Four

Another group of criminals joined the scene and Don was dropped in front of one of them. This man in a black hat with a brown ribbon and a white jacket bent over, grabbed Don by the hair, and picked his head up. “Do you know who I am boy?” From the sound of his voice, it was clear that this man was old. But still, Don could not see all of him because his vision was smoke and fog. “My name is Chaplain,” he began. “I have a daughter, had a daughter, about your age. Her name was Caroline. I lost her last year after she ended her own life so morbidly. Do you know why? Because of some worthless punk that broke her heart. I am going to make you remember her name boy and make you wish you never touched my baby girl.”

It was had to recall one girl out of the hundreds he had been involved with over the last few years. Whatever happened to her was not directly his fault, but maybe it was probably best that he paid for the heartbreaks.

Don looked up at the man lazily, unwilling to put up a fight, just waiting to receive his punishment.

The Gringo brothers came up to Chaplain, impatient and gnarling about something. “ We had a deal, old man. We handed you the guy, now where‟s our money?”

At the time when this was happening, the overturned Cadillac was filling with smoke. The driver suffocated to death beneath the heat and smoke. The car wasn't safe as distance had suggested and when it exploded in fury, a noxious cloud of smoke swept the area and clogged the air. Even the snipers on top couldn't see what was happening down in the smoke. The chaplain pulled the gun on both the Gringo brothers. The gunshots triggered chaos. Everyone was now shooting whatever thing touched him first. The chaplain never intended on holding his end of the bargain. The Gringo brothers were not to be trusted. And now they were dead.

The smoke was clearing, there were a few bodies here and there. Chaplain‟s men had surrounded the area. But now, looking around, the Hassien brothers were missing. They escaped amid the chaos. They were still in the harbor, hiding, knowing that they would suffer a slow painful death.

Both were unarmed. Both were scared. Not of death but of losing each other to it. There was still too much that needed to be said. They were both running for the docks. Maximus was losing speed, slowly and his brother tugged on his arm hoping to disappear before the snipers caught up with them.

Suddenly Maximus let go and almost toppled to the ground. Weakly he fell against the side of the container. He was sweating and out of breath. “I don‟t feel so well,” he said.

Don stopped, hurried back, and assessed his brother. Something had happened to him. Over the jacket was a blood patch. Beneath that was welling blood from a bullet wound. It must have happened in the smoke. Realizing that he had been shot only weakened him faster. “It‟s not that bad” his brother reassured falsely. “We are going to make it out of here.” He pulled his brother to his feet and helped him a few meters.

“It‟s no use. Am slowing you down.” Again he fell to his knees. “Just go, I‟ll buy you some time.”

“Am not leaving you” he insisted. “Now pull yourself together little brother. We‟re going to make it out of here.”

“I am not giving you a choice. I can already hear them gaining on us. Leave while you still can. I‟ll find someplace to hide”

“Listen to me! Am not leaving you.” He helped him to his feet but this time he picked him up slowly, onto his shoulders, and moved as fast as he could. “Am not leaving you”

They could see the docks and the water roaring against the land. They were about to leave the shelter of the shipment containers, into the open, and deep down Don knew that they could not make it to the water. As they passed the last container, they could see blood, everywhere on the ground. The human cargo. Dead bodies had been piled into a heap and he froze for a moment. He felt a chill go down his spine. Even he, a ruthless criminal, realized his limits at that moment. The human cargo had been butchered, massacred, and heaped like a waste. But here was salvation. Here they would hide beneath the dead bodies and wait.

It wasn't long before they were surrounded. The breathing labored beneath the dead bodies. But any slight movement would expose them and get them killed. Chaplain‟s men were looking for them in number all over the harbor and they both knew that they were defenseless. There was a vibration on the ground, they felt it, followed by repeating bleep sounds. A large heavy machinery was backing and turning near the containers. The human cargo was to be scrapped and cast into the water. They felt it, the vibration, as it approached and a sick horror made them realize that nothing else mattered at this moment. If the machine wasn't going to crush them to death, then the water was going to kill them.

A hundred times and over sheer force touched the bodies and effortlessly pushed them with ease. The few meters until the drop into the water felt like a mile of excruciating pain. The bodies around them were either breaking or being squeezed.

 The machine kept going until Maximus couldn't take the pain any longer. The bullet wound plus the situation at hand. Suddenly a scream escaped from him, but at this point, the machine was loud enough to quench that scream and every other which came after.

Finally, there came the fall. The bodies plunged into the water, splashing first and then sinking below with bloody matter resurfacing into a steady current. The last of the bodies sunk into the water and all movements withdrew out of sight. The chaplain's army retreated.

They were both drowning, sinking together with the other bodies. This was all Don's fault. He knew it. His brother was dying because of his wrongdoings. He had failed to keep his promise, to keep his brother safe. It should have been him with the bullet through his chest. And suddenly, as his consciousness faded away, they could hear the whispers again, condemning him because of what he had done.

He willed himself at that moment, with everything he had, with every breath he had left, to save his twin brother. Each passing second the current drifted them closer to shore on the other side where a boundary of a sensitive area of trees separated a roadway.

When he could open his eyes, in a strange hour of the night, he could remember clearly, laying on the shore, with his brother beside him, thinking, hoping that nothing separates them. Blearily Don could see next to him, his brother‟s cheat heaving weakly and he remembered whispering the promise he made many years ago. „We will never be apart, like the moon and the stars. We will keep each other safe.