The City Heroes (2 page)

The morning walked briskly into brightness, and as human activities grew, a bald man whose lips were hidden under a heavy line of moustache walked into William Otama Street. He was frail, and his legs descended on the face of the earth as if he could never hurt a fly. Dr. Pepper, as most people called him was dressed in native attire that had seen better days. With him was his son Baldwin. The boy was dressed in old pajamas and boots as they approached the home of Priest Valdin, who sat on his balcony reading a newspaper. And Priscilla, a fat, jolly woman with hand to chin sat next to the priest. They had been married for years. “Valdin, Valdin,” Dr. Pepper managed to croak from the gate.

The old man pulled his spectacles down and looked over them. Then he put them back up and looked out under them. He seldom looked through them. “How are you, Doctor?” Priest Valdin said as if he were next to God.

“My noble friend, life is good!” Dr. Pepper replied.

Valdin looked straight into the eyes of his visitor. There was something odd about him but he could not put his finger on it. “Doctor, what is wrong?” he asked as he offered them seats.

The bewildered guest sat and straightened his chin, “I have a truckload of misfortune hanging from my neck like an Olympic medal,” Dr. Pepper said.

The priest dropped his newspaper on the table and signaled his wife to leave. Clearing his throat, he said, “Whatever misfortune weighs upon your poor soul is not the end of life. I have seen men bend the ugliest circumstances to their favor. You can, too. What is your problem?”

“In such a perilous time as this, can you believe that I share my house with rats? And I have spent so much on the treatment of fever in the last few months… I will soon be swimming in the pool of poverty if all my money must go to such things,” the Doctor explained gravely.

The priest returned, “That is no problem. Do you have a cat?”

“No!” the guest replied. “But I need one.”

“I have two cats in my house. But let me speak with my wife before I make any commitment,” the priest said as he again adjusted his spectacles. He rose to his feet and went into the house. Not long after, he returned to the visitors with a cat in a cage. “My wife and I agreed to let you have Blaize!”

Dr. Pepper was very excited. “Thank you, Valdin. I'm sure he will give those rats a run for their money. Not only that, but my son now has a pet! What did you say is the name of the cat?”

“Blaize!” The priest replied.

“What a good name!” Dr. Pepper said. He could not hide his pleasure.

Valdin lowered his spectacles. “You will enjoy the cat. But do me a favor, Doctor. Take good care of Blaize.”

“Ah, I will spoil him with rich meals. He will surely have the best treatment I can provide. Also, with the rats in my house, Blaize will never go hungry.” They all laughed out loud as Dr. Pepper sneezed and announced, “We must leave now.”

With a broad grin sitting comfortably on his face, Valdin took a deep breath. “Okay. Thanks for coming. And you will never have a dull moment as long as Blaize remains under your roof!”

Dr. Pepper replied with a smile and moved away.

Blaize had a new lease on life, and the first few days were like a bed of roses. But such comfort was not a true picture of the world. One morning, as the wind blew with vengeance, Blaize was confused to see his meal reduced to half his normal portion. But what could he do? Perhaps the reduction was simply an oversight by the cook. But as his meals grew ever smaller, Blaize was forced to search for complements to what he got from his master's table. To make matters worse, Baldwin, the little boy that made the home lively, had gained admission to a boarding school, and with the boy's departure Blaize was kept inside his cage much of the time. What's more, the home grew silent and sedate.

One evening, Dr. Pepper rushed hurriedly out of his cottage to face the main building. Shortly after, the frail man got to the corner where Blaize was and threw the cage open. He grabbed the poor cat by the paw and said, “You have a meal in my cottage. Deal decisively with it!” Before Blaize could even blink, he was whisked away to the cottage. Smiling like a half-wit, the old man slammed the door behind him and freed Blaize. “Kill the meal and let God sort it out!” he said. Like every cat with a good instinct for hunting, Blaize trailed the intruder to a corner. The rat hid under a heap of papers and books. But before Blaize could make short work of the rat, he jumped out of the heap and dashed towards Dr. Pepper's bed. Red with rage, Blaize gave chase, but he had a tough time and could not bring the situation under control. Suddenly, an opportunity for freedom presented itself to the rat. He had stumbled upon a little opening on the windowsill, escaped from the room and raced across the field to the backyard of the main building. Hardly satisfied with the situation, Dr. Pepper threw open the door as Blaize pounced into the outside world to continued the chase. Fleeing for dear life, the rat made his way around the main building before disappearing into a hole as Blaize trailed under the shadow of disappointment.

Dr. Pepper had high hopes that his cat had sent the interloper to blazes. But of course it was not so, and he became furious when he found poor Blaize circling the hole that the little devil had entered. “So you could not ruin the rat, you useless cat?” He flashed a menacing smile at Blaize. Then the angry man glanced about and found a shovel. He grabbed hold of it with an iron grip and advanced towards the poor cat. But just as he hurled the shovel at the cat, Blaize scaled the fence. He'd suffered a few bruises, but he was whole. The man breathed a sigh of relief and walked briskly back to the cottage to put the day behind him.

In the dark of night, Dag, Pork and Fred feasted on a roasted fish that had fallen from the table of a seller on Maxwell Street. As they relished each bite, they were distracted by a strange sound from a corner. Dag, the eldest, raised his head, but when he did not see anything, he lowered his head again and continued with the meal. Moments later, there was a big bang. Pork stopped eating and said, “What's that?”

“I don't know,” Dag replied. He chewed noisily, staring at the darkness. Blaize limped out looking as if he had fallen from a tree.

“It's only Blaize. I thought it might be Flinz. I would have snuffed the life out of the foul toad!” Pork boasted.

“Hey, guys! What do you have for me?” Blaize groaned.

Dag chuckled. “Why would a cat that has a rich owner be looking for a meal in this filthy place?”

Blaize wore a long face. “My new owner is not what we thought.”

“What do you mean?” asked Fred.

“Can't you see that I'm limping? Dr. Pepper almost killed me few days ago. I have been tending to my injury on one of the roofs on the other side of the street,” Blaize disclosed as tears gathered in his eyes.

“We must look after each other. What happened?” Dag inquired as he drew closer.

“There was a stubborn rat that the old man expected me to kill, but the little devil escaped into a hole as I tried to make a short work of him,” Blaize said as he shook his head in despair.

“That's not enough to make him treat you badly. Age can be a terrible curse. If I may ask, how did you escape?” Pork asked.

Blaize inhaled sharply and said, “I had to pull a few strings to get out of the bloody mess.”

“I can't believe that Dr. Pepper could be such an evil man,” Fred reacted.

“That was not the first time that I saw his dark side. Two weeks ago, he threatened me with a knife because a rat entered his cottage and ruined his old diary. And it wasn't my fault because he always kept me in the cage,” Blaize said and began to sob gently.

Dag was discouraged. “I wonder why some people do not value life. I am looking forward to the day when we will all be free to walk the street and get equal opportunity to live the best life we can.”

Pork was the next to speak: “We are due for a revolution. But we do not have what it takes to confront these wicked people. What we need is an opportunity to express our grievances.”

“You are right. Someday our deliverance will stroll into our world!” said Fred.

As they rested on the wings of silence, Munroe, an elderly cat from William Otama Street, emerged from the evening shadows and approached the friends. “Dag, where is Blaize? His master, Dr. Pepper, is dying!” he said, panting.

Dag sighed. “That is good for him: he's been mistreating Blaize!” he said and turned away.

Blaize limped forward and faced Munroe: “What happened to Dr. Pepper?”

Munroe heaved. “A while ago, he had an encounter with Flinz. I chased a rat into his compound. As I was feasting on the rat, I saw Flinz stealing a fish from a table in the backyard. Dr. Pepper was in the kitchen. The angry old man grabbed a broom, and as he tried to hit the intruder, he stumbled and fell upon a bottle of cooking gas. I tried to fight Flinz but my blows were not enough As soon as he disappeared over the fence, I regained my footing, but when I looked back at the kitchen, I saw Dr. Pepper engulfed in an inferno. There was nothing I could do to save him. Munroe ended his long oratory with a noisy cough, the result of inhaling smoke from the fire.

Blaize broke down and wept bitterly. “No need to cry, Blaize,” Pork consoled. “Dr. Pepper got what he deserved.”

Sobbing gently, Blaize replied, “Even though he has treated me unfairly, Flinz does not have the right to cause him misfortune.”

“That's true. But Dr. Pepper was a bad man,” Dag said.

“I don't believe in paying evil with more evil. If we continue that way, the world will never be a better place. We must set an example for others to follow, and a legacy that will leave our names on the sands of time,” Blaize said.

“What can
we
do?” Fred asked.

“We must rescue Dr. Pepper and get Flinz out of the way, for he has brought shame upon us all!” Blaize announced. The other cats agreed and reluctantly followed him into a shadow.

But things did not go as they'd expected. By the time the cats got to the scene of the tragedy, the firemen had brought the situation under control. But, alas, Dr. Pepper had not survived the inferno. Blaize and his friends watched as the dead man was carried upon a stretcher to an ambulance. Slowly, the ambulance rolled away, leaving only a trail of gloom. Blaize grieved that his master, at times unkind though he was, had bidden the world farewell, and he wept bitterly. “If I had only known, I would have hung around. Then this tragedy would not have happened!” Blaize cried out loud.

“It is not your fault, Blaize. There is a purpose to everything,” Dag consoled him and gave the poor cat a pat on the back.

Blaize replied tearfully, “If Flinz had not come around, we would not be singing this sad song.”

Pork heaved and shook his head. “Please accept my condolence, Blaize. You are indeed a hero to have come this far to rescue a man that never treated you fairly when he was alive. This is the way in which we must live with our neighbors. Anything less will not help the world. As for Flinz, I will not sleep until he is humbled.” Fred nodded and exchanged glances with Pork.

Dag snatched a breath from the wings of the evening, and glanced toward the train station. “Let's go!” he said, and moved in the direction of the station. Breathing the air of vengeance, the other cats followed him.

Suddenly, there was a strange movement. The cats rushed to the scene from which the disturbance had come. No doubt Flinz was the source of the commotion. They suspected that he'd entered one of the trains, so Dag signaled the cats to check each car to see if he was hiding inside. But Flinz was not there.

Frustrated, the cats finally abandoned the search. As they alighted one after the other from the train, Pork turned to Dag and said, “Where do we go from here?”

“I don't know,” Dag replied. But as he spoke, his eye stumbled on Flinz sitting indignantly on top of the train. “There he is!” he shouted, pointing. Before they could blink, Munroe was on the train to confront Flinz. Munroe charged forward, and they shared blows from one end to the other before Munroe was finally repelled. Flinz buried a fang into Munroe's neck. And Munroe let out an agonized cry. Before Dag and the others could come to his rescue, Flinz had pushed Munroe from the top of the car onto the ground, and now Munroe lay struggling for life. As they rushed towards him, Flinz dashed the other way. As the other cats gave chase, Blaize attended to Munroe, the first casualty of this treacherous night. But Munroe had suffered a broken neck. “Blaize, forget about me! Go with the others. . .”

“No! You will survive. We came here together, and together we shall leave,” Blaize replied as tears gathered in his eyes.

“No, I have lost it, Blaize. But promise me that my death will not be in vain.” Munroe said as he fought gallantly against the approaching blackness of death.

“You will not die, Munroe. You will live!”

Munroe gasped and choked. “Ah, Blaize…” He smiled warmly at his friend as his head rolled to one side and the last breath of life left his lips. Blaize could not hold back his tears as he fell on Munroe and wept bitterly.

Meanwhile, Flinz had climbed a nine-foot-tall container, and then negotiated his way past four others of the same height. Once he'd descended, he was beyond reach.

Dag and the others were lost when they got there. As they intensified their search, Pork became the next casualty of the bizarre night. He stole into a corner not knowing that Flinz was lurking. Before he could sense danger, Flinz pounced and knocked him over. They had a fair struggle. But before the others could rush to the scene to save their friend from the claws of death, the damage had been done. Pork only managed to point in the direction that Flinz had fled before he expired. Dag could not hold back his tears. And Fred sobbed gently as Pork surrendered to the blackness. Moments later, Dag rose to feet and wiped his face with the back of his paw. A wicked anger came over him as he advanced in the direction that Flinz now lurked. Drowned in a pool of fear, Fred followed. As soon as the cats were within striking distance, Flinz unleashed his treachery. Dag received a fierce blow and fell near the lifeless body of Pork. Flinz faced Fred with a wicked anger. But before he could make a move, Dag had regained his footing and dashed to Fred's aid. As the battle raged, Dag and Flinz shared blows from one end of the station to the other.

When it appeared that Flinz had begun to gain an advantage, Blaize emerged from the dark, limping. He pounced on the notorious cat and buried his fangs into his neck. Flinz elicited an agonized cry. With blows from all corners descending on him, Flinz lost his balance. As he growled on the floor, Dag and the other cats did not spare him and snuffed the life out of him. Happy that he had walked into silence, they embraced one another, even as they wished Pork and Munroe were not dead.