The crooked line

THE CROOKED LINE   CHAPTER 1 The members of the Ringuard Association stood up and shook hands and were about to leave the room, when the door burst open.  Two men, in masks and black clothing charged into the room. They had no firearms, but deadly swords and knives in their hands and strapped to their bodies. The Longford sword and broadsword would easily behead a man with one swipe. As the men approached the board members, Jason Ambrose, the chief of the club said, “Now look here, I don’t know what you want. We do not keep money here.” Jason took a step towards the larger of the two men while the others looked on. Then Nick Westford began scratching his back violently, to distract the men. They were not stupid and knew what was going on, so the man with the broadsword swished it out of its sheath around his waist. He flailed the sword in the air and brought it down WHOP! driving it into the wooden “Schoolroom” floor. Chips of wood were flung into the air, and Manuel stood by it as it sang its wining song before the quivering came to a dead stop.  All the men gazed at it. Roger Upton who was standing to the rear of his ‘team’ lunged for the sword, but the other man with a short sword, brought his sword down on Roger’s wrist flat side down not causing any injury but with enough meaning as a warning. “Alright” Jason ventured.  “What is it you want from us?” “My name is Miguel Navarro, and this is my brother Leandro.” Jason wondered why these men, perhaps crooks were holding them to ransom, but what ransom? “Well Miguel. It does not seem like either of you want to do us any harm, and I suppose you know there is no money being held in an empty classroom. All the offices are in the other smaller building, so what the hell do you want?” “O Kay! so I tell you huh, an you no hurt us. If you don want us , we go, never see us again!” Brigger Ramsdon nudged Jason and suggested they hear the man out. “Miguel, we will hear you out.” “You no tell no one, we was here?” Jason and Brigger nodded their heads and everyone took a seat around the table. After sitting down, Nick Westford and Roger Upton, snuck their hands down to the trouser pockets. Miguel was immediately on his guard. He was very quick of eye. “Das not necessary, we got nothing, we put swords on floor near door?” “Yes, yes, that will do fine,” said Jason. Miguel took a large checkered handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his brow. He left a smudge on his face, which Jason saw and frowned upon. Why was his face so dirty, or was it deliberately soiled and for what reason? “Okay, gentlemen, my brother and I want to be part of your gang. We fight good, we climb and swim. Zis could be beeg help for you. What do you say? You don know us but we know you good!”  He looked around the table, there was little response, so Jason tore out a few pieces of paper from his notepad and handed them to the men now sitting along the sides of the large table, while Miguel and his brother sat at the end of the table waiting for a response. “This is not the whole story about you two. Are you recently out of jail? Were you expecting a fight from us? It is apparent that you know who we are?” “Yes! Said Leandro, “We know pretty well. You are good guys and for years we have been bad guys, stealing money from the rich, working in grocery stores and stealing food and over the counter medicines.” “Callate! Callate! Leandro.” His brother comanded. “Well, somehow I think you are genuine.” Jason said this looking at the others, some nodded and others cast their eyes down as if in thought. “Please, Meester Chairman, I need to visit the ‘little boy’s room. I leave Leandro here so I not run away.” Jason looked around the room, what could Miguel do that would present a threat to the members?  He nodded his head and Miguel left the room and laid his  sword on the floor at the door.  Soon he returned. This was indeed strange, and if anything intriguing, to the association members. “Well, Good Lord, look at you Miguel. Quite the gentleman; white shirt, grey longs, scruffy beard gone, as clean as a newborn baby. Now tell me what’s going on.” “The Spanish names are our real names; perhaps we change them, huh! Leandro and myself want to come clean, we want to fight for what is right, no more stealing, fighting with knives and swords. We want to live the good clean life, get wives and have bebbies.” Jason was completely baffled, and did not know what to think. He would like to speak to his members, but this man and his brother might run away and cause more havoc. He quickly wrote a note and passed it to his members. It lastly reached Miguel. He read the note that said:  “I, as chairman say we should give these two men a chance in life?”  He looked around the table; three men were in agreement, so the decision was to hire them. Miguel’s face lit up and his brother followed suit. Then his brother decided to clean up and get dressed into decent clothes as well.  Now that the team was around the table once again, Jason knew that questions were going to fly amongst them. “What can you tell me that will help our small association?” Jason addressed Miguel. Nick pulled out a notepad.  He would take notes for future reference. The first questions were simple, ages, addresses, education in whatever they had done in the past, both good and bad. Jason wrote down questions he would ask, and then instruct various members to do some scouting to verify the newcomers’ claims. They took the newcomers phone numbers and addresses, which were certainly not impressive, but on the other hand if they have not had employment, they have had no money either, unless it was stolen, which was a possibility. The two newcomers picked up their swords, slipped them into sheaths and left the room. “I think everyone should be given a chance in life,” said Jason. “But we would all be idiots to take them at face value. We have nothing to go by, or prove or disprove. We don’t know a bloody thing about them. However, something grabbed the middle of my stomach and I thought they were at the end of their road of crime, and perhaps what they have learned in the interim, might just be to our benefit.”  A couple of men nodded whilst the others scratched their beards in doubt. Jason arranged the next meeting for two weeks’ time at his house. In the meantime, the two ‘newcomers’ would be given simple errands to run; equipment to buy for the farm and a little pay to keep them going.  “Well let’s see if they know their implements, good quality from bad.” Said Jason. “Yeah I agree,” was Nick’s comment and the others followed suit. “That will give us an indication as to the type of work they have done before and if they are going to be of any use to us on the farm.” “Okay, emergency meeting in two weeks, my house, 7.30pm. Here, copy these blokes’ names and see if you can turn up anything before then. Sorry guys, I know you have businesses to run and you are all busy, but these two idiots can either make us or break us, and I know the decision was mine, but I have a feeling, a good feeling about what they can bring to the table. Things we do not have time to sort out ourselves. I want jail terms, if any, local police info on them and so on.” Jason went home feeling a little concerned about his decision. However, he had reached a point where various ‘people’ had to be brought to book. Theft in various situations had to be stopped; especially the main bank that purported as to their money was growing legs and walking out of the front door. Within the following two weeks, the men interviewed a number of beggars, scroungers and pure and simple lazy loafers.  Miguel and Leandro were known to a few. “Bad boys sir! In jail a coupla times, smoking dope, drinking themselves into oblivion. They live with their mother in a small cottage on the outskirts of town. She is a good old soul and does washing for the locals to bring in money for food no doubt!” So far, the prospect of getting anything like work out of these two vagabonds was most unlikely. However, Jason had a few farfetched ideas, and who was to say they would not change in character. Well, in two weeks’ time he was expecting an explosion from his members. A couple might walk out. In the meantime, a plan was forming in his mind. The two weeks passed quickly. Not a word from Miguel or Leandro. They were not expected to attend the forthcoming meeting as it would no doubt be a squabbling match between all the members, as to their involvement with the new development. The members arrived at Jason’s house and were ushered into the huge lounge.  Jason looked around at the expectant faces and smiled. Brigger couldn’t wait for some sort of resolution. “C’mon Jay, we can see that you are exploding with enthusiasm, which means you have been in contact with our two beggars” “Actually, no! But I have had some interesting feedback from you guys and the police station. Miguel was sent to “Farm School” in the Free State after he left school. When his father died a few years later, Miguel went off the rails and took his younger brother with him. They became thieves mainly and then took up the art of sword fighting which caused a furor amongst the other gangsters. They were shunned by their own community of thieves. Since then they have been ‘working on their own’. “Okay, so what are we going to do with them?” Enquired Brigger. Jason looked at the members sitting in his lounge. They were worried, of course; but then Roger exclaimed:  “Our Farm!!!” He beamed with delight. “The Ringuard Farm.” Now there were murmurs and smiles: “Bring out the whisky Nick, it is in the cabinet behind you!” Drinks were served and the men had smiles on their faces. “Right, let’s bandy about this idea. I want many suggestions! We all agreed to purchase this derelict farm and with dreams of building it into something big, but none of us knew much about farming, or what to farm. We thought that within six months we would learn all we needed to know about farming. There is no great hurry, we thought, but the downside is that the house is standing derelict.  In its day it was a beautiful mansion, now it is a rundown wreck. It is part of the farm and should be brought back to life so to speak. I have studied tourism in that part of our beautiful country, and it is well sort after. It can be a holiday location for people who want to experience farm life in South Africa.  Now with our new acquisitions, meaning Miguel and Leandro, when given the challenge and with it a good remuneration, it could just be the diamond that needs polishing. Of course, we have to discuss this with Miguel. I think in all fairness, we should suggest that their mother join them. There is much to talk about, machinery to be purchased, farm hands to be hired and so on. However, I am walking before I can crawl. We must speak to our new ‘farmers’ before jumping the gun.” Everyone agreed that it was a good idea; however, Roger, always the thoughtful one, scratched his beard and mentioned that their new employees may know nothing about farming. “Aaah! That is where we will have to bluff our way through it.  We hire a farm manager, one of the locals who is desperate for work now and perhaps a few of his buddies.  On the side we will explain to him surreptitiously that he will have to teach Miguel and Leandro how to run the farm and the various planting seasons and what to plant in that season.”  That would yet have to be sorted that out; The members of the Association were mumbling sunflower-seeds, maize, and sorghum. However, that would come later. “Anyway, we will leave the paperwork to Miguel and the running around to Leandro. The idea of their mother living in the house and watching over her boys will be a great delight to her, and give us a breather.” Nick, who had some Italian blood in his veins said that she might become lost without her friends and go a-wall. “Yes Nick, but if she came to Johannesburg once a month for necessary provisions for the farm and her boys, it might just allay her longing. The house is big enough for her to invite a friend from time to time.” Now it was Roger, to give his opinion. “Are we not jumping the gun? How do we know that any of them will accept our proposal?” “True, we will call a meeting with the family next week. In the meantime, and if they are not keen on the idea we have two alternatives, sell the farm, perhaps at a loss, or go scouting for other workers and we do not know who we are employing.  We do have a bit of a handle on these two and with mother in the background, they might just behave! I am hoping they will be kept too busy to misbehave” There was much mumbling in the room.  “Everyone in favour say Aye.”  Slowly they raised their hands after a few moments’ thought.  At least they would not have to worry about the upkeep of the farm and they would be giving two people jobs, and a very happy mother no doubt, and hopefully make money from the farm, which was their intention in the first place, not realizing the huge responsibility they were taking on. Another two weeks went past; some members of the Ringuard fraternity were still unsure and a little nervous at the thought of the outlay of cash needed to put the enterprise into practice, so they called a further meeting. This time they included Miguel, Leandro and their mother, who could speak scraps of English. The first thing she said was “My dog, she come with me, huh?” Miguel said, “she is a good dog, a Ridgeback. She stand this high, can be fierce, keep all skabengus (Zulu word for scoundrels and thieves) away. “Alright, my friends and I will go and reconnoiter what has to be done, the state of the building, fences and so on that have to be made whole. We have a lot of work on our plates men!” “Si, I come with you, see what I can do. Leandro stay with my mother, yes??” The enthusiasm was not what Jason would have expected, with all the hard work ahead of them. But yes, it was a good idea. “Gentlemen, we have to start as soon as possible, we don’t know what the house looks like after six months; perhaps it has already been stripped. Now, next weekend is a long weekend and I suggest we go down by car or Landrover if you have one. If I remember correctly, the land is badly undulated with rocky outcrops.” The men now excitedly started making plans. “Leandro and Miguel, you keep quiet about this, understand? We don’t want to lose our jobs when people get to know about it, yes?” Miguel crossed his lips with his finger. “My father, he had big truck, can carry rocks, sand, bricks. I take that also.” “Is it in good running order?” “Yes, it’s parked in the garage. My mother, she keep the key in ….” And he pointed to his chest. This sent off a tumult of laughter, they could just imagine it. Soon there was great enthusiasm, between the association members. Of course Miguel and Leandro would have to work their way up the ladder to be accepted, if at all, into the association of The Crooked Line. Jason began making notes of what Miguel could bring from their meagre home.  Not a bad hall, where on earth did they put everything, Jason did not dare ask.  Everyone else put together what they deemed necessary. Miguel’s mother was equally as excited about the trip and she got together blankets, folded chairs, a couple of pots, fire stokers, a bag of coal and so it went on. The day arrived; they left early in the morning at sunrise. The ridgeback dog was just as excited, wagging his tail and jumping up on Miguel and then Leandro. Maria, Miguel’s mother shouted: “Abajo Chico” and the dog quietened and jumped into the truck and snuggled behind the back of the bench seat. Maria, Miguel and Leandro just managed to fit onto the front seat of the truck. The rest of the men climbed into the various cars and made themselves comfortable. Jason knew the way to the farm just outside of Pilgrim’s Rest, but counted on the others should he make a wrong turn. It started getting hot as the sun came up. Of course the company cars had air-conditioners which made the journey less taxing.  He looked back at the truck. The family appeared to be quite happy, windows open and they were singing and laughing.  They were no doubt used to the hot South African sun. Jason hoped they would be as happy when they saw what was left of the farmhouse he had bought. No good counting chickens before they hatch. He would see what their true colours were when they reached the farmhouse. Time seemed to drag, and then at last they came to the dirt road turnoff. The road had not been used in a while, perhaps only for herding cattle and sheep along it, so it was choppy and the men in their expensive cars had to slow down to a crawl.  Soon the house came into sight. It looked sad and forgotten and now Jason was sure he had made one of the biggest mistakes of his life, and lost a lot of money in the interim. He said nothing but he could feel the anxiety of the other men. Everyone in his car was quiet. At last they came to a stop in the tall grass in front of the house. Miguel came happily marching over to Jason’s car. “T’is a beeg house Se”.  His mother came to the driver’s side of the car with huge smiles on her face. “She got plenty, rooms, plenty space Meester Jason. Nice, v-e-r-y nice.” Jason put his hands up to his face, but dared not say what he was thinking. “C’mon, let’s go inside.”  And with that he took the old lady’s arm and led her up the stairs and through the front door.