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| comment | | "parent_author":"",<br>"parent_permlink":"fiction",<br>"author":"johnjgeddes",<br>"permlink":"level-four-taking-back-our-street",<br>"title":"level four ...taking back our street",<br>"body":"<br><br><center>https:\/\/s22.postimg.org\/ch9vft8s1\/image.jpg<\/center>\n\n<br><br><center>*Hold on to what you believe\nThe only way to calm your sea is\nLook back at the end of the day\nAnother step along the way...\nWalking in the Light,<br> no fear of the night*\n\u2014Terry Britten<\/center>\n\n\n\n<br><br>The teenage gang harassing my family struck again\u2014for the second time in a week,<br> all four tires on my SUV were slashed\n\nMy friend,<br> Cliff,<br> was sympathetic. \u201cI think it\u2019s time to move to Level Four,<br> Pal.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2014take the law into my own hands?\n\n\u201cThe law should protect you\u2014it\u2019s not doing that. You\u2019ve got a pregnant wife and two young kids. What the hell are you supposed to do?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know,<br>\u201d I sighed,<br> \u201cI just don\u2019t know.\u201d\n\n<br><br>It was quiet for the next few nights. A police car was parked at the gate of the school parking lot.\n\nI actually got some sleep.\n\nThe next night,<br> the patrol car was removed and the partying began again.\n\nThe security lights started going off and on,<br> all night long,<br> and then,<br> just before dawn,<br> I heard a loud crash and the breaking of glass.\n\nI ran out onto the driveway and could smell gasoline fumes everywhere. They threw a Molotov cocktail\u2014fortunately,<br> it didn\u2019t catch fire.\n\n<br><br>The security cameras captured the incident.\n\nThe teenager wore a mask and a hooded jacket. I recognized the stocky figure as one of the boys who menaced me,<br> but the face was hidden.\n\nAgain,<br> the same police constables came,<br> took their reports and watched for two nights. On the third night,<br> the patrol car was gone again.\n\n<br><br>I set up my own patrol,<br> sleeping outside in my SUV.\n\nCliff offered to take a night watch,<br> but I knew and he knew,<br> it couldn\u2019t go on.\n\nAnger was burning in my stomach\u2014that primeval fury that wells up when you or a loved one is being attacked.\n\nI knew I\u2019d have to take things to the next level.\n\n<br><br>The following night,<br> instead of defending my turf,<br> I was on the prowl.\n\nI had my night vision binoculars and my parabolic listening device.\n\nI waited most of the night,<br> dressed in black with balaclava and leather gloves\u2014waiting for an opportunity.\n\nIt finally came,<br> when the leader and most of the kids left\u2014leaving the stocky guy and two girls behind. They were smoking dope and drinking beer.\n\n<br><br>It was simple.\n\nI crept up on the three of them and then made a beeline for the stocky kid.\n\nBefore he knew what was happening,<br> I felled him with a two-by-four to the gut and began kicking with my steel-toed work boots.\n\n<br><br>It felt good. I didn\u2019t want to stop. One of the girls,<br> tried to grab my arm and I hit her with the two-by-four. The other girl took off,<br> terrified.\n\nAfterwards,<br> I stole back to my house and slipped into bed beside Jana,<br> my wife. She never stirred.\n\nI waited the next day for the police to come\u2014they never did.\n\nTwo days and nights passed\u2014nothing.\n\n<br><br>Then,<br> it began again,<br> the familiar laughter and clinking of bottles.\n\nI waited two more nights and then on the third,<br> I went hunting.\n\nThey stuck together in a tight-knit group. The stocky guy wasn\u2019t there,<br> but the two girls were.\n\nI waited. Waited,<br> while one by one the teenagers left,<br> until there were three\u2014the leader,<br> his back-up and the tough girl who mouthed me back the first night.\n\n<br><br>When they were stoned,<br> I made my move. I slammed the leader in the back with my board. He went down immediately.\n\nHis friend came at me cursing and furious. I just rammed the two-by-four at his mid-section. He crumpled.\n\nThe girl was surprisingly defiant. \u201cYou want a piece of me,<br> Scumbag?\u201d\n\nShe was crouched like a wrestler. Without a thought,<br> I swung my timber at her head and it missed,<br> but glanced off her shoulder and she toppled,<br> writhing on the ground.\n\nThis time,<br> I controlled my fury,<br> kicking only the leader\u2014twice. Then,<br> I left,<br> saying nothing.\n\nAgain,<br> I slid noiselessly into bed beside Jana\u2014and again,<br> she never stirred.\n\n<br><br>The partying at the playground ended\u2014about the time the school board hired a night janitor and put motion lights up.\n\nCliff came and took back his night vision binoculars and eavesdropping device.\n\nHe didn\u2019t say anything.\n\nEven the police drop by occasionally to check in and make sure everything\u2019s going well.\n\nI don\u2019t feel guilty. I don\u2019t feel anything.\n\n<br><br>Cities have been compared to human zoos,<br> but I see them as jungles. Zoos are much better supervised.\n\nI recently saw a TV documentary about rogue battalions terrorizing the Congo. The reporter asked a woman\u2014Are these men like devils?\n\nShe cradled her young child and shook her head.\n\n\u201cNo,<br> they\u2019re not devils,<br>\u201d she said,<br> \u201cThey are in a human shape.\u201d\n\n\n\n<br><center>\u00a9 2017,<br> John J Geddes. All rights reserved<\/center>\n\n<br><br><center>https:\/\/goo.gl\/images\/PsJhPF<\/center>\n\n<br><br>[Walking in the Light (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Dap1qp8BHVg&list=PL93D3F66642B71543&index=7)",<br>"json_metadata":" \"tags\":[\"fiction\",<br>\"story\",<br>\"writing\",<br>\"love\",<br>\"relationships\" ,<br>\"image\":[\"https:\/\/s22.postimg.org\/ch9vft8s1\/image.jpg\",<br>\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/Dap1qp8BHVg\/0.jpg\" ,<br>\"links\":[\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/images\/PsJhPF\",<br>\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Dap1qp8BHVg&list=PL93D3F66642B71543&index=7\" ,<br>\"app\":\"steemit\/0.1\",<br>\"format\":\"markdown\" " |
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