18 Manna Nigh (1/2)

The night was black. Yellow carca.s.ses of danfos and molues littered the garage, rotting away in the dark. Two ghostly figures were perched on the roof of one of the dead buses pa.s.sing a tiny orange glow back and forth between themselves. The wispy grey clouds they were making melted fluidly into the empty sky leaving behind a thickly pungent smell that hung heavy in the air over their heads and soaked their weary rags.

The boys smoked on in pensive silence, the weight of their despair causing their hearts to sag, so that they looked bent with age, and very tired. They had sunk to the depths of penury.

Tonight, they were listening to the policemen carry on their business on the bridge above them like they did every Sat.u.r.day night. The policemen, three of them, in frail t-s.h.i.+rts, khaki shorts and rubber slippers, armed with only one old AK-47 rifle between them, and two torches. They reeked of cheap local gin and raw greed.

It was that witching hour when the owners of the night emerged from their holes and began heading for the clubs; so the policemen were having a good night. The boys could hear them tossing loud banter into the cars they stopped and getting crisp notes in exchange. Their expansive laughter filled their big mouths and spread throughout the night. The boys envied them so bitterly it began choking. . .

'. . .Park! Park!' the men were suddenly bellowing, in mad

unison like a pack of rabid local dogs. 'Stop!'

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The boys stopped smoking and sat up. They shook off the marijuana mist hanging low in their heads and c.o.c.ked their ears. 'PARRRRRK!'

A car screeched off.

The savage hounds took up the chase, scattering their footsteps all over the bridge, their big angry voices shaking the still night violently, 'Hey! Stop! I say stop!' 'BANG!' A shot exploded.

The feet gathered to a halt. The fleeing car swung sharply to the right and smashed through the bridge's metal rails. It plunged straight to the ground with a shattering crash. . . Then everything stopped; as if the night had been abruptly swallowed up in an abyss of silence.

The boys watched with hanging jaws — the car had dropped right in front of them. It was a Toyota Yaris. It lay on its back with its tyres up in the air, like a dead animal.