7

Ira had yet another day to face, the usual morning routine though affected by her secretarial job at Serene- though this branch in Kory city was called Legdon. She now had less sleep as she left her workplace at 17:00 hours straight to Raven for another round of work. Though Mr Rees had changed her routine for 18:00 hours to 24:00 hours. She had always ended up dead beat at 01:00 hours at home. ‘What a day!’, had become her favorite exclamation as she scurried back home each day.

On this Sunday morning, she had decided she needed to replenish the stock in her fridge; it had gone low over the past few weeks as she fed heavily on it. She had fed heavily on it and had literally eaten it empty. Time for shopping. Picking up her purse and making sure she had enough mions; she left her apartment, nodding to a busy Mrs. Hennessey and flagged down a cab.

The Q self-service store always held a fascination for Ira. As she pushed her cart through the store, examining the shelves and choosing what she needed. She stopped in the vegetables section to pick up some radishes and tomatoes; wondering why the store had such a queer name. `Queer`, maybe that was the reason for that. Stopping by the cereals section whilst watching with fascination; a young boy hoisted onto his father’s shoulders to reach for a packet of his obviously fav cereal; she picked a packet of `Orin` from the top shelf. She chuckled wondering what it seemed like seeing her with a packet of cereals meant for kids.

Passing by a section which she paid no attention to its name, she saw candles of different colours and sizes looking glorious in their mint packets. This brought back memories of her younger days when on Sundays like today, she’lld have her mum dress her up and together with the dad; went for service at a catholic church nearby which she had forgotten its name. She still remembered vividly the almost choking aroma of the incense which she disliked, the solemn atmosphere of the church and the giant cross on which Jesus was crucified behind the altar, the priest’s garments and the doctrines of the church which they had adhered to till she was sixteen. She had known all along that her parents would split since she was fourteen but kept her fingers crossed. Her dad, Hannibal had suddenly started keeping late nights and never seemed to pay attention to the family’s needs. And then, the bubble which had been shivering ever since burst and Brianna discovered he was seeing someone outside; a man to be clear. Not so soon after, she was served the divorce papers and her Brianna said,’Fuck the damn church!!’, and went on to sign them. Weeks after she broke down to ask Ira what the priest would have done, nothing but give you counsel about marital vows and weathering the storm till it passed. Ira had no option than to agree with her and allow herself to be swept along in the tide. She still remembered Hannibal- with indescribable hate of course. ‘Fuckin’ sonovabitch !!’ she screamed. She raised her head to find all eyes on her and discovered to her chagrin that she had spoken her thought out loud; embarrassed and apologizing, she wheeled her cart with her purchases down to the counter.

She was out and in her apartment, fifteen minutes later, noting rather unhappily that her shopping had cost her roughly 200 mions out of the 1000 she had in cash with her. Worrying about her finances, she packed her purchases into the refrigerator, praying that her money would last till her paycheck came in. At the rate she was going, she might end up broke before it even knocked.

Through with unpacking, she made to go have a light rest in the bedroom but was interrupted by the ringing sound of the doorbell. Waking to the door, she opened it to be confronted by a grinning Matt, in a plain tee that stuck to him like a second skin and skin-tight jeans.

 ‘Not Again!!’, her mind screamed

‘May I come in, please’, he asked sweetly cocking an eyebrow.

*********************************************

Harry had a job on his hands right now that if he didn’t do right could land him in jail. Despite his activities, he’d never smelt a hellhole not minding the fact that Captain Lassair always checked him out when he had the time. He could bet his ball the captain had a thing for him but unfortunately, he ain’t no fairy and chose to remain that way.

Lu-Lu had left him with a reasonable amount of coke. These he had instructions to be sold within the next week and he was damn friggin’ sure he’d have the dough before then. Coke was the in thing now ‘ND he ain’t missin that fuckin’ opportunity tea makes sum real hot cash. He only worried about where to deposit the proceeds; it had to be done carefully lest the fuzz come sniffin’ ar’nd, they won’t have a pin on him.

The deal was meant to net him a cool five thousand mions, ‘ND no way was he lettin’ that get away from him. Lu-Lu was the kind of broad he liked; she had cement balls swinging between her legs and knew what she wanted and how to get it without much fuss. Before she had left that night, he had extracted from her, her cell number which she had given after much persuasion.’ Musn’t find any link between us’, she had said finally as she slung her bag over her shoulder and left the apartment. He however extracted a promise to visit him during the week from her.

Having been on the wake for the last thirty-six hours he felt in need of releasing some pent-up anger. Sitting on his bed in nothing but his briefs, he thought about the girls. Carrie had refused yet another top john claiming he didn’t wash enough, that had thrown him into a fit of rage. The other girls; wiser, tried to make her see some sense but she was bent on giving the business a bad name and he was gonna show her who the hell ran this outfit. He had invited her over ‘to talk things over` at 18:00 hours in his apartment. If Madame Viola c’nt handle that bitch, he’ll teach her the difference between her ass and a hole in the ground. Scratching his suddenly itching jaw, he pondered on how best to treat her; beating her’lld do ‘xcept she’lld be out of business ‘cuz of the bruises. Who the hell would want a bruised and battered whore?

He swung a leg down on the floor and slipped his foot in slippers, did he really give a fuck what she was after that. Maybe if she decided to honour his orders, he may consider letting her off easily.

He cast a glance at the bedside clock and smiled evilly, 19:34; Well, well, well, she wanted and had it coming. Swear to you Carr bitch, you ain’t knowing what hit you.

She was raring for a fight and she’ll sure as hell get it. Getting up, he slipped into his clothes and footwear and left the apartment slamming the door with a loud report and a snarl on his face.

*********************************************

Craig couldn’t just grasp why someone would murder Raina and leave her for all to see. As far as he knew, she owed no one nothing and whoever did this must have been an enemy of the company –if she had made any- so far his trying to claw away the net of mystery had only gotten him more confused than ever.

So far, all he could unearth was the seven unidentified calls she had received over the course of twenty-four hours before her death. On further checking, the caller turned out to be a Jane or rather John Doe.

Somehow, he was determined that he would find out what or who murdered Raina and bring the sonovabitch to his doom.

He returned home on this particular day feeling beat-up and lonely. The silence of the house when he entered it reminded him of his single status.

Unlocking the front door, he took off his coat and shoes before he walked into his bedroom; feeling a kind of safety as his feet nearly got drowned in the cheap thick fluffy wine red carpet of the room. It wasn’t much but he could say it could pass. The walls were painted a dull grey, adorned with nothing but the only picture frame of his uncle; Gregory Fuller; a too serious looking one of him and Craig clad in nothing but his boxer shorts plus Greg too. He could remember they had taken that picture at Seras river where they had gone fishing.

Forgetting of the frame, he stripped of his cheap leather wristwatch, clothes and proceeded to the kitchen to toss together a meal; anything to put Raina out of his mind.