In Between
THE first thing I remember is the taste of leather and dirt. Something kept banging against my chin. When I opened my eyes I saw a big-ass army issue leather boot swinging in. Thwack! I winced more out of habit because I felt no pain.
I turned over onto my back and avoided the next swing. It missed my nose by some nano centimeters. I was looking up the leg, of a large sized man, into a face. He looked mean.
"Where am I?" I asked still spitting the dust out.
"You are in between. And I am the angel who has been tasked to set you up for the journey." He said.
"In between?"
"Life and death, you moron." He spat.
"But, aren't angels supposed to be beautiful apsaras with wings?"
"That's what they teach you down there. Up here things are different. We had to fight for gender equality and all that. Now it's all even. Come on, we are late!"
Since I was already dead I felt braver. "You have to tell me where we are going or I am not budging!"
"You are not getting it, are you? FYI, we are not going anywhere. You are, dumb ass."
In no time we came upon this building that looked so ordinary from the outside that you wouldn't even give it a second glance. Decrepit, with vegetation springing out of its well defined cracks; parts threatening to fall apart.
"Where the hell is this?" I asked.
"This is the House of Justice. A halfway house for jokers like you. Your future gets decided here, you dweeb." The angel explained. He had quite a colourful vocabulary for an angel.
I saw a long spotless white corridor with no end in sight. It felt like someone had taken extreme measures to hide this building from view.
"Why does it look so run down from outside?" I asked.
"Stop being naïve. We have to be covert or we will have twits like you queuing up for favours. In no time it will become a corrupt system like the shitty ones you have down there." Ahead I spotted RESTROOM. Immediately I needed to go. My stomach was rumbling and my bladder was bursting. The hair at the nape of my neck was wet and rivulets of sweat ran down my back. It was quite cold in here. I pushed the door of the restroom to go inside. Mr. Angel stood outside and lit up a cigarette. I got out of the toilet leaving it as clean as I found it. Mr. Angel dropped the cigarette on the floor and squished it under his boots. When he lifted the boot the cigarette was gone. He motioned me to walk on. My footsteps echoed off in a crisp sibilant shuffle. We came to a door. VERDICT ROOM, it read. Outside the door Mr. Angel stopped.
"Good luck! I like you, you know. Listen. Tell them that it is your wish to serve the masters and that you want nothing for yourself. If you are lucky you might get to stay here and become an angel. I can do with a new partner. The old one goofed up."
As he walked away I called after him, "Mr. Angel!"
He turned around.
"Can I bum a cigarette?"
He fished one out of thin air and gave it to me. Then whipped a lighter in the same fashion and lit it.
"Thank you" I said.
He smiled and vanished.
"Next!" A voice from the behind the door.
I took a deep drag on the ciggy, patted my hair in place, and brushed the dust off my trousers.
"Coming!"
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments