by Eben Le Roux
Chapter 8
With only twenty minutes to go, Peter knew he was not going to be on time as he was still two blocks away from the studio. He had realised too late that he had got off at the wrong bus station and had to walk the rest of the way. He was also angry with himself for not taking the money Ray had offered him. Taxis were running through the city, and he could only watch them drive past. From a distance, he could hear music coming from the direction in which he was heading. It sounded odd for him that people could make such loud music inside their shops. He could never see himself as a customer inside a business with so much noise. As he got nearer, the sound and lyrics became clearer, and Peter did not like what he was hearing. He could now clearly hear how the rap artist was defying every moral rule. What was worse was that the music was not coming from inside a shop but from a car parked in front of one. The boot was open, exposing the massive speakers inside the car. In his lifetime, Peter had never heard such immoral words being played so loudly in public. As he neared the car, he could see three young men swaying to the music while another was having an argument with a man, seemingly the manager or owner of the shop, in front of where the car was parked. He could clearly hear some of the words from the song.
“You can moan or you can shout, while I move it in and out. Girl, tonight I’ll make you scream, we will go beyond your wildest dream. In and out I go, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.”
Backing up the male rapper, was a female voice doing moans and screams simulating an orgasm. ‘Aah...aah...aah, don’t stop... don’t stop. Aah...aah...aah, don’t stop...’
Peter acted on first instinct. He walked directly to the car, not worried about who the owner could be. He was as a man possessed as his eyes searched for the power button on the radio. Without hesitation, he pressed it. With the sound from the car switched off, there was a pleasant silence.
‘Thank you, mister.’ The shout came from inside the shop. A young man, who was doing sexual movements to the tune of the song, had to stop abruptly with the followed silence. The atmosphere became tense as some onlookers were holding their breath. They knew these boys were always looking for a reason to make trouble and knew this man was in grave danger. One of the dancers came rushing around the car and, with rage in both voice and body language, shouted at Peter, ‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing, old man? Do you think you own this fucking car, huh? Do you know what you just did?’
Peter spoke to him in a calm and fatherly manner. ‘Young man, this is not a place to make such noise, and secondly, those words are not lyrics. They are an insult to society. There is much better music you can listen to . . .’
The man who was having the argument with the shop owner was rushing to get to Peter. Pushing the younger one out of the way, he placed his face close to that of Peter and yelled at him.
‘So you do not know poetry, huh? That is fucking poetry, man, and you should have some in your house. What planet are you from, you old fart? You are fucking lost man and I bet you did not even know that... you are too fucking stupid!’ He laughed while he taunted Peter.
‘They teach much better poetry in school, boy. You should try to go there and learn some of that,’ Peter said calmly.
‘Hey, old man, I think you are really fucking with us. You want me to show you what we do to people who fuck with us?’ The next moment, he pushed Peter against the door of the car. ‘Maybe I’ll forgive you if you go on your knees and say how sorry you are.’ He said with a cynical smile.
If Peter expected some sort of trouble coming out of this, this was way beyond his expectations. Nobody ever used such vulgar language in his face and these boys are doing it continuously. For him, this was a harsher insult than the physical assault he was going through.
‘I hope the world’s respect did not die with yours, young man.’
This made the man only push Peter harder against the car.
Ray’s heart must have skipped three full cycles as he and Bruce were driving past the scene. The sight of his father being manhandled in public got him totally enraged inside the car. ‘Stop the car, Bruce. Stop the bloody car now!’
Ray’s screaming was so intense, that Bruce applied the brake before knowing the reason for doing so. As the car was still screeching to a halt, Ray was already leaving it. Running towards the scene, he knew only hatred as he could hear one of the men yelling at his father.
‘You are going to get fucked up old man, truly fucked you.’ He was still jamming Peter against the car.
‘I tell you what, old man . . . Switch that music back on, and maybe you will be forgiven . . . huh . . . what do you say?’
He had not finished his sentence when Ray was behind them, roaring with anger. ‘I will tell you what; let me do it for you.’
The next instant, Ray planted his fist full in his face, sending him four steps backwards. In one instant, the man had his hands covering his face. Bringing one hand down, he saw blood on it. This brought forward a mixture of fear and anger that was clearly visible in his eyes. A good crowd was beginning to form, and the shop owner had to close his door. The anger inside Ray could only be measured in tons as he rushed forward. He managed to take one step forward as he was grabbed him from behind. With one turn, he sent out a punch, and it hit the target, right under the left eye. Bruce arrived on the scene just in time to stop a third man from taking a baseball bat out of the car. Without hesitation, he forced the man’s head forward, hitting it hard against the car’s roof. This made him scream in pain, but more with the surprise with which the attack was coming.
Ray rushed forward to the man he thought must be the leader.
‘For your information, you little piece of shit, that old man is my father. I hope this will teach you what any man will do for his father’ He blocked off an attempt by the thug and planted his fist full in his face again. The man was bleeding furiously but it did not seemed to bother Ray. As he saw him going down, he turned his attention to the other man. Just as he pulled him up by the collar, he heard his father shouting, ‘Enough, Ray. Stop it!’
Ray’s anger was too blind to listen and he still tried to push the man’s face in a position to hit him once more.
‘Damn it, I said enough. You want to be as stupid as them. They are already a problem to others. Do not make them yours. Now leave it and let’s go, we are already late!’ With the shouting, he was holding onto Ray’s arm whilst pulling him away.
Making sure the men was no longer a threat, he looked at his father, and, with a bit of sadness, he moved towards him. ‘Are you okay, Dad?’ he asked, very concerned.
‘Yes, I am, but you have to learn how to control yourself, boy.’
‘After a very long time, somebody is talking to me like a father again. God knows I missed you, Dad.’
He put his hand in his pocket and took out Jason’s note. ‘Here is a message from your grandson. I promised I would give it to you.’
Peter had a big smile on his face as he got into the back seat. He waited for the car to move before he opened Jason’s note. He was not prepared for the feeling that rushed through his body. Long after reading it, he was still starring at it. Although he smiled, he had a knob in his throat and his eyes were wet.
No one had seen the man taking photos of the fight.