, a police-car at his heels. He

blundered into an alley with no way out. He flung himself onto a

fence and scrambled over it. The cop slammed his brakes, burst

out, and gave chase. Bull stumbled, fell and was caught. He was

dragged, swearing, to the car, and pushed in.

The engine was still on, and the lights swirled.

Like a flash, Bull vaulted into the driver’s seat, pulled the gear into

reverse and backed out of the lane, tyres spinning wildly, knocking

the burly cop down.

Traffic parted as he weaved in and out. He was enjoying

this! “I’m a cop” he screamed, “Yoo….Yeah…hoo”.

He narrowly missed a long truck-trailer which was slow

in getting out of his path. He drove madly over footpaths and on the

wrong side of the road. He speeded up as he entered the motorway

and then pushed the pedal to the floor. The powerful vehicle shot

forward. He felt a rush of blood to his head.

He glanced in the rear mirror to see if he was being

followed. No. Now he had time to think of a flight path. He decided

to back-track to his own house through the lonely long route.

He didn’t have a criminal record, so they wouldn’t be

able to pin him. He’d lock the police-car in the garage. They

won’t ever find it.

The news flashed all over the country that a police-car had

been stolen and was missing. A week went by. Bull finally

ventured out on foot. He was safe now. He had to find his mates.

They had to trace the money stolen from them, and take sweet

revenge. He knew where Lawrence and Jacob lived. But they

hadn’t been home, he discovered. He searched from pub to

pub. No one had seen them. Were they in the cooler?

He would get that information from one of his mates

who knew someone who regularly bribed a corrupt cop. That

way he learnt that Lawrence had been caught on the spot, and

was serving a six-month jail sentence.

Bull didn’t dare visit Lawrence in jail. He would have

to look for Jacob himself. He went to every place he thought

Jacob could have gone to. Day after day, night after night, the

search went on. He spread the word in the underworld.

He tried to join the Black Bandits’ gang. They ruled

the streets. They were into drugs, smuggling, the works. The

boss would check him out first, they said. They arranged it.

The spot was deserted. He walked with measured

steps down the stony path. Suddenly he was grabbed from

behind, his hands bound, dragged backwards several metres

and dumped into the back of a utility vehicle. His feet were tied

and his mouth gagged. He bounced around till it stopped some

time later. He was lifted up, dropped onto the ground and

marched into a building, feet dragging.

It was pitch dark. His hands and legs felt numb. A

beam of bright light came straight on him and completely

blinded him. Tension flared through his every muscle.

“What’s the game man? You a police pig? We kill you

…now”.

“No! No! ” pleaded Bull. “I’m not a cop.

I want to join the gang”.

“Why?”

Bull couldn’t see the owner of the gruff voice. But he

sensed that the threat was real, unless he came up with some-

thing convincing. “I hate cops. I’ll kill one if I have to”.

“Why? Don’t lie to me!”

“Cause they put my mate in the cooler. They nearly

got me too. I escaped in the cop car. It’s in my garage”

“Who the devil is your mate?”

“Lawrence”

“What does he look like? Where is he?”.

Bull quickly rehearsed the words before he spoke

them.

“We’ll check your story. We’ll be in touch”.

They must have, because two days later, he was taken

in the same way to the same voice.

“Yep. You are okay. We’ll tell you what happens next”.

Bull was initiated into the gang. He was first given

light duties like robbing a liquor store, roughing up easy

targets etc. He got to know the other gang-members and was

allowed to accompany them on more tough sorties.

The Headhunters were the rival gang and

particularly known for visciousness. They dismembered their

victims. The rivalry between the two gangs became more

bitter as each sought more turf. Boundries were broken, and

then came swift revenge.

Bull was ordered to go to Danny Road to collect the

usual weekly ‘protection money’ from the small businesses

there. They always paid promptly. He had covered three

shops and was about to step into the fourth.

“Get lost, man! This is our turf”.

A strong smell of alcohol in the crisp air.

There was a moment of choking silence. Then more

Headhunters came up menacingly. He swung at the

nearest and fled.

He reported this to his team-leader who relayed it

to the boss. The order went out to prepare for a showdown.

Every Black Bandit was issued a handgun and a

knife, and trained to use them effectively. They practised

attack and defence. They had to work as a team. The plan

was to break the Headhunter gang completely.

Scouts went out all over the city to report back on

the movements of the rival gang. The day, time and place

were carefully selected. The attack was to be to the
Headhunter headquarters. They would never expect that.

At the stroke of midnight on a moonless night,

they moved in silently and swiftly. But the Headhunters

were obviously expecting them. There had been a leak.

 
The response was fierce. Hand-to-hand fights

erupted. Men fell on both sides. Bull found himself being

cornered and outnumbered. He fought back and wounded

some. He was already bleeding from the shoulder where a

knife struck him as he moved away.

There was yelling and cursing. He

suddenly recognized a familiar hoarse voice. It was Jacob!

He had found him! He was a Headhunter!

Then someone shouted “Cops coming!”.

The fight broke up abruptly. They fled helter-skelter. Bull

ran away from there, as fast as he could, his left hand

clutching his shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding. He felt

weak and dizzy by the time he reached a safe spot, and

leaned on a wall, panting heavily. He tore his shirt, and

tied up the wound. He then struggled on. He had to reach

home before dawn.

He had to find Jacob. Maybe Jacob knew who

had snatched the money from them.

 
He had to be very careful, for if his own gang

found out what he had in mind, there would be big

trouble. He didn’t get an opportunity for weeks, till one

day he saw a Headhunter he recognized, and realized that

he was alone. He followed him stealthily and then jumped

him when the coast was clear. He drew his knife swiftly,

and jabbed him in the throat, cutting the skin. The

victim’s eyeballs rolled up in fear and pain.

“Where’s Jacob? Tell me now…or I ram

the knife in…”.

“I…I…I don’t know…who…”

Bull pressed the knife in further.

“I’m not playing games, man. Speak or you

die.”

He told Bull where Jacob lived. Bull didn’t

really want to kill him. He let him go, with a severe

warning as to what would happen if he spilled the beans.

Bull entered the street where Jacob lived with

mixed feelings. He was glad to have found him, but was

uncertain as to what would happen, now that Jacob was

a rival gang-member.

He stood across the road from the house. The

drapes were drawn and all was quiet. Should he just go

up and knock on the door, or wait ? He dreamt of the

stolen bank-notes, thousands of them. He could see

himself spending all that money. It had to be traced.

He knocked softly on the door. He had a funny

feeling that he was being watched from inside. It was a

while before the door opened and a large tall female,

aggression on her round face, hands on her hips,

growled:- “Yes?”.

He said he was Jacob’s friend. She looked

him up and down as if he was a worm worthy of being

crushed underfoot. Then she moved quickly aside and

gestured for him to come in. He put one foot in,…the

crushing blow knocked him out cold!

His head was spinning like a top when he

regained consciousness. It hurt madly. He was bound

and trussed in a dimly-lit room. At first he was lost

as to where he was, or why he was there. Then it slowly

came back. He was in Jacob’s house, lying helpless.

Was that because he was a rival gang-member?

“Aa…aah. You came looking for me, eh?”

Bull recognized the voice. Jacob had a very

distinctive voice.

“Hullo mate, he said, “Why am I tied up?”.

“Now, let’s see. Why did you come looking for

me, eh? I knew you were coming. We are loyal

Headhunters, you know ”.

“The money, Jacob. I came for my share. Do

you know who stole it from us? Lawrence is in jail.”

Jacob burst into laughter. Bull was taken

aback. What was he laughing for? Jacob’s laugh

shook the floorboards.

“Its with me, you fool. Its where neither you

nor Lawrence will ever find it. You’re not going to live

long, anyway. Neither is Lawrence, once he serves his

time”. He again burst into peals of laughter.

His aching head prevented Bull from

thinking clearly. But he did finally realize that Jacob

had tricked him and Lawrence. Jacob was always the one

with a crooked brain. He must have used others to help

him, no doubt about that. He got the entire cash, nice and

easy.

Bull wasn’t going to die. He was sure of that.

He had to escape. He lay there thinking hard. Many

hours later, the large woman came in with some cooked

meat on a plate, which she fed him like he was a dog.

She didn’t untie him. He noticed that the plate was a glass

one. That gave him the idea.

The next time she came in with food, he let her

come near, then suddenly lifted both his legs and kicked

her hard in the jaw, knocking her down unconscious.

The plate broke. He wriggled till he got hold of a sharp

piece and worked frantically on the rope, hoping all the

time that she wouldn’t recover. Eventually he loosened

the rope and got one hand out. The rest was easy. He

tied her up tight with the same rope, and gagged her.

She was still unconscious when he left.

There was no one else in the house, so he just

opened the door and walked into the street. He couldn’t

obviously go home, and had to disappear into hiding.

He had to contact the gang and let them know what had

happened, but not about the money. He got into a public

phone-booth and phoned a gang-member, who heard

him patiently, and then directed him to a ‘safe’ house.

He remained in the ‘safe’ house for a week

till he felt okay to venture out. The gang was lying low,

after the recent attack on the rivals.

Now he was the hunter. He had to find

Jacob and make him talk. He had to get the money.

He had to be careful. He grew a beard and a moustache.

He bought good clothes and sunglasses. He even bought

himself a pair of shoes, whereas earlier he used to go

barefoot.

The mid-day sun blazed across the silver-

plated water, sending the last of the fishermen

into the welcome shade for their siesta. Bull stood still,

a picture of indecision.

Then he spotted the boy, shabby and tired-

looking, his hands in his pockets.

“Got a job for you, Joe”.

“Yeah?”

“Yep”.

“How much you gonna pay, man?”.

The boy managed a sly grin when the gold

coins cascaded into his palms.

“There’s more for you when you get me the

information. Here’s what you got to do…………”.

Joe got onto Jacob’s tracks like a bloodhound.

He watched the house day and night. No one came or went.

It was deserted. But Joe knew someone would come there.

The woman was tall and large. She looked

around furtively before inserting a key in the door, and

vanished inside. About a couple of hours later she slipped

out with a bundle under one arm.

He kept her in sight as she sped along the alley-

ways, glancing over her shoulder every now and then, to

check whether she was being followed. She entered a street

where rough-looking men lounged, smoking cigarettes and

swearing loudly. She didn’t even acknowledge their crude

greetings, but pressed on.

She stopped abruptly, and said something

to someone with his back to her. He didn’t even turn.

He didn’t answer. She pulled his sleeve to catch his attention.

He wheeled round suddenly and slapped her hard cursing

profusely.

Joe recognized him from the description.

Jacob was furious with the woman. He snatched

the bundle from her hands, and strode away, every step

picturing his annoyance. He kicked a mangy dog out of his

way. He disappeared into a dimly-lit, run-down pub, and

Joe could see him drinking inside, sitting on the high stool,

mumbling to himself.

Joe sped to alert Bull. He knew that Jacob would

most likely spend hours there drinking.

Bull had just heard that there had been a riot

at the prison, and that some prisoners had escaped by taking

the guards as hostages. The cops had launched a massive

man-hunt. They would probably search door-to-door. He

suddenly remembered the police-car in his garage! That

would give him away. He had to get rid of it before they

found it.

Joe crashed into Bull as he was hurrying

round a corner. The impact knocked him to the ground.

Bull hauled him up, and pulled him along, whispering:-

“Out with it! Found him?”.

Bull got the story, gave more coins to the boy,

and sent him away. The lad took flight as fast as his spidery

legs would take him.

 
Bull was left with the hard choice of getting

rid of the cop-car, or catching up with Jacob. He decided

that the car had to come first.

He made sure that the coast was clear before

he backed it out of his garage in the dead of night. The

neighbours were fast asleep. He drove confidently, knowing

that no one would stop him. He headed out of town, along

by-roads. He would take it deep into the forest on dirt-

tracks and then either burn it or push it into the river.

He braked and got out. He opened the

gas-tank and was about to drop a live match into it,

when a sharp voice rang out:- “Stop!”.

Shadows surrounded him, and held

him captive.

“A cop-car! It’s a cop-car, man! This here

fella’s not a cop”.

“What you doing with a cop-car, man?”

“Hey, man, if you stole a cop-car, you must

be cool”.

They dragged him out of the shadows, and into

the fringes of the forest. There were four of them, dressed

in prison uniform.

Bull recognised Lawrence.

“You look different, man”, said Lawrence.

Lawrence then explained to the others that he

knew Bull, and that they could trust him. Lawrence was

obviously the leader. They had a prolonged pow-pow, and

it was unanimously decided that the first priority was to

get rid of the police car.

It went up in flames when the match caught

the petrol. It also set the forest alight!

They ran as fast as they could as soon as the

fire spread to the dry forest floor. It was a race for life.

They crashed through the undergrowth like mad

elephants. The flames were close behind them and

spreading wider. The smoke made it hard to breathe.

Just when escape seemed impossible, they

came to a mud-bank, and slid and slipped into the

clear water of a small river. They swam across and

lay there panting, trying to recover their breath. The

wind blew the fire to the north, away from them.

“Right! …Now…where do we go… from here?”

“We gotta get rid of these clothes, man. Get

ordinary ones.”

It was still quite dark when they came upon

a lonely farmhouse with its smoking chimney. They

stripped to their underclothes and bundled the prison

garb into the deep hole in the trunk of a leafy tree. Three

of them went to the rear of the house, to stand-by, while

Lawrence and another strode up to the front-door

and knocked loudly.

A sleepy female voice called out:- “Who is it?

Who? At this time?”.

“Our car fell in the river, ma’am. We are lucky

to escape. We are soaking wet. We need to dry out.”

She poked her head out the first-floor window,

and said “Get lost!”. She banged the window shut.

It was easy getting into the house and

capturing the woman. She was alone. She said her

husband had gone away to buy some sheep. They

helped themselves to his clothes and the food in the

kitchen.

Then they had to decide what to do with her.

They asked her when her husband was expected to

return. She said he would be back in a few hours.
They didn’t want to kill her and have murder

on their heads, so they just gagged and tied her to her

bed, and left her there.

Then they split, and Lawrence and Bull

teamed up. Bull told him what he knew about

Jacob and the money. They had to find him. They

plodded on. The police would be searching with tracker

dogs. They had to get a vehicle.

Hours later they came up to a deserted road.

They thought of a plan.

The driver of the red saloon braked hard to

avoid running over the man lying on the road. He

jumped out to see if the man was hurt, but the man

bounded up, leapt into the car, and the vehicle

disappeared, leaving only a dirt cloud.

Lawrence was at the wheel going real fast,

and Bull in the passenger’s seat felt uneasy. The road

was unsealed and winding.

They didn’t know where they were heading.

But eventually they came to the highway and headed

south.

“Hey man” exclaimed Bull, “where we going?”

“We gotta go somewhere, and get rid of

this junk, man. The cops will get us”.

Just then, a police siren sounded in the

distance, coming fast from behind. The chase was

on. The red car was distinctive. The owner must

have reported it stolen.

Lawrence pushed the pedal to the floor

and the sudden surge of power left the cop-car

trailing. But it came slowly near.

“Go, man, go!” screamed Bull.

“It won’t go any faster” grunted

Lawrence in frustration.

The cop was only metres away when

Lawrence abruptly swerved…and lost control.

The car leaned on two wheels, skid madly,

grazed a power-pole by the side of the road, went

on, turned turtle, righted itself, broke the side-

barrier and took a spectacular leap into space

moments after Bull opened the door and jumped

into soft bush. He heard the explosion and saw

the flames. He had lost a mate.

He lay stunned for a moment or two.

Miraculously he hadn’t suffered any major injury.

He hadn’t been seen jumping out. He crawled on

hands and knees further and further away.

He managed to escape in the ensuing

confusion. Now he was more determined than ever

to get to Jacob. He walked, stumbled, dragged

himself to town and the Casablanca Bar where Jacob

was seen. The bar was practically empty. No Jacob.

He waited in the street outside. He was

hungry but penniless, his clothes torn and tattered.

He swallowed his pride and stood at the corner,

begging for coins. Most passers-by didn’t

acknowledge his presence. However, a couple of

hours later he had enough for a frugal meal.

As he approached the Bar, the door

opened and a drunk was flung outside and landed

at his feet. He glanced down…and recognised

Jacob! He grabbed him by the collar, and barked in

his ear “Where’s the money? Where’s the money?”

Jacob looked at his face blankly. “Who

are…you, mate?” he asked, “What…what…do you

want?”

The headlights of a car fell full on Bull’s

face, and that’s when Jacob snapped out of his

drunken stupor and bounded up in terror. He

broke free, and ran. He meandered into the path

of a vehicle which braked and swerved. But it

hit him and threw him away.

“An ambulance! Call an ambulance!”

yelled a witness.

An ambulance came in ten minutes and

whisked Jacob away. Bull didn’t know whether

Jacob was alive or dead. He went to the nearest

hospital and found out that Jacob was in

Emergency. He was critical.

Bull went to the hospital everyday.

They said Jacob was unconscious. They wouldn’t

let him see Jacob, even though he told them that

he was a close friend.

Jacob’s condition deteriorated. He

was dying. There were only brief periods of

consciousness. The doctors said that there

was no hope. They had tried everything.

Bull was desperate. He had to ask

Jacob where the money was before he passed

away. He got friendly with Moo, the day nurse.

They met at a café across the road.

“How long you been nursing?” he

asked her, “Tired, eh?”.

“Yeah, man. Been too long. Need

a break”.

“A beer, the beach, and…relax.

That’s it, eh” he grinned, looking into her

brown eyes lovingly.

She blushed, and pushed a curl

off her forehead. Nobody had looked at her

like that before! In fact, men didn’t give a

second look. She was so plain. She rubbed

her hands nervously. He cupped her chin

and edged closer.

“Maybe if we had a million, we could
make it, eh Moo?”

“Maybe…” she dreamed.

“That fella Jacob, he’s dying isn’t

he?”

“Yes”.

“He’s got my money! He’s hidden it

somewhere”.

“Well, today when I went to his bedside, I

barely heard him mumbling something about

money.”

“What did he say? What,…Moo, my

dear?” he asked eagerly.

“I heard…bank…money…hidden”.

“Where? Did he say where?”

“He was mumbling something…

like he was talking to someone…”

“What did he say? What did he say?”

“Seemed as if he was talking to a

woman. He said something that sounded ‘Keep it’”.

“She knows!” Bull almost shouted.

“Who knows? What?”

“That big ugly woman. The one who fed

me like I was a dog. I’ve got to find her”.

He bounded up and was about to leave,

when he suddenly realized that that stupid nurse

could still help him. He let her pay the bill, then

took her arm gently, and they walked

back fast to the hospital.

But, Jacob’s bed was empty. They

found that he had died.

Bull made his way out of the hospital,

without even glancing back. The idiot nurse

was of no use now.

As he passed the room where they kept

the dead, he suddenly saw her. The large ugly

woman! He felt like choking her! But he watched

her from a distance. She was crying.

A hearse came up, and they took the

body away. She didn’t follow it. She walked slowly out

of the hospital grounds, and into the street. He kept her

in sight. She walked without purpose, her head bent

down, her hands hanging at her sides.

She went through a maze of streets. Bull

suddenly realized that she was actually heading towards

the bank. The one they had held up. She stopped and

turned to glance back. Bull hid swiftly. Then she went on.

She came to an empty warehouse near the

outskirts of town and slipped in after opening a side door

with a key. She slammed the door behind her, but it didn’t

click shut. It started raining. Bull felt the water slipping

down his shirt. Then something bit him. He slapped at it

but more came.

When she came out, they were biting all

over her. Over him also.

Raised by the heavy rain from the ground where

their eggs had remained dormant through the worst

draught in ten years, the plague locusts spread swiftly
over footpaths, buildings, vehicles, everything.

She screamed in terror and dropped the cloth

bags she was carrying. They landed on the bags in

hundreds and sank their vicious little teeth into them.

The paper money flew out and was scattered by the wind

and the water. The bags were torn into shreds.

His eyelids heavy with pain, Bull barely saw his

dreams torn away.

Then they were gone!