The Wall

102

“You pig!” the white man shrieked as he punched him.

Moses tried to protect himself. But the guy was kneeling on one of his arms, so he only had one available to fend off the blows. An open hand now slapped him across the face. That hurt.

He’s not heavy or all that strong, Moses thought. But he had taken Moses by surprise and overcome him. Just go slack, he told himself, just for a second.

The other man noticed the relaxation and interpreted it as capitulation. He started to grin, and slapped him once more, hard. Moses then tightened his muscles and jerked his knee up between the white man’s legs, who instantaneously shriveled up like a spider. Bullseye, Moses thought. He pushed the guy off and tried to stand up. But the other man had clenched his fingers around his t-shirt. He still wouldn’t let go, even when the fabric began to tear.

Moses made a fist and punched the man in the head. The blow seemed to have an effect. The man rolled a little further to the side. The t-shirt continued to rip. Moses pried the man’s fingers apart and stood up. A knockout. The other man wasn’t moving anymore. Moses caught sight of a cigarette packet in his shirt pocket, and he pulled it out.

As he was about to dash off, he recalled the pistol. There was no way he was going to get shot in the back like his double. Leaned down, rolled the white man on his other side, patted him down. The gun was stuck into the back of his pants.

He pulled his arm back to throw it over the wall, but then he paused. If they found it with his fingerprints on it, things could take a horrible turn. That… he thought… would be worse than all the nightmare things that had already happened today. He stuffed the thing into his own pants. He then looked at the cigarettes in his other hand and thought: One drag, just one drag.

He kicked the white man in the side. Then once more.