Belfast Rules
Chapter 5

Copyright© 2015 by RWMoranUSMCRet

Please bear with me if I take the liberty to insert a short timeline for Danny that gives the reader a better backdrop of his chronological development. I will also attempt to preface chapters with the point in time and the location of the scenario due to the fact there are several key timeframes and locations for the plot of the story.

DANNY'S TIMELINE

Danny's background ... Born 1950

Joined what is now known as PIRA or more simply (IRA) in 1966

First mission 1967 in Derry

At age 20 in 1970 Danny had assassinated 8 of the enemy including 2 traitors in their midst.

At age 21 in 1971 his father is in prison. He dies in prison 1977 at age 27.

Danny leaves Ireland in 1972 at age 22.

He returns to UK in 1983 for Brighton job. Age 33

He returns to Ireland in Belfast in 1995 and meets Molly. He is 45 years old.

Molly was born in 1969 in Belfast. She is 27 when she meets Danny.

Molly left Belfast in 1980 at age of 10.

Molly returns to Belfast in 1990 at age of 21.

Danny returns to Belfast in 1995 and meets Molly. He is 45 years old.

In 2015, Danny is 65 and is married to Molly for the past 20 years. He is a person of interest to the Northern Ireland Police Force and has been questioned several times regarding "cold case" murders by the Historical Police Unit investigating unsolved crimes during the "Troubles".


BELFAST – 1995

Danny was on top of the bed in the hotel room looking at the ceiling and wondering why he was back in Ireland when he knew there were still people on both sides still looking for him and willing to give him a bullet in the back of the head with a smile on their face.

The new peace initiatives were encouraging but he had a gut instinct that told him it was a bit premature and there were too many of the hard core Republicans and Loyalists who had their own agendas about such things. The rumor he had heard from Dublin was that the "boys" in the North had their fingers in a lot of pies and it wasn't likely for them to give up their sources of income without a battle. Thinking back to the early days, he remembered that such things were kept outside of the "struggle" because the two were not in the least bit interrelated. Sometimes it was necessary to revert back to strong-arm methods to raise cash for the cause but that was another matter entirely. That was sanctioned and one would never use such funds for personal reasons knowing the consequences would be harsh and final.

It was a strange coincidence that Molly's family had moved to that area on the road to Lisburn. He had more than his share of secrets buried up there and when he thought about it they were quite literally "buried" because he had to hide the evidence in some desperate manner to escape capture. The location was seared into his memory and he hoped they had not paved over the spot to prevent him from recovering the items which were no longer sought by any units of the opposition authorities. He decided that it was worth a risk just to scout out the disposal site to see if it was still secure. It was highly unlikely that it would be under watch this long after the incidents of more than twenty years ago.

He still had some diamonds hidden inside the lining of his jacket but that was for absolute emergency and not just ordinary day-to-day living for ordinary expenses. It would have been possible to put in a chit to the headquarters for some sustenance funds but he knew from years of experience that such funding was almost always on the negative side of the balance sheet and he didn't want to add to their troubles in these dangerous times. Besides, he was a follower of the principle of "out of sight, out of mind" and didn't want his name on any report sheet that might fall into Whitehall hands. The informant game was one that was played expertly on both sides with surprising success in many areas. He still had his dormant "string" in Belfast but hesitated to make contact with any of them because way down deep he lacked trust in their ultimate loyalty.

Belfast was still as unsmiling and filled with an atmosphere of tense anticipation like a trained soldier waiting for the sound of the first bullet. It was certainly true that the prospects for peace were swirling in the little dust-devils that appeared and disappeared like phantoms of one's imagination. He was of the opinion that seeing is believing and would continue to keep his handgun nestled safely in the small of his back until the last Tommy boarded a ship out of Ireland.

The working-class neighborhoods were just as on edge as they were in the past and perhaps even a little bit more so because nobody was convinced the negotiations would actually work.

Those same working-class neighborhoods were so segregated now that he doubted they would ever be unsorted in the future. Danny knew the sorting-out was mandatory for peace of mind of the family units but it was self-defeating in terms of building the levels of trust required for the proposed ceasefires to work.

Belfast was city of "circled wagons" with Protestants in their walled enclaves and the Catholics in theirs. What made it more complicated was the fact that the economic segregation separating the classes made it even more confusing. Over the years of the "Troubles" the upper levels of the city residents were fairly well insulated from danger unless there was a particular target of interest that was too tempting to overlook by either side.

The issue of housing schemes was a sore point within the Catholic community. The Republican leaders had long contended that their constituents were being treated like "second-class" citizens with respect to housing benefits for the working-class and was a situation that was slow to be rectified. Any attempt to improve the inequality of such matters was viewed by the Loyalists as weakening the superiority of the Protestant society simply by improving conditions for the Catholic residents. The Catholics had been "under the boot" for so long that they accepted the conditions as "normal" despite the obvious inequality.

The guise of religious differences was merely a front for the underlying desire to remain the group in power. The drive to control all aspects of life in the North by the powerful Unionists was rooted in the desire to stay economically successful and free from eventual "swallowing up" of their enclaved society by the much larger Catholic South. The fact of the matter was that religion was just an excuse for biased actions and unfair programs to prolong control of a favored group. The typical Irish resident either Catholic or Protestant was marginally religious-minded with only a minute number considered truly devout. The actual "hatred" element was more economically or socially based because of attitudes and biases practiced on a daily basis.

Danny was a member of the PIRA only because he had personal losses to avenge and he seldom gave a thought to the position of either religious group. In fact, he could not distinguish between Catholic and Protestant in most situations unless they stated their position or were wearing a uniform that placed them on one side or another. Sometimes when Catholics strayed to the other side or vice versa it was some trouble-making agitator that called a halt to it with an agenda of keeping the two groups separate.

He could see that Molly's parents were living in one of the favored upper class neighborhoods away from the despair of the "Troubles". He did not fault them for wanting to move out from the "battle zone". Almost all of his friends would head south when they wanted to have a good time and get away from the stifling atmosphere of constant struggle. Any travel away from Belfast was like a mini-vacation from the oppressive atmosphere of bombs and bullets flying unexpectedly in the middle of a peaceful day.

He had checked the bus schedule more than once to make certain he was not getting on one of those "Express" ones that wouldn't stop where he wanted to get off. Danny was wise enough to get off a good distance from the deserted factory that had closed decades ago due to the unstable labor conditions. He could see the broken windows and the barbed wire fence around it from a distance. It didn't look any different than it did way back in 1972 when the only thing on his mind was to stash the loot and to get the incriminating evidence out of his hands in case he got caught. As he got closer, he saw the demolition crews and the equipment just setting up shop on the south side and knew instinctively that he had arrived just in the nick of time before the entire affair was reduced to rubble.

 
There is more of this chapter...
The source of this story is Storiesonline

To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account (Why register?)

Get No-Registration Temporary Access*

* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.

Close
 

WARNING! ADULT CONTENT...

Storiesonline is for adult entertainment only. By accessing this site you declare that you are of legal age and that you agree with our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.