The eye of the storm

     I had found myself in America, In the midst of New York City, the war had ended though over the world countries were still suffering, Germany and Great Britain were suffering greatly, America however seemed to be prospering, its streets were line with gold and glittered with opportunity and with the birth of the 1920s the world was on the verge of great change. I had fought through my addiction during the war and now lived a relatively normal life, I owned a luxurious home and all of the finest things a man could need, yes the 20s was a time for freedom and fun, women wore revealing dresses, they smoked, they drank and they danced the night away; life was good once more. Though in America it was viewed as being a little too good, with the men  who had been away fighting, who had lost their lives fighting officials were worried that young men without any stability or rules may ‘lose t’ so to speak and so Prohibition was born. What is it? Not good is what it was, Prohibition meant that the making, distribution and consumption of alcohol was illegal and anyone found partaking in any of these activities was arrested by a special branch of the police force. Unfortunately as many of us know when you tell someone not to do something they are much more likely to do it and Prohibition was no different. Illegal still were formed, alcohol was brought across borders and sold for extortionate prices, men who drank, drank more, many drank spirits and even those who had never touched a drop began to drink and it lead to the making of some of the most notorious criminals.

     Now I’m going to go off on a tangent here so bare with me, I am going to tell you a story, a story about a man by the name off John H. Dillinger Jnr. Born, June 22 1903, died, well that’s why I’m sharing this little story with you. From around 1933-1934 John Dillinger became one of the most notorious criminals known; forget Capone, bonnie and Clyde and don’t even consider baby face and pretty boy; Dillinger cast a shadow across all of them, he was ruthless and mean but most of all he had liquid charisma flowing through his veins. Many people loved Dillinger because he did not rob the poor, after prohibition was repealed in ’33 gangs simply turned to other ‘hobbies’ such as gambling, prostitution and loan sharking plus with the damaged and misery that had come with the depression an old type of criminal made a comeback and with it came Dillinger; it became the time of the armed bank robber. When I say Dillinger was loved because he did not rob from the poor I mean he robbed from those who got rich by robbing the poor and in today’s society I’m guessing there are more than a few Dillinger fans out there. Dillinger eluded the police for over a year before he was wounded though still managed to escape, though a few months later on July 22^nd  John Dillinger was shot dead by federal agents; or so they reported.
     Now this is where the tangent rejoins the main story, if I told you that John Herbert Dillinger was in fact alive and kicking though walking with a slight limp; would you be surprised considering the story so far. Over the length of time I’ve been alive, in order to live a relatively normal life and once I had broken free of the ‘habit’ I had to change names, discover new identities and I also regrettably fell into the darker parts of being a human, I went to jail, I murdered and not to eat and I became John Dillinger. I created a whole life for him, a birth, a family back then it was easy, men though dead during the war were finally coming home alive, it was simple for me to turn up and declare than I was in fact John Dillinger Jnr, parents were so distraught at the loss that they accepted it, a son had returned. Life was good during the 20s, id been married and happy but when the depression hit everything seemed to fall apart, I couldn’t return home, I had no job and so I did what a lot of men though about, I attempted a robbery and ended in jail. After that things spiralled and John Dillinger became notorious, he became loved.
     You’re probably wondering who died that night, well the federal agents had become angry, they were pissed they had been made fools of during the prohibition and now the whole country was overrun by gangs and robbers and so they needed a win and that came in the form of me. Unfortunately when Ana Cumpanas attempted to turn me over I heard her, I sent someone else to that theatre and when I didn’t come out they decided to take out the other guy and they lied. Now I took the chance and I disappeared, got a new life; the majority of the world believed I was dead, the feds got a win and my life was about to start again. I left America that night bound for England amidst fears and threats of a new world war; it felt like the eye of the storm was finally passing and life was about to shatter once again.