The rain was really coming down hard. Standing in the doorway of the café opposite his apartment block, David held his hot takeaway tea in both hands, and blew on it as he observed. He watched people running for cover as they were caught in the sudden shower. Shop owners hurried to get their merchandise inside. Doorways filling with people looking up at the sky, like the rain was some kind of acid falling. David saw the car coming and hoped for a break in the shower, but there wouldn’t be one. Bracing himself as Beck pulled up at the opposite kerb, David made a run for it, and managed to get in without getting soaked or spilling his tea. Beck smiled and asked “been waiting long?” “Too long” David replied with a sarcastic smile, “what took you?”. “I had to take Daniel to my Sisters house, my parents are both sick.” David face dropped, “are they ok?” He asked. “Just the crappy weather, they both have colds.” Beck replied in a depressed tone.
They drove towards the pick up in the nicer part of town where older people lived. The rain was relentless and paint it black began playing on the radio. Ironic David thought as they drove across town. Dressed in black suits in a black car on a black day. Ten minutes later they pulled up at the kerb and followed the Cop, Michael, inside the apartment block. Michael was one cop Beck had been seeing in the past. He was a nice guy, too nice for Beck.
The building was unusual. The architecture was from the old days, with an open courtyard in the middle, open all the way to the sky. The courtyard was full of green broad leaf plants of all kinds, which created a feeling of being in a lush jungle. Plants spilled out from the upper levels around the courtyard and hung down. With the rain it looked like a rain forest David thought. He was impressed that this apartment block, that looked brown and lifeless on the outside, was so full of life on the inside.
The pick up was one of two twin Sisters, 75 years old. The Sisters lived on opposite sides of the building on the third floor. As they came to the top of the steps, a Cop was knock on the brown door of one of the apartments. The remaining Sister was shouting that she would not open the door. It was clear she was drunk, talking incoherently in confused sentences, random and disconnected. The Cops kept knocking at the door and pleading with her to open up.
As they walked past the apartment the Sister finally opened the door to reveal a frail drunk old lady, the stench of wiskey, urine and detergent hanging thick in the air. Her apartment beyond was furnished with flower print furniture from the same year the building was made. When she saw the Cop she became a sweet old lady and said “ ah you’re here at last! Come in dear.”
Michael, the Cop, led Beck and David past the apartment, to where the body lay in a pool of blood and other bodily fluids, on the floor of the long wide corridor. The rain and plants helped to cleans the air, but the smell of body fluids still lingered. David stood looking at the rain as it passed the balcony and dripped down from the leaves above. The plants are crying at the loss of their keeper he thought. There were drops of blood and pools of vomit leading to the body at his feet, leading from the direction of the living Sister’s apartment. David unrolled the body bag and began laying it out next to the body in a clean part of the floor. He moved towards the shoulders of the body which lay face down as if she just lay down to take a nap. Beck asked Michael what happened as she took hold of the legs.
Michael explained, “Last night the Sisters had been having dinner together. After dinner they had tea and talked about their grandchildren, Women at their social club and neighbors. When they had finished their tea the visiting Sister began feeling ill. She coughed blood all over the room and in a panic she ran out of the apartment in the direction of her own apartment. She made it to here.” “Holy shit! Said Beck, thinking of her own Sister. “She poisoned her?” Michael shook his head. “I have no idea. The Sister first cleaned the whole apartment, then she ran in the other direction around the courtyard to her Sister’s apartment. She claims she didn’t see her body. She knocked at the door and with no answer she went to the hospital. Finding that her Sister was not at the hospital, she returned home, and went to sleep.”
Beck zipped the bag closed and dropped her head. “she was layed here all night?” she asked. “Yes” replied Michael. “The alarm was raised when a neighbor found her here this morning.” David signaled to Beck and they lifted the body bag from the floor. As they carried it to the staircase the door of the Sisters apartment flew open and the Cop was struggling with the old woman, who had now turned into a wild animal. They came out into the corridor in front of David and Beck . The Cop swore and shouted to Michael. “The bitch hid me! She denies she’s dead. I’m arresting her for assault until we find out exactly what happened,” as he maneuvered her kicking and screaming, down the stairs.
Beck got into the car after closing the back door and David started the engine. They took off in the direction of the office. Beck was silent and began to think of her own relationship with her Sister. “How could someone do such a thing” she asked. “She is clearly mad” said David “She was completely crazy” “I could never dream of doing something like that to my Sister. No matter how crazy I was.” David laughed out loud. “You don’t know what you are capable of, until you are in that situation” he said. “Never” Beck shot back, “Never”.
David slid his key into the lock of his apartment four hours after dropping the dead Sister off at the office. He was tired and his knee was throbbing. He needed food and a shot. As the key clicked in the lock he realized Mrs Dean was standing in her doorway. The smell of insense and perfume filled the hallway “Hi Mrs Dean” he said, smiling. “Hello Mr Stone” she replied, “How was your day?” “Ah you know. The accounting department is not very exciting” he lied. “My husband was an accountant” she said “I know exactly how it is” she smiled. “Good night said David as he pushed open his door. “Good night Mr Stone” she replied.
David entered his small apartment and took off his Jacket. He hung it on the hanger behind the door and slid off his shoes. He walked over to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It was empty besides a mouldy block of cheese and half a jar of mayo. There was never anything in there but it was a habbit to look. He picked up the phone and dialled John’s Pizza. The sexy voice of the girl on the other end came on the line “Johns’s Pizza what would you like?” she said. “Ah, hi, yes, er the usual please” David stumbled. He always got tongue tied talking to her. “Four cheese with extra anchovies?” she enquired knowingly. “Yea, thats right” David confirmed. “Twenty minutes” said the girl expressionless, almost bored. The noise in the background told David they were busy. “Thanks” he said and the girl hung up. His mouth watered at the thought of the pizza arriving in perfect time.
He made his way to the sofa and sat down. Leaning forward he reached for the glass and bottle of green liquid in the centre of the table. Unscrewing the lid he poured a small glass of the green glowing syrup. He loosened his tie and rubbed his hands together in anticipation of what was to come. Checking the clock he took the glass and downed the shot in one go. It coated his throat with its thick sticky bitterness. David slid the glass back onto the table and rested his body back. His head rested on the sofa as he felt the world spin. He closed his eyes to surrender to the feeling. His ears filled with a sound like humming that grew louder until he felt like he was falling. He could see the room even though his eyes were closed. His eye view began to duplicate in two directions like the pages of a book. Each page being a different version of his reality. Panic started to grip him as he realized as he always did that he could be stuck in this between realities forever. He fought to relax and as he did so he lost all feeling of time.
He could not feel or see his body yet he was there. In a place he had never been before. Where was this place he thought. Then he recognized a voice. It was his Mother. She was calling to him. He looked around and saw a small boy playing in the middle of a cobbled road. He was picking the black tar that had seeped up from between the cobbles. David knew then that it was himself as a child. The forgotten memory was real but he was seeing himself as a third person. He couldn’t see his Mother, only the small boy sitting there surrounded by white. Loud buzzing snapped him back to reality. He opened his eyes and sat upright, rubbing at his eyes. He sat there staring forward, thinking of the scene he had just experienced. “That was my childhood” he said to himself. The image was clear in his mind now. The street where he grew up. The long summer days spent playing on the cobbled back streets. The buzzer sounded again and David stood to answer the door with the pizza money in hand.
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