Northern Exposure: The Divided Page 3

  Chapter 3

  It was such a slow day at work, there were a few customers who came in at lunch but other than that nothing exciting. Finally I got the time to relax, it had been a rough few months and days like this didn’t come around very often. I sat at my desk jotting ideas for the house, both relaxed and excited at the same time I was thinking wooden floors, or marble? I had always wondered how much marble costs, probably far out my budget, but I just played with the ideas. Like a kid on Christmas day I was to ecstatic, I couldn’t wait to see her expression, she would be so surprised when she saw the house. I was clawing my way to a successful future and I believed the house would be the base we needed to mark the first mild stone on the way to happy ever after.

  Suddenly my train of thought was interrupted by a loud rumbling, I shouted for my busboy to come switch off the dish washer. That raggedy old thing would shake so violently it would have the whole kitchen vibrating. There was no reply so I turned around to call him and realised the dish washer had not been turned on. Another rumbling, this time followed soon after by a shaking sensation throughout the entire kitchen. Oh no, It was happening again. The kitchen violently shook the sound of colliding pots and pans made the experience even more frightening. The white tiled walls started cracking straight down to the floor and then all of a sudden the windows burst throwing jagged glass across the room.

  I was glued to my chair, unable to move from the fright which gripped me so tightly. I was soon snapped back to reality once a set of steak knife packed in the top cupboards came plummeting down towards my head. I threw myself to the floor just in time. Instinct took over and I crawled under my desk.

  I was gripped with fear, curled up in the fetal position waiting for it to end. Layla! I had to find her; I knew how she broke down during the earthquakes. I had to make sure she as okay. So I tried finding my bearings,

  “Okay Cairo breath, just relax its all going to be fine.” I started to count backwards,”6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,”I took another breath so hesitant to move.

  My body felt like jelly unresponsive and uncooperative. I had to dig deep within myself and muster up all the courage I possessed. Finally I got out from underneath the desk .I knew what I had to do. She was my responsibility I had to protect her; I had to make sure she was okay so I started running.

  The roads where chaotic a sense of desperation layered the city as people fled to the bridges tying t get off the island. In doing so havoc ran rampant as people left their cars abandoned, blocking off the roads, large crowds pushed their way through narrow building exits stamping anyone who fell to death, buildings motor shook loose capsizing the large structures. It was as if the Armageddon had arrived. No matter what chaos surrounded me, I just kept running, past lost children and delirious bystanders, through large crowds, she was my only priority and I was not stopping no matter what hellish sites I came across.

  After three blocks I had reached our building, my chest burning and my heart pounding. I sprinted up the staircase screaming her name,” Layla, Layla I’m coming.”

  Then it just stopped. Instinctively I stopped as well, my brain in over drive trying to contemplate exactly what the hell was going on around me. I continued to make my way towards her, I knew by now she would have been a wreck, scared and alone. I fumbled for my keys and even though I tried recomposing myself I could not stop my hand from trembling. By the time I reached the door it was already open. Something was odd she never left the door unlocked, and then it hit me she must have run for help. None the less I entered the room I needed to make sure she wasn’t in the flat before I started searching elsewhere.”Layla, Layla where are you?” I ran to the room but standing in the room was not my fiancé. Standing in front of me was the last person I could have imagined to be in my apartment.

  “Jacob what are you doing here, were she?””Where’s my wife!”I yelled,

  He smiled” “Easy there kimosabi she aint your wife just yet boy.”

  I was immediately transported to the day he and Sharif were about to throw down. Honestly he scared the shit out of me. I wondered what he was doing here, was he here helping her? I knew how bad she was last time there was a tremor maybe he was just giving her a hand. But before any I could make sense of the entire situation I found myself with my arms around his collar looking straight into his eyes. This was so uncharacteristic of me, but I could not help myself, I went crazy when every I felt Layla was threatened. I’d lose my shit even if she got into little squabbles.

  “I’m not going to ask you again, where is Layla.”Jacob reached his hand around his back,

  ”Now why you gotta go and do that hey lover boy?”

  His Southern demeanour and charm where his tools of persuasion, allowing him to arouse women straight out their panties and scare men out of their skin. Living outside the law like a renegade cowboy he did what he pleased and had not an inkling of compassion within his heart.

  As I looked deep into his cold eyes I did not even see it coming, suddenly a sharp pain on my head. With one swift upward motion he drove his 9mm gun handle to the side of my temple. As quick as lighting he had raised his weapon and smashed it to the top of my head, on impact I dropped to the floor unconscious and bleeding profusely. I tried hanging onto my consciousness but slowly, my eyes closed as I lay in a pool of my own blood.

  The throbbing in my head awoke me, the pain excruciating. In the corner I heard what seemed to be an argument. What the hell was going on, where was I? Slowly it started coming back to me; I caught glimpses of his gun in the air and winced as if it was happening again. I opened my eyes; all I saw was a haze, not able to make out clear picture just slight shapes surrounded by the bright light from the apartment. But there was something more peculiar than the strange scenario, my entire body felt bound. I tried moving my hand but they where constricted, tied together around what I presumed to be the bed post. Blood trickled down my cheek my head throbbed and I had no idea what was going on.

  “21 right, 3 left and 12 right.”” I’m telling you that’s the code”

  ”If that’s the code why isn’t the damn thing opened!”

  ”Trust me it can’t be anything else it has to be 21, 2, 12.”

  “This damn old ass safe, I mean, who the hell uses this prehistoric piece of shit these days!”

  I could make out that there was more than one person in the apartment, but everything was still quite fuzzy. One of the voices was too distinct to miss, I knew Jacobs voice, he was loud, crude and unbarring but what’s worse... He was angry! Eventually my vision cleared and I could see Jacob stood there with his back turned to me and another man by his side as they fiddled with my safe. His partner wore a hood over their head, concealing his identity. Jacob turned looked me dead in the eye and turned back to continue on the safe, he didn’t seem bothered that I saw his face. This scared me even more, usually when men committed crimes with their identity on the line they intended not to leave any witnesses behind.

  Jacob approached me, squatted down and we were now face to face, “It seems to me, Mr Cairo you fancy yourself as somewhat of a tough guy?”

  ”You don’t just go around grabbing men by the collars screaming demands at them, I mean who does that seriously!”

  ” you know why you don’t do that Mr Cairo?”I did not reply,

  ” I said do you know why boy!”He turned his palm and struck me with the back side of his hand; his large tacky rings widened the gash on my head, the pain was excruciating.

  ”Why?” I replied to him with the last ounce of energy I had. I felt I couldn’t afford anymore blows to the head so I played his game.

  ”Because you just might grab a man like me” he smiled amused at his handy work.

  ”Now I’m going to ask you one last time Mr Cairo, I’m not as patient as I look so for your own sake please and let me just reiterate just in case it skipped you, Please! Just tell us that damn safe code.”

  “I can make this all stop, hell I’ll even untie you boy,
just give me the code.”

  I sat in quite protest I had worked so hard, my parents had worked even harder to provide me with my life savings. I could remember how my dad and I would wake up every morning six A.M sharp, by seven we were at the harbour already loading our first crates of fish, day after day. I grinded day in and out for that damn money now he wanted to just walk in and take it, what right did he have? Hell no, I would not succumb to this hoodlum; I was not just about to flush Layla and my future to the toilet.

  He wrapped his large hand around my throat with a smirk plastered across his face ’”Oh this is going to be fun!”

  “I want the 75K boy, now tell me the code and save yourself an ass whipping.”

  Wait how did he know exactly how much I had been saving? Only I knew the exact figure, had he been keeping tabs on me since the beginning? But that was not possible, I mean he every time I came into the apartment the doors were locked, I had never left a window open, so how could he have known?

  “I can see by that ridiculous look on your face you trying to puzzle this whole thing together; well Kimosabi, that aint your problem right now.”

  “All you have to worry about is giving me what I want.” Still I sat in silent protest. The frustration built up in Jacob I knew he was at snapping point, but I couldn’t just give it to him. The money was for her, to make sure she had a comfortable life.

  ”Son, let me make this a little clearer, if you don’t hand over that code I’m going to take this size 11 snake skin and drive the heel so far down your eye socket you’ll shit out your own eyeball!”Shock and courage mixed within me, I had to ride this out and face the pain hoping someone would come and check up on us. I mean after all the chaos that was happening around u surly someone would pop in to check if we were okay. I could see the anger boil within him, he got up and paced back and forth right in front of me, then unbuckled his belt wrapped it around his fist and asked me once again. This time calmer more passively.

  ”Please give me the code.”

  Still I sat in silence, “Remember before I do this, I tried.’’

  “I tried reasoning with you Cairo, I tried being civilised but I guess some people don’t appreciate hospitality the way us southern folks do.”

  He took a step back, and then swung the belt to my face, the buckle hit my cheek and split my flesh open. I could hear the bone crushing under the impact of the buckle, repeatedly hacking away at my face until all that was left was a crimson mask and deep gashes from cheek to cheek.

  The feeling of cold water surged though my body as he dumped a bucket over my head,” wakey wakey time to get up sunshine.”

  ”So have you thought about giving us that code yet sunno?”

  He came close, so I lifted my head, looked him in the eye then spat straight onto his face. A ball of congealed spit and blood sprayed directly onto him, now the demented man was even more furious had I just thrown petrol onto the already wild fire. He wiped the blood and saliva from his face.

  ” You are one stubborn S.O.B aint you boy, well hell that’s okay I know how to deal with uncooperative mongrels like you.”

  The glittering shine caught my eye, the large knife he drew now dug into my throat, I could feel the cold steel of the blade pressing against my trachea. The lack of blood and head trauma I had caused me to slip into an unconscious state once again.

  ”No, No you aint falling asleep on me again.”

  ”You giving me that damn code, or I’m taking that uncooperative little tongue of yours Boy.”He forced my mouth open, I tried to scream but my calls for help were only heard by the walls.

  At this point I could feel the sharp edge of the blade as he pried my mouth open with one hand and ran the tip across the surface of my tongue.”

  ”Oh well I guess you going to have to write down those numbers down, either way I’m getting what I came for”

  “STOP”, His partner screamed from across the room. A lady! He was a she and with such a familiar voice.”You said you wouldn’t kill him”,

  Jacob sarcastically replied,” does he look dead to you?”

  ” more dead than alive, how are we supposed to get the code if he’s too injured to cooperate?”

  She turned towards me. Instantly my heart dropped into my stomach, how could this be? Was I dreaming? This could not be real; she could not be here right now.

  “I’m sorry Cairo,”

  She dropped the hood and I saw it was really her, there was no denying the fact that she was standing right in front of me. She walked towards me than gently wiped the blood from my face. She ran her hands through my hair.

  Cairo, please, please listen to me” She placed her hands under my cheeks and held my head up. ‘You have to give us the safe code.”

  ”He will kill you if you don’t “I sat in the pool of my own blood which was as thick as my disbelief. I was so confused it made my head pain even more.

  ”Please give me the code and ill explain everything to you.”

  Overwhelmed I tried to answer her,

  “But you let him do this to me?”

  “Cairo, please, the code.”

  12 right, 2 left and 22 right,” My head argued with my heart, why could she manipulate me so easily.

  I had to know why she was doing this, surly there was an explanation for everything that was going on, she must have been doing this for a reason. But before I even had the time to ask what was actually happening, she was at the safe,”12 right, 2 left and 22 right, Click, the door sprang open she grabbed the money and threw it into a leather bag.

  ” Why Layla?’’. She stopped and turned to face me, I could see the hurt in her eyes, or at least that’s what I wanted to see ,my view was soon blocked and Jacob was in the frame,

  ”You don’t get it do you, you really think she loved you?”“You pathetic little boy, you were a mark from the beginning.”” What makes you think anyone like her would settle for an average life with an average man like you?”” Come on man, six months and you already wanted to marry her, my friend that’s just pathetic!”Jacob enjoyed the taunting he fed on the fact that he had just emotionally destroyed me, to him it was all a game, a way to shut out the fact that he was in the same situation as I was.

  She allowed him to think he was in control, knowing how violent he was and how quickly situations with Jacob could become volatile. She manipulated him the same way she did me, but with him it was her only way of protecting herself from his psychotic demeanour. I was certain he knew the truth, he’d do anything she told him to, and like a love sick puppy she had him in her pocket.

  It baffled my mind, how good this women was at manipulating men, there were so many situations, clearly she had to love me a little bit, how could our whole relationship be such a facade? The times we walked for hours in the park laughing making the lamest of jokes or when we sat in bed just enjoying the comfort of each other’s embrace. So the whole time she was with me she was playing me waiting to get to her hands on my money. She was a black widow, waiting to prey on clueless young victims like myself; it sickened me to think how many other guys went through what I had just endured.

  ”We played you sonno, you actually thought you had something special, aww how adorable, no my friend you are just a victim of our little investment scheme, you invest every cent you own . . . and we take it ha ha ha.”

  ’’Enough” She tried stopping the persistent man, but Jacob just continued.

  ”you sad, sad little man.”

  “The city aint made for all of us boy, go back home, go back to the south were things are slower.”

  ”Go back to your folks and forget about this place.”He stood up, they were about to leave.

  I just had to know one last thing, “the tremors, how did you know about the tremors?”

  ”Well hell that was just lady luck smiling down on us, we had an opportunity and we ceased it, call it a lucrative coincidence who says good things don’t happen to bad people.”

&n
bsp; “Anyways we got places to be and suckers to scam so I bid you a due Mr Cairo a pleasure doing business with you.”

  I looked at her for the last time, she could not do the same, she could not look me in the eye, and with a swift kick to the head Jacob put me to sleep, a sleep I would have to endure for a very long time.

  09-08-2035

  Friday

  Diary entry: 2

  What the hell was that nauseating stench surrounding me, so thick I could swear I felt it settle on my skin? The strong fumes drove deep into my nostrils awaking every dormant cell in my body. So pungent, so malodorous, I dared not breathe through my nose. Everything was quiet; I had woken from what seemed to be a perpetual darkness, only to find more darkness surrounding me. The black abyss had consumed everything in sight, a strange kind of darkness, leaving a desolate feeling deep inside my bones, making me realise how isolated and deserted I was. The only thing which gave me the faintest sense of relief was the sound of water as it slowly rippled downstream. A river or stream perhaps, but still my mind dwelled on figuring out what that terrible stench was?

  I was weak, delirious and petrified. Where the hell was I? Was I even still alive, or was this the afterlife that awaited me? An eternal foul-smelling darkness, then it all came flooding back. Like a steam train the memories of him, of her rushed through my head. No, I was not dead, I could not be dead, and this had something to do with the two of them. What had they done to me, why was I so weak and where the hell had they taken me? Answers eluded my questions, leaving me totally blank to my current circumstances. I struggled to move, I tried calling for help but my mouth felt numb, I felt completely useless. My body would not react; I couldn’t move a muscle yet I knew I was alive from the continuous pain which surged right through me.

  I took a deep breath, slowed my racing heart rate and calmed myself. There was no point panicking now; I had to firstly figure out what was going on around me. Then I could think of the next course of action. That’s when I remembered the tremors. This could have very easily been the work of the earthquakes, had I been buried under my apartment building? Many times I had seen on the news how miners became trapped under collapsed rock and survived the cave-ins for days. Or what about the earthquakes in China a few years back. Survivors were being pulled out of the wreckage weeks after the incident had occurred. This was the only logical reasoning of me being in what was most likely my dilapidated building.

  Eventually I took control of my body and managed to move my muscles inch by inch. Slowly I lifted myself off the floor, but my balance resembled that of a newly born gazelle. I tried finding my footing and constantly fell back to the floor. At least I was on solid ground; I stretched my arms out as far as they could go and was greeted by nothing but emptiness. Did this mean I could rule out a cave in, surly debris would surround me. That left only one explanation, Jacob and that bitch did this to me!

  As I paced around trying to figure out where they had taken me, I soon found myself knee deep in some sort of rancid water. I guess I had figured out the origin of the smell. Disgusted and still quite delirious I felt for the embankment, and found a hard concrete covered edge. This was clearly some sort of canal which was transporting the foul smelling water. I felt around making sure my footing was right then lifted my knee and with all my might stepped out the water. I realised how week I was when such an effortless task felt so taxing.

  I screamed his name over and over, but to no avail. All that was heard were the echoes of my anger, flowing down the unknown passageways. “JACOB”, even though despondent I couldn’t give up. I tried this time even louder, realising now how sore and agitated my throat was. Like wall plaster around my jaw I had developed server cotton mouth and each time I screamed his name my lips tore apart from one another. Obviously signs of dehydration, my kidneys throbbed with pain, and my skin itched profusely. But giving up now would mean allowing them the satisfaction of having broken me.

  My cries were soon halted as I realised that something wasn’t right here, I rubbed my face. A thick scar ran across my cheek and another across my forehead. How was this possible? Had he not just slashed me open with his belt buckle, surly the wound should have been fresh? Then I felt a thick blanket of hair around my chin, this could not be, I’m sure I had shaved the day before. What was going on? My anger had turned into confusion, which soon manifested into full out terror. I screamed louder in Panic “JACOB” eventually I got a response.