I loved the Dark Knight, but one thought just kept occurring to me throughout the movie. How did real people feel about living in Gotham? I was especially curious about the people whose cars were destroyed or the people who were driving during the chase scenes. This is what happened.
--
I need to move.
It's late. I'm hungry. I want to go home. I'm staring out of the glass doors that lead outside. It's dark and anyone who lives in Gotham can tell you that walking around outside at night is not the best idea. There are some weird people out there and I don't want to think about what they can do to me. Or what they did to my car. My poor baby, parked on the street. Please let it be in one piece.
Today was not a good day and everything led up to me being here late, hoping that my car was fine. First my roommate, who usually carpools with me because we work together, got sick. So sick that she couldn't go to work and I was forced to drive my car. Usually that's no problem, but because she was sick I had to get her medicine. That made me late. So late that the parking garage was filled and I needed to park in the street. Not that a parking garage would save her, but a car had a better chance surviving in there than on the street. Also, I could only find a spot three blocks north and one east, right by my bank. That made me even later.
After that, work was incredibly busy and because my roommate called in sick I had to take care of her shit too. I tried to get everything done, but the idiot didn't fill out some paperwork that was due in this morning so I had to do all her work first. That meant that I had to stay later and finish mine. I didn't mind…at first. But while I was working there was a loud noise and the ground shook. An explosion. When I turned on the radio, I heard reports of a robbery at a bank in the area. I parked near a small US Bank. I didn't hear what bank got hit, so I hoped that it's not that one. There ARE bigger banks in the area, so I should be fine. But still! I wanted to check on my baby, but because I was working so late the building was locked. That meant that I would be locked out if I left, and I had work that needed to be done. I worked quickly after that.
That was about 30 minutes ago. Now I am standing by the doors cursing everything that put me in this situation. My roommate for being sick. The traffic for making me late today. Costumers for making today busy as hell. My sister for saying that Gotham was a great place to live. Ha! The punks living in Gotham who do stupid thing like rob banks. And of course the Batman. He was my new favorite thing to blame for everything wrong with Gotham. Sure, he is helping the city and is trying making it safer, but it's taking a long time AND he's doing a sloppy job! Think about it. Do you know why that Joker-nut came here? Batman. Why the train system is down? Batman! Why it's dangerous to drive at night? Batman!! Why people are afraid to park in the streets? BATMAN!! I even heard a rumor that the Scarecrow came here because of him.
I sigh and decide that it's time to leave. Taking my keys out of my bag to arm myself, I push open the doors and start to walk down the block. I silently fume and say a prayer to any car gods out there.
I am two blocks from my work when I hear talking coming from the alley ahead of me. I tighten my grip on my keys and walk faster. I work in a bad part of town, so this isn't all that new to me. If I ignore them completely and don't look at them, they'll leave me alone.
Or not.
One of them shouts at me as I walk by the alley. I just ignore him and walk faster.
"Bitch I am talking to you!" He yells again and then suddenly there's a hand on my arm and its pulling me into the alley. I'm so startled that I drop my keys. Damn!
"Let me go! I didn't see anything! Let me go!" I scream as I keep my head down and refuse to look at him. Too bad he has other ideas. He grabs my other arm and shakes me till I look at him.
"We were waiting for you. Now you can show us a little gratitude." The other man says as thug number one spins me around to face his buddy. Thug two cups my chin and then tries to kiss me. I start kicking at him and struggling to get free. It just makes them laugh. So I scream at the top of my lungs. Suddenly I'm seeing stars. Yow!! He PUNCHED me! Needless to say I'm not screaming any more. Just a little dizzy. And my eye feels like it's going to pop. I stop moving and close my eyes to try and clear my head. I am pushed down and then there's something on top of me. I try to yell again it sound like a cross between a whimper and a cough. I can hear something that sounds like laughter and there's something moving up my thigh and into my skirt.
It's gone. The laughing, the hand, the body that was on me. All of its gone. Instead I hear fighting…and a man in pain? My head is clearer now so when I open my eyes I can see the two men who attacked me. They are fighting—no wait—being beat up by something in black. I sit up and try to figure out what's happening. Oh…my…God! It's him! It's the Batman!! He ties up my, now unconscious, attackers. He looks over at me and offers a hand up. I just sit there and stare with my mouth open. Smooth right? He smiles. He smiled at me! He lightly grabs my arm and helps me up. He hands me my purse and tells me to call the police. I nod dumbly and blink. He's gone! Where'd he go?! I spin in a slow circle but he's nowhere.
sometime later sometime later sometime later sometime later sometime later sometime later
I'm thanking the paramedic that looked me over. Luckily I didn't get a concussion. All I'll have is a nasty looking burse by my left eye. Its two hours after the attack. I called the police when I started thinking again. After I explained the situation to the operator, they came along with an ambulance. I already gave my statement to Officer Kales. He was the first one to arrive. I can still remember the look on his face when he came running around the corner and took in the scene.Now, it is time to go home. I go over to Officer Tunber who is supposed to take me to my car. He's a large man, so I think that I'll be safe with him. He asks me where I parked and I tell him. He just gives me this weird look and asks if I'm ready to go. I smile and nod and we start walking.
Maybe I was too harsh earlier. The Batman is not such a bad character. If it wasn't for him, who knows what could have happened to me. I guess he is just trying to help everyone that needs it. He can't control who comes after him. I rub my arm where he touched it. Yeah, he's not such a bad guy. I only wish that I could thank him, and, you know, that I didn't look at him like an idiot. I shake my head and turn the corner. I really misjudged the guy. The Batman is a good thing for Gotham. Maybe I don't need to move. Maybe Gotham can be a safe place to live.
I look up to find my car. NO!! I forgot all about the bank robbery. The bank I parked by has a huge hole in the front of it. It is taped off and rubble from some sort of explosion lays everywhere. Shit! I forgot about the robbery! I'm quickly scanning for my car. There it is! Across the street! Right in front of the bank!
Oh God no! There is a big dent in the hood and the driver's side door is smashed in completely, like someone ran into it. I'm running over to it, and I can tell that the windshield is broken. In fact all the windows are broken. There is glass on the ground and it crunches under my feet. I circle my car and discover the damage is far more extensive on the other side. Damn it the hell! It looks un-drivable. I unlock the door and try to open it, but the door won't budge. Shit! Shit! SHIT!! I throw my bag on the ground and scream angrily. Breathing heavily, I look up when Officer Tunber clears his throat. I walk back towards him, shaking.
"I'll give you a ride home and you can deal with this in the morning." He's saying as he guides me back in the direction we came from. I'm listening, but I don't care anymore. Screw this. Gotham is not fit for anyone to live in. This whole city sucks.
I need to move.