Fish Farm by Walt Sautter (top rated books of all time TXT) 📕

long exhaled breath.
“And I guess you’re trying to see if Hal and me would go along with you if really decided to do something.
Right?”, explained Petey.
“Yeah, I guess so. You’re right Petey.”, replied Jack.
“Count me out. I can’t be murderin’ nobody”, exclaimed Hal.
A silence.
“To be honest, I don’t know if I could either Hal, in spite of all my bull shit.
Probably when it came right down to it I wouldn’t be able to .
Guess we’re just gonna have to go on living like animals then, and get used to the Firemen being the masters and us being the ass lickin’ dogs”, sighed Jack.
Another silence.
“Even if we did wanta do it, how could we anyway?”, asked Hal with furrowed brow.
“Without getting caught or getting ourselves killed?”, added Petey.
“I’m not sure but I have some ideas”,. replied Jack with a pause.
Did you ever kill a snake?”
“I never did but I saw a lot of ‘em get killed when I was a kid down South, Cotton Mouths ya know”.
“How’d they do it, Hal? Remember?”
“Yeah, they used cut the head right off. They used to say that if ya didn’t it wouldn’t die. If you did it would die at sundown.”
“Well, that’s kinda my idea. We got to cut the head off and then the body of the snake will die.
Now how we cut it off is the problem”.
“What do you mean, ‘Cut off the head’?”
“I mean if we get rid of the boss man, the gang will die out. The rest of them will wind up killing off each other trying to become the boss, especially if it looks like the old boss was killed by one of them in the first place.”
“So what you’re saying Jack, is we should get rid of that DS guy and trying to make it look like one of the others did it”.
“You got it Petey”.
“But how?” asked Hal.
“I’m not sure but I’ve got some ideas, answered Jack.
“Well, let’s hear ‘em”, replied Hal.
The conversation continued with Jack leading the conversation and Petey and Hal interjecting about what they might do and how they might do it. All three spoke imaginatively and energetically, never suspecting they might really carry out any of the fantasized plots they were concocting.
After an hour or so of banter Jack arose from the bench.
“I’m getting kinda tired of talking. If we’re not going to decide to actually do something, I’m going upstairs and watch TV”, he announced in a disgusted voice.
“Wait a minute, Jack, we didn’t say we weren’t doing anything, we said we weren’t going to be killing anybody”
After a moment, Petey, then continued.
“Let’s do what Hal said before, about sending a message. Maybe we can disrupt them, get them suspicious of each other and maybe that will break them up if we can get them at each other’s throats.
I’m not so sure it will work but let’s give it a try. At least we’ll feel like we’re do something”, concluded Petey.
“I don’t think it’ll mean a damn thing but I’m willing to try it if that’s all you guys want to do”, answered Jack in a discouraging tone.
He continued.
“Like you said at least we’ll be doing something and maybe I’ll be wrong and it’ll work.
I’ll do it tomorrow”.
Jack turned, left them and walked back to his apartment. He withdrew a sheet of paper from the cabinet drawer, walked to the kitchen table and sat motionless with pen in hand before it. Deep in thought, he began to write.
The next morning Jack arose, dressed and walked to the Lunch Box for his usual coffee.
He sipped the cup and carefully watched Charlie’s every move.
Charlie spent most of his time at the far end of the store in front of the grill. When a customer asked for a soda he went into the back room to get it.
“Hey, Charlie, how come the soda cooler is in the back. You always have to keep going back there to get them all the time?”
“Use to have it in the front, over there”, he pointed to a vacant outline on the floor next to the front door.
“But then kids used to run in the front door, grab a soda out of the case and run out so I had to move to the back here”, he explained.
“I get it”, Jack replied.
He looked up at the clock.
The door opened and in walked the four of them, DS leading the bunch.
“Ten o’clock, on the dot. Right on time as usual”, Jack thought to himself.
Jack stayed a few more moments then left the Lunch Box.
The next day Jack awoke early, eight thirty. He went into the bathroom and carefully affixed the artificial mustache he had bought the day before, combed his hair in a slicked back fashion and donned a pair of low power reading glasses.
He stepped back from the mirror, admiring his new appearance.
He left the apartment and walked briskly to the playground on First Avenue. Several young children were playing basketball.
Jack on the bench adjacent to the court and watched. The game continued back and forth. Jack sat quietly, continually glancing down at his watch.
“Nine fifteen and counting”, he thought.
As the nine thirty hour approached, Jack stood, took and walked toward the court. He held a crisp ten dollar bill in his hand as he approached one of the boys standing on the sidelines.
“Son, would you like to make ten dollars for doing me a favor?”
“Listen old man, I’m not into gay stuff!
Leave me alone!”, the boy quickly responded.
“No! No! “, replied Jack.
“All you have to do is take this piece of paper down to the Lunch Box”.
The conversation paused.
“You sure that’s all I gotta do?”, boy answered.
“Positive!”
“Well, okay”, the boy answered. He warily reached for the note.
“Here’s what you do. You take that note down to the Lunch Box, keep it in your pocket. Go in and ask the guy behind the counter for a soda”.
Jack reached into his pocket and took out two dollars.
“Here’s the money for the soda. When he goes in the back to get your soda, put this note on second table from the door, with face up. Put the sugar container on its corner so it stays there and doesn’t slide off the table.
Be sure he doesn’t see you do it.
When he gives you the soda, leave and come back here to me for your money”.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it kid, ten bucks and a free soda”.
With that the boy left, heading towards the Lunch Box.
Jack again glanced at his watch. Nine forty five.
“Perfect”, he thought.
Jack waited patiently for the boy’s return. Five minutes passed and he spied the boy coming into view, soda bottle in hand.
He approached Jack with out stretched hand.
“Did it!”
“Was anybody in the place?”, asked Jack.
“Just me and the guy”.
“And you put on the second table like I said?”
“Sure did!”
“Great!”, answered Jack as he handed the boy the ten dollar bill.
“If you want me hand out any more notes, I’ll be right here”, said the boy.
Jack left the playground and went back to his apartment, and immediately removed his disguise. With his usual persona in place, he walked to the Lunch Box. He glanced at his watch as he walked. It was about eleven thirty.
Charlie was slumped on a stool in front of the counter, facing the tables with his apron clutched in his hand and head drooping. His hair was rustled and his grease spotted, white shirt torn.
He looked up as Jack entered.
“Charlie, what the hell is going on?”, Jack asked, even though he thought he sort of knew.
“Those same fuckin’ punks”, Charlie replied as he stood and threw his apron onto the counter.
“What this time?”
“I’m not really sure. The whole thing was strange”.
Charlie paused.
“Strange how?”
“Well, about ten o’clock that same bunch came in, like usual. All of a sudden, one of them, I think it was DS, yells ‘What’s this shit!’, and he stands up wavin’ this piece of paper at me.
I didn’t know what he was talking about. Then he comes over to me and shoves this note in my face.
The note says ‘No more ripping off the people living in this neighborhood.
This is your only warning. If you do it again you and all your gang will be punished.
This is no bullshit!
Signed : The People’s Army’
Then he grabs me by the shirt, pushes me against the wall and yells, ‘Where did this come from?”
I told him, ‘I don’t know’, but that wasn’t good enough I guess, because then he slapped me across the face and asked me again.
I had to tell him all over again that I didn’t know.
I really don’t!
To me it sounded like one of those old sixties groups, like the Symbionese Liberation Army or somethin’ like that. That’s all I know.”
Charlie took a deep breath.
“What did they do then?”, asked Jack.
“They sat there and ate like usual, all the time talkin’ back and forth about that note, trying to guess where it came from.
Just before they left, the leader, DS took the note and lit it on fire and threw it on the table.
‘That’s what we think of that shit, one of them yelled as they left and when we find out you left it we’ll show ‘em what punishment really is!’
About fifteen minutes after they left, a kid comes in and tells me that they’re lookin’ all over the neighborhood, askin’ if anybody knows anything about that note.
Then the kid asks me if I remember him coming into the store earlier that morning and I told him ‘No, I didn’t’ and all the kid says is ‘Good’ and then he leaves.”
Jack finished his coffee and left the Lunch Box knowing full well that the next move was his. He suspected all along that would be the case and now he was sure.
Chapter 9
It was early morning, about six or so, as Jack was awakened to a loud pounding on the apartment door. He rolled over and glanced at the clock, six twenty-three to be exact.
The pounding continued and Jack arose and slowly moved towards the door.
“Who is it?” he shouted.
“It’s Hal, Jack!”
Jack unlocked and opened the door.
“What the hell are you doing over here at this hour?” he asked.
“I came to tell you what happened last night over at my place” recited Hal in an excited tone.
“The Firemen showed up at each apartment last night.. They had a little kid with them and they got everybody in the apartment to come to the door and then they asked the kid if any of them was the guy that gave him the note.”
“What note?” Jack asked playing dumb.
“Well, it seems that they got a threatening note at the coffee shop the other day and the note was delivered by the kid and now they want to know who sent it to them.”
“So what happened then?” asked Jack.
“The kid couldn’t finger anybody. The head guy then says that the ‘fire protection’ payment is going up by ten dollars each month for everybody until he finds out who wrote the note.
They’re going from building to building each night and I’m guessing they’ll be here tonight.”
“I really appreciate