Chapter 13 – Flame of Krishna
Claude Speed, Vedic Temple, Metropolis City, 2030
Claude was on a roll. He had successfully worked for the Yakuza, Triads and the Rednecks. He had successfully given Billy Bob Bean's diamonds and received the money, even though Billy Bob Bean was a racist redneck, Claude and Lee needed money if they were to successfully overthrow the Zaibatsu Party. Now it was time to visit the third last gang on the list, the Krishna's. The gang's headquarters was one of the most unusual on the list; it was an old Krishna temple beside a beach in the Industrial sector. Claude parked the car in the car park and walked up to the old orange dusty temple. The place was deserted, not a Krishna in sight, if there really was any other people in the gang, that's what Lee had said to him, but Claude was starting to doubt it. He walked up to the large orange door of the temple and knocked twice. He noticed engraved on the door it said 'Vedic Temple'. Suddenly the door was opened and a small Indian man wearing a brown cloak and holding a walking stick answered the door. He had a small white moustached above his lips.
"How may I help you friend?" the man asked
"Hello I'm Claude, you must be Sunbeam?" Claude asked
"Indeed I am, how can I help you?" Sunbeam asked
"Do you have any work for me?" Claude asked
"I do have one job I was going to get one of my men to do?" Sunbeam replied "come in, and I'll fix you something to drink"
Claude stepped into the temple and followed this old Indian, Claude couldn't believe this man was a gang leader; he looked like he should have retired years ago.
"I'm glad you're willing to help me" Claude said
"Oh yes, I'm willing to help anyone, especially someone as youthful as you, reminds me of my days in the taxis" Sunbeam said
"You worked in the taxis?" Claude asked
"Oh yes, long ago, in the nineteen seventies, before I found the glorious faith of Krishna" Sunbeam replied
They were walking down a hall with a gigantically high ceiling also dark orange; there were loads of statues of nameless gods on both sides.
"On both sides there's some of our most important gods" Sunbeam replied
"Who do you live with in this place?" Claude asked
"There's only me who lives in this place, I'm the only one who's devoted their life to Krishna" Sunbeam replied
"Doesn't it get lonely?" Claude asked
Sunbeam chuckled like he'd just said some funny joke.
"With Krishna I'm never lonely, I pray to him every day in my praying room of the temple" Sunbeam replied
They suddenly came into a large square room also with a high ceiling, there was a large couch in the middle of the room, have a seat and I'll fetch you something. Claude took a seat and marvelled at the largeness of the room, and how large the entire temple was. Sunbeam came back through holding two golden cups filled with a brown liquid substance and handed Claude one. Claude looked at it for a few seconds and politely asked what it was.
"Its special tea Claude, take a sip" Sunbeam said
Claude took a sip of the brown liquid he called tea, it blew his mind, and it felt like he had just been smashed on the head with a large mallet, at the same time it felt like he was stoned. He had to hold on to the sofa to save himself from falling off.
"What the f-ck is this stuff?" Claude asked
"Please don't swear in the temple of Krishna" Sunbeam commanded "and it's special tea one of my men bought as a present for me a few days ago from a woman, now what was her name again… I think it was Ms. Poulet, old Haitian lady"
"S...so what else aren't you allowed to do?" Claude asked still spinning in circles because of the tea
"I'm not allowed to leave the temple, I must stay here and worship Krishna till the day I die, and thereafter if I get accepted into his garden of Krishna, I'm not allowed to swear, drink alcohol, I'm not allowed to eat sugar, salt, animals, animal products, things that stain my teeth, I can't speak to anyone that has a different religion, I'm not allowed to commit adultery, if I had a wife, I'm not allowed to steal, and I'm not allowed to steal or be involved with someone who is stealing, I'm especially not allowed to murder or be involved with someone's who a murderer" Sunbeam replied
"I'm sorry I asked now, can you talk to me?" Claude asked
"I wouldn't be able to in the prayer room anyway" Sunbeam replied
"So what sort of job have you got for me?" Claude asked
"I want you to kill Billy Bob Bean" Sunbeam replied
"Okay, I'll do it… wait a minute, I thought you weren't allowed to murder or be involved with someone who's a murderer?" Claude asked
"Not usually, but I prayed to Krishna this morning, and he allowed it this one time, only because Billy Bob Bean is a racist" Sunbeam replied
"You've got a lenient god" Claude muttered
"Sorry?" Sunbeam enquired
"Nothing, so why do you want to kill him?" Claude asked
"We went to sign a peace treaty a few weeks ago, all of the gangs were meeting up, all the leaders were there apart from me" Sunbeam told him
"Johnny Zoo wasn't there too" Claude added "he was in Neo-Tokyo"
"How do you know that, so you know the story?" Sunbeam asked
"Yes, the rednecks opened fire on everyone in cold blood, I heard about it from a Yakuza man I met" Claude said
"He shot a few of my finest men, I couldn't find the right person to avenge them for me but now I think I have found the right man in you, can I count on you?" Sunbeam asked
"I will try, how would you like me to get him?" Claude asked
"Burn him with tinder and petrol, set him alight with the power of Krishna!" Sunbeam exclaimed now shouting
"Go forth now; turn the racist and his domain into ashes!" Sunbeam yelled again
Claude ran as fast as he could out of the temple and towards his van in the empty car park, the he stopped and said to himself.
'Hang on, when they see that white van they'll know it's me' Claude thought to himself
He looked around for a vehicle but of course there wasn't one. That was until he noticed a yellow bicycle secured to the metal fence on to a rusty chain. Someone must have left it there for some reason. Claude walked over to it and pulled the bicycle off, the chain disintegrated into ashes and he grabbed the bike. He drove back to Lee's house in Arbo; he was going to have to wait until night time when the Rednecks were asleep.
As the clock began ticking towards midnight Claude dressed is the darkest clothes he could find, and found an old black balaclava. He then found a can of petrol in the garage and picked up a box of matches. Placing the can on the bicycle, he then placed the balaclava firmly over his face. He jumped on the bicycle and began cycling along the streets. Guntersville was only a few blocks away from Arbo as he had noticed the last two times he had been there. He was beginning to near the fence of Billy Bob Bean's factory; he broke and jumped off the bike. Grabbing the petrol can he began walking into the grounds of the factory and muttered to himself 'Time for the burn'. He sneaked into the factory quietly and into the door. He could hear snoring in the background; he snuck into the room where he had had the conversation with Billy Bob Bean. He opened the can of petrol and poured it all over the couch as much as he could, the more petrol on it the bigger the fire. He could feel the tension, sweat was dripping off him and onto the cotton of the clothing he was wearing soaking it like a sponge. He slowly took the box of matches out of his pocket, looked at it for a minute, and took a match out. He stroke the match and was about to drop it and go out the doorway when he was halted.
"What tha' heck are you doing, coon?" the voice said
Claude recognized it right away, the voice was Cletus. He was standing in the doorway armed with a double barrelled shotgun. In a state of panic he threw the match down and made a dive for the window, smashing through the glass. There was a burst of flames behind him, Cletus was engulfed and he could feel the flames singeing his clothing as he landed on the ground. He ran as fast as he could towards the bicycle. Five rednecks wearing white shirts with the southern flag burst out of the door and started chasing after him. He climbed on the bike and pedalled as fast as he could. As he looked behind him he could see the rednecks were driving a truck. He turned a few corners, as he turned he could hear the screech of the tires of the truck. He saw an opening of a grey narrow alleyway so he quickly turned and the truck followed. As he continued pedalling almost exhaustedly, the alleyway was coming to a dead end. He decided to chance his luck; he grabbed the Colt 45 out of his pocket and jumped off the bike in one motion. He landed back on the ground and blasted as many shots as he could towards the truck, as the bike hit the stone wall of the dead end. The truck smashed into the side of the alleyway, inches from hitting him. All was silent for a few seconds; Claude breathed a sigh of relief. He slowly walked over to the door of the truck and roughly pulled the door open aiming his gun towards the door. They were almost all dead apart from one redneck that was paralysed.
"Please, spare ma life" he muttered in a wheeze "I'll do anything for ya, I'm paralysed"
Claude looked at him at his most helpless, aimed at the redneck's head and pulled the trigger in cold blood. It blasted straight for the redneck's head and left a gaping hole, drenching the entire interior of the car with thick crimson blood. Knowing all the rednecks were dead he pulled the balaclava off that was now soaking in sweat and threw it to his side. He was beginning to walk back to the opening of the alleyway, when something caught his attention; in the back of the truck was an object very familiar. It was the case of the diamonds now labelled with 'To the Bank of Metropolis', this must've been Billy's truck. He raised a smirk, grabbed the case of diamonds and walked back to the opening of the alleyway carrying the case of diamonds. He had killed two birds with one stone.