Chapter 17 – Full Disclosure
Later, Hambone, Kaz, Jones, Rudy and Taylor drifted into the large vaulted library.
Kaz had showered and cleaned up. He'd pocketed the badges and carried the gun tucked into the back of his belt. Under his shirt, with his hands properly folded behind his back, it was impossible to see.
As they walked in, Li looked up. He sat at a nearby table, drawing.
Kaz nodded. They traded smiles and tapped fists.
"Where's Drews?" Hambone whispered.
Li jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "In the back.”
Hambone headed deeper into the library.
Kaz sat down at Li's table. Rudy and Taylor loitered nearby.
A short distance later, Hambone discovered his friends hadn't accompanied him. He contemplated going back for them but didn't.
Ham took a seat at an abandoned carol. The troubled teen enjoyed a brief moment of silence. He suspected it might be his last for sometime. He recognized the moment as the fabled calm before the storm.
A couple minutes later, Ham rose and continued through the library. He found Drews, the district's resident teen-lawyer, in the back surrounded by open books and assistants, Big Chris among them.
Chris stepped forward and shook hands with Ham as he approached.
Drews stood and smiled. "What's the word?”
"Murder one, Doc," Ham replied, no smile in his features to be found.
"Those are big words," Drews countered.
""What the fuck you talking about?" Chris asked.
A small breathless kid came running into the room, "Oh my God! Oh my God! The Striker, Kazimov. He attacked a patrol and killed them all! They say he took a Light 9 and is going around the district, shooting every guard he runs into!”
Shocked, Chris and Drews looked at Ham.
Hambone raised his hands. "Half true," he explained.
"Which half," Drews asked.
"Some of all of it and mostly none of it.” Hambone said.
"What does that mean?”
"Kaz did take on a patrol, but he didn't kill all of them. He does have a 9, but to my knowledge hasn't killed anyone with it, yet.
"How many," Drews asked.
"Dead? One, I think, unless he lives, but if the other one dies, then two. So, maybe none, maybe one, but also maybe two.”
"How do you know?" the little kid asked.
"I was there,” Hambone answered.
The kid folded his arms across his chest, stuck out his tongue, closed one eye and shook his ugly-face at Hambone.
Hambone flinched as if to hit him and the child laughed, retreating a couple steps.
Drews summed up, "So of a three man patrol, there's at least one living citizen who is witness to a possible murder? What the heck, Hambone? Where were you? You didn't do anything?”
"I didn't do anything?! I was there, man! I was the only one who almost did something, but what was I going to do? First off, he was right. Second, he didn't ask me, he just went and did it. I didn't do anything and you couldn't have either. Know that.”
"And the, Going-Around-Shooting-People? He's not out doing that?”
"He most definitely is not," Ham replied.
"The murder weapon?" Drews inquired. "He used the gun?”
"He didn't shoot anyone," Ham replied. "Well, he tried to, but he missed. How you miss at point blank range; I'll never know.”
"What did he use?”
"A baton.”
"Nice." Chris smiled and nodded.
Drews pondered the situation for a long quiet moment. "Where is he?"
"About fifty-feet that way," Ham gestured back the way he'd come. "Watching the door, no doubt.”
Drews looked at the ceiling. "Where's the baton?”
"He told the kid to get rid of it." Hambone slumped into one of the nearby chairs.
"What do you mean, told a kid? It's a murder weapon! Who did he leave it with?”
"Geoff, the girl's little brother. Ashley's little brother. He's with Sky. Kaz handed him the baton and told him to wash it off and get rid of it.”
"You're kidding? He gave it to a kid? And you mean The Ashley? She has a brother here? Who else knows that?”
Hambone rolled his eyes and raised his hands.
"You told him he was out of his mind? That he'll get us all killed?”
"Yes. That I did, and it went over really well, let me tell you,"
In the front section of the library, Kaz and the others sat talking. He pulled a badge from a pocket and handed it to Li. The young artist held it, fascinated by the weight.
"All right. Don't pick this up," Kaz dropped the 9 into Li's lap.
Li stared at it, amazed. He didn't dare raise it up over the lip of the table. He didn't even reach down to touch it. His hands remained in sight, hastily sketching the object. He drew it from dozens of perspectives, without ever even actually touching it.
A few minutes later, Hambone walked out from the racks as Li put the finishing touches on his master Light-9 sketch, now working on it openly. The drawing looked totally realistic and weapon was no longer anywhere to be seen.
Hambone took a good look at the drawing.
He looked over to Rudy and Taylor. "You guys are no help either."
"What, big what?" Rudy asked. They both held up their hands, confused.
"Hey, Kaz," Hambone addressed his pal. "Where's the... uh?" Hambone mimed a striking gesture, as if holding a club or baton.
"I told you, it's taken care of," he said, leaning back in his chair.
Hambone crossed his arms and tilted his head, gesturing toward Drew's customary location, deep in the shelving.
"Whatever, Mom," Kazimov replied.
Ham laughed and sat down. "You're right. Sure, fine, what-the-fuck-ever. I'm cool with it, really."
Hambone realized he'd become the wet blanket at an otherwise flawless picnic, but kept pushing anyhow. "The survivor, the one who walked, is witness to a homicide and the murder weapon is with a kid.”
Kaz glared at his friend. Hambone was right, as usual. Unfortunately, the opportunity to ditch the meeting and handle the situation evaporated as a handful of blades entered the library.
Ricarlo and Manuel entered, followed by six younger members. Per gang protocol, they stopped a good distance from the Fist and waited to be acknowledged.
Ham gestured for them to come over. He turned Li's drawing of the Light-9 face down, but not before they saw it.
Once within speaking-distance, the gangsters flashed signs. The blades: four fingers, thumb tucked behind, flat against the stomach. Ham, Rudy and the others raised their fists in response.
Only Kaz refrained from any gesture. When Ricarlo and Manuel looked over to him, he simply nodded. They returned the nod.
Manuel stepped up, gesturing to the drawing. "Can I see that?"
Hambone looked over at Li, who looked to Kaz, who nodded. Manny picked it up, showed it to Ricarlo and set it back on the table, where everyone could see it.
"You got mad skills, my man," Manuel extended his fist to Li, who replied in kind.
Manny turned to Kaz. "But what are you gonna do, come the season? I made a lot of money betting on you, Striker. This other game you're running, it's not so profitable. Not so easy to bet on.”
"I'm not doing it for fun. The shit has gone too far.”
"I hear you, man, slow train coming, I know. But remember, last riots cost thirteen hundred zeros. That's not a lucky number round here.”
"I'm tired of living like a bitch," Kaz replied.
"But you go super-nova wrong place and time, you burn all of us too.”
Kaz rubbed his forehead.
Everyone looked over to the doors as Tanaka, Jones and Rebound escorted the leaders of the Dragons: Cho Fu Sah and Kjell, into the library with their bodyguards.
Manuel and Ricarlo regarded their hated rivals with open hostility.
Before posturing could turn to violence, the Martians entered t
hrough a side door. Ericson and Mikael with Tommy and Oddball, followed by the final gang, the Yellow Jackets. Drews and the others also appeared from the back of the library.
Kaz stepped forward and nodded to Tanaka, Oddball and the others.
They secured the doors.
No adults worked the library after six; the kids had the place to themselves. Kaz approached a table and pulled out the handgun. He set it down. He then pulled out the badges and set them on the table.
Kazimov spoke loud enough to be heard by everyone. "This shit has got to stop. Right now we are weak. Our unity is weak. It's been broken and our enemy can see that. Things were peaceful under the Devils because Mo knew who the real enemy was. He knew that first and foremost, it’s a case of Them Versus Us.
"After that, we could have our differences. But Dante isn't like that. You can see he's not here. We sent word, but I knew he wouldn't come. That's because he makes deals with them. He uses them against all of us.
"You guys treat me like I'm crazy because I don't wear colors. And I've always said that was because of the punchball thing
“Yeah, yeah, I'm lead striker three years now, but that's bullshit. I don't roll with you because I can't stand fighting other zeros. I live here, on D13. I play for D13. All you guys support the team. I know your set doesn't matter. I'm the same way. You guys, all you guys, are my family. I don't care what colors you wear.
"Our enemy doesn't care either. They don't face us with honor.
“They carry cattle prods and guns. We’re livestock, and they're cowboys. We cannot fight amongst ourselves anymore. We have to remember who the enemy is, and I say it's time we make a stand.”
Ericson, leader of the red stripe Martians, stepped up. "What do you have in mind?”
"First, I need you idiots to declare a full truce, right now.”
"Idiots, huh? Lot's of respect you've got there, striker," Ericson said.
Manuel stepped forward, diffusing the tension between Kaz and the Martian leader. "Hold one, Red. Let me get a little more direct.
“Kazimov, this I have to ask. I've seen this girl, and she is fine. So what I need to know is this. Are you taking us to war over a piece of ass?”
This influenced a series of nodding heads and affirmations.
"Nothing against you, but I can't go buying shares in another's man's woman." He laughed, dispelling the tension.
The other kids laughed too. The mood grew a little brighter.
The smiling Kazimov paused.
Manuel took the opportunity to rephrase his inquiry. "I mean, are we talking full-scale mutiny, or do you just want your piece of tail outta jail?”
Kazimov laughed with the other kids. After a moment he raised his hands and spoke. "Okay, okay. Fair enough. Here's what I say to that. I've got no claim on Ashley. She's hot, I do like her, but I've hardly said two words to the girl.
"Really, she doesn't take shit off anyone. What would she want?" Kaz asked.
Laughing, Hambone rephrased, "What would Ashley do?”
The kids burst into laughter.
Kaz spoke over them "She's not just a piece of ass. She's beautiful. But there's more to this. For one thing, she is innocent. She's not some psycho muscle-head. But here’s what it is… For us, for you and me… We need to stop waiting to be rescued and do some rescuing of our own.
"Drews, listen up, I want your thoughts about this next part." Kaz refocused on the gang leaders. "The citizens don't give a fuck if some unlucky zero wins an occasional beat-down, but a frail little girl? She's here for less than a week and now she's arrested, for an act of self-defense?
“She's more than just a zero, she's a symbol. She's an underdog. And they know it.”
"Which is exactly why they're never gonna let her out." Ericson stated.
Kaz replied, "All she did was stand up for herself. Fight back. What any one of us should do. She stood her ground and she took down the two biggest criminals here.”
"Word is she did Donovan too," Cho Fu Sah said. As the leader of the Dragons, the gang second in stature to the Devils, Cho commanded a great deal of respect.
"That's right," Kaz replied. "Word is she did Donovan too, who was a fucking-psycho-rapist. But where's the proof?”
"Shit, who else could have done it?" Cho asked.
"My point exactly! They're afraid of her. " Kaz said. "And they should be. Now they're going to be scared of us too. These rich-ass shit-bag citizens waltzing around here like they own the fucking air we breathe, just popping kids for no reason. Fuck them.
“I don't care about Ash or Dante or Mo or Lethal. I really don't. What I'm really pissed about is Joe Dicknose, candy-ass Angel City spoiled-brat citizen, who comes in here on pub-serve and takes out all his shit on us!
"I mean, what are we?" Kaz asked. "What purpose do we serve to this city? Are we really here for them to beat on? They could care less if this district bursts into flames and we get flushed down the gravity-well.
“I'm sick of it. I say we revolt and kill the man before he kills us.”
The kids made neither sounds of agreement nor any motion to interrupt.
"You know something,” Kazimov continued. “I had every intention of attacking that patrol when I first walked up on them. Hodges saw me coming too, he saw it in my eyes and I hesitated. He saw me think twice. So just to rub it in, he smacked a little girl in the back of the head. He hit her so hard she went flying, knocked the hell out.
“He wanted me to see him do it. He wanted to see if I'd do anything. Now he's most likely dead and I swear to you, he's just the first one. I've been here as long as I can remember. My first memories are of God's Hotel. I care more about that innocent little girl than Ashley, or myself, or any of you. And I want these goddamn soldiers out of my fucking house."
The kids stood quietly, but he could tell they were leaning his way.
"Then… I want to sail the whole district out to high-water and live happily ever after. That's what I want.”
The kids were stunned. Their hopes had been raised, yet the goal beyond impossible.
Finally Ericson spoke, "Shit, son. You got a magic wand?”
"Better yet, say we get that far, then what?" Cho Fu Sah asked. "I mean we gotta eat.”
Kaz picked up the handgun. "If some fool is so tough, you need a gat to keep him in line, then he can sure-as-fuck figure out how to grow potatoes and steal cars.”
"Thank you!" Manny said, clearly pleased with the answer.
"Okay then, what now?" Ricarlo asked.
Drews held up a hand, "If I may?" he asked.
Kaz gestured for him to speak freely.
"In response to Kazimov's hasty actions, the administration will play their usual gambit. They will arrest some innocent kids for conditioning, perhaps a few more than usual. They will react with fear and aggression, the way they always do.” Drews pushed his glasses up.
"To continue toward our goal, we must confront them in a way they are not prepared for. They are accustomed to playing us against each other. We should let them think it’s working. And then when they least expect it, we give them Little Bighorn.”
“Is that some kinky shit? Oddball asked.
“Yeah, What the fuck?” Jones echoed.
“No,” Drews held up his hands. “Like the Native Americans AT the Battle of Little Bighorn. We sucker them in and then crush them with overwhelming force. We must hit them so hard that they cannot hit back.”
Kazimov held up his open hand… "What’s your motto for the Iron Fist; Out of many, one." He closed the hand into a fist.
Hambone smiled. “The cry of revolutionaries everywhere.”