‘Where are we going?’ Margaret asked. ‘I have to say, it’s been quite some time since I was last on a rowboat.’
‘I’m going to show you a few of our economic operations. Despite our insulated self-sufficiency, there are certain goods that we need to bring in from the outside world. Also, we actually export a few things from here too.’
A sudden burst of pluck fired Margaret’s will.
‘And what about these weapons that are everywhere, General? I’ve seen more AK-47 rifles, and handguns, and rocket launchers and such in this city than I’ve ever seen anywhere in my life … and believe me, General, that’s some feat to beat, as I’ve been to more than a few gun fairs in America. And before you ask, it was against my will. One of my uncles insisted on taking my siblings and I when we were kids. They loved it of course, my brothers I mean, but I hated it, and my sister did too. From the look of things around here though, I think that you would’ve loved it.’
The General clasped his hands together and furrowed his brow.
‘I hope you are not insinuating that I facilitate trade with illegal arms dealers.’
A sudden flush of damning heat immolated Margaret’s body, and she was seized by a desperate desire to grab these clumsy words that had burst so rashly from between her lips and stuff them, somehow, back in.
‘No, I, er, no, that’s not what I meant…’
The General smiled and leaned back, parting his lips to reveal a flash of white teeth. He seemed, thankfully, to be rather unperturbed by her question.
‘It was a valid query, I’ll concede that,’ he admitted. ‘But to respond, all of our arms are salvaged, every one of them. Not a single weapon or item of ammunition in this city has been purchased from arms dealers. As you well know there exists a great number of militia organisations in this part of the earth. Sub-Saharan Africa is flooded with firearms, and the AK-47 is far and away the most popular gun of all. Therefore, it is because of reasons of sheer practicality and availability that I equip most of my soldiers with AK-47 assault rifles.’
Feeling a dash of bravery, Margaret probed further with her questioning.
‘And how exactly do you go about “salvaging” these firearms? Pardon me, but I don’t imagine that people just leave ‘em lying around in the dirt when they get bored with, you know, shooting and massacring innocent people.’
‘Have you ever seen a movie called Falling Down, Dr Green?’
Margaret raised her eyebrow.
‘Falling Down? That nineties film with Michael Douglas? What on earth does that have to do with where you get your weapons?’
The General chuckled, and his eyes sparkled with a flash of almost childlike glee.
‘You do love to ask that question, yes! Haha! Have you not learned by now that every example I bring up is completely relevant to the topic at hand? You have so little faith in me!’
Margaret couldn’t help but smile with him, despite her simmering annoyance; while the man’s quiet rage was immensely unnerving, when he expressed joy and mirth, they were irresistibly infectious.
‘All right, all right. Tell me, how does Falling Down relate to how you acquire weaponry?’
‘When did you watch Falling Down?’
‘Hmm, years ago. I don’t really remember much of it.’
‘You remember the basic plot, do you not?’
‘I guess, pretty much.’
‘Good. So, do you remember how the main character ended up getting his weapons?’
‘Um, not too clearly. Refresh my memory, why don’t you?’
‘He begins out by walking out of a Los Angeles traffic jam, abandoning his vehicle in the middle of the freeway. All he has with him at the time is a briefcase. He goes into a shop to buy a drink, gets into a tangle with the shop owner, and comes out armed with a baseball bat, which he took off the owner after the man attacked him with it. A few scenes later, he is attacked by gangsters. He defends himself again and ends up taking a flick-knife off of them. Now his arsenal is upgraded, you see – by a small degree, but upgraded nonetheless. The same gangsters come back for a revenge attack, hoping to kill him in a drive-by shooting, but they miss and crash their car, and he is thus able to take a bag of firearms off them. Once more his weaponry is upgraded merely by chance. The movie continues like this until eventually he is armed with a rocket launcher.’
Margaret bit the corner of her lower lip as she considered this, dipping her left hand into the water and trailing it along as the boat traced a gentle passage along the river.
‘So what you’re saying is that you somehow accumulated these thousands of firearms by chance encounters, self-defence and, er, “upgrading” when circumstances made that possible?’
The General chuckled again, but then crossed his arms across his chest.
‘It is not that simple of course, but yes, in a sense, it did happen somewhat similarly to how it is portrayed in Falling Down. You see, Doctor, I have been engaged in the war against the evils of slavery for centuries. I was one of the first to fight against the Europeans who came to the west coast of Africa hundreds of years ago to steal
