A fictional tale
Preys & Predators III
By
Jimmy Loong
Apr 2014
Prologue 1
I helped with the bags that kept on falling
off their holdings bays on those darned trucks. It was not my choice of
travelling but that one was the cheapest way. More so when you only have dimes
and small dollar notes. The later were few in pieces and were kept them hidden
deep in the bags. There were us, the travelling family with no permanent roof
over our heads. I have been on the road with my sister Val and our parents for
some months then. It was all about packing and hopping onto anything that will move. The clothes we have are the rags on our body
or the ones we snuck off the clothes line. Mine was the plain smock that
reached above my knees, with the scarf holding my long tresses of blond hair in
place. It was sewn by my mother two years ago, but I could still fit into it.
More to it, it was only one left which I liked. Val had on the old dress of
mine; it had been too small for me since I grew out at the chest, and jutted
more in the lower rear. Daddy and Mama were still in their Sunday best, but it
may have collected on some dust since they last washed it.
“Sal, you get them bags down. We reached the
place.” I heard the call and opened my eye lids from my deep slumber. I was hit
by the dust even before my vision could hit the scenery. I rubbed my eyes, and
looked at where we had landed out feet. I was greeted by the torn placard that
read these words; why can’t my Dad work here?
“Sal, can we move on?” I heard my mother
calling while my dad rushed to the waiting line for a job offer in the nearby production
plant. I picked up the pace with the extra bags, and took stock of the
surrounding. We were then standing before a high fence protecting two big wall
structures. We were at the main fence gates, and there was a queue of people
there hoping to get employed. It was a new factory then.
I looked to the truck we were on earlier. It
was on its way to the nearby town. It looked far from my height, but that was
where we wanted to be. I saw my dad talking to some other seniors of the
families’; there for the same reason. All they rattle on was the word I heard
many of times; Depression. I’ll be darn honest; I knew nothing of that but it
was supposed to eat into my brain that word, while my tummy was getting
nothing.
“Sal, I am hungry.” I looked to my little
sister, Val. She was just twelve, but was budding to be a young lady. I took
out my unfinished piece of bread and passed it to her. Val was eating more than
all of us, but she needed it to grow.
Sometimes, that was bad.
Two hours later, while we were setting up camp
at the open ground, I could not find Val. I was looking to ask her to assist me
in setting the pegs. She was not around. I saw Mama tending to the fire place
to boil the pot of water.
“Mama, did you see Val?” I shouted out. She
did look at me but when she shook her head, I had my reply. I looked around;
seeing the other families all staking their own camp site, and children
playing. I recalled Val was playing by the tree line and moved there. The
children had moved back to the campsites, but I saw some elder boys edging to
the trees. I was curious on that too, and caught one of them who returned.
“Hey, you’re hurting my arm.” The freckled
face screamed out but my fist took out his complaints when it socked onto his
jaw. He told me what I needed to know with that blow. I left him crying while I
rushed to the trees. I pushed myself in past the tree and bushes, and came upon
the attraction of the boys. There was Val there standing there with only her
cotton panties while the boys were given her the full eye over. One of them was
doing the collecting of coins or items of value as fees for the show.
I rushed in and gave the leading boy a fistful
of mine wrath. I then grabbed his right arm and swung him like a bat into the
tree trunk. I then rushed in on his back and pushed him back into the tree
trunk to give him a new look. The audience of boys were earlier amused by my
antics, but later found the gory scene was not what they paid for. Some of them
left while Val who came to her senses, had dressed back her clothes. The daring
ones thinking that I was another lady folk to be slapped tried it on me. He
ain’t seen me when I trooped off Daddy in his drunken moods. I lashed out with
my right leg into the boy’ balls, and when he keeled over, I gave him a shiner
that would need more than a thick steak. It was then the other boys had fetched
the elders.
“Show’s over, boys.” I shouted out to the
still standing boys. So that soon staked my reputation as Suicide Sal.
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