The Assassin And The Bar Tender

A Story by restcity

She just needs to get to Cuba. Why not spare this cop’s life… if he can take her there?

Seven bodies. Good. I had gotten every one of them. Now, how to discard of the bartender guy… don’t know what I’m gonna do with that guy.

He had his back and arms pinned to the wall as if it were a magnet, looked like he had just came in from a rainstorm, how much sweat seemed to be pouring down his face.

I let my emerald eyes linger on him while. I should kill him. Get rid of all witnesses, I could hear Jakeem saying. But there was something about him that just made me hesitate, made me actually think about the life I was taking before I took it.

I put my knife away, and started to walk towards him.

“Woah, woah hey! You can stay right where you are! I don’t want any trouble!” he yelled, stretching his arms out like a stop sign at me.

Yet still, I approached him. I needed help for once. There was nothing he could do to stop me.

Or so I thought.

At the speed of light the bartender took out a gun, it clicked and his hands were gripped to it like a lifeline, pointer finger clutching the trigger.

Damn. I told Jakeem I would need a gun today, but noooo, he said he didn’t need another bloody mess to spoil his election day. “Stick with your knives today kiddo. You’ve always been great at throwing knives.”

Now here I was, about to die by a bullet from a black cop who was playing bartender. Well, at least I will have died an interesting death.

“Thought’ chu had me, huh? Well, now I got you. Just wait ‘till the station here’s about this. An arrest on the first day undercover.” He pulled out a walkie-talkie with his left hand and held down a button, his rich dark brown eyes never leaving my face. Gosh, his hands were twitching like a chihuahua. He was a newbie. Great. Arrested by a newbie. The worst part was that I knew that after all this Jakeem would just hire another assassin and pretend he never knew me. He had to keep his record squeaky clean if he was going to be a governor of the country. Ha. No governor had a squeaky clean record. Not really. Jorky, the candidate I had been sent to kill was a thief and a money launderer himself. But, he was a charismatic candidate and was neck and neck with Jakeem in the country governor election. Jakeem couldn’t have that. As soon as I saw that speech Jorky said about lowering taxes yet improving school lunches, I knew Jakeem would want him dead. And he would want me to take care of that. So I did.

I sighed. “Bud, I would’ve killed you a long time ago if I wanted you gone. I wanted to keep you alive. Because I need your help.”

“Yeah right. Shut up.” his finger twitched on the trigger curve as he spit into his walkie-talkie.

“I’m serious.”

“Shut up.”

“Look, Lamart Foyer. I know you’re new to the job and you just caught yourself criminal, and you don’t care if Ma and Pop over in Cuba don’t like that you’ve got a job that involves killing human beings, but you’ve got info that I need, which is why I spared your life. I need to get to Cuba, and you’ve got a Cuban passport. Just please. Take me there.”

Not-so-undercover Cop Lamart just stood there, staring at me, for a minute. Then his eyebrows lowered close to his eyes. “How do you know my name?”

“I’m an assassin, bud. I listen. I learn. I do my research.”

This guy was good at keeping his eyes on me. He let out a sigh of a laugh. “Bud. What are you tryna’ be? A Jakeem Thompson supporter? Jakeem for governor!” He mimicked Jakeem’s slogan.

Now He was catching on to me! I needed to change the subject. I stayed calm, kept my face blank and stared right back at him. “Back to my deal. I need a way to get to Cuba, and you’re that way! Take me there, and I’ll never mess with you again. We won’t even cross paths. But try to get the police on me, and you’ll be dead by sunrise.”

“The police are already on their way. You’ve got no chance. And don’t think I won’t shoot you if you so much as flinch.”

I could already hear the police sirens in the background. Time to play the last card I had in hand.

“When I took out those targets, I used your gloves. You know, the ones you’ve been missing all morning? So if I take them off right now, the police are going to think you’ve done all this.”

I pulled out his gloves from my pocket. That’s when his eyelids raised for a second.

I could hear the engine of the police cars. They were no more than a few blocks away.

He stretched his lips for a second before his eyes went back to mine. I smiled.

He huffed. “Fine. You need to get to Cuba, you say?”

“Uh-huh.”

I could hear the cracking of tires on the road, police sirens getting louder. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and Lamart made a point of re-focusing the gun at my head.

While he kept the gun facing my head at all times, he slid from behind the counter and made the nozzle touch my head.

Truthfully, I was a bit shook, but there would be an honest politician in office before I let Lamart know that.

He came up close and whispered: “We leave tonight. No weapons, no funny business and you don’t utter a word to anybody about me helping you, or I’ll have you in jail for so long your grandchildren will still be trying to finish your sentence. Got it?”

I nodded once.

“Good. We gotta get out of here. Now.” Lamart put the gun in his pocket and took me out through the back of the bar.

He had a nice black undercover cop-car waiting for him outside.

***

My name is Shila Williams, and I’ve had a passion for writing and drawing ever since I could spell. I grew up in North Carolina, as well as lived and traveled abroad. I write to inspire kids' minds to imagine and take them on a fun and adventurous journey.

Imagination by Shila Williams on Amazon!