A memoir by bestselling author Ruth Shaw of Manapōuri on one night out fighting crime
Two gangs were well established in Invercargill — the Mongrel Mob and the skinheads. There were also a few punks, who weren’t a cause for concern, but a new bike gang from up north was starting to appear on the Invercargill streets. They were scouting around schools to recruit prospects for the bottom rung of the ladder of the new gang. There were plenty of them — young boys looking for excitement and also a place where they felt they belonged.
I was driving along with a van full of high-school kids. All of them knew me well and trusted me. Sixteen-year-old Craig, who was sitting up front with me, was constantly fidgeting; he couldn’t keep still.
"What’s up?" I asked.
"Can’t tell, but shit is going down and I know about it."
"A big deal then, Craig?"
"Real big deal."
I dropped the others off and asked Craig if he would like to walk Hunza with me.
"Cool, just us three?"
I nodded and headed out to the beach. I knew Craig well enough to know he would tell me what was going to happen; it would give him a sense of importance.
"I hear there’s a new gang coming into town," I said casually. "That could be interesting."
He looked at me and smiled. "Did you know they were recruiting?"
I did know but told him I didn’t.
"Some of my mates are going to rob a liquor store on Tuesday night, to start to work towards their patches."
"I’m glad you’re not involved," I said. "It will only lead to trouble."
"You think they are stupid? They have a great plan."
I stayed silent, and sure enough, he couldn’t stop himself.
"Three of them are breaking into the Street Liquor store at 2.30 in the morning. No one will be around. They have a car and everything."
I had heard enough. "Best you keep this to yourself, Craig."
He nodded, jumped out of the van and took off after Hunza, who was exploring the sand dunes.
A huge guy named Liam appointed himself to look after me soon after I started work as a youth worker. I could stand behind him and you couldn’t see me. He was always there for me whenever I needed backup. He was a gang member, and as I had helped some of their members without involving the police or Social Welfare, he trusted me. I told him about the proposed robbery and that I wanted to stop it, as a way of stopping these kids prospecting to get into the gang. Liam wasn’t keen on the new gang coming to town either, so he was more than willing to help. He came up with a plan.
At 2am we met up at the back of the liquor store — Liam, Hunza and me. He told me to follow his instructions, which was slightly concerning as I knew his gang had access to guns.
"I don’t want anyone to be hurt," I said firmly. "Can you promise me that?"
"Stop worrying, Ruth. Just climb up here and lie down flat on the roof."
I climbed up onto a big grey rubbish skip and from there he hauled me up onto the shop roof. He then called Hunza, waiting near the skip, who with no hesitation leapt onto the bin and then onto the roof beside me. His tail was wagging furiously, eyes on the alert and ears standing stiffly erect. We crawled to the edge of the roof, from where we could look across to the carpark. Then we lay there in silence, as flat as possible. Hunza, lying beside Liam, mimicked us, even flattening his ears.
It wasn’t long before an old car pulled up and stopped under a tree. Three young boys climbed out. One was carrying a crowbar and the other two each carried something but I couldn’t make out what. As they approached the front of the building Liam quickly stood up. He tapped the side of his leg and Hunza immediately stood up beside him. I lay still.
"What are you boys up to?" Liam yelled clearly into the night as he switched on a big torch, which lit up Hunza.
The boys looked up. ‘Shit, a police dog," one yelled. They turned and ran back to their car with the torchlight beaming straight onto them.
"Try anything like this again and I’ll set the dog onto you," Liam yelled. Hunza hadn’t moved, hadn’t even barked — but now he leapt up and down with great enthusiasm, knowing he was part of something very exciting.
The boys’ car took off at a great rate.
The next day when I picked up a few of the kids there was constant talk about the police bust and the police dog who was apparently baring his teeth, growling so loudly that they were convinced he was about to leap down and attack them. Hunza was small for a German shepherd but by the time I heard the story he was at least twice the size, weighing in at about 50 kilos. No one guessed that it was Hunza, the small and accommodating German shepherd that everyone loved. One of the boys in the back of the van was hugging Hunza and rubbing his head. "You shoulda been there, Hunza," I heard him say.
A young skinhead burst out laughing, "Hunza! He would have just followed them and joined in the fun."
I silently agreed.
The new gang quietly disappeared off the Invercargill streets after a couple of weeks and an uneasy peace was restored.
Taken with kind permission from the newly published Bookshop Dogs by Ruth Shaw (Allen & Unwin, $38.99), a collection of "heartwarming and charming stories of dogs and books" that is sure to sell its socks off this Xmas and would make an ideal stocking filler.
