Behind the System: Among Wolves

BEHIND the SYSTEM:

Among Wolves

SADECC CHOUCAIRE

Part I

Chapter 1:

21 December 2013

I was a free spirited boy, enjoying what I thought to be the usual Saturday night at the cozy Captain’s Cabin. One of the many close quartered pubs in Hamra. The streets where filled with happy students. We had just received our Holiday break from our universities. Christmas festivity was in the air as we drank; Tania, Shady and myself. Captins Cabin was as you would imagine it, wood everywhere, cool vintage items and pictures of loyal customers on the walls.

At 11p.m, I got the call.

Max?

Max was my best friend throughout my last three years of high school. We drifted apart after our graduation in June of that same year. Mainly due to us going our separate universities and Tania of course. I looked away from the name on my phone screen towards Tania, unhinged I smiled as I shouted: “Yo Maxi, where you at?”

“Hey, I’m home.” he said and followed abruptly: “Do you have any Hash on you?”

“Nah bro, it’s Saturday, you know I only drink on Saturday. Come to Hamra.” And continued drunkenly: “Have you been training for our darts rematch?” I replied then remembered how awkward it was going to be since Tania was with me.

“Alright bro, I need 10 minutes.” He ended.Max lived in Mansouriye, 45 minutes away from Hamra. I suspected nothing.

Tania was by my side, beautiful as ever. She’s the type of girl that ruins guy friendships for the heck of it. Tania and I met at a party in the summer of thatyear through common friends at our school, Max was also with me that day. She was a flirt, leading us both on. We spent the rest of the summer together, the three of us, smoking up, camping and partying. He fell in love with her hard, but so did I.

She was cheering me on as I knocked the balls down their pocket hole, I would receive a kiss after every successful attempt, and then add another round of Tequila. It was getting late, I had a strict curfew back at home. I payed the bill then went for a nice long leak in the bathroom and checking my self in themirror of course.

I like my beard this long.

I walked out of the bathroom to the sight of the pub’s elderly owner approaching me uneasily with his unbalanced wobble : “Leave right now, they are looking for you outside… I don’t want trouble boy.”

Who could be looking for me? Ahh…

The liquid courage was in in effect,the recess brawl atmosphere filled the vibe. I thought that Tania’s cousin came through after threatening me on the phone the other day for fucking his cousin. I wasn’t going to run away from a fight with some punk. I was a heavy built boy and on my 5th shot of Tequila. I strolled outside the pub, my adrenaline kicked in as I scanned the numerous crowds standing outside their respective pub. One of my many acquaintances in the neighborhood also warned me that people where looking for ’Saco’, he advised me to run away, I wasn’t hinged. I opened my arms wide apart from my chest and yelled towards the flock of drunkmen: “Who wants the Saco?!”. Then banged three times on my chest: ”I’m right hee…”.

Arghh!!

In a blink of an eye, my arm was twisted behind my back from out of nowhere, my head lowered by the neck and I was shoved to movement with a heavy arm on my shoulders. I was stunned.I tried to recapitulate what just happened: “Wait!”The man twisted my arm a more securely. The monstrous man dragged through the crowd towards a parking lot nearby.

What the fuck is going on?

I squeezed a look through my assaulters armpit back towards the pub and saw Tania jaw dropped and full of terror. I tried to gain strength from her sight and resist. The man squeezed my neck and accelerated the drag. A white range pulled up, I was pushed into the backseat.I tried to protest what was happening,” There’s a mistake. My name is Sade…” But was interrupted by a hard slapped across my face. I sobered up instantly.

This is real.

My black t-shirt was pulled over my head and into obscurity and my abductor sat next to me with his arm still firmly ahold of me.

I’m being kidnapped!

The car went into motion with a kick. The giant remained silent. I tried to orient myself with every left taken, every sound to conjure I clue to where I might be taken. It did not help. The movies I had watched did not really feed into my skills. We stopped 5 unregistered minutes later and I was grabbed out of the vehicle by another man.

Who are they? Where are they taking me? Who the hell is he? What does he want?

We ascended a couple of stairs and then I heard an order: “Take him to the room.”

The orders were fulfilled while I was pulled like a sack of potatoes towards ‘the room’.

“Strip!” ordered one of the guards, as he snatched my Alexander Mcqueen shirt off.

I squinted to the white lighted room, it had stained walls, an office I presumed after seeing two desks in close proximity to one another. But no chair was present for the six men inside the room. Attired inwife-beaters, work pants and boots. “There’s a mistake!” I pleaded to the policemen.

“Shut up!” One of the police officers proceeded to go through the pockets of my pants. He confiscated my phone, wallet, a cigarette pack and a green zippo lighter. Placed them all on the desk, he continued:“Strip down!”

As soon as I unbuckled my belt they snatched it away, I unzipped and dropped my pants.

“What’s your name?”

“Sadek.”.A thug standing behind me slapped my neck. “Ahhgh, Wait? Wh..” another guard tainted my face with his hand right after, evil laughs ensued

The mock questions did not wait for answers, the slaps where coming from every direction.

Arhhh.

“How old are you?”

“I’m 19, Ahgh…” my own belt connected from behind on my bare back. “What the fuck? You wanna hit me do it so I can see it coming!”. The blindsided shots were most annoying as I didn’t have time to anticipate the blow.

Suddenly the door was opened by the man who snatched me from the pub. The bullying stopped for a minute. The cigar smoking man walked in with my old friend.

Max! What is he doing here?

“Maxim! Is this Sako?”he asked, pointing at me with ta hand on Max’s shoulder.Max nodded without making any eye contact. “Take him back,” the monumental man ordered.One of the policemen rushed to escorted Max out of the room. I opened my mouth to try and comprehend what was happening, but no words had time, only screams as the rest of the group continued a more ferocious barrage, with belt whips and stomach punches forcing me to the ground.

“STOP!” I howled as my body reached the cold tiles. They ignored my plead as boots hammered on my back.

…

Max has been my best friend for the past three years. We did everything together, like any other we shared our smokable. If he was over I shared my joints and vice versa.Max is a big, blonde, snub-nosed Frenchie.We became best friends in Brumana High School after my parents sent me there for boarding`school.The school did not have a Rugby team before we met, we linked through our passion for the sport. We created a team there from scratch, going from person to person asking for their interests in joining the schools first ever Rugby team. Eventually we got a good wide receiver from volley-ball practice and a quick winger from the soccer team. As for us, we were an unstoppable heavy force in mid-field, winning the championship final for our school which happened to be against my former school the International College, in movie like fashion for myself.

I had my first joint a year ago, in freshman year with a group of seniors after we got assigned a film production assignment together. I was sitting in the back seat of the car heading to Edd’s place when they passed it to me. I did not hesitate telling them it was my first time. I remember them trying to trip me out about a phone call claiming that cops were roaming the school area. I did not trip, as the first time smoking barley had an effect on me.

…

“How much drugs do you sell?!” shouted the detective, he slapped me across the face, with his broad palm. He had the hardest hit, by far.

The first in command was well built and huge. Not bad, for a man in his fifties. White hair, marine shaved head with a hoarse voice that matched his haircut choice. I will never forget his features.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said, “I smoke weed yes, but I never sol--”

He slapped me again interrupting me. His henchmen surrounded me, each taking a turn in slapping and punching me around while having their laughs. I was terrified: “Please stop!” I yield at them while they took turns slapping me from different sides.

“Boy, do you have any idea where you are?” asked the interrogator. “You’re in Hbesh…” Roaming around me while his boys took a break for his speech. He continued. “We’re detectives. I’m pretty sure you heard many stories about us, confess and lets end this already, it’s 2 A.M, I have no problem keeping it going till morning.”.

Hbesh is the most notorious police station in Beirut. It is designated to temporarily detain those who are suspected of offenses and crimes, usually. Instead itwas always a lenghthy host of physical and emotional suicide. The police station focused on three crimes: Drugs, Gambling and Prostitution.

The famous hub was located right beside IC, my past school. We used to hear all sorts of rumors about the dark place, and sometimes even hearing the screams ourselves. Known for brutality, torture, corruption and everything a police station should never be.According to the Lebanese civil law book, upon arrests one can only be detained for a 48-hour period. Some people had been detained there for 90 days at a time.

He stopped his roam and got so close that I could feel his dense breath brushing across my face, his cigar smoke tearing through my eyes. “We always get our way.”, his piercing eyes still fixed on me closely, wickedly, he paused for a moment, then backed away and said, “Look. This is how it’s going to work. I will ask you a question and you will answer it, yes?’. Simple...” I nodded. “So you sold Maxim drugs? Yes?”

He was determined, he really believed that I was a drug dealer. My only hope was to stall long enough until my dad gets news of what is happening to me. He will be pissed surly but he will help me out. Bribe the officer or something. That’s how stuff works in here.

“Drug is such a harsh word for weed.Don’t you think?” I joked after the though of my idol, “I told you I never sold anything in my life.” Courageously staring him in the eyes. The atmosphere in the room was perturbed. The detective punched my stomach. I bent down in agony. He grabbed both my hands firmly behind y back and pulled them upwards. My arms stretched over my back, I felt they were going to rip from my shoulders and make a full turn over my head. The pain was unbearable.He suddenly released my arms. I shrieked and collapsed on the floor, face first on the cold tiles. I laid there for a while. Then came thundering boots hammering down my back, andsomeone whipped me with his belt twice.

I hope Max is witnessing what he did to me.

I didn’t know how long I could last. The detective knew exactly.

“Turkey him!” he barked with a smirking face.

Still on the floor, I slowly raised my head and responded: “Turkey sounds good, I can have something to eat.” I joked without thinking. I was still intoxicated and starved.

The police officer’s foot-soldiers got me up. I was so dizzy I tried hard to maintain my balance. They released my handcuffs and ordered me to strip and sit on the cold floor with only my boxers on. Next thing I know, my hands were sealed to the front by metal handcuffs. My wrists were positioned at the same level as my bent knees. A two-meter wooden stick was slid over my left wrist, under my knees then again over my right wrist. Then they raised me off the floor grabbing the stick by its ends. My back aligned with the ground, my 110 kg body weight was loaded solely on the joints of my hands and knees. One end of the stick was sustained on a right desk, the other end on the left desk.I was dangling in the middle of the stick, in the empty space formed by the desks; similar to a roasting turkey.My tormentor was upside down as he approached me; his cigar smoke clouding the area right above my tilted head.

“Toughest guy I had lasted four minutes on my turkey,” he boasted.

I don’t know if it was my drunkness or my competitive nature that kicked in that I felt the urge to beat that record. “So if I do five you’ll say five for the next one in here?” I was determined to hide any sign of pain. Alas, 1 minute in and my wrists felt like they were going to rip off. They got an ice cold bucket of water the next minute and soaked me, I began to sober up. The third minute I was kicked on my bum in such a manner I started to swing, the handcuffs started to wrip skin off my wrists.

“Confess!”

Rage started to build up inside me, I couldn’t take anymore. I started pivoting and screaming, tears blurring my sight, then I snapped: “Listen you corrupted shit, you don’t know who I am, you don’t know who my dad is. Once he finds out, you’d be lucky if I allow you to scrub my —Aaarh!”. I couldn’t complete my sentence. My voice changed from a vow of vengeance to a pitiful screech in an instant as the sizzling tip of his cigar danced violently on my chin.

“I am going to ask you again are you dealing drugs!?”

“Yes! Just please, just stooooop!” I roared, before passing out.