Welcome to Baghdad West….
She raked four sharp claws over my face, pore by pore. I knew from earlier encounters that Lena's imprints were already being highlighted by blood oozing through damage skin from just beneath my right eye to a point an inch right of my lip. I wanted to sleep longer, but having felt the pain she could inflict I had second thoughts. A shiver jerked my body as I remembered what my doctor said after my fit of coughing during my last exam. "Wiping blood from the scratches is not a sure-fire way to avoid Cat Pneumonitis."
With the help of a wan blue night-light and outstretched arms I felt my way to the kitchen. While the coffee gurgled Lena finished her breakfast, swallowed two tuna treats and, exhausted by her effort to get our day started properly, slipped away to Catland.
I was sipping good black coffee and waiting for the TV commercials to end when "Breaking News," flashed on the screen. Better sit down, I thought.
One of the pretty early morning announcers said. "Breaking News!" The second said, "We have Breaking News." The soundtrack boom-de-booms melded with rata-ta-tats fabricated an air of impending doom. More bad news from Iraq, I wondered. Bad accident on the Beltway?
The fanfare from the TV faded and a face I recognized replaced the studio picture. I've seen him so often that I once thought he was a freelance NBC-TV4 Reporter. Seeing his rugged features with antenna-like dreadlocks sticking out from under a dark fedora, flawless tailored clothing and a bearing that radiated authority I knew what the news would be. I think of him as The Man from Homicide.
This morning's count is three shot: one dead, one critical, one stable. There were five people shot a couple of day's back. The numbers change so fast it is hard to keep track. I began this little story on April 1st, my birth month. The best I can do is employ dead reckoning to help me guess how things will be by year-end, how many of you will be, how shall I put it — unable to make the bowl games? According to Metropolitan Police Department statistics during the 90-day period from January 1st through March 31st there were 39 murders for an average of one murder every 55 hours. This year, 8760 hours, less 2160 hours already used divided by 55 hours means we have a fair chance of seeing The Man from Homicide another 120 times. Think things are tough in Iraq? I'll be back with more dead reckoning after the holiday. Till then Welcome to Baghdad West