Saul's brother was in the 'ra apparently.
So he says - but he's also an awful spoofer too.
(Noting he died young. Was he a drinker as well? He looks like it. You weren't supposed to drink in the 'ra. You weren't supposed to tell anyone you were in the 'ra either, including family.)
We learned that lesson before being released onto Ballyer's streets. We had a load of lads who we knew were up to something but nobody ever interfered or crossed them. Violent men, quick to burst, the sort who'd turn on their own if they were drunk enough. I knew all the families who had members in service, and among my siblings I made connections with what's probably Ballyer's most notorious family. That saved me a bus-load of hassle, just to be seen doing business with him and him shaking my hand.
They could get you anything you asked for within a couple of days, but you better have made sure you had the money in hand next time you met them. No quarter was allowed for pussyfooting or wasting their time. Make your deal, get in, get out, shut the fuck up about it.
And even now that all of my siblings are out of Ballyer, my Mam still has all the protection she could possibly ever need: so none of us have to worry.
The point anyway being that Saul's shtick brings back to me how there was a bravado that infected those who were associated with 'ra members.
Aye, there was a rock-star element to it all back in the days of gritty cop shows like The Sweeney and Starsky & Hutch. One lad on my own street had the infamous S&H decal speed stripe down the length of his brand new Ford Capri. Every time he passed he'd beep us and we'd sing the S&H theme while breaking our shites laughing.
Saul reminds me of that.
But first he's much too old for it. He doesn't have the excuse of being a young foolish kid anymore. Second, those days are long gone, and good riddance.
For sure, nobody wants that sort of violence to return to the streets. Disappeared people, guys with their knees blown out, others afraid to even leave the house. Burglars who robbed old or otherwise infirm people without first getting permission were hunted down and battered to within an inch of their lives. We all knew someone who'd fucked up and got 'the treatment'.
The local lads went under the name 'The F Troop' and were notorious for their antics.
Not all were fun, especially if you yourself were their mark.
Actually the point to take from it is those with life experience learn from hard experience about the vicious circle that that variety of violence consists of. (That's why the Provos consisted only of kids and psychos.)
That's the character profile most local lads went under: and they had no qualms about dealing with the really messy stuff.
Those with little real life experience develop no real idea about violence. There are a lot of that type on these Irish fora. Like Saul.
It's one thing to make anonymous threats. It's another thing to consider it a lifestyle choice: lounging around all day waiting for someone you've never even met to post something/anytyhing that'll spur you into any reaction at all, whether rage and anger or all sweetness and light. The kind of violence the lads in the RA offered isn't/wasn't very pleasant, and it takes a true to the bone sadist to carry out some of the more violent actions that aren't quite death, but very close to it.
Fuck up and they'll take your knees.
Fuck them up and you're toast.
Just Saul having such a high degree of the simpleton about him makes it plainer than others more circumspect.
He's severely mentally challenged, there's no doubt about that.
Childlike, and on the spectrum for sure.
And I truly do. He used to adore me, then he was modded on here and straight away went into a power-crazy path of self destruction within a few days. I tried to help him out regarding his son, the main family thief. He saw sense in what I was trying to tell him had to be done, but it turned out he's afraid of the lad. Can't bring himself to face the thieving cunt down and get him out of the family home.
Saul's always needed to have a helping hand - left to his own devices I'd imagine he's as meek and humble as a church mouse.
More out of fear than anything else.
I tried to help him all I can, but now I can't do nothing for him, Man.
Poor Saul.
Wash your butt.