Gamine (801 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.38 on 17 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Puking Dog (View user info) at 2004-03-16 20:08:21 EST
He and his sister lived behind a cardboard box, behind a bar in the corner of a filthy alley. Their mother, who was blind as long as he knew her, had died sometime the previous week. She had withered into almost nothing, rags hanging from her body. Now his sister was dying too. She was seven years old and starving to death. Probably sick too. They begged every day, all day, but never got enough to stave the hunger, even for a moment.
She looked up at him, fearful. He told her that he would get her some food, that he had a plan. She knew he would be doing something terrible. He was twelve years old, and she was his responsibility. He had already killed another gamine who had tried to rape her. Did rape her, actually, and died while still inside her. The thought made him gag. He was happy to kill that disgusting man, wished that he could kill him again and again; the only pleasure he had known in his twelve and a half years was watching that man's expression turn to utter fear for his putrid life. Alas, he was gone. Buried in trash in a dumpster.
He crept out of the box without saying anything. Rain swept down, diesel filled his nostrils. City noise, cars and people - his senses were all busy. He was cold.
Carrera 15 was too busy for his plan, but towards 11 would be about right. He asked a passing man for a coin, but the man kept going. They almost all did. He pulled the rock out from under his shirt, curled his wrist back to hide it. There were some school kids walking towards him now. He steeled and his heart pounded. The three kids were ten feet away when he asked for a coin. He picked out the one on his left.
"Fuck you, trash." One of them said. They never stopped, and when they were even with him, he lashed out and struck the boy in the back of his head, near his neck. There was a short cry from the boy, who fell to the ground. Quickly he whipped around to face the others. He didn't have much of a chance, but they stopped their approach, wide-eyed. One of them turned, yelling for help, and the other backed away. He watched only for a moment, and then quickly went through the fallen boy's pockets. He pulled out his wallet and began to run, continuing toward Carrera 11. He could hear the boys still screaming from two blocks away. There was no blood, the boy would be alright.
* * *
He hid for nearly two hours in an empty oil drum. When he finally looked out, it was dark. Five hundred pesos, dirty and folded, was clutched in his hand. It was the most money he had ever seen in his life up close, even though he wasn't sure how much it was. He thought it would buy a lot of food. It was about two dollars.
He walked around for awhile, getting wetter and colder, thinking hard. He decided to go to Carulla, the grocery store. A restaurant would be dangerous, he thought, even though he had no real idea. He walked the eight blocks to the store.
He was stopped by a security guard at the door. He showed the man his money, and he thought the guard would just ignore him, but after a minute the man told him to go ahead on in.
He looked at cans with pictures on them. He knew of none of the items, and he knew that he could not open them. He picked out a loaf of bread. He found some cheese and made his way to the front of the store. His mouth watered. Bread and cheese. That would be good. So good.
The checkout lady looked at him and barked to him: "What are you doing?" He showed her his money, and she looked at it momentarily, and told him it was not enough. He pointed to the bread, and she gave him a scornful look, and began to ring it up. Outside, a police car pulled up, and the security guard leaned over to talk to the driver. Then the cop got out, and from the back seat, two of the boys he had seen earlier in the day got out too.
He threw the money down, grabbed his bread and headed for the door. He knew he had to make it out before they came in.
There was a moment of pause when he sprinted by them, and then he heard the boys identify him to the cop in unison. He ran as hard as he could. Back to his sister. His deformed foot ached in its usual way, blood seeping from his shoe.
As he rounded the corner of fifteen, back towards the alley, he saw a police car coming towards him about three blocks ahead. He ran harder, lungs hurting. He entered the alley behind the street, approaching his sister. And then he dropped the bread.
It was not until he stopped and turned to pick it up that he realized the boys were chasing him. In an instant he measured their distance, took a step towards the bread, and knew he would never make it. He longed for the bread, so much so that a tear of frustration squirted from his eye.
He turned again and ran, but they caught him quickly. They beat him severely in the short time it took for the cops to arrive. They were pulled off him, and he was hurt badly. The cops scolded the boys and ran them off, and he saw a moment of opportunity.
He bolted up, and ran behind the car to the bread. He picked it up and kept going, back the way he had come into the alley. He circled the block and reentered the alley from the opposite side. As he reached the lean-to box his sister lay dying in, he threw the bread into the opening, and kept running.
Moments later he stopped at the hood of the cop car. They said nothing as they got out. They did not look at him, and one of them got on his radio. He looked at the ground, seeing the rain water mixed with his filth dripping from his head, splashing on the asphalt.
He was dragged around the car by the driver. They pulled him against the wall, behind a store. They looked up and down the alley, no one around.
"You are a goddamned thief, boy. You know you will pay, right?" He did not answer, but nodded his head. "Okay then, now you pay."
He looked up, his head raising in unison with the cop's gun, and he understood just before the bullet took his pathetic life. The life, and death, of a gamine.
User Reviews
Submitted by PukingDog (user info) at 2008-05-21 02:52:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Hi Apollo!
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2008-05-21 00:41:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
thanks for reading my stuff
LOL
now I'M the puking dog.
petty, small penis compensating, washed up has been -2
Submitted by PukingDog (user info) at 2008-05-21 00:24:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Thanks for reading my stuff.
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2008-05-20 09:24:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
very worth reading.
Submitted by Random Joe at 2004-03-21 17:07:24 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by krootons (user info) at 2004-03-21 13:33:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"He looked up, his head raising in unison with the cop's gun,"
I first read that as "his head ringing in unison with the cop's gun..". I think that would
have been a better way to put it, but that's entirely my opinion of course.
Excellent post, I could visualize so much of it, and it makes you think..
Submitted by Herpes (user info) at 2004-03-17 09:04:22 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2004-03-16 21:35:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Very interesting.
Submitted by heyzues (user info) at 2004-03-16 21:16:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Nicely written, I could visualize everything. I'm assuming Gamine is spanish for some kind of bum or gypsie.
Submitted by maiorano84 (user info) at 2004-03-16 21:09:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Mexicans suck.
This post didn't.
Submitted by beer-turtle (user info) at 2004-03-16 20:50:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Digging it...
I could visualize alot of it. This could be expanded as well.
-Turtle
Submitted by ohlookasquirrel (user info) at 2004-03-16 20:44:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by fionavar (user info) at 2004-03-16 20:42:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Very moving, well done.
Submitted by LiteracyLover (user info) at 2004-03-16 20:34:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I like it. Got plot, depth, meaning.
Submitted by dakingisdead (user info) at 2004-03-16 20:31:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
What the fuck is a Draconianking.
Oh silly me!
Someone who thinks they have to drag down great posts because they think they are so terribly clever and pimp.
IE a smartarse wanker.
Submitted by DraconianKing (user info) at 2004-03-16 20:23:44 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
What the fuck is a "gamine"?
Submitted by dakingisdead (user info) at 2004-03-16 20:16:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
And another Plus two for being the best thing on the front page!
Submitted by dakingisdead (user info) at 2004-03-16 20:14:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Well thank you for bringing me up and down.
Sometimes a reality check is just what one needs.