Perseverance — Page 12
12 – the story of al-haj Rashid ahmad american They pretended to separate us but they were repeatedly reaching into his pockets for money. Meanwhile, one of my friends found my gun and gave it to me. Empowered with my gun back and watching my other friends holding him down, I reached for a chair and bashed his head with it. He was knocked a little off balance. I hit him again and he fell flat. All of his money was taken by my other friends and they let him go, bloodied and penniless. The next day he confronted me in bandages and a sling. He apologized to me saying that he was drunk and he would pay me the money later, which he paid in a few days. This was a typical episode in the streets. I was a handler at the gambling house across the street as well. The handler is the person who keeps the procedures in order and sets up the rules. One incident involved a client hitting another man, taking his money, and walking away from the gambling table. The man who was hit went to the bartender and asked for his gun. The bartender handed him his gun. The gunman walked over to the man who took his money and said, “Man, give me my money!” Before the man who took the money could respond, he was shot by the gunman. Now shot, the man ran out of the bar and continued running for approximately half a block and then fell dead. The shooter wanted me to testify on his behalf because I was a witness to both, the victim hitting him and the shooting. He wanted me to testify that the shooting was in self-defense, but this wasn’t true. He didn’t give the victim an opportunity to respond. I replied that I wouldn’t do it because he did not let the man respond. I did not testify, but the assailant gave me the gun so he