Fading Away: Chapter 3

            I know what’s about to happen, but I can’t stop it. They both look so humble in my dreams, always crying; mother and daughter holding each other in fear of me and death. I shoot the mother in the face as she pulls her little girl into her breast. The act intended to protect became the gift of death for the little girl named Sylina. God, I think her name was Sylina.

            They fall to the floor, still in each others arms. Parts of the little girls face are missing and she looks up at me.

“Why did you shoot my mommy?” She asks, her voice soft an innocent. It slices open something inside me I thought I never had. The shock, and the pain that follows, is unbearable. Something I’ve spent a lifetime trying, failing, to forget. I drop to my knees and let loose a silent cry to the heavens which shatters the world around me.

 

I wake up vomiting; the vid-phone ringing loudly in the background. Damn my head hurts. I roll over and pick up the receiver. I bring it to my head before I realize I wished I had just slept through it. It’s Angel. She’s hysterical. I go to say hello when she’s in mid sentence. Something about a club she went to, some guy she was with, I don’t want to deal with this right now. She knows how much I care about her, how much I’ve always cared about her. She says when she got home last night her sister was with some guy. They left together and Angel thinks she’s getting into prostitution. Following in her mothers footsteps I guess. Angel being the closest thing to a mother Rebecca has that is.
            My head is fuzzy and I can tell where this is going. “I’ll be there in an hour.” I tell her and toss the receiver towards the base. I hear the screen click off and I roll over. I lay there for a second before beginning the long process of getting out of bed.

 

An hour and a half later I’m stumbling up to the front door of the building. I start coughing and begin to feel my stomach preparing to force the remaining contents of my stomach. I just got to hold on for a little bit longer. I walk through the door and clumsily nod to the doorman trying to give the impression that I’m not here to cause trouble. I get the impression he don’t care. I walk over to the stairs and glance down the hall towards the elevators. Still out of order. Never hurts to check.

Getting up the stairs is a slow process. I’m almost to the fourth floor when I duck into the corner and start to loose it. I stay crouched there for a second, shaking uncontrollably, pulling my jacket tighter around me. I look up and take note of the distance still left to travel. I wipe the drool from the side’s of my mouth and begin to laugh. Here I come darling, your guardian angel is almost there.

 

            Into the hallway I can see the door to her apartment. E102. I approach it and try to knock but end up falling against it instead. I put my hand up against the door and push against it trying to balance myself when the door swings open. I drop forward taking me and Angel, who’s trying to catch me, crashing to the floor.
            “Hey good looking.” I say.
            “Damn it Fade you’re drunk.”
            “Hung over actually, but thanks for caring.”
            She rolls me off of her and gets up grabbing my arm and dragging me into her apartment just far enough for her to shut the door behind us.

 

            She helps me to the couch and walks into the kitchen bringing me back a cup of instant coffee. She pulls the tab and the seal breaks with a spark. Steam pours out of the sides of the lid which she removes before handing it over to me. I take a sip.

“It tastes like s**t.” I tell her.

“That’s twice as good as you look right now Fade.” She replies.
            I crack a smile; her wit and brutal honesty always made a good mix. “What can I do for you Angel?”

“Rebecca didn’t come back last night.”

“She’s young, they do that.”
            “It’s the people she was with Fade. The way one of them talked, some of the things he said, he was definitely Mob. I just can’t believe she would ever hang around those scum.”

“You hang around those scum.”

“I never bring my work home with me Fade, you know that. And you should have seen the two loosers that the mob guy was with. When I got here they were hyped up on something breaking my dishes for fun. That short, greasy, fat f**k! And the smell, he smelled like cheap w****s.”

I can feel my stomach drop as I realize what can’t possibly be true. I turn to face Angel and ask her what he was wearing.

“He was wearing a Pin stripped suit and a t-shirt why? What’s wrong Fade? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look that way before.”

“Come on, I know where she is.”

“You do? Wait, I have to get dressed.”

I stand up quickly and the blood rushes from my head. I fall down to my hands and knees and try not to loose consiosness.

“Fade!”

“Angel …” I swallow and take a breath “Your driving.”

Reviews

[CLCurrie]

i love it man, i like better then the old darfft!!!