Misc.

urinetown 2

there were three divisions of security in the town, but they all trained under the same roof. 

there was the highest level, those who were destined to sidle into a life of luxury as caldwell b. cladwell's personal security. for them, this was basic training. practically the least of their concerns. 

then, there was general security. if you were lucky, you would end up guarding some office door at the ugc or the legislation. jobs were typically taken by young men with nepotism on their side. rich boys who needed a job to make daddy happy.

the last division compromised the large majority. beat cops. they used to put new trainees through a more rigorous process, far more than just learning how to fight. now all you needed to know how to do was throw a punch and you'd pass with high honours. 

they called you by your last name. identity didn't matter- what mattered was what you represented. lockstock had initially had thoughts on this but realized rather quickly that this notion also went against the norm so he kept his head down and shut up. 

it was his turn to climb the ropes. trainees were chosen at random to compete against another person. whoever could climb up and ring the bell the fastest won. lockstock stood on the safety mat and looked up, then over to his competitor. he was short and stocky, with a buzzcut and the name "barrel" embroidered onto the sleeve of his t-shirt. 

"wanna bet?" barrel offered. lockstock let out a breathless laugh and shook his head. 

"no, let's just get this over with." 

"alright man, your loss." 

the starting whistle was loud and shrill in lockstock's ear. 

initially, lockstock was in the lead. he was a good deal taller than barrel and had enough upper body strength to boost himself up without a lot of trouble. 

"maybe i should have taken that bet." he called over to barrel, inching his way up the rope. 

"yeah, maybe you should have. you still can." barrel replied. he was catching up, but not very quickly. 

"okay. i'll take you up on it," lockstock grunted and pulled himself up a little more.

"twenty bucks?" barrel said.

"twenty? you're crazy." 

"come on man, yes or no? make a decision." 

"fine. yes. twenty bucks to whoever makes it to the top first."

"deal." barrel said. 

they were head to head now. raising the stakes seemed to have woken barrel up, who was now steadily keeping up with lockstock. he was stronger than he seemed, and lockstock's hands were getting really sweaty. he started second guessing himself. 

he realized how quickly his heart was racing, how hard he'd started breathing. he realized with painful timing how much his chest and arms hurt- how much his shoulders ached. he was so close. the bell was so close. 

"don't ring it yet," barrel told him. "you're not close enough. you'll fall."

"no i won't." lockstock said, strained. and just when he could feel his middle finger graze the bronze metal, just before he declared victory, his other hand slipped from the rope. 

lockstock gasped and flailed, almost pitifully trying to grab back onto the rope to no avail. he hit the safety mats with a thud and only thing he heard besides the ringing in his ears was the ringing of a bell about twenty feet above him.

"i told you!" barrel laughed. "you owe me twenty bucks now, sucker!"

-

he hadn't seen barrel in several years. after all, barrel wasn't some lowlife patrol cop in training. not yet, anyways. lockstock had met hundreds of people since meeting barrel. to anyone else, barrel would have just become another face in the crown. he remembered the hot searing pain that had ripped across his palm when it had slid its way down the rope. before lockstock had let go. in the right light, there was still a faint scar from the incident.