THE CHASM

Part 4 Fire In The Lion
By Tessa Harvey

    Jackson Blakeley sauntered down the street. He liked to walk using the balls  of his feet to swagger. He has practised and now this was habitual. People usually stepped around him, some even taking to the gutter, which he saw as his right as king of the neighborhood.
    A young man and woman were approaching.  He dismissed the young bloke as weedy, but liked the look of the girl - long soft hair, lovely face. Jackson stopped and waited. The couple moved to pass him, but he blocked the footpath. They stopped. "Hey, I am Jackson Blakeley. You have heard of me, right?" They looked at each other and said, "no."  "You don't know who I am?" His voice was indignant. 
"We are students," Ariella answered, placatingly, "but move!" Dylan stated firmly. Ari rolled her eyes. Two males sizing each other!! She tried to move beyond them both.
    "Hey!" Jackson ventured, "could I get you a coffee as a sort of welcome, right?" He attempted a killer smile.
    "Not without me," bristled Dylan. Since being bullied early at school, his uncle had enrolled him in self defence classes. Jackson whistled shrilly. A huge bloke appeared round the corner. He looked strikingly like Lurch in The Addams Family sitcom on T.V.
    'Lurch' said "You want me?" in the same sepulchral tones as the TV identikit version.
    "Keep this guy busy," Jackson ordered. Sensing trouble, Ari glanced around. The street was busy with older people, mothers and children. She felt God say it was oay. "I will call you," she said. Dylan fumed, but a heavy paw restrained him.
    



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