The Phantom
– Faces of the Ghost –
The Bangalla Star was just another quayside bar, with nothing special despite its name. His regulars were often sailors, drunks, prostitutes, and bragglers looking for refuge from the chill of the night. Its owner, a Chinese named Wan, had no reason to be proud of his establishment, yet he used to call it "his house."
That night there were only ten people in his room of considerable size, which provided little work for Wan and Kenta, his native helper, and at the same time, allowed some privacy for anyone who wanted it. Old Eddie took his usual place, tucked into his battered clothes and his bad mood; A big guy had sat down in the background and had not even taken off his hat to read the paper; Four of the guys he barely knew were sitting at a table and some prostitutes coming and going, one of them, Samantha, was a long-time bar lady and, in a way, a friend of Wan's.
Wan looked gloomily at the room and wondered again how his life had brought him here. He well knew the answer, that he had come from China to work with his grandfather, Wong, in what he believed to be a fine restaurant in the capital of Bangalla, but which had turned out to be only a parody used as a facade for all kinds of dirty business. When he arrived, Wan found the "Blue Dragon" in almost total destruction and his grandfather in terrible sheets, pursued by the police and in debt with countless fringes. He worked hard to rebuild the place and try to get his grandfather on the right track. But it was all in vain. Soon his grandfather again became involved with wrong people and Wan saw no remedy other than to leave him alone. In order not to be forced to tell his family what his grandfather had become, he never returned to China and opened his own bar, the "Bangalla Star", which he dreamed of being a clean and well-attended place. Only the dreams that had faded over the years into the harsh reality before him.
The four guys ordered another round of drinks that Wan prepared lazily to be taken by the sleepy employee. They had not all arrived at the same time, Wan was no friend of any of them, but he knew enough about each other to know the kind of problems they could cause together.
Pedro was a small Portuguese who went out into the world to escape gambling debts in his country. The big African by his side was known as "Retail", because he always walked with a razor. There was also Carlos, a South American who claimed to be Spanish and boasted that he had fled all the prisons in Europe. The guy with mustache and goatee was an American named Jack, known for being very violent.
"What time did Tony say he'd get the truck with him?" Asked Pedro.
"Around ten o'clock. - Answered "Retail"
"Will everything fit in a truck?"
"What matters is that Tony comes with the truck. Jack said in a swallow.
Retail lowered his voice a little and asked: - You so carrying guns? We might need it.
- For what? Do you think a bunch of nuns and starving people will be a problem? Carlos said with a laugh.
- I do not know! I assure myself with the razor, but you never know ...
"Tony got himself from getting machine guns or rifles. "Anyway, I always have a gun, and I think you do too, do not you?"
No one had to answer. They asked for another round and they kept talking about the 'service' they would perform, without worrying about anything. They knew the profit was right: there was a demand for drugs to supply the guerrillas in the interior, and they learned through Tony that a considerable shipment of drugs had come from America to a religious mission near the border with the jungle, a Perfect target and a perfect way to earn some money on the outside.
"If I were you, I would not blab about it like that out loud. Samantha's voice cut the conversation of the four like a knife.
- Oh yes? And may I ask why, woman? Jack growled.
She lowered her voice even more, as if she were afraid to be heard and peeping at the door she said, "The Phantom can hear ..."
Jack laughed, Retail and Carlos looked at each other, Pedro kept his eyes on his glass.
"Oh, so it's that nonsense of a guy who does not die?" - and as he spoke the woman sat down at the next table with a sign that she wanted a drink. - What is going around marking the others with a skull? Which is over 300 years old?
- 400, Jack. The Phantom is over 400 years old. Peter's voice quivered, and he disguised his nervousness by giving the woman a seat.
"So you've heard that superstition too, O Galician?"
"It's not superstition, no, Jack. Carlos was visibly worried. "Every sailor has heard of the Phantom, and where there is smoke there is burning."
Jack shrugged, but did not reply. A heavy silence fell between the four.
"My grandfather saw the Phantom once..." She spoke, and everyone looked at him. They hoped it would continue.
THE RETAIL HISTORY
TEN TIGERS
"He told me," he continued after a swallow, "that it came from a hunt inside the jungle; He was still from that time when they hunted their own food, when they were cornered by an angry tiger. It looks like the animal had been hurt by an arrow that missed the mark, you know, right? An injured wild animal becomes more dangerous ...
There were 4 adult warriors and my grandfather, who was a boy at the time, all with spears and bows, but the tiger put fear in anyone. They knew they did not have much chance, that the tiger would kill one by one before they could escape. That's when he came out of nowhere.
- What do you mean, out of nowhere? Someone asked.
"As if it had fallen from the sky!" He was tall a tree, and when he moved the earth shook whole! The tiger when he saw that giant in front of him attacked at the same time, but the Phantom caught him and they fought a hideous fight, rolling on the ground, the tiger kicking that would rip any man in the middle, but did not scratch the opponent, as If it were made of stone. Then my grandfather said he suddenly heard a sound of something breaking and the tiger fell dead on the ground. Then the Phantom just stood and disappeared ...
When Retail had finished counting, Jack spat on the floor and belched. Then he asked:
"Then tell me one thing: how would an unarmed man beat an angry tiger?"
"You Americans think you know everything, do not you?" They think that things here are the way you invent America. - Retail was visibly disturbed - Be aware that they say that the Phantom is strong as ten tigers. Can you imagine that?
"Just wondering." "To believe that a guy appears out of nowhere and disappear without a trace is the biggest dumbass in the world.
"But there's the Phantom mark!" - said Carlos - I have seen!
THE HISTORY OF CARLOS
THE MARKED MAN
"When I was a boy, in my homeland, I met a guy who saw him. - Carlos started.
- In Spain? Peter mocked.
Carlos gave a forced grin as he murmured a "Almost this" revealing.
"His name was Ruben. When I first met him, he must have been in his fifties, but he was still in great shape, working in construction, carrying cement bags as if they were pillows. I once saw him separate a fight just by lifting the two guys in the air. It was not a guy you'd like trouble with. He said he'd traveled the world working on ships, but if he'd told his little mouth he was one of those modern pirates, you know? Those that approach cargo ships and deviate from the route to loot and sell on the black market.
"He had a weird mark, right here on his face. I was very young at the time, so I never looked at her closely, staring at a guy like that could be dangerous, but I really wanted to know what brand it was.
"One day, for no particular reason, he called me for a beer, and there were already several bottles in front of me. He drank fast. He stared at nothing with a half-airlike air, as if he were far away. We're talking about football, women, government, and other things. Then suddenly he looked at me and said very seriously, "You want to win the world, do not you?" Yes it is. You can see it in your eyes, you can not be content with this little thing.
I've had the urge to go too. I was young and did a lot of bullshit. Do not look at me with that innocent face, everyone knows what I've done in this life, but I'll tell you something that nobody knows, I'll tell you why I came back here.
We were boarding a cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, it was 13; I had already lost count of how many of these services I had done. It was always the same thing: to follow those big and slow ships in a small boat, to go on board, to surrender the crew, to put the guys in a boat and to carry the ship with load and all.
Everything was in order, I and two more were with the crew in the cockpit while the others scoured the ship. Suddenly we heard shots and the radio exploded with everyone shouting at the same time, asking for help, asking for mercy ... one by one the voices went quiet until there was only silence ...
I looked outside and saw a guy in odd clothes standing in one of the containers at the other end of the deck. Before he could point the gun at him, he disappeared, as if he had fallen into the air ...
Then one of the guys who were with me, a Somali, started saying "Phantom" "Phantom" ... It was then that the door opened and there he was! Could you understand? The guy crossed the whole ship as if crossing a street and entered the cabin inside! I was going to shoot him, but the machine gun flew out of my hands before I noticed he had taken out his guns!
The Somali knelt with his hands high and the other, which was nearest the door was thrown far. I went up to that ... of that thing willing to break it in half ... but every punch I gave I only found emptiness while he was dodging faster than it would be possible for a man ... that was where I felt my head exploding and everything went dark...
When I came back to me, I was bound with the others and with that mark on my face...
- That's when I finally looked at the mark he had on his face: it was a SKULL!
As much as I live with difficulty, I may even be starving, never go back to sea! The Phantom mark is on me, I've tried to get it out, but it will not come out, it will never come out and I think ...
Jack burst out in ironic laughter. "HAHAHA!" A guy drinks too much and starts to make up stories for a beach mouse too dizzy to realize that he was cheated!
- And the mark? How do you explain that? Said Charles angrily.
"People see dogs in the clouds, faces on Mars, Christ in the barks ..."
- Oh, go to hell!
Jack rose angrily; Carlos too. Retail and Pedro prevented the two from attacking by reminding them what they were for. They all sat down with exalted spirits.
In the silence that reigned between the four, it was possible to feel that the tension was increasing. After a while, Peter said,
- I saw The Phantom once ...
THE HISTORY OF PEDRO
DATA RANGE
I've worked on a cruise ship that carries rich people willing to spend money. I worked at the board-game casino looking after the table of 21. I always had my hands fast, which made me perfect to take care of the cards, if you understand me.
One night I was starting my shift at the casino when some guys came in with their weapons in hand and masks covering their faces. I had heard of this gang; They were suspected of embarking as ordinary passengers, and, after assaulting the other passengers in those disguises, simply went on a trip.
Well, they showed up at the casino already pointing their guns everywhere and they surrendered to everyone. They even threw themselves into the air and we were all forced to lie on the floor. Most of the passengers were in their cabins, and were forced to stay there. They were cleaning everyone, but then I noticed something weird: every now and then one would go out and not come back. I began to pay attention and noticed that the others were getting nervous. "What nonsense is this about a Phantom?" I heard one of them ask for the radio, but no one answered.
When there were only four more of them in the casino hall the lights went out and it was a real pandemonium. People screaming, the guys shooting everywhere and I just hearing the sound of punches. At a certain hour I saw the gleam of two eyes in the darkness, two eyes that looked like those of a demon! With the little clarity coming through the skylight, I could see that big guy going over the faces as if they were nothing, knocking them down one by one.
When it was over I stared at that figure and it simply fell apart in the darkness, but before that, those eyes turned towards me and I felt they knew everything that was going on inside my head.
- Excess of Port wine spoiled. Jack laughed. No one else laughed.
- I saw him, too. They had already forgotten the woman sitting at the next table.
THE HISTORY OF SAMANTHA
ONE OF THOSE OCCASIONS
"When I was a child, I used to listen to the elders talking about the Walking Spirit, how he protected the innocent. In my child's mind, I always thought he could be my protector. But poverty and hunger are enough to take away the innocence of anyone.
"I've been on the streets for over a year or two?" It does not matter, we do not have time, every day is the same, we have no future; Sometimes we seem not to have passed.
She took a sip, put a cigarette in her mouth and pulled out a long puff before continuing:
- In the streets, we hear and we go through many things. There was a day when one of the girls who always worked with us on the docks was gone. When it did, we only recognize it because of the color of the hair. She was the first. Then there were seven others.
"Every night I thought I might be next; Many of us were afraid, but hunger and the bills to pay outweigh any fear.
"Then came the night I was drawn. He seemed like a customer, like so many of those losers I go out with every night. That's when he pulled the knife...
The woman's lips trembled, as if they could still see the moment when she faced death closely.
"For a second I was out of action and I remembered how the others were found, looking like they'd been shredded by a wild animal. I still tried to run, but the guy grabbed me by the hair and dragged me into an alley. I shouted for help, even though I knew no one would show up. He hit my head so hard that I do not even know how I did not faint, but I also could not stand up or react.
"So I was there on the floor, with the vision coming and going, with that huge figure on top of me, laughing and pulling another knife as big as the other. It was then that I saw another figure coming, immense, faceless, and I thought that it was the angel of death that came to take me to another world.
- That's where it all happened! Samantha's eyes flashed with a new expression. The black angel that had come up grabbed the killer by the shoulder and pulled him off me as if throwing a pillow.
The guy fell down and got up at the same time, going up to the newcomer with knives in hand. He struck the air several times, but none seemed to hit the man. I can not remember how it all turned out, but I saw when the knives flew through the air and I saw when the killer was hit so hard that he fell like he was dead.
"Still half dizzy, I sat down and looked at my savior. He wore an overcoat and a hat that hid his face, especially in that dimly lit alley. Then he held out his hand and said, "Let me help you, miss." No one had ever treated me with such humanity. A tear rolled down Samantha's face.
He helped me lean against the wall and examined my head. "There's a big cock here, but nothing serious," he said in a deep voice that seemed to come from the sky. His hands that had punched the face that attacked me with such savagery, now took care of me with a delicacy that I did not know.
"After tying the guy, he said the police would soon be coming to take him." Before he was gone, I held him in his hand and thanked him, that's when I saw the ring with a skull, the Mark of the Phantom!
"And you did not even think about repaying him for the service?" Jack spoke with his sarcastic tone.
"But you can not think before you speak?" Said Peter.
- Think !? Think about what? Each one tells a different thing. That the guy is strong like a tiger, which is firm like a rock, fast as a thunderbolt, that looks like a demon, that leaves marks on the faces of others ... I bet that even that little black boy with the broom in his hand has some This Phantom story to tell. And which one is real?
- All of them...
At this they all turned to the direction from which that voice had come. Old Eddie had his eyes fixed somewhere in the back of his mind as he began to speak ...
EDDIE'S HISTORY
THE GHOST IS EVERYWHERE
"There is no way to define the Phantom. He has many faces, for he is many and at the same time one. Whenever someone thinks he has understood exactly what he is, he is mistaken, or rather, he has only seen one side of what he really represents.
Eddie's hoarse voice seemed to fill the space ...
"The Phantom is like a force of nature, nothing can stop it, nothing can overcome it. Sometimes we think that we defeat him, but only time passes for him to return, always the same and bigger and bigger, more powerful.
"You may think you know everything about him, and yet he will surprise you; May have seen it, but are not able to see it for real.
Lowering his head, the old man narrowed his eyes as if trying to erase some view of the past. In the next table, the men only saw his profile undone in the shadows.
- Yes, he can be kind to those who need your help, and stronger than any beast when necessary. Your speed has no limits, as does your courage. And when he crosses the path of the brutes, they find that they will never get rid of him completely. I myself learned this a long time ago ...
He turned to face the men who listened to him and it was only then that they saw in his face the mark that so many fear.
- See? I have this mark on me longer than you all have of life. He never left and I know he'll never leave. Do you want to know why I live in this corner? Do you want to know why I was employed as a porter and never returned to the services I did before?
The silence was heavy, even Jack looked impressed.
- The answer is simple: every day in the last 63 years I see this skull when I look in the mirror; And every day I feel the Phantom watching me through your eyes. The mark is on me, as a warning, a reminder, but I really believe it's like a lookout ...
"If you idiots take the advice of an old man, leave while it's time, for the mark of the Phantom is already upon you ..."
Jack shouted:
"Listen here, old man…
The lights went out. Taken aback, Jack fell silent and raised his hand to the gun.
"Too late," whispered Old Eddie, "the Phantom is here.
EPILOGUE
A NEW HISTORY
When Mawittan's Police left carrying four unconscious subjects, Wan stared wistfully at his establishment. After the lights went out due to, he now knew, a breaker that had disarmed, there were shots and shouts. He had seen a huge figure moving through the confusion that had reigned, but he tried to protect himself behind the counter.
Then came the silence, broken suddenly by a voice that told him, "Mr. Wan, soon the Police will come and get these four to join their friend in jail. Sorry for the damage, but rest assured that everything will be settled. "
Then the lights went on. Old Eddie's head was hidden under his hands. Samantha was peeking out of the bathroom doorway where she ran for refuge. Kenta had a restless, yet satisfied look. And in the middle of several broken tables and chairs, the four guys unconscious and with marks similar to the one old Eddie possessed, or the one he had once seen in his grandfather's office.
Now that he was cleaning up all this mess, Wan noticed that the man in the hat had disappeared in the middle of the mess. "More like that," he thought, "someone else left without paying the bill."
But as he approached the table where the guy had been, he saw a small package on a folded newspaper. She picked it up and felt the weight. When he opened it he found three diamonds as bright as the stars. Amazed looked at the newspaper where the package had been left and saw the mark of a skull.
Wan smiled. Now it was he who had a great story to tell.
Glaucio Cardoso