Night Of The Quiet Rabble

Most just paid their tributes at the liquor store and wondered if the city would ever sandblast the graffiti...

Night Of The Quiet Rabble

Before lights went out all over the city and the moon gusted its easy heaven in through the windows, all the cops slugged quarts at Jerry’s Place and bragged about their kills, like the kid who tried to pull a knife from his boot or the bum with a broom handle.

It was all nimble fun and good for the new guys until a group of environmentalists blew the power station and the darkness dropped.

Some cops didn’t work well in the dark but Jimmy Book had clear sights on all his guns and a stash of bright flashlights he could pop into a perp’s face  to force them into blindness while Jimmy grabbed the cuffs.

Darrell Davis had a grocery bag in his arms as he stepped from the store. Only reflections of headlights on broken windows lit his face.

Jimmy said halt and Darrell said okay, but the crowd that came from the shadows grumbled. They had complaints and Jimmy said he’d take a listen, but not for long because sirens in the distance gave earshot to the crisis and soon all their freedoms would crumble.

Was true. When the cops who worked in the dark dropped by, they were ready for action. They carried long lists of broken laws and long barreled weapons to enforce them.

But Jimmy Book said wait and the units fell back to their cruisers and armored trucks. The crowd said thanks for letting us live another moment, but could you please fix the water pipes and the trash collection? They were tired of squalor.

Jimmy grabbed his shirt as if for a smoke and came out with a petition. He told them to take it up with the mayor at his beach house, but Darrell set his bag down and said no. They’d already done that and the mayor only snuffed his cigar in the ashtray.

That sounds right, remarked Jimmy and all the cruisers behind him revved their engines. The cops who worked in the dark wanted to show the rabble the exit, mow them like grass.

One guy who called himself Rock growled a command and the cops of the cruisers came closer. They drew their guns in case the fun should start. They’d like to get things done and get back to their drinking.

Darrell stepped forward and said: Take me. My people just want to eat.

Rock said Do it now! and the cops prepped their trigger fingers with hot breath but Jimmy Book moved in front of Darrell before one bullet could leave its chamber. He told the cops to hold until the lights came back and they could see better. It bought some time for the cops to practice their aim and for the crowd to slip out through the alley.

Rock wasn’t done, though. He still wanted his flesh so he could brag too, but the environmentalists blew the sewage plant and all the pipes backed up into the street. No cop wanted cleanup duty on their résumé and they all fled back to Jerry’s.

Only Jimmy Book stayed. He stood with slop on his boots and asked Darrell what his people would do now and Darrell said they’d probably march on city hall for a while or pitch tents in the park. It wasn’t much but they had to start somewhere.

It wasn’t much at all but at least they had a cop on their side which was more than most rabble could say. Most just paid their tributes at the liquor store and wondered if the city would ever sandblast the graffiti.

Jimmy didn’t know. He was only a cop with a scar who had seen too many innocent deaths. For that matter, Darrell too, although he sat on the far side of the power equation. Neither knew when things might change.

Darrell said bye for now and Jimmy Book said see you. They went their separate ways in the darkness. They both had somewhere else to be and other things to do before the city collapsed. It had been announced that soon the authorities would move in with their offshore accounts, and the streets would fill with garbage bags and fallen buildings.

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