War in 6 days ( IV )

Jamal patted Brad's cheek while shouting at him to wake up. When he finally opened his eyes, he started gazing around him to try to recognize where he was and he found out that he was in a little room enlightened by a single neon hung on a low ceiling. Then, his sight landed on Jamal's face. Brad's face was deformed by the anger, he tried to jump on him many times in vain before he realized that his arms and legs were chained on the chair he was sitting on. Jamal didn't want to waste his time waiting for him to calm down, so he began his interrogation while he was still struggling.

" Listen, at the other side of this door, " he pointed the only door, the only entrance or exit of the room, which was behind him, " there is a guy who is waiting with a lot of tools I can use to torture you, all that for you to understand that sooner or later you will talk so let's save our time and tell me right now what I want to know ".

Brad tried to spit on his face, but Jamal dodged it so he went on cursing him until he was out of breath, " you really want me to hurt you, huh? " Jamal asked with a compassionate tone, " at least can you tell me why you do that? Those guys outside... aren't they friends?" he sighed " you are really one of the worst if you dared to betray them without a proper reason? "

" Shut up your mouth! Don't act so condescending, as if you have already figured out everything about me, " Brad replied.

" But I do know you though, " Jamal responded what made Brad laughing as he said, " I didn't know you were that much conceited ".

He walked around the man who finely tied on his seat as he started telling the results of his observations, " well let me guess. From the beginning, at your young age, you were a little boisterous brat, always wanting to fight with others, always wanting to show that you're the boldest, " he bowed a little and said, directly at his ear, " always imitating those rebels who looked so cool at your eyes, " then he straightened back and carried on with a normal loud voice, " then you grew up to as a teenager with that bad attitude of yours, multiplying your bad actions, what made your reputation to grow into worse in the eyes of the normal citizens. Maybe with that bad boy attitude, you could enjoy your life a little more, maybe you got some two to three girls with whom you had some fun, however, it didn't take long for your name to reach the ears of the elders you admired, the real thugs of the city. They approached you, they proposed you to join them what you couldn't refuse, could you? It always has been a dream for you to be one of them, right? "

Brad stayed quiet looking down while clenching his fists powerless as Jamal carried on describing what seemed to have been his ancient life. " Well, so you went with them and you stayed there for... I don't know... maybe one or two years. Anyway, you didn't last long with them, you know why? Because it turned out to be something you didn't expect to be. What they were doing was way too much than what you could handle, too violent, too extreme, so you prefer to run away. That experience convinced you to not go on walking on this path, so you did your best to change into a better man. You got a respectable job, Howard told me you used to work in a carpenter's shop before joining this army. It allowed you to get a respectable life situation, surrounded by many friends who loved you, I heard that of them died, though. That's a life journey I would respect too, but what I still don't get what caused you to return back being that piece of shit you used to be? " Jamal was now in front of him, gazing at him with his eyes full of apprehension, waiting for him to justify himself.

While still glancing at the ground Brad chuckled before he slowly lifted his head to look straight at his eyes, he seemed to not want to run away anymore. " Can't you guess? " he said, " it's obviously due to that fucking terrible night, what else? "

Jamal approached his face close to Brad's, plunging his eyes into his eyes while looking for some clue to figure out his real reasons as he looked like he was still trying to hide something. The latter pushed his head backward by reflex, his mocking smile quickly faded away and was soon replaced by a wince, he tried to hide his face as he had the feeling that his thoughts were being read.

" No, it's not because of that, or at least not only. Those guys for whom you are working... they want to obtain something from this chaos so they must have promised you to give you what you want if you help them out. That's how thugs normally work... ".

" And you expecting me to tell you what they are aiming for? " he asked mockingly.

Jamal shook his head " no, I already know that they only want to rule this city, make all those who resist them their slaves, and that basic stuff a tyrant would do. But what I want you to tell me is what did they promise you to accept such a terrible fate for your friends. For which reason were you resolved to sacrifice them? "

Brad felt the pressure in his whole body, Jamal's sight was too heavy for him to support, when he tried to drop his head down, shameful, the latter extended his arm toward him, and with his hand, he held his chin up to force him to keep his eyes on him, " why are you trying to look away? Is it too hard to face and assume your disgusting actions? "

Brad couldn't help but recall all those comrades he had led to the death because of his treason. At that moment, he was feeling so culpable while that was what Jamal wanted, he purposely emerged painful memories to make his mind crack bit by bit and thus to make confess everything, and it seemed like he succeeded as he started to talk.

" Two years ago, after that tragic night, they came to me and Bart told me that Raul, the former chief of the gang, was one of those who... disappeared, " he started with a melancholic voice, " and it was now him the new chief, he said that he had a great idea and exposed to me his plan to take the control of the city. I found that was bullshit and I didn't hesitate to tell him that he was crazy to think about doing something like that after what we went through, and I immediately turned him down. At that period, I didn't care about anything else but taking care of my girlfriend who was very traumatized by that tragedy as she had lost her entire family. So after I told him to leave me alone and went back to my home to stay with her. A few times later the wave of crime and violence rose and I knew it was due to Bart but I didn't care, not even when the mayor came to ask for the help of some of us citizens to join forces with the police and help to protect the others. A few days later Bart came to me again to tell me that they had difficulties to deal with the cops and they needed someone like me to lend them a hand but I again refused so he started menacing me by saying that I would regret it and of course I didn't take him seriously, but... a day later, while I went to visit my girlfriend at her home I found out that she was missing, I searched her everywhere I still couldn't find her then one of Bart's men came to tell me that they had kidnapped her and that I could get her back only by doing whatever they wanted me to do ".

" But you're not the type of guy who let it go that easily, right? " Jamal guessed.

" You bet, " Brad chuckled, " I beat the guy and forced him to tell me where they were holding her, I took my gun of the time I was still a member of the gang and I went to the abandoned building she was being held. I passed by the emergency exit to reach the good level, I entered by the window and I reached the room she was supposed to be in. When I opened the door what I saw put me in wrath that I had never attained before, " his face changed into a wince, matching her emotions with the story he was telling, " she was laying down on carpet all naked her arm full of the mark of shots of syringes. Those bastards raped her and drugged her and the worst was that she was not the only one when I took a look at the entire room they were many women and girls left naked on the floor " he paused to calm his emotions a bit, " you surely take me as a madman to work with them after what they did to me ".

What he didn't know was that Jamal had already an idea of why did he keep on working as a spy for their count, however, he didn't interrupt him as it was important for his interrogation to let him talk, as the more he did and the more he would be inclined to confess what he wanted to know.

And so Brad carried on, " I wrapped her in my jacket, killed the two guys who were blocking my way out and I left the building as fast as I could, a moment later I called the cops to tell them about what happened there and they made a raid to go free those poor girls while I was heading back home with my girl. I tried to take care of her as best as I could, staying with her as often as possible to avoid another kidnapping again. The fact that she had changed was, in my eyes, completely normal as I thought she was even more traumatized than before, but I found out that she had developed a drug addiction and that was how they got her. Her body was free but they had her mind shackled and before I realized it, they had mine shackled too ".

" Firstly, they started by sending her some small doses directly at her home the few times I wasn't there when I found out I became uncontrollable, I caught the deliver in front of the door, I beat him up so hard that they didn't send another one after him. But instead of arranging things I just made them worse as she became aggressive and refused me to help her. She even, once, decided to go see the dealer by herself to get her dose and when she was running out of cash she didn't hesitate to sell her body ".

" I couldn't support that and Bart knew it. All that was a trap delicately prepared for me, he said that he would continue to do whatever he wanted with her until I accepted to help him. I accepted to play the role of spy for him and in exchange, he gave me back my girlfriend and usually delivered her doses to me, like that I could manage to help her to cure in one way or another, " He lifted his head, " I didn't have the choice you understand? "

" What I understand is that for 2 years long you have kept choosing the life of your junkie girlfriend over the lives of innocents, " Jamal said. He leaned toward him, " I can't fool you by saying that you can fix all that you have done because the dead don't come back and I'm not god to pretend that your sins will be forgiven but I can tell you that at least you can still help to preserve the lives of those remaining, " then he straightened up and added, " and for my part, I can promise that I will protect Daphne and do whatever it takes to heal her for good ".

Brad jumped on his chair of surprise before quickly realizing that he was still tied on it. He stared at him, shocked, with his eyes wide open, for a moment he couldn't even speak. " you knew? " he asked slowly.

" With your story about drug addiction, the fact that she has a long bandage weirdly wrapped around her arm and that her eyes are completely empty. I managed to link the nodes ".

Brad sighed while pushing his head backward, his face contracted in a weird smile as he told him, " as they said, you are really scary. OK you win I will tell where you can find Bart and all his band ".

•••

Jamal left the interrogatory room and walked out to go meet up with the soldiers, in his way he crossed with Howard the mayor, " did you manage to obtain something from him, l hope you didn't hurt him too much, in his inside he is a good person you know? Even though I still don't understand why he did that ".

" Relax mister, I didn't hurt him, " Jamal reassured him, " at least not physically, " he said with a little voice. They reached the outdoors where all the soldiers were waiting, their equipment ready, they were discussing what happened, he glanced at the crowd and quickly found Daphne, she was alone in a corner stroking her bandaged arm, her eyes red as if she had cried a lot. [ She is not completely lost in the end ] he was happy to notice.

" Your attention please, " he shouted to the crowd and gradually stopped talking to focus on him and what he was about to say. " I finally obtained the location of our enemies, I will now expose to you the plan we will use to destroy them and before the sun goes down we will come all together to celebrate it, " then acclamation raised in the crowd as their dream of finishing this war was about to come true.