7/10/24

After having bought my kevlar body armor, I decided I’d need some more supplies, and I also decided I’d have to be more careful to make sure nothing could be traced back to me and then put my kids in jeopardy. So I started using my mom’s card. I always transferred money into her account so it wasn’t like I was stealing. And I bought the stuff online at the library using their computer and had it sent to Amy’s. With so many different parties involved, I figured it would be crazy hard for anyone to trace anything back to me.

So of course Amy wasn’t thrilled when I went to her place to pick up my latest purchases. “And what are these?” she asked me, holding the boxes.

“Just a few things I needed,” I said with a smile, “for safety’s sake.”

She shrugged. “I probably don’t want to know, right?”

“Just pretend they’re toys for my kids.”

She nodded. “Instead of toys for their dad who’s playing superhero. You do remember you have four kids, right? You should really be thinking about them first and foremost.”

“I do,” I said, “but I also have a life outside of them. They’re only with me half the time, after all.”

“But you should be thinking about them all the time.”

“And I do,” I said, “but when they’re not with me I have to keep myself occupied so I don’t eat myself alive missing them. It hurts when they’re not here. Which is part of the reason I do what I do.”

Last night I went to karate class and then the Train Stop open mic afterwards. At the end of the night, Chris had to help some guy passed out on drugs up to drag him out of the bar. Gina didn’t want any junkies overdosing in her club, after all.

“I don’t know what he was on,” Gina said with her Canadian accent, “but he didn’t drink anything, I know that. He went in the bathroom and came out all sleepy and high looking.”

Chris nodded. “There’s some real bad shit going around Station North.”

“Yup,” Gina said. “It’s been all around the city but it’s working its way here. I heard there’s a new gang in the area and they brought it here.”

“Do you know the name of the gang?” I asked.

“No,” Gina said, “but all the bar and club owners around here are dealing with it. The cops came and carried away this underaged girl at the City Gallery. She didn’t drink anything. Just came in there all fucked up and collapsed on the floor.”

I nodded. I gave Gina a huge tip like I always do and left the club to go back to my van to change. I was looking to try out some of my new stuff.

Once I was in my body armor, I wandered the neighborhood as usual. I snuck up on some alley cats for a bit. I was getting really good at it. I was becoming a bonafide Batman. Albeit a poor man’s version. But still. I’ve discovered you don’t need to be a billionaire to become a costumed crime fighter.

So it was getting late and I hadn’t run into anything yet. I was thinking about calling it a night since it was getting late and I needed to start work early as a computer programmer the next day. It isn’t exactly easy writing computer programs on two or three hours of sleep.

But just as I was getting ready to head back to my van, these two assholes appeared across the street from me. They had long white t-shirts and baggy jeans. Both were wearing white sneakers and they had black bandanas with white skulls all over them. They both drew guns and pointed them at me. “You’ve been encroaching in our territory, mother fucker.”

“This whole city’s my territory,” I shouted back. “You two best be putting those guns away before I have to teach you some lessons.”

They laughed. “Teach us lessons? We’re the White Skulls and you’re dead, mother fucker.”

They started firing and I wasn’t about to see how good my body armor was at stopping bullets. I had four kids, after all. So I turned and ran down an alley. They were running after me and I felt two thuds in my back that stung a little. I reached into a black bag on my hip, pulled out some smoke bombs, and threw them behind me. Then I turned down another alley and kept running.

I heard them coughing behind me. “Stay out of our neighborhood! We’ll come harder next time if we have to.”

I ran for a bit, zigzagging through alleys and streets, then stopped to catch my breath. It was a hot summer night and I was sweating. Body armor wasn’t made for hot Baltimore nights. I didn’t care. I could take it.

I wore my glasses under the goggles in the mask. I wasn’t sure the goggles were bulletproof, and it was uncomfortable wearing my glasses under them, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I can’t see shit without my glasses.

I wondered if the White Skulls had read any of the articles or seen any of the videos about me on the internet. I was famous after all, whether I wanted to be or not.

I waited a bit, then walked back to my van, trying to stay in shadows and alleys as much as possible. Now your average person might be scared off if they knew there were gangsters after them. But I’m not your average person. It made me want to fight even more. I had so much anger and resentment built up and I was ready to start a war.

Maybe Michele and the potential there was helping a little bit, but I was still pissed off and ready to take all my shit out on someone. These White Skulls seemed like the perfect candidates.