Sudetenland Tales by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
Download the book in PDF, ePub, Kindle for a complete version.
Sudetenland Tales
Page 22
“I’m not here to arrest you,” he said. “I’m here to make sure nobody hurts you.”
The kid stares; then says; “You’re a cop?”
Lenny hesitated, before answering; “Something like that.”
The kid pulled the nine from behind his back and shot Lenny in the face. ....... Twice.
In the absence of a formal police force, power doesn’t vanish; it gets redistributed. Slowly. Chaotically. The underground took root not in darkness, but in corners overlooked by everyone except those who had no choice.
Neighborhood watchdogs that started as community self-defense groups evolved into highly organized cells. The Watchdogs wore no uniforms but pass coded messages through murals, mailbox flags, and vending machines stocked with more than snacks. They're not vigilantes, though criminals and their advocates call them that. They're mediators, bodyguards, and intel traders. Lenny used to call on them when he thought that he needed backup, though he had known some operate their own justice courts out back of laundromats.