Under the Influence

Under the Influence

By Ash Tewierik

I sat as I always did, in the centre of the food court, watching the afternoon crowd. The tables around me were slowly clearing as people finished their lunches and went on with their day. They were too involved in their conversations and electrical gadgets to notice when they nearly walked into me.

On the other side of the small Donut King, that stood directly inside the entrance to catch all who entered with its delicious sights and scents of a multitude of colourful ice-topped donuts, stood three drunken men, beer cans held tight and throwing abusive comments to anybody who looked their way. Many people were trying to avoid walking anywhere near them. Dressed in old black, torn clothes, the three men were in a world of their own, communicating loudly amongst themselves.

Behind me a group of teenagers had been watching the drunk and were making harsh comments at their expense. The oldest looking of the boys dared a younger looking but more muscular boy to walk past the drunks. The youngest boy stood up with a small grin on his face, and proceeded to walk casually towards the entrance. As he walked past the intoxicated individuals, I could not help but notice the intensity with which he stared at the much larger of the three. The larger drunk returned the look as the smaller drunk to the left made a humorous comment about the colour of the boy’s shirt.

The boy stood stationary after the comment, and threw his demeaning gaze over to the smaller drunk. The other of the three men had yet to notice the boy, but he now had. Standing to the right of the largest man, clutching a Cougar can in his left hand the drunk placed his right hand on the boy’s shoulder and pushed him away. The boy stood firm and pushed the drunk back. I could feel the tension from where I sat, and waited in anticipation for the fight to begin.

The largest of the drunks took the first swing, but before he even made an impact he was shoved by the boy onto the ground. Behind me three other boys quickly got to their feet and ran over to help the friend that they had dares to walk past the drunks. The largest drunk, had now gotten back to his feet, as the three other boys made it to their friends aid. The oldest of the boys threw a right hook at the largest drunk knocking him to the ground for a second time. The other two boys both attacked the smallest drunk, as the boy who was dared traded punches with the final remaining drunk.

A crowd had flocked around the fight, and security had just arrived. A very tall security guard carrying a large pot belly ran through the small crowd and began to pull the drunks and boys apart. Men from the crowd also stepped forward to help.

Once security had arrived the teenagers slowed their attack and finally walked back over to the table, as the drunk were escorted outside by two security guards. An old female security guard had made it to the fight as soon as the last drunk was restrained.

The teenagers, returned to their table behind me, and proceeded to taunt each other about how they had reacted to the fight. The oldest boy was congratulated as was the boy who had first walked over there; they then continued to tease the other two about their fighting techniques.

I sat; listening to the boys talk about the fight and watching the security guards talk with the drunks outside. A police car pulled up at the entrance, and two young policemen stepped out of the vehicle. They talked to the security and then spoke to the drunks. As the police talked to the offenders, the large security man strolled back into the shopping complex and walked straight towards me, he then motioned with his right hand to the boys behind me to follow him.

The boys stood up slowly, asking if they were going to get into trouble. They had stopped laughing now. The security guard asked them nicely to just follow, and they complied with his order following close behind.

Outside I watched the boys speak with the policemen and the security guards, as the drunks were loaded unwillingly into the back of the police car. As the police car sped away, the boys walked back inside the entrance, by now everything was back to normal. The boys walked through the food court laughing and talking on their mobile phones, obviously informing friends of the event that had just occurred. The boys walked straight past me, and continued deeper into the shopping complex, turning left and heading towards the bus stop.

I sat looking around, everything was back to normal, people sat at tables picking at food having loud conversations, people walked past walking on mobile phones, small children ran away from their parents, hid, and then ran back.

Then my mobile phone beeped, sitting on the table in front of me it began to make loud piercing sounds and was vibrating. I picked it up and accepted the text message.

Dude, I heard ya dad jus got bashed, wat happened?

I deleted the message, stood up, and placed my phone in my left pocket, then made sure that my wallet was still in my right pocket. I grabbed my empty Donut King bag, walked over to the bin and threw it in, and then left through the same entrance where the drunks had been not twenty minutes before.