I have cultivated a personality of my own. One that I have created gradually over the years. I may have been born with human traits that society values but I realized they would have hindered me along the way. What I was in the womb or in the cradle is not what I am now. I’m known as a man who can be trusted implicitly with a job of this nature. That’s enough for me. They all seek me out, so I can name my price. And I don’t go in for small fry. My reputation would lose its lustre if I were to do so. I am a man of few words. I don’t speak much. To whom could I speak? I have no woman in my life. No children. My weapon speaks for me. I have confidence in my skills. My hand must be steady. There must not be the slightest tremor in my fingers. My eyes possess a steady, unwavering gaze. They transfix the object before I take aim. I don’t hold dialogue with those whom I’ve got to get rid of. No negotiation takes place. It would give them time for retaliation. Moreover, whatever they say will not, cannot, move me to change my purpose. Besides, I don’t want bodyguards overpowering me, although most often they haven’t a chance. They themselves do not escape. It’s a sacrifice they are compelled to make. They have to take chances. How many assassins, how many hit-men get caught anyway? Better die than get caught. We know what happens. Limbs broken. Bastinadoed. Torture and interrogation go hand in hand. There’s no chance of escape. And does the right man pay the price? There are so many underlings. Substratas, subversive layers, like the shifting plates that lie below the earth’s surface. Endless conjecturing and surmising as to who pulled the trigger, who operated the remote control devices to detonate the bomb or the mine, who flung the grenade. Whether the weapon was a T 56 or AK 47. Suspects are rounded up. But these are the decoys. The innocents. Confessions are extracted, whispered through bloodied, pulped mouths and bruised tongues to the High Priest, the torturer. Whom does it all help? Talk, talk, talk. What’s the point?