Tales and Stories

Chapter 16 - Moroccans and Scars

The ashtray was now overflowing in a cascade of cigarette buts and ash. Smoke hung lazily in the air and with the alcohol now sedating their blood streams, time stood still for two of the storytellers.

For Baba Gene though, this part of the evening could not end quickly enough. The hum of arriving engines irked his ears and he could hardly see the stars for all the polluting light of the city. If the full moon was up there then she was hiding behind one of the bodyguard towers of concrete that stole so much of the sky. Although mankind may well be just a few thousand decades into the Kali Yuga, he was reminded that he also lived at the beginning of the 21st Century with all that went along with it.

His inclination towards stress-free solitude was already rattled by the revelry of the taverna’s clientele and was further rattled by the arrival of a new set of customers. They pulled up on motorbikes whose engines had been adjusted to make the most ammount of noise possible. Judging by their dark features and pointedly modern clothing, he guessed that the three young men in Levis and crisp shirts were Moroccans. With sharp, predatory eyes, they joked loudly among themselves in Arabic, daring anyone to take exception.

Only Baba Gene’s chair faced the newcomers and though he sensed the danger of it, he could not help but gaze at their striking features. The oldest of them, a heavyset man with rolling shoulders, had something like a noughts and crosses board carved into one side of his face. Baba Gene assumed that particular knife-fight had not gone so well.

“Look at that.” He hissed to his drowsy companions, tugging at Gypsy Lou’s sleeve. “Did you ever see scars like that?”

With the elbow on the table she used one hand to pivot her head towards the subject in question. Her head swung back.

“Nothing but a few scratches - He was probably drunk one morning while shaving.” She said and she steeled herself as a memory returned to her. “But if you want to know about scars...

The Story of Deep Scars