Two years after the initial power outage, a group of three young men arrived and moved into the old manager's office. They declared themselves the community's new leaders, backing up that claim with firearms and attitude.
They had nothing to gain but a sense of power but still spent three days bullying and demeaning the residents. They did not allow access to the appliance without their permission and required increasing personal attention from attractive women and acts of abasement from the men.
Most of the residents were either aging or composed of families with young children, so Papi put aside his preferred policy of non-involvement and deal with the situation, as much for Pablo's sake as the community's.
He had spent three tours as a Buck Sergeant in the army during his early thirties and earned a Ranger's tab during what he referred to as his misspent youth, which was as far as he ever talked about his service. He still kept and maintained his sidearm, stored in a locked box ever since his grandson moved in with him. He saw no other choice than to employ his training again.
He encouraged Pablo to visit his friends down the complex, then removed the weapon to disassemble and clean it, an action he performed monthly. He reconnoitered to make sure Pablo was nowhere in sight and watched the three thugs as they stood around the appliance. All three were involved in a card game played on top of the cube, but two had hunting rifles within reach.
Money no longer held any value, but they had ransacked houses along their route and used gemstones they removed from whatever jewelry people or stores had left behind. The majority of single-family residents had either hopped the trolley or walked away to try and find answers, or at least a better life.
Papi made his way down the stairs and leaned heavily on his walking stick while limping towards the appliance. He made sure to keep his eyes averted to the ground and kept his right hand in his ratty coat pocket. Two of the self-appointed gangsters kept playing, but the third, and smallest, pointedly put his hand on a rifle and spoke up.
"Hey, old man, what do you think you're doing?"
"Just need some water and a little food."
"Haven't you heard? We own this appliance, and nobody gets nothing for free anymore. What you got for trade?"
"Look, I've been living in this rat hole for almost twenty years, which should tell you I didn't have much before the power went, and I sure don't have anything now. Please, I just need a little food for my grandson."
"We're not interested in your sob story. You either bring us something we can use, like jewels or weapons, or you can just go screw yourself."
"You do know I can go less than a mile and use the next appliance up the road."
"Yup, outside this apartment, it's a free country. Mostly. Hey, Mamacita, get your cute little booty over here!"
A young single mother of two hoped to access the appliance without notice while the thugs were engaged with Papi and stood in the shadows under a stairwell waiting for an opportunity. She turned to flee, but one of the card players brandished a pistol and pulled back the slide that made an evil sound, making her freeze in fear.
"I said, come here, now!"
She did as she was told but trembled the whole time. With the pistol in one hand, he grabbed her hair, pulled her towards him, and forced a kiss. He put the pistol on the top of the appliance and moved the now free hand under her blouse, which forced a small cry of anguish from the young woman. The other two thugs looked on and sniggered, but Papi decided enough was enough.
"Okay, you guys win. Here's my weapon."
Papi pulled a Beretta M9 from his pocket and into the ready position in the palm of his other hand in one smooth motion. All three of the toughs had just enough time to look at him in confusion before he calmly and professionally delivered three sequential shots in under a second.
Each round went cleanly into a left eye-socket, from nearest to furthest, and not-so-cleanly exited the rear of their skulls. The young mother screamed, but when she saw all three dead on the ground, her panic subsided, and she worked up enough rage to spit on the one who assaulted her.
She nodded her approval towards Papi, then calmly manipulated the slide controls to provide for her children and sauntered back to her apartment. A ring of residents stood outside their doors and applauded.
The accolades somewhat embarrassed Papi, so he turned and walked back to the stairs and jumped them two at a time. He had not needed his cane for a couple of years but had just used it as subterfuge. He figured someone else could clean up the mess.
After the residents had moved the bodies far off the property, Pablo stooped to pick up his grandfather's walking stick and returned it wide-eyed. By the boy's demeanor, Papi assumed he had unfortunately seen the entire incident, but they never talked about it further.
Papi made a show of cleaning the weapon and returned it to the lock-box but made sure Pablo saw him put the key back on the chain around his neck.
~o0o~
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