HAWK & THE NIGHT by Joseph Jedidah

 

HAWK & THE NIGHT

By

Joseph Jedidah

The Lil Boots tour bus pulls up outside a 24/7 convenience store late at night. The cold streets lit up by amber beams and a pale moon, a whispering wind subtly floats through the air. Lil Boots, a recording artist signed to Trill entertainment and Pacific Records. He is on a music tour promoting his popular single Woulda Coulda off his studio album Young Caesar. He lifts himself up from his cushioned one armchair with two groupies named Keisha and Molly lounging on an emerald green sofa positioned on the left inside of the end of the bus. Keisha leaned all back in her seat, staring at her phone looking at pictures of herself. Molly, extremely high staring into space. Boots stands staring at his phone looking at pictures of video models on a website, he then puts his phone in his pocket. “ Hey can you get me some Mike & Ike and some M&M baby'' asked Keisha, “M&M? You want some candy girl” replies Boots, “ Yeah I’m feeling something sweet” says Keisha, “ ok well do the thing that I like baby” says Boots. Keisha looks at Boots and then grins mischievously, she softly cups Molly’s chin pulling her towards her face, she pecks Molly on the lips. Molly briefly stuns, then she giggles, Keisha smiles then starts french kissing Molly while staring Boots in the eye, while he bites the bottom of his lip grabbing at his crotch. 

 

Lil Boots jumps off the bus with his bodyguard Bunce, they both obnoxiously stroll through the store. Lil Boots snatches a handful of candy off the shelves, spilling some of the contents on the shop floor.``Ay grab some more bottles, keep this party going man” says Boots. He pours the items on the counter, throws money on top of them and walks away, he orders Bunce ``Hey g, grab my change from that guy man” says Boots as walks out of the door lighting a spliff before stepping through the exit doors. Bunce walks up to the counter and places the champagne bottles on the counter top, pushing the other snacks over the other side, falling on the cashier's feet. “ Hey, dont forget those, we want those and dont forget the fucking change man” says Bunce aggressively. Boots stands outside the store smoking his spliff, the smoke seeping from his nostrils floating up in front of his face like chimney smoke. Boots looks around the dark quiet street, he sees a homelessness person wrapped in a stained crimson blanket curled up on flatten cardboard boxes on the ground. A cardboard sign next to the blanket saying “ Hey I’m Shelly, I've fallen on hard times, anything is appreciated, god bless you”. Boots scoffs, then proceeds to walk over to Shelly, standing over her, he spits on the sign. Boots then unzips his jeans and begins urinating on her.

After a few minutes past, she begins to feel the droplets of a liquid splashing on the blanket, she starts shuffling on the ground while Boots continues to urinate on her. Bunce comes outside the store and sees Boots at the end of the street. He places the bag filled with bottles and snacks outside the bus entrance and walks over to Boots. Shelly begins to wake from the splashes on her face, she turns to see Lil Boots pissing and laughing, “ahh what’s happening” says Shelly, Bunce stands behind Boots, joins into the humiliation by laughing along with him. Shelly tries to rise up onto her feet to get away and Boots kicks her square in the face, knocking her unconscious on the ground. “Fucking bum” say Boots ,“Why bother then, couldn’t you find another place to wave your dick around” says a voice from round the corner? Then the voice is revealed to be a dark-skinned, 5”7 man wearing a dirty walnut coloured wool trench coat a purple army medal on the jacket collar, a big grey woolly hat on top of his messy curly hair and a scruffy beard with leather brown shoulder pads. “Who the fuck is talking to me man, another bum” say Lil Boots? Bunce laughs as Boots laughs. Then the stranger starts to giggle too, causing both Boots and Bunce to go silent in confusion. The stranger bends over laughing, catching his breath, “that’s funny, you’re funny, you’re strange boy, with your dick out in front of two bums, yes you are a funny .. boy” he then whistles a soft note.

Boots gets angry, cohorting his face into a menacing scrowl. “Yo Bunce, grabs this guy and bring him to me” says Boots, Bunce charges at the stranger and grabs him by the his coat collars pulling him up on his tip toes. “Who the fuck you think you’re talking to bitch” says Bunce. The stranger smiles then sharply whistles a piercing note, a hawk swoops down from the dark night sky and glides across towards Bunce like a bullet and claws off the top of his head. He crashes down on the pavement instantly, twitching on the ground with three massive gashes across his head, blood slowly dripping onto the ground. Boots stands there in shock, jumping a couple feet back, swinging his arms around his head. He looks around in fear, not seeing anything as he spins around in a circle looking at dark stone buildings and dark moonlit sky. Nothing but he hears  the Hawk crow. Boots then looks at the stranger, holding his arms out, shaking in fear “Hey” cries Boots, “Who am I looking at says the stranger with a stern face expression. " Hey, hold ... hold on man says Lil Boots, "a Blind fool” says the Stranger then he whistles a long sharp note, the Hawk soars to Boots out of the dark  fiercely and attacks his face, pecking out his eyes. He falls on his back as the Hawk flies off back into dark, he holds his face screaming in pain “ aaaahhhhhhh, the shrieks mixes with the wind in the empty street with his bodyguard still incapacitated, the three gashes covered with blood revealing his red and white flesh. Boots tosses and turns on the cold ground whimpering and crying as blood pours from his eyelids onto his cheeks like bloodied tears. The stranger stands on the corner very still amongst the madness, he then whistles again, then the Hawk flies down and lands on his shoulder, he turns back around and walks off into the darkness.