We are good people

Ricky is running. His small feet are stepping away from the holes in the shadowy street. He has learned by now - he should not stumble.

'Mom!', he screams, hoping his squeaky voice will be heard but he is still too far from home.

A figure appears at the corner, stops and then runs towards him. There she is. She has learned by now too.

***

Lili married John when she was twenty. Every one was smiling at her wedding, telling her how lucky she was to have this good man beside her. Good, hard working, kind and humble. They moved to the big city. That was ten years ago.

***

Ricky eats his dinner with the fork in his left hand. He tries not to move the right one too much, it rests on his lap, under the table. He looks directly down at his plate. The bruises are hidden in the shadow his hair casts on his face.

'They hit me, John. Now they hit me too.', Lili is staring at her husband. 'You have to help us! We have to go away!'

John is chewing on his meal. His moves are slow - thoughtful - one would say, if one sees him for the first time.

'We have had this conversation way too many times. You know we can't go. I have a good job here. The gangs only beat up the ones that mess with them. Stay low, be humble, and they will leave you alone. Why would anyone want to do you harm if you have not made them angry somehow. We stay here. We are good people. You are good, Ricky, aren't you!'

***

It is a sunny day, a holiday. School is off, Lili is cleaning at home, her heart at ease. She knows Ricky is playing somewhere in the streets around here.

The phone rings. 'Mrs. Smith, I am calling from the hospital', the voice is saying, 'We have your son in the emergency.'

***

Detective Lewis is talking to Lili Smith, a small woman, her weary eyes staring at the floor in front of her, as in shock. Well, she is in shock, her husband has been found shot at home yesterday evening.

'We are after some gang members, Mrs. Smith. Such things are not unheard of around here, unfortunately, but we are after them. Is there anything you know that could help us?'

'I hate this place,' she mumbles.

***

A minute after Lili Smith went out of the room, a man knocks at the door.

'Excuse me, officer, Lili left a small suitcase around here.'

'Is she going somewhere?'

'Yes, she is leaving, together with her son. Poor woman, she wants to leave this goddamn place for years now. I am giving her a ride to her parents' village. I already took some of her luggage there yesterday in the morning.'

The man goes out. A minute later detective Lewis drops his pen on the table. It falls down and rolls on the floor.

'Yesterday? Yesterday in the morning!'