Flashbacks, Memories and Dreams from the Mind of the Strangler
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Enzadi sank in his bunk after an infiltration mission, and man, he was tuckered out. He didn't even remember the number of bandits he and Than had taken down&.twenty, twenty-five? They just seemed to blend together after a while. One became two, two became three, three became seventeen. Somehow, even though there were no factors in common between the two numbers. It was funny what Enzadi would think about when he was tired. Factors and math, when really he should be thinking about sleep. He took off his uniform, and put down relatively light fatigues. They were brown, or maybe green. He didn't care. Even reasoning out his bizarre mathematical calculations didn't matter when it came to sleep. He rubbed his eyes and slumped into his bunk, forgetting about wrapping himself in the thin blankets. All he cared about was the thick mist that was slumber.

His dreams turned back to what an event that had happened a few years back, with a few of his friends from school. They liked the Strangler because he was a laugh riot, which he was. He was the class clown, and he really liked that fact. He was out with Grady Olo, Tellman Morgan, and a few other guys he really didn't know too well. They were just tag-alongs, and they wouldn't be there the next time, no matter what it was. Grady, Enzadi, and Tellman would hang out before school, during school, after school, and on weekends. The three of them were best friends, as one could see. People tried to hang with them, to try and get a trickle down from their popularity. Grady was the cool one, Tellman, the cute guy, and Enzadi was the funny one. They were a triptych of cool, a picture of the ideal that many guys in school wanted to attain. Grady, with his black hair and his soft brown eyes, and Tellman, blonde hair, blue-eyed with a lithe frame. But tag-alongs like these guys didn't matter; there was no trickle-down. There was the three of them, and that was it.

One night, the three friends had gone to hang out at a dance club that was close to Enzadi's house. The Strangler remembered exactly what his mom had said that night, in her matronly, mothering tone.

"Don't you get  into any trouble, Ezzie (his mom called him Ezzie. It was a pet name of sorts). None of you boys." One would think that it was just a mom telling his son to mind himself, but usually Uma did not tell her son that he needed to be careful in the city at night. She knew that he knew to be careful, and he knew that she knew it. But for some reason that night, Uma thought that she just needed to remind her son. Her maternal instinct ended up being correct.

"Yeah yeah, ma, I know," Enzadi replied, just brushing her off. He really should have listened, because his friends, whom he trusted with more than his life, would rear ugly heads they had been keeping hidden for a long, long time. They left his house, taking a short route to the club, where modern techno was playing. It was this place called "North Star", with the sign in large, obnoxious purple letters. Enzadi really didn't like the place, but Tellman and Grady did, so Enzadi went along with it.

The entered in, and immediately Grady and Tellman saw girls they knew. Of course, Enzadi got some attention, but Enzadi was the funny one, and was expected to just entertain them. Well, Enzadi didn't see it that way, but the girls did. So, Enzadi told his jokes, which the Naval Enzadi couldn't remember in the haze of the dream.

Out of the dream, Enzadi shifted position, trying to get away from what was to happen next. It was one of the most horrible moments of Enzadi's entire life&so far.

Grady and Tellman pulled him aside, pulling a plastic bag with some vaguely colored powder in its contents. He remembered asking what that was, to which Grady had replied:

"It's spice. Glimmerstim," Grady had said in a matter-of-fact tone. They pulled Enzadi into one of the bathrooms. The walls were grimmy, the floor dirty and perpetually wet, and the stall doors were off kilter. Some of them weren't even there. But that wasn't important. What was important was Enzadi's two friends ffering him the contraband substance.

"C'mon, man, you want some?" asked Tellman, picking some up and offering it to Enzadi. Enzadi reeled back in horror at the fact: his two best friends were on spice.

"Dude, what the hell are you guys thinking?" Enzadi had shouted at them. "You wanna ruin your lives or something?"

Grady scoffed. "C'mon, Strangler. Quit bein' a pansy. Just take some and get over it!" Enzadi shook his head, as if this weren't real.

"You guys must just be testin' me right? Right guys? C'mon! We're gonna go to university together!" Enzadi exclaimed in horror.

"Take the damn spice, Enzadi, and quit messin' around!" Tellman said to him, inching closer to him, powder in hand. Enzadi bolted out of the bathroom, trying to get away from his two best friends, his mind reeling.

"Grady and Tell&.spice freaks? No, it can't be true! It can't be!" Enzadi thought as he dodged people in the crowd. He turned his head, and his two friends were right there with him. They grabbed his arms, but Enzadi broke free before they could get a grip. His momentum caused him to fall into a pack of girls dancing. They looked offended and scoffed at him, but Enzadi was too scared to say anything. He brushed past them, letting Grady and Tellman get caught up behind them. He exited the club, tripping on his own feet and falling into the street as Grady and Tellman exited.

"Stay away from me!" Enzadi shouted at them. He got up, brushing himself off and taking off in the wrong direction, away from where his house was.

"We just wanna talk, Strangler! C'mon!" Grady shouted at him as the two pursued him down the not-too-busy Corellian side street. He stopped at a street corner to pant a bit, checking to see how far behind the two were from him. He could see them about 100 meters away, so he took off again, running away from them as fast as his long legs would carry him. He dove through into a municipal park, jumping over a bench. Or, he would have if his foot hand not caught the top of it and stopped his motion, causing him to collide with the ground. The Strangler was never known for his dexterity. He got up, but Grady and Tellman were already upon him. They grabbed him by the arms, and hauled him onto the bench without releasing their grips.

"Now, Enzadi, man. We aren't gonna hurt you," Tellman said, patting him with his free hand. "Or at least, we won't if you keep your mouth shut. Don't tell nobody about what you saw in there, alright? No one!"

Enzadi shook his head as he panted, and spoke in half-sentences. "I-can't-do that, Tell. You guys-I just-can't believe it. What- the hell's-the matter. I&I&" Enzadi trailed off, shaking his head some more.

"It's simple, Strangler," Grady said. "Just don't say anything. Like this night never happened at all, okay?" he put on a smile in earnest, but Enzadi could see the madness in his eyes.

"No, guys. I can't do that," Enzadi said simply, as he kicked Grady off him. He had flung Tellman off in the other direction, sending the small guy skirting about. Grady grabbed him by the ankle, holding him in the park.

"Let me go Grady! I'm warning you!" Enzadi yelled, to which Grady just laughed.

"You? Warning me? I don't think so!" Grady lunged forward, grabbing Enzadi's other ankle, anchoring him. Tellman was up by this point, and he punched the Strangler square in the face.

"You aren't gonna tell anyone, Enzadi!" Grady shouted, as he got up. Grady walked to Enzadi, and thrust his knee down into Enzadi's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of his friend.

"Just let me go, Grady," Enzadi pleaded weakly, trying to breathe again.

"Not until you promise to keep your silence, man. It's easy, just do it," Tellman said as he stood above Enzadi, the first time he had ever towered over his friend. He sat up, with some difficulty. Grady was about to push the Strangler down, but Enzadi grabbed Grady by the ankle and threw him down. He jumped up, and laid out Tellman, although with more care than Tellman had him.


He took off, back towards his house. Grady and Tellman followed him once more, but they let him get away. They thought Enzadi was too soft to tell anyone what had happened with them. It was the spice, it had had them skewed. They thought they were invincible, yet they weren't.

When Enzadi had gotten home, his mother was really surprised.

"Ezzie, you're home early? Where is Grady? And Tellman?" his mother asked when he walked in the door. Her expression turned to concern as she saw his clothing, torn and dirty, and the black eye developing from where Tellman had punched him.

"Mom&I didn't listen to your advice tonight. They&.I don't know them anymore."

"Sweetie&.what happened?" his mother inquired, beckoning him to sit down on the couch.

"They&glimmerstim," Enzadi replied to her, sitting close as she put her arm around her son's shoulder. "I&I can't believe it. I just don't know why they would throw themselves away like that."

Uma reeled back just like Enzadi did in the bathroom back at North Star. "Them? On spice? I can't believe it either! But I'm s glad you told me, Ezzie. I'm gonna call up both their parents and give them my earful. You go on to bed, honey. Try to sleep well, alright? I'll see you in the morning." she said in a placating tone.  Enzadi nodded, then walked, zombie-like, to his room, where he collapsed on his bed.

The next day, his two best friends, Grady Olo and Tellman Morgan, were arrested for the possession and use of glimmers Tim. His mother had pulled through, but it made Enzadi feel terrible. To think that he had consigned them to years of hard labor. His mother had told him it was the right thing to do. She was  right, but Enzadi didn't think he was. It didn't matter, now. There was no way to take but what they had done, and what he had done.

After that time, Enzadi started locking himself in his room, to write music. But then&.his mother had died, throwing Enzadi into grief. He was at the funeral now, mourning his mother's loss, he remembered passing the casket.

And then, the Enzadi woke up in his bunk. He checked the time. Only two hours passed since he had fallen asleep. He sighed, shaking his head. He rubbed his temples a bit, trying to get blood back to flowing.

"God do I wanna forget that day," Enzadi said aloud. He shook his head. He hadn't thought about Grady or Tellman in&years, now. He had been too occupied with music, and now the navy filled the void left by them. He got up, stretching, to use his bathroom. After he had finished, he slumped back into bed. Suddenly, the music came back to the Strangler, ringing through his ears like the roar of a volcano, or an avalanche cruising down a mountain. He shook his head, trying to regain his equilibrium and mental clarity. "Why now?" Enzadi thought. The noise subsided, yet it was still there. He remembered how it had been in his room, furiously scribbling notes down on pages upon pages of paper. He didn't want that to happen to him here, so he settled upon his course: he was going to ignore the music. It was the only possible option Enzadi had.

Despite this, Enzadi was glad that at least some of his creativity had returned. "A pilot and composer," Enzadi thought. "Now there's a combination."


 
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FM/SCRW Enzadi Malko/Kaph 2/Phoenix Wing/mSSDAtrus/DEF/VEN/VE(=*A*=)[SoA][BRC]

Lymph-(v.) To walk with a lisp