THE GANG OF BLACK SUITS
Written By - Prabir Rai Chaudhuri
© All Copyright Reserved By Prabir Rai Chaudhuri- 2023
Ethan, the friend of Alex, Linnea and Celeste, often babysits on
Wednesday afternoons. Thanks to this job, he was able to afford a very
nice bike of which he is really proud. As he still considers other
purchases, he continues to babysit quite regularly.
One Wednesday afternoon, around five o'clock, Ethan left the building after the
return of the parents of the two little ones. Arrived on the sidewalk, he
noted with horror that his bicycle, attached with a good chain to a tree, was
badly damaged. The twisted front wheel, the forced derailleur, the
lacerated handlebars. It was not an accident, but vandalism. Our
friend had tears in his eyes.
Raising his head, he saw a hundred meters further on, two young people hidden
under black clothes and a black balaclava. The two thugs were laughing and
pointing at him. The boy tried to run after them, but the two individuals
ran away cowardly. Ethan then retraced his steps, took his bicycle and,
holding it by the handlebars, crossed the park to return home.
A few moments later he ran into his friends Celeste and Linnea, a year younger
than him, and both in fifth grade at school. They were coming back from
the pool.
-What happens to you ? Veronique worried. Did you have an accident?
-No, it's not an accident, but vandalism. My bike was damaged while
babysitting my two little ones.
-Your new bike! cried Linnea indignantly. The one you bought for
yourself after working and saving so much.
"Exactly," replied their friend.
-I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Veronique insisted. If you want, I'll
lend you one of mine, for as long as you want.
-You are nice, thanked Ethan, but that will not make me this one. I assure
you that I will not stop there with these bastards.
The next day at school, our four friends talked about it around them. They
learned incidentally that their friend was not the first to be attacked by the
band of black clothes.
These thugs, always dressed in black and hooded, robbed small
traders. They had fun tagging the walls, breaking the panes of old
buildings. Sometimes they invaded the playgrounds, insulted the parents,
terrorized the little ones, stole the little money that the children kept in
their pockets for their snacks or for school, or extorted them. In short,
this gang had been reigning in the neighborhood for some time.
No one knew how many members made it up. The police, having never seen any
of them with their faces uncovered, remained very perplexed and totally
powerless.
The following Wednesday afternoon, the four of our friends sat down on a bench
in the public park near their home. They were thinking. By dint of
deduction, they acquired the certainty that these thieves had to have a
headquarters, a place to meet, in an old building no doubt. They thought
of the old station, along a disused railway track. This station, formerly
transformed into a café-restaurant, then left deserted, was to suit them as a
lair. A short visit was in order.
The four of them got on their bikes and headed towards the abandoned building
which was reached by climbing an embankment through brambles, nettles and wild
plants.
The construction seemed sinister to them. All the panes were broken, the
door gutted, the shutters dragged on the floor. The cracked walls were
covered with plants and graffiti. Inside, it smelled musty, rotten,
filthy. The paint was chipped, pieces of brick or cement were strewn on
the floor where you found here and there empty cans, broken bottles and an old
rotting mattress.
A concrete staircase led to the first and then to the second floor, in the same
state as the rest. On the second floor, Linnea saw, in the dirt and dust,
two trouser legs in black jeans. She concludes that the band sometimes met
in this place. Probably some boy or girl cut his jeans to make summer
shorts.
How to succeed in learning more and even being able to pin them down?
Our friends decided to keep their eyes open, to listen, to try to overhear a
conversation, to find a clue.
Sometimes on Wednesday afternoons, Linnea and Celeste go to the big
playground. They go from the swings to the slides, climb the big cube made
of iron bars, explore all the games. Often they play in the large sandbox
where the youngest are. They have fun building castles for them and all
the little children surround them, very happy that for once the “big ones” want
to share their games.
One day, while our friends were finishing a beautiful circuit for marbles, an
apparition caused the toddlers to run into the arms of their parents. In
the distance, three hooded youths in black suits had just appeared. Linnea
and Celeste moved away from the games and hid behind trees, but ready to
intervene if necessary.
One of the thugs pulled a spray paint from his pocket and tagged a
tile. Another opened his switchblade, the weapon of the coward, the weapon
of the weak, the coward, the cheat. He cut the swing ropes. Then they
kicked the little ones' sand constructions. Some of them were
crying. A mother dared to intervene.
- But stop! Do you really only think about hurting those around you?
The three young people turned and insulted this poor mother, unleashing a
volley of words and vulgar insults on her, absolutely shameful, then they
walked away.
At that precise moment, Linnea and Celeste had the chance to hear
them. The three young people passed talking to each other, very close to
the trees behind which they were hiding.
- So,
Saturday eleven o'clock in the morning?
"Yes, Saturday, eleven o'clock," repeated another. We all get
together to prepare for a big operation.
"Okay," said the third.
Then
they separated.
Thinking they knew where they were hiding and the exact time of the meeting the
following Saturday, the four friends devised a daring plan which they talked
about around them at school during recess. They soon formed a string of
twenty children with their friends and friends from fifth and sixth
primary. They agreed to meet on Saturday at ten o'clock in the morning.
There, under the command of Alex, they discreetly and remotely surrounded the
building of the old station.
Only one place seemed impractical or so. The back of this old construction
then abandoned. Ethan and Celeste hid there under a clump of brambles and
nettles, to watch the comings and goings,
All the others, spread out in a semi-circle, stood ready to
intervene. Everyone carried a weapon. A wrench, a crowbar, a hammer,
a penknife...
They saw
one, two, three young people in black hoods arrive. Then two more and two
more, that was already seven. Finally, a last one approached on a
motorbike. He put away his machine and entered the ruined building.
For a few more minutes, Alex and his friends observed the place carefully and
listened, on the lookout for the slightest noise while remaining silent.
Then, as no one seemed to be coming, they risked attacking. All the boys
and girls rushed between the thickets and thickets and entered the building
through the broken windows, through the ripped door or where they could,
shouting "ya-hou", as battle cries. They heard howls of
amazement up there.
The children courageously ran up the only staircase, but when they reached the
second floor, they saw no one. The thugs had escaped through a small
window at the back which gave access to a rusty iron ladder hanging on the
facade of the wall of the old building.
The band
members then slipped through the thickets. They passed very close to Ethan
and Celeste and apprehended them. The two friends, alone against a band of
eight, could not stand up to them.
The school friends came down the ladder in turn. They looked for their two
friends. They called, they shouted, but the two children remained
invisible. Alex suggested that everyone go home, and accompanied by his
sister Linnea, he ended up returning home, very worried.
The group of black coats, descending the rusty ladder, had seen, given the
height at which they were at the start, Ethan and Celeste hidden in the thicket. They
approached them, took out their switchblade knives and under threat,
The two
children were taken by force to a hangar, also dilapidated and located a few
hundred meters away. They were forced into this warehouse. There, the
eldest of the eight thieves, the leader no doubt, approached Ethan.
-We don't like spies very much. You will find out how we punish them.
He uncapped a can of sweet lemonade and poured the entire contents over
Veronique's head. His hair, his polo shirt, his jeans, everything was
impregnated with it. She felt with disgust the liquid running down her
back.
They then tied the two children's hands and feet tightly. Then, carrying
them, they went to put them down a hundred yards away, a few paces from several
hives buzzing with bees. The youths of the gang in black suits walked away
and disappeared laughing.
Our two friends, lying on the ground, one close to the other, saw the first
bees arrive. They revolved around Celeste who, terrified, knew that she
must not move.
Ethan saw a shard of a bottle four meters away, on the other side of a puddle
of mud. He crossed it while rolling on himself. He managed to put his
back on the shard and, rocking back and forth on his wrists, he tried to break
his bonds. He hurt himself two or three times and bled, but bravely the
boy continued, stabbing at the sharp glass of the bottle. He managed to
cut the bonds of his arms.
About twenty bees now surrounded the face of the poor young girl who was
trembling with fear, but still managed to control herself and not move.
Our
friend grabbed the piece of glass and cut the ropes that bound his
feet. He then rushed to his girlfriend and cut her hand and foot
ties. She got up immediately. He hunted several bees. The
others, surprised, fled and Celeste only got stung once in all.
Alas,
the insects came back and followed our friend, attracted by the sugar
water. She rolled in the large muddy puddle her boyfriend had crossed.
She hesitated for a moment, then lay down in the black, nauseating
mud. His hair, his clothes, everything was impregnated. But the bees
moved away. Then they both returned to the nearby house, where Alex and Linnea
were waiting for them.
After washing and changing, Linnea and her brother lent them clean
clothes. Then the four friends met in the living room. They had never
been made fun of in such a way. Never had they been humiliated so
much. First, the thugs had attacked Ethan's bike, and now Celeste and her
friend had been tied up and delivered to the bees. It cried out for
revenge. How to go about it ?
They hatched several plans, but none really suited.
Suddenly,
Linnea spoke.
- I see only one solution. I will enter the band.
- What do you propose here? his brother worried. Get into the band?
-Yes, if we want to trap them, we have to know their plans, one of us has to be
part of their dirty group in order to spy on them from the inside.
- Do you really measure the risks you take? asked Philip.
- Yes, I measure them well, repeated the courageous young girl.
"And why does it absolutely have to be you?" asked Veronique.
-First, because they know you. You and Ethan have been spotted. You
have no chance of being accepted. Only my brother or me remains. I
believe that I may have a chance to enter this band of thugs, being myself, it
seems, quite a "tomboy". And if I pretend to befriend one of
them, I'll get him to talk.
After several hesitations and in front of the insurance and the courage of Linnea,
they decided to try the operation.
Two Wednesdays in a row, our friend sat on a bench, along the old railway line,
where a lot of people walk or cycle, between the dilapidated building, where
they had seen the group, and the shed that Ethan and Celeste had told him
about. These hoodlums often hung around there. She hoped to meet some
to talk to them.
On the second Wednesday, after an hour of waiting, luck smiled on
him. Finally, luck...
She put
the book she was reading next to her. Two young people, dressed in black
and hooded, approached. When they got close, she stood up.
- Hi, I would like to join your gang.
The two thugs stopped. One of them appeared to be a girl. Linnea saw
long hair protruding from the edge of her hood. The other, given his size,
seemed or could be the leader.
-Why do you want to join our gang?
-Because you are the strongest, said our friend smiling. I like this.
She had just hit a nerve.
-All right. See the shed over there?
-Yes.
-GOOD. Be there on Saturday at three o'clock in the afternoon, in your gym
clothes. If you don't come, never come before me again.
The two young people walked away.
Linnea waited for them to disappear. She took her book and went to find
her friends and her brother. She explained her adventure.
The following Saturday, in gym clothes, blue shorts, white t-shirts and tennis
shoes, our friend headed for the shed. Alex, Ethan and Celeste followed
from afar, to observe and be ready to intervene in case of difficulty.
Linnea, heart pounding, entered the building. She saw four or five hooded
youths.
- Approach, called one of them. Sit there on the ground.
She sat down on the ground.
-GOOD. You say you want to join us. Have you thought about it well?
-Yes. I'm interested in being part of a real band.
-GOOD. You have to pass three tests. If you pass them all, you will
be one of us.
Linnea didn't answer.
-First test. Take off your T-shirt.
Our friend went topless. It bothered him a little, but they had to be
obeyed.
-Take off your gym sandals.
She got barefoot. All he had left was his shorts.
-Do you see the beehives over there?
- Yes, affirmed Linnea.
- On the left, there is an isolated one.
- Yes, I can see it.
-We put a key on this hive. Go get it and bring it to me.
Decidedly,
these hooligans are obsessed with bees, says our friend.
Linnea walked towards the hive barefoot, shirtless, short hair blowing in the
wind. The further she went, the more the bees surrounded her. His
heart began to beat faster and faster. His hands were shaking, frozen with
cold as much as fear. The bees circled around her. She thought of Celeste.
She shielded
her eyes. She barely opened them, just to see her way, so as not to be
pricked under the eyelids. Two or three bees landed on her, one on her
shoulder, another on her arm, and a third on her stomach.
She was now advancing very slowly, shuffling her feet, deliberately moving as
little as possible, breathing as gently as she could. She finally got to
the side of the hive.
She saw the key. She held out her right hand, very slowly, controlling
herself as much as she could, so as not to tremble. About twenty bees were
now running over his body. She managed to grab the key. She squeezed
it between thumb and forefinger. She bent her elbow, turned around and
slowly moved away from the hive.
Since she didn't make any sudden movements, for she controlled herself with
incredible courage, she made it to the shed without being stung. She put
the key in the outstretched hand of the gang leader, forcefully, almost
violently.
-You are angry! I appreciate those who have character.
But his smile didn't show under his hood.
-Second test, now. See those two shoeboxes?
"Yes," answered Linnea.
- Open the first one, the one on the left.
She opened the designated box. She was empty.
- The other now.
In a second, she saw with horror a big tarantula, which stirred in a corner.
-Close the two boxes.
She put the lids down.
- We're going to put a blindfold on you. You will open the two boxes
again. You will take the spider in the one on the right and you will put
it in the one on the left.
Linnea's heart began to pound. She would never dare take such a spider in
her hand. She felt horrified. She was shaking now, frozen with
dread. But she wanted to pass the test to avenge her friends. She
thought of her brother, of Ethan, of her friend Celeste, intensely.
She held out her right hand for the empty box and her left for the
other. She took off the two lids. She hesitated a moment
longer. Nobody can do that, she told herself. It's too tough a
test. She was going to be bitten.
Then she thought that others had to pass this test before her to enter the band
of black clothes. His hand was shaking. She put it in the terrible
box and touched the spider. She then felt and understood in a flash that
while the blindfold was being placed on her, the living spider's box had been
replaced by another, containing a plastic one. She grabbed it and
transferred it to the second box.
The blindfold was torn off.
-You have guts, concludes the chief. I like this. Come, you will pass
the third test. You can put your t-shirt and your shoes back on.
Linnea got dressed quickly. They moved away and followed the streets of
the district. They came to a store that sold sweets and newspapers.
-Come in there and steal at least twenty euros from the cash register. We
are waiting for you. When you bring me the money, you'll be a member of
our band.
Our friend, still in gym clothes, entered the shop. Anguished. She, a
girl of good education, a thief, never!
She
approached the magazines and pretended to leaf through them. She was
thinking. What could she do? How to do it? Tell his story to the
merchant? But would he believe her? Begging twenty euros? He
probably wasn't going to lend them to her and from now on, he would be
suspicious of her. What else could she do?
Go out and run. Abandon the project. His friends would certainly not
hold it against him. But after the success of the first two tests, it
would be a shame. No, we had to find something else.
Linnea began to sweat. For a moment, the merchant asked her what she was
looking for. She replied that she was choosing a magazine. The man
shrugged and walked into the next room. The phone was ringing.
Our friend, with a rapid step, walked towards the cash register. Trembling
with fear, blushing with shame, she opened the drawer, took out two ten euro notes,
put the drawer back in place and ran out of the store. She put the money
in the hands of the gang leader.
-GOOD. Get some black clothes. See you tomorrow at eight o'clock in
the disused building along the railway line. You will receive your
balaclava and you will be part of our gang.
All the
members of the group disappeared.
Alex, Ethan and Celeste approached.
Linnea was still in shock.
-I want to immediately return twenty Euros to the manager of this store. I
had to steal from his crate.
Celeste ran home. She returned with the change and the four children
headed for the counter.
- Sir, declared Linnea, do not take me for a thief. The gang of black
clothes forced me to take two tickets from your box. I'll be back to give
them to you.
"I hadn't noticed it yet," said the man. You are an honest young
girl. I thank you.
They left the store and returned home.
Linnea does not own black jeans. Ethan passed him an old one of his
own. Alex lent a black t-shirt. For the sneakers, she took her oldest
gym sandals and blackened them with shoe polish.
She went
to the first meeting in the evening.
Spooky atmosphere! She received a hood. She still didn't know who the
others were. None removed the one that hid his eyes. A bunch of
cowards. A gang of thieves. A bunch of thugs. Their vocabulary
was vulgar. They were looking for a dishonest project. Linnea was
listening.
One of
them offered to steal an old lady's pension. Another spoke of a store they
might attack. Linnea was silent. She was seated next to the chief.
For a
while, he ran his hand through his hair. She was disgusted, but let it
go. She even leaned her head against his shoulder. The leader took
her against him and hugged her tight.
So much the better, thought our friend. He is not suspicious. He
thinks I'm his girlfriend, but he's wrong and I'll win.
The band of black coats broke up half an hour later. They would meet the
following Saturday at the same time. They hadn't decided anything.
You had to imagine something to take advantage.
The four
friends thought for a long time. They considered several avenues. The
next day, Ethan devised a plan. He explained it.
-At school, you know, he said, the principal's office moved from the ground
floor to the first floor, following the new constructions.
"Right," replied the others.
-GOOD. So downstairs the room is empty. But there remains an old safe
built into the wall. It contains nothing, of course. We don't close
it anymore. Everyone knows the opening secret by
now. "BABA".
"Okay," the others replied.
- And where are you coming from? asked Alex.
-Here is. You could, Linnea, tell those thugs that you know where the
money is in a safe at your school. Tell them about a few thousand
euros. You would bring the gang to the building. They will manage to
penetrate by forcing a door or breaking a window. Of course, you won't
take them to the principal's office on the first floor, but to the old
room. The rest of us will place a chair or two there, a table, posters on
the walls, some folders, an old telephone, so that it looks real. We'll
close the trunk and scramble the secret. We know that all you have to do
is turn the four letters: "BA BA" correctly to open it.
The other three were listening.
"And here is the most important thing," continued the boy. The
door downstairs, on the ground floor, does not close properly. I mean when
you're outside and you slam that door, the latch comes off and you keep it in
your hand. If you get the gang into this room, they'll all go straight to
the chest. You will explain to them that the secret changes every week and
that you are going to see him at the secretariat. You will leave the room
and slam the door. The full latch, because on the bolt side, will remain
in your hand. On the other side, the other handle, hollow, useless, will
fall to the ground. They will be locked in the room.
"They'll come out the window," feared Celeste.
-Impossible, specified Ethan. It is barricaded by a thick fence. The
only risk you run is that one of them accompanies you. But if only one or
two come with you to the secretariat to discover the secret number there, there
are three of us and we will master them to protect you.
-Okay, approved Linnea. Like this the whole gang will be locked
up. All you have to do is call the police.
-Exactly.
The plan, however delicate, was adopted.
The following Saturday, around eight o'clock in the evening, Linnea arrived at
the gang's meeting place.
After
greeting each other, our friend proposed the plan, as Ethan had described it.
Immediately,
they almost all applauded, very enthusiastic. Only the other girl in the
gang was wary.
-What are you afraid of, Paula? asked the leader of the group.
"We don't say names," she replied angrily. I believe it's a
trap. This little girl seems to me too well educated, far too cute and too
honest. I wonder what she is doing among us.
Paula, the chef's former girlfriend, was jealous and watching our brave friend.
-I don't
see where the problem is, asserted another. We enter this school, we rush
to the trunk, the news reveals the secret to us, we open it, we take the money
and we get out. It seems to me an excellent plan and why not go there
immediately?
"Okay," answered Linnea. I don't know if next week the money
will still be in the safe.
"So, let's go," decided the leader.
Paula wanted to insist, but our friend glared at her, looking at her.
-Jealous?
"Dirty kid," she snapped.
A moment later, she walked out with the other gang members. All hooded, of
course.
Alex, Ethan
and Celeste, who watched their movements, ran to their bikes and rushed to
school. They entered the building through a small window intentionally
left ajar. Maybe we should help their friend.
The gang arrived in the playground. With their switchblades and a crowbar,
they quickly forced open a window on the ground floor.
They
crossed a class, gained the corridor and blocked the alarm. Linnea pointed
to the director's office, the last door on the left. His heart was
pounding. His hands were shaking. They were covered in
perspiration. The sweat of fear.
When they were all in the empty room, she spoke quickly.
- Don't move, I'm coming. I'll get the secret number at the
secretariat. It changes every week.
As she walked through the door, Paula walked over to Linnea. Quick and
determined, our friend got out and slammed the door shut. She received the
full latch in her hands. She heard the other handle, the hollow one,
useless, fall on the floor of the office where the whole gang of black suits
was locked up.
Alex, Ethan and Celeste showed up. Linnea sat down on the stairs. She
was shaking all over her body. Ethan grabbed the laptop borrowed from his
parents for the occasion. He dialed the number and called the police.
The members of the band were drumming, shouting, vociferating in the
office. They tried several times to break down the door, but they
couldn't. Shaking the window bars was useless.
When the gendarmes arrived with a screaming siren, all they had to do was pick
them all up. Linnea had changed quickly so as not to be confused with the
thieves.
They
took off their hoods. They were identified and put in jail. It seems
they are still there.
Thanks
to the courage of Alex, Ethan, Celeste and especially Linnea, the band of black
clothes has stopped spreading terror in the neighborhood.
Ethan
received a new bicycle.
We must not attack our four friends. They hate fighting, but when it comes
to helping one of them, they are always there.
