The Wall

78

Already another hedge, already another wall. Moses jumped and ran. He knew he had to get away from the wall. If he didn’t, the guards who had found the referee would easily spot him. And who knew… if one of them was carrying a service pistol…

Moses leaped to the side, ran a few steps toward the street, and hunched down. In front of him, a waist-high wall and a sightline deep into the middle of the gated community. Too much activity. He was looking down a street heading away from him. He saw the backs of two guards jogging in the opposite direction. A silver-and-blue Central Alert vehicle approached, before turning and following them down the street. A compact car drove up from his left. Hopefully, it wasn’t going to park next to him. One, two, three… The car kept going. Just as the car turned into another driveway, a police car materialized. It also turned down the street that led into the center of The Pines.

The two guards who had just been helping the referee also showed up. They were supporting him with linked arms. His face was bleeding, his blue t-shirt was red, he looked old. The three of them were moving slowly. One of the two—the heavy one that hadn’t been able to chase him—was on the phone. He could hear his voice, but couldn’t make out what he was saying.

What could’ve happened? Why didn’t they seem to care about him anymore? What could be worse than a young black man guilty of both theft and rape? More precisely: Who?

Now he could hear: “…the manager… They’re coming now… good… got away from me, too… the pig… we almost…”

Moses had no idea what the guard was talking about. The dog was barking like crazy. Wasn’t stopping. He then heard a very different sound. And although he knew these things always sounded different on TV and in the movies… He knew it was a shot.

Moses waited for what would happen next. He then heard another. And yet another.

The three men were now standing right in front of him. “He’s now shooting at us, too,” the fat man said.