The Wall

40

Gerrit van Lange stood on the street that ran through the center of the gated community and thought about the fact he was slowly getting too old for situations like this. Not because he couldn’t get the upper hand anymore. He was an old hat at this, experienced in the struggles for physical safety and undamaged property. He had been through more than enough of these stories. But what could he do? He was still a few years away from retirement. And he had no training to do anything except the job he currently had. Security. When you managed a security company, you couldn’t simply retrain for something else.

His phone rang.

“What’s going on?”

Van Lange listened, interjecting an occasional “Yes!” He rolled his eyes at the people gathered around and watching him. He then exhaled through his lips and added one more “Yes!” When the conversation eventually came to an end, he added an “Uiuiuiuiui!”

He walked over to his car and picked up the radio receiver. Pressed the button: “Listen everyone. Our suspect is back on the run. He’s about twenty years old. In jeans and a yellow t-shirt. A conspicuous afro.” Van Lange paused. After this incident, he would need to instruct his people to knuckle down a little harder for a few weeks. Until he started to get calls from people complaining about rough treatment. Or about friends or relatives who had been harassed or asked to show their IDs. To hell with that! “We have no idea,” he continued, “how long he’s been in here, but we do know the following: He broke in a house and stole jewelry and cash. A pretty good haul. He then tried to rape a woman.” Van Lange took a moment to consider his next comment, but why should he hide it? “A white woman,” he added. “And then he brutally assaulted an older couple.”

He ended the radio connection. He should actually call the police. There was enough justification to do that. But from past experience, he knew his people’s attentiveness would wane as soon as they knew the cops were on their way. And besides, where the cops were concerned, you never really knew if they would show up.

He pressed the radio button again: “We will do everything to locate this criminal and bring him down. And… if you must use force… do it in God’s name.”