done. They showed me pictures of myself, covered with that soldier’s blood. I stopped pleading innocence. They stopped kicking me. Come that final Friday morning, they told me Baz and D were all fixed up. Told me the plan was that we’d all be nailed to trees later that day. I’ve had better news. But they were distracted. They had a new prisoner they were really excited about. The J bloke. Everyone knew who he was. Even me. One of the God botherers who’d been out in the rural areas annoying the local church powers. All sorts of stories about him. Beautifully strange stuff. Healings. Miracles. Sounded like a load of rubbish. But never any reports of violence. No political revolution. A load of people loved him. He had a reputation for being kind to outsiders and playing mind-games with the hypocrites and collaborators who thought they were in charge. He was the latest big thing! When he’d rocked up in town, followed by his mates, half the population had gone out to see him. That got some attention, but he was rattling the cages of our so-called ‘leaders’ so much I reckon the invaders thought he was good for a laugh, so they let him get on with it. Except now he’d made a mess of the biggest church in town and smashed the windows of a few loan sharks. Good church-going loan sharks. The Mayor (a mongrel called Dirk, who everyone calls ‘Dirt’ – and that should tell you how well respected he is), the Chamber of Commerce and the Ministers fraternal did not like him. Not one bit. Scared he’d do something that’d get the whole city killed. So they said. Or that’s what the rumours said. I reckon they were just worried that he’d spoil their nice, cosy little arrangement with the invaders. Word on the street was they were looking to stitch J up. It turns out they did. Good and proper. My guards weren’t even gloating about me and D. We were the undercard I suppose. Another couple of soon-to-be corpses. But they were excited about J. And they were really mad about Baz. Livid. Because Baz had done it again. He’d killed one of their mates and then just walked free. He’d also left us for dead without a backwards glance. 99
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