Examination for Certainty

Chance mentally tests his female hitter to know if she is right for the occupation she thinks is the route for her.

Parking at a low level he got into the elevator and pushed the up button waiting patiently for it to reach the fifteenth floor. Getting off he exited to the top level outside on a comfortable night, as the breeze constantly wafted smoothly through the night air. He smiled at the sight of her silhouette in the near distance in shadows next to her car. Her name is Camille, a fire red haired beauty that caught his eye the very first day he ever saw. He lit a cigarette blocking the wind with his other hand as he got closer seeing a smile come across her face but they stay silent as he rounded the corner to get to where she was sitting. They bask in the silence of the atmosphere before words are spoken.

 

“What the f**k are you doing in a Jetta?” He greeted her.

“A drunk driver hit my car and this is what the rental place gave me. Would've rode the bike but I saw it might rain.”

“That suck’s.” He responded.

“Yes it does.” She said shaking her head agreeing.

 

Before anything else is said they give each other a quick hug. They don’t see each other as often as they used to, she had learned from him and made a good life doing what he taught her to do better. A month could go by without any contact but if her talents were needed or she needed him they were in front of each other at this same place within the hour.

 

“Other than that s**t have you been alright?” He asked her reaching inside his jacket pulling out and envelope.

“Yeah, I’ve been researching on opening my own salon.” She said as he handed it to her.

 

She doesn’t look in it as she stashes it away having complete trust in him.

 

“That’s good; so you've still been putting some money back?” He asked.

“Yeah, fifteen percent every job just like you advised me.”

“I’d never feed you nothing wrong. Don’t be like Xavier, spending money on dumb s**t.”

“He puts a lot of it into his arsenal though.” She said trying to defend her occasional partner in crime if he felt was needed.

“Yeah but the rest he tricks off on sound systems, surveillance and women.”  He said looking out in the distance hearing her let out a small laugh.

 

She had always been smart though, he met her when he thought he had got away from the life of killing for a profit. She played her role exquisitely for six months getting close to him as she set him up all the way to having him zip tied to a chair hundreds of miles away with a gun to his temple giving him two options; to teach her what he knew or to let her collect the price on his head. To this day he never regretted the decision he made in that dank basement.

“I added a little extra for getting this one done for me.” He said flicking the butt into the distance watching it fall fifteen stories down.”

“You know I got you.” She responded calm reaching in her jacket pulling out a joint.

 

He had always taught her that drugs and the job never mixed and she never went on one with anything less than her level savvy and common sense, but this was her in between time so he didn’t care what she did. That job was a personal one for a favor he owed an old acquaintance and he knew she could get to him quicker than the other that lived for an adrenaline rush and would rather have the jobs that he could just terminate the mark up close and personal or covering her a*s in the distance with the sniper rifle. She had sex appeal and she capitalized on it so it was no doubt on who first came to his mind when he learned who the mark was. They stood in silent as they looked out at a city that had no idea the two were there in that moment, whenever it happened it was never an awkward one as they mentally engaged each other just enjoying the presence they both had to offer. She motioned it towards him and he took it with no hesitation putting it to his lips inhaling.

 

“No witnesses.” He asked.

“None at all; Coffee shop, accidental spill with a cute smile and an apology, then a good dose of concentrated nicotine put in a replaced cup while letting him try to impress me makes for a good cardiac arrest while I went to the bathroom.” She said with a smile of accomplishment.

 

She had never disappointed him with the things she would do to get the job done, validating his choice upon conclusion.  He passed it back to her as she looked out in the distance silently.

 

“You see that factory in distance at our ten?” He asked.

“The one with the fast blinking lights?”

“Yeah, it’s a soy bean factory that blew up ten years ago clearing out a five mile radius all around it; I remember reading about it.” He responded.

 

He was a fountain of useless knowledge but she never minded what he had to say while taking a couple more tokes of the herb. They got quiet once more as the effects settled in for him while he rolled his neck getting the kinks out of what had been a busy day for him until this moment.  His mind begins to wonder about seeing her naked again with a smile admiring her gorgeous body frame. They had talked about many things together with idle time on their hands and he never lost interest on anything he could learn new about her.

 

“Tell me about your first.” He said looking at her with a smile on his face.

 

She knew what he was talking about and it wasn’t her sexual partner. She smiled and giggled a little as the thought about it for a minute.

“It was my sloppiest one; I ended up sitting with my back against a wall around the corner with a bullet grazed leg and five body guards waiting to shoot me after I killed their boss caressing my Beretta waiting for them to present themselves while trying to get out before the police got there.”

 

Knowing her and what she could do, he pictured it in his head while smiling it off.

 

“What about you?” She asked.

 

Only a couple of people knew that story from his past life, but he had no problem adding her to the roster.

 

“I was an amateur taking out a dope dealer the same night I graduated from high school.” He responded.

“Do you ever regret it?” She asked.

 

It only took him a second to answer.

“Honestly no; I didn’t like him anyway. What about you?” He returned the same.

 

It took her the same amount of time.

 

“No, my mother left my father after he went to prison for inside trading, I knew I had to do something to get money for a good lawyer for him. I’ve always been a daddy’s girl and it paid for a sentence reduction of at least ten years.”

 

He smiled listening to her because he always pictured that if his girls had lived, them doing the same thing for him. That’s what he liked about her; she was loyal and never did he have to question on if she ever got caught even with a smoking gun in her hand bringing anything back to him. He never worried about it with either of his hitters because he had a top paid lawyer and an exit plan for any situation that arose, and could make them disappear if things weren’t going to pan out in their favor at the end of it.    

 

“If you wasn’t what you are what could you see yourself doing with your life instead?” He asked hypothetically.

“I love riding horses; I wish that I could’ve been a jockey.” She answered.

 

He looked at her with a petite body frame and the short height remembering why he found her attractive in the first place and knowing how she would be the last person on earth that he would figure would be able to get him in that fragile phase of his life at the time.

 

“I could see you doing that.” He responded smiling.

“What about you?”

 

She asked a question that he thought about many of times but while alone.

 

“Ironically enough, I used to want to be an FBI agent or a spy of some sort. You know I always wanted to be that cloak and dagger kind of m**********r that could get away with s**t with no consequence but my own conscience.”

“Yeah and look at you now.” She said laughed taking a hit of the herb.

“Yeah, it’s almost like that now isn’t it?” He said always amused on what she brought to his mentality.

“I know you don’t kill anymore; you have us for that, but what did you do to take your mind off of what you did for a living?” She asked.

 

He thought about it quickly before he remembered his remedy.

 

“I used to drink to deal with s**t.” He responded not proud but answering honestly.

“Speaking of which; how is that going for you?”

“A hundred and eighty days sober.”

“And what about quitting smoking cigarettes?”

“Give credit where credit is due; the lighter is the habit for me, a cigarette is just my oral fixation. It’ll be next on my list of things to change, one step at the time.”

 

The joint had reached the point of a small piece of nothing that could no longer be endured so she flicked it away while exhaling the last bit of smoke she had take in without burning her fingertips. She began to talk to him about trivial things that was on her mind and he didn’t mind because out of everyone he conversed with she was the only one that didn’t always talk about money or business matters that frequented his mind as he went to sleep every night stressing mentally even in sleep on what was to come in the near future. Even though she was his other contractor he took more of a special interest in her; they wooed each other in the beginning and even after he learned it was artificial, he yearned to know more after the point of realization.

 

 

“What do you do to take your mind off of what you do?” He asked.

 

She hesitated for a minute thinking that he might judge her.

 

“I like to garden.” She responded.

He didn’t think any less of her knowing that killing someone was not just an ordinary everyday thing that people had to deal with.

 

“What do you grow?” He asked.

“I planted herbs like sage, alfalfa and rosemary. I also planted some wild flowers at the end of my garden. It’s therapeutically for me, something I can be alone and not have to contemplate s**t.”

“What about your second kill?”

“Now that one was a fun one for me; I got to chop him up with a chainsaw afterwards.”

 

She looked off in the distance and he could see a sadistic smile on her face.

 

“Have you ever used an ax?” He asked thinking of an instant in life.

“Yeah, butt naked with only a raincoat on because I had a date after I disposed of the body.”

“Damn, that sounds sexy.”

“No it was messy; there was blood all over me.”

“I love it when you talk dirty.”

 

She laughed at the comment lightly pushing him.

 

Suddenly they saw a light from a flashlight, after realizing it was a security guard they silently made their way to a hiding place where they could see him but out of sight. He ducked down and she squatted behind him. Slowly he looked around the corner observing him taking in the view like they were. He turned his head toward her to see a gun in her hand.

 

“Put that away he’s just doing his job, he doesn’t even know we’re here.” He whispered.

“He looks like a witness to me. Do you think I can get to him and throw him over the edge?”

“Yeah if you could beat the beat the bullet I’d put in your cute little a*s on your way to do it.”

“Five thousand says I can beat both odds.” She responded.

 

He smiled reaching behind rubbing her leg before hearing the guard’s phone ring, answering it he walked away continuing his rounds. They emerged from the darkness like two shadows returning to where they once were as quietly as the slipped out.

 

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Life is full of questions that don’t have answers, so I hope I don’t disappoint you.” He responded.

“Is it because of Paige that you don’t give me the same kind of jobs you give Xavier?”

 

He turned his head away from her closing his eyes feeling a breeze that once was calming and comfortable now sending a chill down his spine while raising goose bumps on his skin. He clinched his fist as he saw a quick image of a girl that was a lot like her with a bullet in between her open pale dead eyes lying naked on a couch cut from vagina to her bottom lip.

 

“I send both of you on jobs that I feel will bring me the money that I guarantee the services I promise can be provided. If you feel you can do better then go your own way.”

“I was just wondering because…” He interrupted her.

“Neither one of you have been hurt or killed when I make the decisions you are questioning me on. Do your f*****g job and collect your money.”  He said firmly.

 

He knew what she was capable of; she could survive any circumstance he threw at her. But he did have a soft side for her because if she would have been man that pulled the same stunt to get him to be a teacher, Chance would’ve waited until the very first moment he had a gun in his hand and put a bullet in her head like he contemplated a couple of times already. But she touched his heart first while stalking him and he knew her potential was boundless. But the fact was he didn’t want anything to happen to her because every woman he cared about in his lifetime ended up dead. Paige hit him deep but losing his little girls and his ex-wife put him in a weird place in his life for a long while, so every time he sent her on a job in the back of his mind he worried about her too.

“I know what your problem is.” She said getting onto the edge and standing on it with her arms out.

 

He hated heights and seeing her doing it made his stomach churn, he had to snipe from up high sometimes but he only looked down when he had to. But she made his stomach sick as she walked it with a smile on her face while looking at him.

 

“You think you have to look after me since I came to you for help, but I’ve been raising myself since fifteen and killing since twenty-one. The last one you sent me on you should have seen me; a security guard got in my way as I was exiting and I did just like that karate kid s**t.”

 

She kicked making her get off balance waving her arms around and quickly moving her body for some stability. Chance grabbed her hand until she was steady and drew her off of the edge quickly pulling her close until they were face to face staring into each other’s eyes silently.  She backed away first pulling out a thin cigar with a wood tip.

 

“I can handle myself, you taught me well Chance. Besides I know if I ever needed help that you’d be right there for me.”

“You hope so.” He responded.

 

The conversation was dropped and they started back on past jobs that they’d done. Laughing and talking about just life in general they continued until the stars faded and the sun begun setting in the horizon. She yawned and it contagiously passed to him.

 

“Well it’s been fun but I need to get back the time you took from me, I think I’ll use it sleeping.” He said smiling at her.

“Thanks for chilling with me.”

“Anytime baby girl, I know a couple of realtors I can get a hold of if you’re serious about opening that salon. It’ll be good to have something like that to cover your a*s plus I know you are the s**t with that kind of stuff. Take this card and call this guy, he’ll have your car fixed in two days. Don’t worry about paying; I’ll take it out of your next gig.” 

“Thank you Chance, just call me and I’ll be ready for anything.”

 

They hugged and he gave her a kiss on the forehead. She drove him to the floor where his car was parked and they said their goodbyes again as he watched her pull away before getting into his car. Pulling out of the garage and his phone rang, upon answering it Xavier was on the other end.

 

“Man, I need your help. I need to talk to you as soon as possible and I need that lawyer that we have on deck.” He said hyped up.

“Alright where do you want to meet?” He asked looking at the clock on his radio.

“Hutchinson Park in thirty.”   

 

He disconnected and Chance could only take a deep breath while rubbing his face. He knew he would he wouldn't be getting any sleep that day so headed to the park but not without stopping for coffee first.

Author's Note

This was one of those moments where two like minded individuals get together just to enjoy the company with a feeling of some kind of normality. Real life doesn't always consist of harsh periods sometimes giving two people just time to talk about life in general.