Ninja

The cafe was quiet, maybe too quiet. Carmelo liked to go there late at night after finishing a long shift of physical exams on new recruits. Gazing off into nowhere, he let his thoughts wander. A garrote pulled at his throat. Carmelo ignored the cutting pain as he concentrated on conserving his air. How was he supposed to get out of this? “God, I hate surprises.” The air became thick around him, and he had to think quickly before losing consciousness. Struggling to turn, he grabbed the knife from the table and jammed it hard into his attacker’s thigh. The garrote relaxed. Carmelo grabbed at the attacker’s ears and dug his nails into the dense flesh and pulled down hard. He had the upper hand now. He stood, turned and jammed his thumbs into the thug’s eyes, pressing hard. Pushing, not letting off on the pressure until he heard the loud pop of the assailant’s eyes exploding. His attacker fell to his knees, vomited and crashed through a row of tables, sending coffee, plates and patrons flying off in all directions. The assailant became still, blood flowing from his groin painting the sidewalk red. The blood stopped, and the man lay still, staring into nothingness through black empty eye sockets. “Geese! What’s a guy got to do to get a little peace?”

Headlines the next day read: Area man found beaten to a pulp and dead at Joe’s All-Night Cafe. There were no signs of his attacker. Stunned patrons had nothing to say when interviewed. One said, “We heard a scuffle and tables flew, and that’s when we saw the dead guy. We didn’t see any signs of who killed him. It was unreal. The guy must have just disappeared, like a ninja or something.” Baffled police are still investigating.