Superman Elseworlds: 'In the Name of...'

Chapter 5: Odyssey (part 1)

When Ishy was burning with fever, his skin so hot it would blister your skin if you touched him for too long…when he was burning and…and dying…and I was helpless and powerless and no good to him…

Only mothers can immediately understand that…that self-hate that sneaks into your heart and feeds on your helplessness.

I'm not belittling fathers…please, don't take my words the wrong way…

I'm not making sense, am I?

I'm sorry.

I was losing my son, and while waiting for him to arrive with the Mufti, that was all I could think about.

***

(Extracted and transcribed from George Taylor's audio notes)

 

I heard a story from Arshid, one of the street kids I know: apparently, a couple of the 'jaanvar' (beasts), as he calls them, were admitted to hospital recently. They, from what he had been told, had burns on their hands and near or around their groins.

These jaanvar prey on children – usually the street children but sometimes they aim…'higher'. Arshid…when I met him he had a broken leg and it was not going to set right. He was using an old dolly to get around and he told me afterwards that one of the older kids had tried to set it for him…

I actually prefer using the descriptive 'jaanvar'. I feel it conveys the nature of these non-humans quite well, and I've begun using it as a description for a range of predatory folk.

Arshid had been hit by a car that had ridden up on to the sidewalk. The driver was drunk – and as much as Pakistan considers itself a 'dry' country in light of the fact that the vast majority of its population is Muslim, there are a growing number of people who are drinking these days. It's not recreational for a lot of them, either…it's escapism, and they won't stop until the bottle is empty.

Anyway, Pakistan doesn't have the same kind of national health service in place like some countries do. If you don't have the money, then chances are you're not going to get seen to. Sure, there are the public sector regional hospitals and the infrastructure in places like Karachi are considered 'adequate', but tending to a street kid…I mean, there are volunteer hospitals and doctors and so forth – the Edhi Foundation is a great example – but, well, they're stretched to beyond their limits…

Like I said, one of his friends 'set' his leg for him and after that they just hoped for the best. I found him a couple of weeks later and even I could tell he wasn't going to be walking properly if he wasn't seen to, but the story he told me when he trusted me…

Jaanvar.

A couple of days after the accident, the driver rolled up as a passenger in a new car and his driver began making enquiries. The other street folk eventually opened up and told the driver about Arshid and they were then given a bag of medicine and some money and asked to give to him.

Sounds like a good deed, doesn't it? A way of at least trying to make amends for what had been done?

Perhaps it originally was – Arshid certainly argued with me that it must have been, his bright green eyes flashing with anger whenever the subject came up – but, well, I have my doubts. Anyway, neither the money nor the medicine made it to Arshid.

A few days later, the driver and the passenger returned and again asked about Arshid and his injuries and, again, money and medicine were handed over and, again, nothing made it to Arshid. Arshid ended up having a really bad fever and the next time the car 'made its rounds' his friend made sure he was there. He had heard about the money and the medicine and that they had not given them to Arshid, and several fights had broken out about it.