by Craig Smith
And if things didn’t improve soon, he could lose all of them in one foul swoop. He had to think of something.
The other gunman seemed to be bewildered by the sudden change in affairs.
Amy and Fred were huddled on the floor clutching onto each other for dear life. Mary had her hand in the cupboard. Gunter noticed that she seemed to be looking for something. Siswe rocked back and forth and moaned to himself. The main gunman seemed to be basking in the glory of the moment of ruining so many lives.
3:00pm
Siswe’s brain was like a bag of shattered glass. Every time he thought about his brother or how devastated his mother would be when she found out, it felt like one the of jagged pieces of glass was stabbing him, and ripping him apart.
Jacobs’s smile widened even more.
“What about the money, man?” asked the other gunman.
“There’s plenty of time to worry about money later, let me have my fun first.” Jacobs glanced at Mary for a brief moment. He seemed to be very confident that he had everything under control. Siswe knelt quivering before him.
Jacobs spat at Siswe. “If you think that this is anywhere near over, you’re very mistaken.” He turned to Mary. “You have a very pretty daughter...” He looked at Amy with evil intentions in his eyes.
Mary began to sob. “No, you can’t!”
“Leave her alone!” shouted Gunter.
Siswe could hardly see, he was so blinded by rage. His body stopped quivering. He brought himself under control. He slowly raised his head. Jacobs, the man he despised so much, stood before him. He couldn’t let this carry on. Jacobs seemed to be distracted by Gunter’s outburst and was pointing the gun at him. Siswe couldn’t let anything happen to his new found friend. He gathered all of his rage and channeled it into his reluctant muscles. He shot forward like a man from a starter’s block in a 100m dash. Jacobs noticed too late. Siswe took him around the waist and tackled him. The others watched in amazement as they both smashed through the first floor window.
The other gunman stumbled back in shock. Mary wasn’t as bedazzled by the whole thing and grabbed the gun she had been searching for in the cupboard and pointed it at the remaining gunman. “Make one move and you’re a dead man.” The man took one look at the gun and dashed for the stairs. Mary fired the gun. The bullet zoomed past the man to hit a painting against the far wall. The man practically threw himself down the stairs. They thought it would be the last they saw of him, but they heard some shouting and the man came back up with his hands in the air. The armed men in security uniforms advanced towards the gunman.
Siswe felt the air rush past his ears as he and Jacobs plummeted to the ground. He wondered if he was going to die. He heard a loud bang. He closed his eyes. They landed with a thud and a splash. It was all dark and wet. Had he died? Was this what death felt like? It felt too real. He opened his eyes, he could see the swimming pool around him. He came to the surface, gasped for air, and opened his eyes. He couldn’t believe he was still alive. Jacobs was laying before him half in the pool and half out. Siswe looked away. The man seemed to be dead. Were the Johnsons okay? He suddenly felt very woozy. He looked down at the water. There was blood flowing into the water and it seemed to be coming from his shoulder. Siswe wasn’t the best when it came to blood and fainted. The water engulfed him once again.
The gunman slowly backed up the stairs. Both the security guards had their guns trained on him. Behind the two men appeared a friendly face, it was a face that Mary and the kids were only too happy to see. “James!” cried Mary. Once he was able to do so James came running to her side, and held her tight. Amy and Fred came over and joined in. Tears were flowing freely.
“Is everybody okay?” he asked in a strained voice.
They nodded. Words being hard for them to use.
Gunter felt so happy that they were safe. Mary beckoned him to come over to join, he was just about to do so when the smile of Siswe flashed before his eyes. He rushed over to the window and looked down. The gunman seemed to be dead and Siswe was floating in the pool face down.
“Siswe is in trouble!” he shouted and ran past everyone down the stairs. The second gunman was now on the floor in handcuffs. Once he was downstairs he turned to the pool and sprinted. He just hoped his friend was okay. He reached the poolside and dived in; clothes and all. He grabbed Siswe and brought him to the side of the pool, and with lot of effort pushed him up and out of the pool. Gunter climbed out of the pool and went to his friend’s side. He seemed to have a bullet wound to his shoulder, but worst of all he wasn’t breathing. Gunter wasn’t going to let things be and let his friend just fade away. He wracked his brains and then remembered the short CPR course his mother had forced the whole family to take once a new heated indoor pool had opened up near their home. He went over and started the procedure as best as he could remember. He gave a few breathes of life before he felt a tapping on his shoulder. He looked up with blurred vision. His eyes had filled up with tears. It was a paramedic.
“We’ll take over from here.”
Gunter got up and stepped back and let the professionals do their work. He just hoped that they were in time, and could do something. The Johnsons were outside too now. Mary came over and hugged him tight. “Are you okay?”
“I will be once I know Siswe is alright.”
Gunter felt so warm and safe in Mary’s embrace. It made him miss his mom very much. What seemed like quite a few moments later they heard a gasping for air. It was Siswe. He was alive. The paramedics raised him off the ground and placed him on a stretcher. Mary and Gunter followed as they wheeled him to the front of the house and into the ambulance. Gunter quickly went over to Siswe’s side. Siswe’s eyes seemed to he having a hard time focusing on anything, but they brightened up when they saw Gunter.
Gunter smiled down at his friend. Siswe gave a faint smile back.
The ambulance slowly drove away, turned on its lights and sped off. The front yard was now crowded with police cars and police officers. Melody was found unharmed in the back of the taxi. She was treated and questioned by the police before she was taken home. Gunter’s head spun at how many innocent lives were hurt by Jacobs.
The Johnsons and Gunter were directed to the lounge while the two gunmen were taken care of. While they sat and told each other what had happened Gunter wondered what he was going to tell his parents. They were going to think he was in some kind of war zone and would want him to come home as soon as possible. Several minutes later one of the police officers came in and questioned them all. They answered the questions as best they could, but they didn’t mention that Siswe had been part of the hijacking. They had all agreed that he had been forced to help Jacobs. They found out that the other gunman was a human trafficker.
After an hour or so the police were gone and they were told not go to near the pool or the games room, because the short staffed forensics team would be there in a few hours.
8:45pm
The hospital was busy and crowded with people. It was a lot bigger than the one Gunter had been in, but from the outside he could tell it wasn’t as well run, and the inside wasn’t much better. The white walls had faded to an off cream. Everything seemed clean, but he could tell the place hadn’t been revamped in a very long time. The place also seemed to be under staffed. James had come with him to visit Siswe. Mary and Amy and Fred were staying at Mary’s mother’s for the night, he didn’t blame them, he doubted if he could sleep in the house that night. After a few minutes of walking they reached the ward that Siswe was in. After a brief word with the nurse she directed them to Siswe’s room. The room was square with four beds in it. There were families there visiting the other patients in the room. Siswe was in one of the corner beds. There was drip in his arm and he seemed to be sleeping. Gunter was happy to see that his friend was still breathing. His shoulder was heavily bandaged up. Gunter sat down in a chair next to the bed and James stood with his arms folded. James hadn’t said much. He seemed to be quite upset
about what had happened that day and Gunter didn’t blame him, he was very upset too. He was sure that if Siswe hadn’t done what he had, there was a good chance that himself and the others would be dead.
Gunter took his friend’s hand and gave it a squeeze. The hand was a little cold, and there was no response. Gunter knew that there was a very a good chance that Siswe wouldn’t be awake yet. He knew after his own operation that he had been out for days. Gunter took out a small note pad from his bag and wrote: “So sorry for not trusting you. I hope you get better soon!” He also left his cell phone number. A few minutes later a bell rang signifying the end of the visiting hour. Gunter and James left the hospital.
Tuesday 26thMarch
Gunter and the others went to school as usual. They weren’t going to let the whole incident, even though it was very terrifying, stop them from carrying on with their lives as normal. The teachers were told about the whole thing, but the students were kept in the dark about most of it, although as with most things rumors were flying and the story was spread around the school before the end of the day. A huge get well card was bought and everyone in his class or anyone who knew Siswe signed it with get well wishes. Gunter was behind it and by the end he had to get another three more
