The Nerd. The Dancer. And the Killer.

III. Anthony's Burden

                If there was something that Anthony feared the most, it was fear itself. Just by cultivating the idea of being afraid you are already thrown into an abyss of torture. By being afraid, you become vulnerable to small ideas that could cripple courage. Anthony  was aware of that as he awoke with the first signs of a bad time: a dark room and hands that can’t be moved.

                Am I not dead yet? He asked himself and knew he wasn’t. Just by the amount of pain that he could feel he was sure that he’s still lucky to be alive. But this is not the kind of luck that Anthony wanted.  If he was truly lucky he could have jumped over the small hindrance that made him land a face on the road, he could have reached the highway and the busy streets turned after a few blocks and reached the police station just in time. And besides, how could they have carried him in a dark room in the middle of broad daylight? He was not that lucky but he knew, at least I’m alive.

                Anthony was freaking out; who wouldn’t after being chased and losing consciousness? He knew he was sedated. The searing pain in his neck was surely a sedative. His hunger told him that he could have been out for almost a day.  His heart pace rose. Perspiration formed on his forehead. He tried to break loose but he was not that strong enough. It only happens on the television, I watch too much  action films.

 Anthony despaired but he tried to get a hold of himself. For instance like this, he knew what Sherlock Holmes would first do: breathe and think, besides trying to break loose the rope through a well maneuvered combination of kicks and turns which he couldn’t possibly do in Anthony’s case. So he decided to think it all out.

                “I was chased. I fell face first. Got sedated and I’m now stuck in a filthy cellar, a basement or perhaps one the city’s sewers.” He mumbled with irritation in his voice in hopes that  someone could hear him.

                “You’ve got some nerve to talk like that, brat!” A hoarse voice coming from his right hand side shouted at him. He never heard this voice but he sounded eerily familiar. As if he’s heard from this guy once or twice in his life. “Let me make it clear to you, son, all you need to do is to cooperate and things would be fine for you.” The man couldn’t have said it simpler. He was taken as a hostage.

                It was just a normal day and now I’m a hostage, oh please let this just be a prank show for me. I would take the shame! Anthony was shaking. He knew deep within him that this was not a show, he knew that this could really mean his life and he knew he would cooperate. Or would he?

                Despite being treated as an outcast, for most of the time, Anthony still lived with the ideals in his life. One of these ideals is that he never cooperates for the destruction or for acts without a cause. Occasionally, he had turned down many different favors for him because of this ideal of his. There was once a rich kid who was as bright as a broken bulb who wanted Anthony to make his project for him in exchange, he’ll get paid for a hundred or two. This was easy money knocking on the door of Anthony; and even trying to break in. But the nerd lives by principles and principles, genuine ones, aren’t paid neither bribed nor coerced. All Anthony needed was courage to stand by the light of truth no matter what happened.

                But if your life was on the line, would you still live up to your principle or bow down to the earthly creatures and survive?

                This bothered him. He needs courage now and he needed it badly.

                All of a sudden, the man swiftly took of his blind fold and for a few moments Anthony got blinded by the light. It was still morning, he was sure. “You see kid, you live on the good side of our town...” he placed a chair in front of him and faced Anthony “… You see, that’s our difference. I lived on the bad side but that doesn’t mean I’m less than who you are right now. We’re equal here. We’re equal in footing, in rights and in everything else. Except of course for your right to move, but that and all, you shouldn’t despise me for doing this to you.”