Part 3/7 - Abduct a GiB

Him: “Make a right here. Keep going. Now park here this is a good spot.”

Me: “But there’s cars that pass by this street!”

Him: “Don’t worry they can’t see anything if your headlights are off.”

Me: “But dude THEIR lights are on, so THEY can see us.”

Him: “Don’t worry here’s good”, he says as he lights up a cigarette. “Just turn off your lights”

A guy comes out of the shade and is now approaching my car from across the street.

Me: “Funny looks like this guy’s coming to pee next to the car he hasn’t seen us here!” I say in way of joke.

But the guy outside keeps getting closer and closer to the car. He’s now speeding up his pace.

The Slap - from an Amsterdam Graffiti

[PAUSE HERE] Of the whole experience following what is about to happen, this is the one moment that still gives me chills today: It is the precise moment when I figured out what was going on, while it was too late to take off.

“Oh no please don’t tell me this is what I’m thinking, please don’t tell me this is happening to me”, I think to myself. Next thing I know the guy outside is grabbing my shirt through the window and giving me my first slap in the face. The one sitting next to me, who for a second had pretended he was unbuttoning his jeans, is now lending him a hand.

The slapping is non-stop and getting more intense as I start screaming, screaming as loud as I can. In my head and as far as I could tell from these guys dressed in civil and from the way they set me up, there is no doubt I am getting abducted and/or stolen my car and things. I’ve heard this scenario more than once before.

The two guys have dragged me out of my car by now. I throw myself on the floor. They’re trying to get me inside a white Toyota with a civil plate, they won’t stop hitting and I won’t stop screaming. They’re trying to quiet me down and tell me something but I can’t hear anything. There’s cars that pass by every minute or so, but they seem to ignore my screaming so bad that it really feels like I’m in a nightmare.

One of them is finally able to handcuff one of my hands. If they get the second one on, I’m done. I must resist. I’m fighting back as much as I can, I even bite one of the guys as hard as I can. It must have been about 20 slaps in the face so far, I’m completely detached from by body at this point, my whole body feels numb. I can taste my own blood but I still find the time to check with my tongue if my teeth are still in place.

And then comes the grand finale, a proper Hollywood-style punch in the eye. Within a split second my eye feels swollen and blind. I finally surrender to my two aggressors.

--by GiL. Photo by GiB#2