Guess What The Fish Sings To The Hook

2. Sledgehammer-1

2. SledgehammerThe brothers reached the street corner before him but when Bess laid eyes on Sabienn, she walked to him to place a comforting hand on his arm. “I’m sorry,” she said. “That latest batch is fifty-fifty.”

Sabienn looked at her and noted that the locket wasn’t around her neck. “You haven’t put your locket back on,” said Sabienn.

“Oh,” said Bess looking down at the gap below her neck. “It’s gone. Athers took it.” She spoke casually as if losing a toe-nail.

“Athers what?” said Sabienn. He turned from the group and put his hands to his face. I did this. This is my work.

“You have to understand, Athers,” said Jai, standing next to Bess. “He’s a beautiful guy. But he just takes things. He’d be going south. He’ll sell it for sure.”

“When you say south, how south?” said Bray.

“My guess would be Clam Hole,” said Jai. “He was talking about going there. Let off some steam.”

Still upset with his failure, Sabienn turned to view that the fire trucks had arrived and were pouring streams of water onto the flame. The air was still black and toxic and police were busy canvassing onlookers on the footpath, most of which were pointing suspiciously towards their little group. “Can we move?” he said.

The group walked to a nearby bridge that spanned the city width of the Deerway, the main river of Red Bat City. The lights twinkled and reflected from the city off the ceaseless flow of its uneven watery surface. Sabienn held a sudden pang to jump in the river and move within the watery flesh to be with fish-life. Anything that would embrace an understandable logic.

“Clam Hole,” asked Sabienn. “How do we get there?”

“Athers took the car,” said Jai helpfully. “Bess can take Tyle’s.”

“Who’s Tyle?” asked Stork.

“All this trouble for a locket,” said Bess. “It’s not worth a prime. Let’s forget it.”

“I need that locket,” said Sabienn. “I’m sorry to say this to you. It belonged to your grandmother.”

“I know,” said Bess plainly.

Sabienn looked to Bray, Deep and Stork who shared an equally stunned look back to him. “You know?” asked Sabienn.

“Grandmother died up in The Raft,” said Bess blankly. “She gave it to my mother. And mother died when a car ran a light. Not before she handed me all her junk.”

“But, isn’t it personal for you?” asked Deep, trying to appeal to her. “Don’t you feel robbed?”

“Why should I?” she said. “It’s just metal. It’s a chain like any other. If you have no future, what’s the past going to tell me?”

“So where’s this Tyle?” asked Stork.

Bess turned to Jai, “I don’t want to see him.”

“He’ll go to Clam Hole,” said Jai to Stork, holding back excitement. “I wouldn’t mind coming too.”

“Have we even established that that’s where he’s going?” asked Sabienn. “Where does he live?”

“Wherever he lays his cloak at night,” said Jai.

“Maybe his Mum’s?” said Bess.

“I doubt it,” said Jai. “They rarely see eye to eye.”

“Well this is just great,” said Sabienn with an exasperated gasp.

“Whose fault’s that?” said Bray. Sabienn shut his mouth as Bray continued, addressing Jai. “This Clam Hole? Can we take a bus?”

“If I know Athers, I know exactly where he’s going,” said Jai. “It’ll save you time.”

“Don’t you have a life here?” asked Stork. “You’ve got a red cat that needs you. Now you’re running around with strangers.”

“Huh!” chuckled Jai. He looked to Bess who smiled back before he continued, “My whole life is Red Bat City and Clam Hole. That’s it. Born and died. No prospects, no life, no future.” Jai started moving up the street. “If I know Tyle, he’s with Allis and Pale. I know where they are. Follow me.”

“I’m not going,” said Bess defiantly, holding her ground.

“You know he’ll want to know where you are,” said Jai and kept moving, not bothering for her response.

Sabienn looked upon Bess and saw something was troubling her with this arrangement. But he needed to fix a problem he made, so he and his brothers followed Jai.

Bray leant in for his brothers’ ears only, “Why is it that we arrive at the terminal and just happen to run into Athers? A man collecting funds to save a cat that only exists in advertising. But he just happens to know someone who knows Bess. What are the chances of that? In a city of a million people. We find her, we blow it and find ourselves running with children. It’s as if the universe has the sole purpose of being an agency of mockery. Like we’re some puppets in a big joke theatre.”

“I told you I was sorry,” said Sabienn, feeling the jibe.

“Surprisingly I’m on your side,” said Bray. “Failure here is not only allowed, it’s part of the plan.”

They walked for fifteen minutes by the stretch of the river and then through the back streets nearby. Bess and Jai walked ahead but Sabienn let Bray take the lead for the brothers. Bray’s eyes darted back and forth keeping watch for black cars.

They turned a corner and found themselves facing a park on the other side of the road. Sabienn could see it was a well laid out and manicured garden-park even in the stark lamplight that illuminated it. There was something about this place that indicated it was a refuge for high salaried office workers who would grab a bite of lunch to eat and find a place of grass to lie out in the sun. But Sabienn looked around and they were alone.

Jai stopped and sat down on the footpath. “I have five minutes to the hour,” said Jai, watching the park. “We wait.”

Feeling confused, Sabienn looked to his brothers who seemed none the wiser. It must have been nearing the hour of ten or eleven and all seemed quiet. Sabienn looked around and saw some very plush apartment blocks lining the road accessing this very inviting of parks. The vehicles parked here reflected the money that must have been invested in the area. From the light on offer, he could make out beautiful blue, red and black cars of sleek manufacture with all the comforts only a few could afford.

A distant clock tower struck and there was movement through the park. Sabienn saw four figures running full pelt towards them through the darkened leafy gardens of the park. He immediately saw they were all dressed head to toe in disposable overalls; the kind Sabienn was familiar with in the dealing of biohazard. But these overalls weren’t the usual white or blue; the light was picking them up as being pink.

The running figures spanned out and formed four points of a quadrangle around the leafy street. They each held something in their right hand which Sabienn eventually identified as a video camera. One of the figures ran right towards them, saw Jai standing up from the footpath and stopped to chat. “Hi Jai,” said the male figure. Sabienn took a good look at him and saw that within his disposable overalls he had a full black face mask. But Sabienn could make out the dark skin around the mouth of an andromedan, the planetary settlers who came to Deerland with the humans.

“Hi Allis,” said Jai with friendly candour. “Just keep us out of shot.”

“Get back in the shadows,” said Allis offering helpful advice. “And action.”

Almost upon the words, Sabienn saw more movement through the park. This time there were eight figures decked out in their pink overalls. By the way they ran, he assumed them to be male and each carried a sledgehammer.

The group split up into four groups of two each and chose a luxury car to jump up on top of. With brutal strength and efficiency the eight men wielded their sledgehammers, destroying the cars they stood on. Windscreens starred and shattered. Panelling was staved inward from sleek surface to metal wreck. The beautiful objects Sabienn had been admiring less than a minute ago were now almost certainly destined for the junk heap. The young men made no mouth sounds as they hammered away; no yelling, no grunting and no calls of derision or victory. There seemed to be discipline in this act of vandalism.

Sabienn was stunned. He turned to his brothers who were equally startled at the single-minded brutality of the onslaught. He then looked around at the surrounding apartments and saw lights come on. Heads were now poking out of balconies to see what was happening. He knew the law would be here soon and he didn’t want to be caught for someone else’s deeds.

Then almost as a single unit, the eight men jumped down and retrieved from each of their pockets a spray can. Each shook the mixture in their gloved hands and then started spraying the cars they had destroyed but it was an unusual marking. Each man sprayed a pink ‘S’. On the doors, on the bonnet, on the roof. The vehicles were covered in separate ‘S’s. Then as swiftly as they arrived, the men stowed their spray cans and ran back through the park. The whole whirling storm of destruction against property must have been thirty to forty seconds.

“Go,” called Allis. He stowed his camera and started running up the street that Sabienn and the group arrived on. Not wishing to hang around when the uniforms arrived, Sabienn and his brothers followed along with Bess and Jai. At the first block, Allis stripped his pink overalls off and his full face mask, found a street bin and dumped them all. He then adopted a more relaxed pace to his walking; one that would not attract attention.

“What’s happening?” asked Allis, lightly and casually to Jai, as if he had done nothing more innocuous than a jog.

“Not a lot,” said Jai, who then indicated Sabienn and his brothers. “These guys are good. They’re with us.”

“We are not good,” said Bray definitely, allowing everyone to hear. “I don’t know the politics here but what I saw was not acceptable.”

“Lighten up, wing man,” said Allis. “It’s just the joke.”

“This is never a joke,” said Bray, pointing back to where they had come from.

“Not a joke, the joke,” said Jai, moving to keep up with Allis. Sabienn saw Bess was noticeably dragging her heels behind the group before Jai continued, “If you’re s**t, all sphincters are pink.” He turned back to Allis. “Are we seeing Tyle?”

“We’re going there now,” said Allis, before turning to the brothers. “Are you boys local?”

“Hayddland,” said Sabienn.

“Oh,” said Allis with a smile. “And you want to see Tyle? Prepare yourself.” There was an ominous tone to Allis’s reply that made Sabienn look back with concern to his brothers.

After walking five blocks, the group found themselves in front of a well-appointed apartment building. “This is where the pink people meet?” asked Sabienn.

“This is where Tyle lives,” said Allis. “Come on.” Allis led the way and the seven people took a lift upwards. Sabienn could sense the longer the trip in the lift the higher the property value and the lift took a long time. They disembarked at the twentieth floor and Allis knocked at a door in the hall. The subdued noise of a dinner party met Sabienn’s ears as he stood there with his brothers. Interesting, thought Sabienn. From what I’ve just seen, you’d think this would be wilder.

The door opened and a tall young human man of about sixteen with short dark hair stood to greet them. He stood with an expensive cloak and appeared unmarked of any crime. Without a word, he saw Allis and threw his arms around him and embraced him.

“Did you get the vision?” asked the man. “Went like clockwork, didn’t it?” The young man then saw Sabienn and his brothers and his expression turned to one of suspicion.

Allis could see his expression and spoke quietly, “They saw us work, Tyle. They’re from Hayddland.”

Sabienn saw Tyle’s facial expression change from suspicion to delight. “Hayddland!” he shouted. “Come in! Welcome!” Sabienn looked to his brothers who were equally confused. With warmth, Tyle led the way through for the people at the door. “Winged men too. I thought you were rounded up.” He waved to another tall sixteen year old fashion plate to come over. “Pale! These guys are from Hayddland.”