THE STUPENDOUS MAN

THE TWO THIEVES

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“Good morning, Rachael.” 

“Good morning, darling."

“How is your health?”

“I am getting better now. Where are you?”

“I am about to take a bus to Hawaii. I will get to Hawaii in less than ten hours.”

“Alright. I wish you a smooth journey down here.”

“Thank you, Rachael. I can’t wait to see you.” Silas hangs up the call. He waits for five minutes and sees a bus. He waves and the bus parks beside him.

    A man winds down a glass and says, “Young man, where are you going to?”

“I am going to Hawaii,” Silas said as he moved closer to the bus.

“150 USD…”

“Alright….” Silas removed some money inside his bag. He gives 150 USD bank notes to the driver. He talks with the driver for two minutes and gets inside the bus. He can see other passengers inside the bus. Silas is putting his bag on his laps as he presses his phone.

    The driver is driving the bus gently. He had started at a high speed before one of the passengers persuaded him to reduce the speed of the bus. That was the first time the driver talked with a passenger since the journey began. 

    Silas sees the driver as an easy-going man and a good driver. They get to a highway. It’s a single lane and there are not any buildings close to this road. The only things that can be seen close to this highway are streetlights and trash cans.

“Stop the car!” a traffic warden screamed and walked in the direction of the bus.

    The driver stops the bus and greets the traffic warden.

“Good morning, driver. Who do you have inside this car?” the traffic warden said, gazing at the interior part of the bus through the window.

    The driver smiles and says, “Americans. I am taking them to Hawaii.”

“All of them?”

“Yes, sir,” the driver said, nodding his head.

“Can I have a gaze at the bus documents?”

“Alright, sir….” The driver removed some documents from the car. He hands over the documents to the traffic warden. The traffic warden glances through each document, nodding his head. He returns the documents to the driver and waves at the driver. Smiling, the driver waves back at the traffic warden. He continues driving the bus.

    They get to a tarred road. This road is jam-packed with different kinds of vehicles. Since there isn’t a free flow of traffic, vehicles move gently.

    Silas raises his head up and sees two men walking in the direction of the bus. The men are tall and they are dressed in black suits and pairs of dark eyeglasses.

“Hello, can you wind down this glass?” one of the men said, hitting the window of the driver’s seat.

    The driver winds down the glass and says, “What do you want?” 

“We are going to Hawaii. I believe this bus is taking these people to Hawaii.”

“Yeah. Your money is 100 USD each.”

“Alright…” The two men hopped onto the bus. They sat behind Silas.

    Not sooner than they entered the bus, the driver is able to maneuver the traffic. He touches the speedometer of the bus and increases the speed of the bus.

    Silas had always been skeptical about passing lonely paths. The common news in the USA has been the killing of people or the kidnapping of people on lonely paths. The driver suggests he pass through one of the lonely paths. Everyone accepts. Silas, on the other hand, disagrees with the driver.

“That road is a shortcut. It will allow us to get to our destination on time. We won’t have to maneuver the traffic again.” That was all the driver said before Silas accepted the driver’s proposal.

    They are still in the middle of the lonely road when someone screams inside the bus. “Everyone, get out of this bus now!”

    Everyone alights from the bus fearfully. One of the passengers urinates when she sees the guns the two men are holding. These are the same men who entered the car during one of the traffic jams.

“I was suspicious as soon as I saw these men. How could someone travel to Hawaii without carrying a bag or luggage? So these men are thieves…” Silas was still thinking when one of the men hit Silas on the buttocks. This man is taller than Silas, but he was less handsome than Silas. “You look like one of those men who run from one state to another all in the name of stealing. Aren’t you?” the man said and hit Silas on the face.

    Silas holds his face and says, “I am not a thief. I am only travelling to Hawaii for some reason.”

“A reason that mustn’t be told to a second party,” the second man said and clocked his gun in Silas’ direction.

    Out of fear of being shot, Silas screams, “Please, don’t kill me!”

“He doesn’t want to die…,” the taller of the two men said and they laughed.

   Meanwhile, the other passengers are lying on the ground with their face facing the ground. None of them could say a word because of the fear of being killed. The driver is blaming himself for passing the road and letting these two men enter the bus in the first place. If they had passed a busy road, even if he allowed thieves onto the bus, he would have shouted for help from other road users. Besides, how will thieves rob on the USA's busy roads?

“Maverick, go and search for other passengers, while I deal with this bastard.”

“Alright, boss!” Maverick said and walked in the direction of the other passengers. He moves in the direction of a woman first. That is the same woman who sat beside Silas inside the bus.

    Silas becomes compassionate when he sees Maverick slapping the woman. Maverick collects the woman’s shoes, bracelets and phone before he moves closer to the driver. He hits the driver on the butt and says, “Stand up. What do you have for me?”

   As soon as Silas sees a car coming from afar, he becomes relieved. He hopes they will be rescued. Unfortunately, the car reverted and took a different route. The driver of the car had seen the thieves from afar and he had to take measures to avoid being robbed by the thieves.

    Silas turned in the direction of the other passengers. He becomes more sad and afraid as he sees a man lying lifelessly on the ground. Maverick killed this man when the man lied that he had nothing to give to Maverick. Maverick killed this man and started checking the man's bag. He took out a mobile phone, toiletries, some clothes and some money. He clutches the mobile phone and the money and uses his left leg to kick the clothes. The clothes land on a woman's head. Maverick moves closer to the woman, she is the next in line.

“Do you want me to kill you too?” 

“No, sir…,” Silas said grimly.

“Now let me see what's inside your bag.”

“Alright, sir.” 

“Don’t tempt me by using Sir for me. I am Adrian,” Adrian said, collecting the black bag from Silas.

“Alright.” 

    Adrian stoops and begins to search for Silas’ bag. He takes some clothes out of the bag.

“You even have a toothbrush in here,” Adrian said, and dropped the toothbrush on the heap of clothes on the ground. “He has a comb too.”

    Adrian unloads the bag and says “Don’t tell me it’s trash you are taking to Hawaii!”

“Honestly, I am a poor man. I am going to Hawaii to search for a greener pasture,” Silas said pitifully.

“Really? But it’s better you die in your comfort zone…”

“Boss, what did this bastard say?” Maverick cut in.

    Adrian looks in the direction of Maverick and says, “He claims to be a poor man who wants to run to a greener pasture.”

“And he thinks he will survive there?” Maverick moves closer to Silas and says, “You look like a criminal!”

“No...”

     Maverick slaps Silas on the face and says, “What gave you the temerity to talk when I am talking, pauper?”

“I am sorry, sir,” Silas said, holding his face.

    Maverick drops his gun on the ground. He dips his hand inside Silas’ pocket and brings out some money. He mutters some words and dips his hand inside Silas’ pocket. This time around, he took out a smartphone from Silas’ pocket. “Who gave you this kind of phone?” “This is an expensive phone. Come and have a gaze at it, boss.”

    As Maverick and Adrian are observing the phone, Silas knows that all their attention is on the phone. He kicks Adrian and Maverick on their stomachs. The twosome fall on the ground because of the force Silas used to hit them.

“Foolhardy fellows!” Silas screams. He picks the two guns on the ground and says, “Now stand up!”

    It takes Adrian and Maverick one minute to stand up because of the pain they are feeling in their bodies. Their clothes are dirtied with sand.

    When Silas notices that Maverick wants to collect the gun, he kicks him on the leg and shoots him. Maverick screams and falls on the ground. He dies on the spot because the bullet hit him on the chest. The bullet could have pierced his heart.

“Bastard!!” Silas screamed angrily, gazing at the blood on the ground. He moves closer to Adrian and says, “I won’t spare your life either. You killed these innocent people lying on the ground.”

    Adrian puts on a sad face and starts begging. “Please, don’t kill me. Maverick killed all of them. I have told him several times to avoid killing victims in the course of our robbery, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“Let Maverick rot in hell.” Silas gathers the money on the ground and picks up his phone. “You crashed the screen of my phone,” Silas said, gazing at Adrian.

“He did…,” Adrian said fearfully, pointing at Maverick’s remains on the ground.

    Silas kicks Maverick’s remains to the ground. He clutches his bag and wants to go. All of a sudden, he turns back and says, “I won’t spare your life either.” He shoots Maverick on the forehead. Maverick holds his forehead, he falls on the ground like a fallen tree and dies in the pool of his blood.

    When Silas notices that Adrian is dead, he spits and walks away.

    At exactly 3:23 pm, Silas gets to Hawaii. He walks in the direction of his house under the hot sun. When Silas enters the sitting room, he sees Rachael and his parents sitting on two couches. He becomes so scared.

“What could Rachael's parents be doing in Silas’ house at this hour of the day?