Zip Gun

This won't take long...

Slightly past 8:23 in the evening. I'm driving through Caguas, a large, sprawling city between San Juan and Ponce. I'm looking for an apartment and have taken a turn just off the main street to explore a small enclave of a neighborhood, one combining houses with small apartment buildings and a few public buildings...

I drive down the side street, a short one leading into a T intersection. At the end of the street stand three young men, two in conversation, the other clearly acting as a lookout. Movement from My right is a scooter, one of thousands now zipping around, with two young men on it. Neither is wearing a helmet. They roll in, circle around to the two young men in conversation and as they turn to look down the left-hand street--where the lookout pointed--I notice the driver of the scooter is carrying a gun in his left hand. A long-barreled gun.

Right or left? Right I head into a maze of short streets; left I head towards the highway. Both may be blocked or changed by construction...

I see the gun a couple of seconds before they see Me, the scooter circling left to almost face Me. Only then do I notice how empty the street is, how dark it is outside the spot where they congregate, how thoroughly shuttered the houses look with their 5-foot walls, razor wire and double-locked iron grillwork.

The scooter drifts a little, driver, backseat rider and three other guys staring at Me. My foot flits over to the accelerator...

The driver--the gunman--suddenly leans right and zips the scooter up to speed, tracking down the left-hand leg of the T. He's heading after someone: His passenger is urging him to hurry.

I glance at the three other young men, noting their relaxed posture. They seem to be powering down to wait.

I let the car roll a few feet, then speed up. To follow the scooter.

It's where I was going anyway.


The Jenius Has Spoken.