Oliver Benjamin
turned to the screen and saw his own face.
There was a news report featuring his gym. He was excited at
first to see free publicity.
“…early reports suggest that the batteries were not sent to these
countries at all, but to private corporations who paid Martin Ash in
cash under the table…”
Martin flashed white. He grabbed the counter for support.
“…traveled periodically to Ethiopia under the guise of altruism,
but little was actually done to alleviate the people’s burdens. Rather,
there is some indication that Mr. Ash’s visits were of a more social
nature…”
On the screen now appeared the Ethiopian whose grandfather
his sneakers had helped destroy. Now a fully-grown adult, he said all
the horrible things one might expect people to say when paid to do
so. Even if some of it was true.
“Hey man,” Colin said, “are you okay?”
Martin fainted then, banging his head sharply on the counter.
Colin called for help. Sprout rushed in from the garden to find him
crouched over their fallen friend. Colin tried to bring his face close
enough to initiate CPR but fear that he would do it wrong, coupled
with his own latent homophobia made his neck jerk to and fro like a
chicken. Sprout ran over and pushed him out of the way, trying to
breathe new life into Martin’s perfect but broken body. Colin called
an ambulance.
By the time the paramedics arrived Martin was breathing but
still unconscious.
“His pulse is only thirty,” one of them said. “Pass me the
adrenaline.”
They jabbed him with the needle. His perfectly conditioned but
abnormal heart, boasting a pulse uncommonly low, shuddered and
leapt at the unnecessary drug. He sat up with eyes wide open and
screamed. His heart gave out and he slumped to the wooden floor,
bashing his head once more. Sprout ran over and pushed the
paramedics out of the way. She tried to kiss life back into his face,
thinly-veined now like marble.
But this proved beyond her powers and she slumped, defeated,
alongside the fallen statuesque. She cried openly as his blood
searched out the lowest points of his body and settled there gently to
rest.
189
 |
 |
 |
 |