Silas Jones: The Gang Fight

9

"No" Tate finally broke the silence.

"BUT BUT BUT.... YOU JUST HAVE TO HELP CALVIN!" Silas burst out. "I CAME ALL THIS WAY, CRASHED A POLICE CAR, GOT OUT OF HOSPITAL, AND FINALLY FOUND WHERE YOU LIVE, I MEAN YOUR OFFICE, AND NOW YOU SAY YOUR NOT GONNA FIGHT!?!" almost sobbing with despair, Silas moaned "you have to..... Pleeeeeease?"

"I'm sorry mate, Bill replied, very apologetically, "it's not that I don't want to help, or that I'm afraid of a fight, it's just I would be killed if I ever set foot near Logan again. The only reason I'm still living in Ipswich is because the people I owe money to are too scared to chase me here. I'm really very sorry." Bill finished, looking mournfully on Silas bent, dejected form. After a few minutes, Silas finally regained his composure, and sat up. His eyes, although moist, had a very determined look in them. He cleared his throat, looked squarely into Bill Tate's eyes and said "can I use your phone? I need to ring Calvin." Taken aback, Bill stammered a bit before answering sure he could, and showed him where it was.

Silas picked up the phone and set about dialling Calvin's number. The problem was, like most things, Silas didn't know his number. Well actually he did know it, he just couldn't remember what it was. He dialled the first number that came to his head, knowing that he only knew a few numbers, so if he rung them all, he would eventually get Calvin's number.

After a few rings, a voice answered "hello?"

"HI IT'S SILAS!"

"Oh hello Silas, this is frank from national tiles, how may I help you?"

"WELL ACTUALLY I WAS WANTING CALVIN, BUT YOU'LL DO. OK SO I HAVE A PROBLEM. DO YOU RECKON YOU COULD ROUND UP THE STRONGEST GUYS AT THE TILE FACTORY? ME AND A BUNCH OF MATES ARE GONNA FIGHT SOME GUY, AND ANY BACKUP WOULD BE GOOD." Silas was greeted with a slow beep.... Beep.... Beep.

The next number Silas rang was answered by a screaming woman saying something about telemarketers ringing at the worst times, so Silas hung up. The number he rang next turned out to be triple zero, and so he had a good chat with the lady who answered the calls and redirected them. He even got her number which he was pretty happy with. He wrote it down on his arm slowly 0.....0....0. After he hung up, he sat down and thought about different women, until he remembered he needed to call Calvin. "OH NO!" he exclaimed "I FORGOT WHICH ONES I'VE RUNG." So he rang them all again, just to make sure. Finally he was at his last number. This better be Calvin, he thought.

Quickly dialling the number, he but the phone to his ear and waited. It dialled up and then he was greeted with a beep beep beep beep. "OH SNAP I FORGOT, CALVIN RINGS HIS GRANDMA IN CHINA AT THIS TIME! AND THEY TALK FOR AGES, BECAUSE HE HAS TO TALK TO THE WHOLE FAMILY!" No one heard his outburst except a few cockroaches on the roof, because Bill Tate had left Silas in privacy to do his phone calls. In rage, Silas threw the phone at a wall. It hit the wall, but flew right through the thin wallpaper and hit something behind, making a loud metal clank. A ticking sound followed and smoke started pouring out of the hole in the wall. As it moved through the room and out the door, it set off smoke alarms. Soon the whole block was a maelstrom of smoke and Bogans running, with the soothing background noises of 100 smoke alarms, ringing simultaneously, all out of sync.

Bill burst into the room shouting "WHAT HAPPENED!" over and over, while collecting paper, and not expecting an answer. Silas started to explain "WELL I RANG UP FRANK FROM NATIONAL TILES AND HE TOLD ME"- he was cut off by loud wailing of fire engines.

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

An explosion rocked the block. Some say it was felt in Brisbane's CBD, while others say it was only felt at Mount Gravatt. All Silas can remember about it is being pushed to the ground by something, and huge chunks of wall and concrete flying overhead. None hit him or else he wouldn't be around to remember.

When the smoke and dust cleared, Silas got up and dusted himself off. Remembering to check himself for cuts and bruises before going out into public, he found he was unharmed, except for a graze on his left knee. He didn't think anyone would mind that, so he walked down what was left of the road until he came to the edge of the impact zone. It had been taped off, and was packed with people. Police officers were trying to hold back the throng, but one saw Silas and yelled "GET BACK BEHIND THE BARRIER YOU %$#@ING IDIOT. THERE MIGHT BE ANOTHER ONE! HOW MANY %$#@ TIMES DO WE NEED TO SAY TO THESE BOGANS THAT NOONE IS ALLOWED IN THE AREA!" this last comment was directed at his fellow cop. Silas just smiled and waved, and completely ignored the cop. He sauntered unhurriedly along until he reached the barrier, then pushed his way under and barge through the crowd, oblivious to the shouts and screams that were intended at him.

It wasn't till 3 hours later that Silas realised he had lost his hearing, and he only realised this fact when he began to regain it. "OOOHH!" he exclaimed in realization. "SO PEOPLE ACTUALLY WERE TALKING THAT WHOLE TIME. I JUST COULDN'T HEAR THEM." He smiled as he realised the world was still normal, and people hadn't lost their voices. But his smile quickly evolved into a frown, as he realised that dusk was setting on Ipswich, and he had nowhere to go.