THE SORCERER’S EMPORIUM OF ENCHANTED OBJECTS.
CHAPTER 3
“What I’m about to show you will probably freak you out,” Louie was saying rapidly.
Sean was leaning guardedly against one of the plants in the uncompleted building. He didn’t want to put all his weight on the wood in case it toppled over. The walls of the building were white washed which made it impossible for Sean to get close to any. He stared lazily at the ecstatic Louie before him. Louie had been acting like this all day. Saying he’d discovered something that would make Sean’s mind flip. Well, he was taking a hell lot of a time to reveal this thing and if he created anymore suspense, he’d be the one getting flipped by Sean.
Sean glanced at his watch for the umpteenth time and complained.
“Are you going to say what’s on your mind already?” He said
“Are you ready to be blown away?” Louie asked. His eyes wide and gleaming.
“Yeah, whatever,” Sean shrugged. “Did you have to bring us here?" He looked around uncertainly. These incomplete buildings were famous gang hideouts and his childhood experience had certainly scarred him enough. He did not need any more reminders.
“Dude,” gleamy-eyed Louie said. “Nobody needs to ever know about this. We might end up dead.” Louie sounded dramatic.
Sean flinched. "That serious?" Sean was not holding his breath. Louie was known to blow things out of proportion.
“Okay, wait for it,” Louie said slowly pulling something out of his pocket. “Ta da!” he yelled holding it up before Sean. Sean looked indifferent.
“A pen?”
“Not just any Bic pen,” Louie said excitedly.
“Will it dance for me?" Sean teased.
“Better than that. Ask it any question," Louie said taking out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.
“Anything like?” Sean asked.
“Just any question” Louie explained.
“Okay,” Sean shrugged. “Is my friend Louie drunk?" He asked the pen.
“Seriously Sean!” Louie exclaimed. “Okay, listen to this," Louie braced himself before asking the pen. “Are there any other pens out there like yourself?”
Then before their eyes, the pen eased it way out of Louie’s hand and scribbled something on the crumpled piece of paper that Louie was holding with trembling hands.
“Holy mother!” Sean screamed skipping a reasonable distance away.
“Come and see what it says,” Louie called excitedly.
“Are you crazy?” Sean said moving closer. “Put that thing away.”
“The answer is 'Not yet' meaning soon there might be more of these out there,” Louie said.
“Louie, seriously put that pen away. People spook these things to sit for exams. This is probably one of those charmed pens. Where did you get this?" Sean asked. He was poking the pen with a piece of wood he’d found on the floor.
“At Books N things shop just around the metropolitan library” Louie explained. “These were actually in a basket at the counter, you buy something and they ask you to pick something on your way out…”
“And you picked this talking pen?” Sean shrieked.
“Well, at the time I didn’t know it was capable of this,” Louie replied holding up the pen to inspect it in the dim light.
“Look Sean,” Louie continued holding the pen up. “This could be the answer to all our problems.”
“Really?” Sean said glancing at his watch distractedly. “Do you think that shop might still be open now?”
“You mean Books N Things?” Louie asked.
“Yeah, where you got this”
“They might be closing now. But if we hurry we might catch them. What’s up dude?” Louie asked confused.
“Something just came up,” Sean said leading the way out of the building.
* * * * * *
Viya was sitting in front of almost full ashtray glancing around expectantly but there were still no signs of Donatien anywhere around the bar or the motel.
Where the hell was he? His beautiful new wife had just scammed him out of his life savings. For god sakes the least he could do was to get back at her. He should have been here by now, displaying anger and revenge. Viya thought that was only the right way to react to an act of betrayal.
Unless Donatien himself was also in on the scram and had known what he was doing all along when he’d asked Madame for Viya particularly.
Viya nodded quietly in shocking realization as her trembling fingers circled the glass of Coke heavily stung with whiskey and brought it to her lips.
It appeared more people knew about the comb than she suspected. There was going to be a slight change in plan, Viya thought. But her thoughts were interrupted.
“Can I buy you a refill?” Someone asked as Viya was setting her empty glass on the table.
She looked up and saw a handsome chiseled face smiling down at her. Viya stared uncertainly at him. He was incredibly good-looking in a mature way plus he was holding a pack of her favorite brand of filtered smokes which she needed badly right now.
Viya took one last drag on her cigarette and dropped it in the ash tray before her. Then she looked up and smiled sweetly.
“Yeah sure,” she said.
The guy took the seat opposite hers and proffered the pack of cigs in Viya’s direction.
“I’m Roman,” he said signaling the waiter over to their table. Viya pulled out one lovely cig and replied, “Viya. You're welcome.”
He lit her smoke and refilled her glass with whiskey and flashed hera killer smile.
Damn, maybe Roman was all the distraction she needed right now, Viya thought as she inhaled and nodded back at him.
* * * * * *
“Look we’re about to close for today. If there’s anything else you want you better say it fast,” the cranky and now irritated shop owner complained.
Sean sighed. It was obvious this guy was not going to be helping them with any extra information on where this pen came from. Sean needed to think fast.
“How about those?” Sean said pointing towards the gift basket where Louie was frantically testing out every pen he found in it on his piece of paper.
“ Those are not for sale,” the irrate man replied. He had had a bad day at the shop and the last thing he needed was a bunch of disoriented youths poking around for freebies.
“I wonder who was kind enough to donate those,” Sean said. “A cool collection,” he added.
“People are free to donate stuff here all the time but we are not allowed to say who they are. Most of them want to remain anonymous.”
Sean thought about this for a while then said, “What if I have something to donate?”
At this, the old man’s face brightened.
“of course, you’re welcome to do that," he said. "You might choose to remain anonymous but there are some papers you’ll have to fill. We keep records,” the old man finished.
“I thought as much,” Sean said more to himself.
“ Let me get that record book for you. You’ll make our twenty-first kind giver,” the man smiled at Sean displaying a bad set of dust –coloured teeth.
“My pleasure entirely, Sean said.
As he signed off his name, it didn’t take him more than a few seconds to spot the name of the donor of the gift basket just a few names above his. He quickly memorized the address. The donor’s handwriting was crooked and scrawny. It was a lady’s. Probably in her sixties.
Sean reached the column that said ‘donation description’ and scribbled down an amount of cash that made the old man smile all the way to his ears.
Then Sean counted a wad of bills from his pocket, thanked the old man and walked out of the store.
“Anytime,” the now contented shop owner called after them.
They had just made his day.
* * * * * *
Roman had taken one look at her and known she was the one. Her latest victim had described her long straight dark hair and her frail thin features. Roman thought she was pretty but in a harsh kind of way. Maybe if she cut back on the drinking and smoking and got a new job, she would blossom. She needed to cut back on the drinking but that was for another day, Roman thought. Right now, he needed her to drink as much as possible.
There was no way he was going to take any chances with her. He had heard stories of her and he had to admit she was good.
For starters, she had lied about her name. The note on the victim came from a Nadine. Now she was using Viya. He wasn’t surprised. People like her were fund of using aliases. He didn’t know who the hell Viya was but he knew Nadine had something he wanted and he was going to get it.
* * * * * * *
Viya was beginning to question her mind about this Roman guy. At first he’d seemed like a nice distraction. But not so much now. For starters, he was spiking her drink as if he deliberately wanted her to get drunk. people like him did not end up in places like this. he did not have to pay a girl or spike her drink to get laid. His good looks did not need a motel to help him find company any day. No, he was definitely after something bigger. Too much had happened lately for her not to be suspicious of him.
Nadine may have gotten the comb but obviously there were still people out there who thought Viya still owned it. Obviously more people knew about this powerful object than she'd suspected. She didn’t know how much Roman knew or what he wanted but she was pretty sure they were both out here tonight after the same object.
And she, Viya, was more than ready to play along.
“I have to use the ladies room,” Viya said excusing herself from the table..
* * * * * *
Tinsel was sitting on one of those high three-legged stools at the bar. In his over sized T-shirt and baggy jeans over his tall lean frame, he looked terribly young and out of place at the bar. He was resting his elbows on the bar as he chatted idly with the busy bar man.
“What are you doing?” Tinsel asked the bar man who was emptying a bottle of whiskey and refilling it with another mixture.
“Lady over there tipped me to do it," the barman said pointing towards a table. He set the bottle on a tray and went to serve the lady and her man.
Tinsel watched them but the lights in the bar were too dim for him to make anyone out.
“Why would she pay you to switch their drinks?” Tinsel asked the barman when he returned. He was bored stiff and the bar man didn't mind his company.
“Apparently, she doesn’t want to get wasted,” the man replied. “What I put inside that whiskey bottle has no effect whatsoever. Almost zero percent alcohol.”
“Her man is trying to get her drunk?” Tinsel was surprised. “Who still does that?" Tinel threw his hands in the air. the bar man shrugged and started cleaning some glasses.
"But he’s drinking it too," Tinsel continued. "Am sure he’s aware of what she’s done?”
The bar man looked up from under his shelf. “Who? That one? He hasn’t tasted a thing. He’s feeding it all to the poor girl. If it was water I put in that bottle, he still wouldn’t know. He still got enough whiskey in his glass anyways,” the barman continued cleaning the glasses with such expertise as he whistled.
“Some guys are really smart and crafty,” Tinsel remarked.
“Yes," the barman answered without looking up. "But she beat him to it, that girl.”
* * * * * * *
Mrs. Lucinda Mbong was exactly how Sean had imagined she would be. She lived in a tiny but neat and well-kept compound away from all the hustle and bustle in the metropolis areas. It was night and she had been skeptical about receiving guests at such an hour. Especially two young men.
She had been dismissive until the point where Sean had held up the pen and asked, “Care to tell me more about where is coming from?"
At that Mrs. Lucinda had frozen in her step. There was no denying that she knew something about this pen. The mere sight of it had off set her.
Louie was about to say something else but Sean stopped him. Mrs. Lucinda collapsed on one of her sofas resignedly, took in a deep breath and began narrating.
* * * * * *
Viya was still pretending to be passed out when Roman quietly tip-toed over to her side of the bed, picked up her bag and started rummaging around in it. She could barely walk but had been very easy to carry across the road because of her light weight into one of the motel rooms. She stirred on the bed and Roman froze in his step. When he assumed she was finally out again, he emptied the contents of her bag on the floor and began sifting through them. Roman didn't realize when Viya grabbed the stick broom that was lying just under the bed and struck him across the shoulder with it.
"Looking for something, mister?" Viya asked standing over Roman who was curved on the floor in pain. Roman was in complete shock and Viya was about to hit him a second time when her phone rang. She contemplated between taking the call and finishing off with Roman. The caller Id said it was Sean. She had to take it.
"One move and I'll shove this stick through your pretty balls," Viya said before flipping the phone open.
"Sean?" She said into the phone eying Roman suspiciously.
" Viya, you have to come now," Sean sounded frantic.
" What is it?" Viya asked.
"You know that magical comb you showed me one time?" Sean whispered.
"Yes?"
"Well, we found something just like it and we know where they might be coming from."
"Who's we?"
"Louie found it," Sean said.
"Sean, this is no joke?"
"Are you kidding me?" Sean shrieked. "Meet me at The old warehouse just under the bridge."
"Okay," Viya answered glancing at Roman. "I have to take care of something first."
"Hurry Viya," Sean said and the lines went off.
Viya turned off the phone and walked toward Roman who was now standing up.
"Found what you were looking for?" She asked.
"I know what happened here last night," Roman said.
"Really? Trust me you have no idea what happened," Viya said and turned to pick up her bag.
"I need that comb from you Nadine," Roman spat.
Viya froze at this. she did a powerful flip of her long dark hair and said, "Nadine?" Then she laughed out loud. A long laugh. Then her mood changed suddenly again and she looked pissed. Really pissed.
"You and I need to have a long talk," she said. "Come with me," she said approaching Roman. "But first I owe you this," she said slapping Roman hard across the face. "That was for spiking my drink."
Roman stared at her speechless; rubbing his jaw as he followed her out of the room.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Chapter Two
The Sorcerer's Emporium of Enchanted Objects
Viya was twenty again. She was in the shower when someone knocked on the door.
"Who's there?" she asked through a mouthful of water.
"Chris is that you?" her younger brother Sean asked.
"No," Viya sighed.
"Daymian?" he asked again.
"Nope. Get lost Sean."
"Viya? What are you doing in our bath? Remember when you stressed you were the only girl in the house and needed some privacy?"
"Sean, please.”
"Well, that's why you got you your own bath. Get out I’m late," Sean sulked.
"My sink needs some plumbing. Don't want the plumber sneaking up on my naked butt. What are you late for by the way? It’s Saturday."
"Got a date," Sean replied.
"Wow, a date! Have I met this one?" Viya screamed in the shower.
What for? So you can scare her away, too?"
"Scare them? I just want to approve of the girl you hang out with"
"Viya please, all my girl friends have been frightened by you, "Sean sighed." Would you please hurry?"
"Well" Viya said slowly. "I have a feeling I won't like this one so I'm taking my sweet time," She started whistled.
Sean stood there speechless for awhile then finally said;
"I'm going down the road to get some stuff. Since you love to be in there so much,” he paused and locked the door from outside, “Happy shower time." Then he ran off.
"What?" Viya wiped her face with her hands. "Sean, come back here and open this door,” She said trying the door but it was dead bolted from outside.
Viya sighed. Now what? Should she wash and rewash her body until her skin faded? Sean had better not taken his time at that store and be back as soon as possible.
She was about to call for help Daymian when she heard a lot of noise coming from the living room suddenly. She turned off the shower and listened.
"Daymian?"Her voice was hardly audible.
There was a lot of scuffling and shuffling, things knocked over and the sound of broken glass. What in heaven's name was going on?
Then out of nowhere, BANG BANG! "Oh my God! Viya almost screamed, "What was that?" she was dying to call Chris or Daymian. Or her parents. But her judgements told her it would be better to stay as inanimate as possible. She retreated to one end of the bath and clasped her hand to her mouth.
She was shivering like a rat in water. Then there was bang, bang!
And more bang, bang!
Viya just sat there stifling herself and waiting for what seemed like a lifetime of gun shots to be over. Then someone approached the bath.
“This one’s locked from outside Ollie,” a male voice said. He fiddled with the bolt for a while. “i don’t think there’s anyone inside.”
“You sure about that?” Another voice asked. “Just make sure Andy.”
“We don’t have time,” Andy replied.
“Someone might have called the police already. I say we get out of here.”
“Okay grab what you can and let’s run,” Ollie said as they scampered out of there as fast as they could.
Sean triumphantly whistled in twenty minutes later. He kicked the door open swinging a grocery plastic loaded with all kinds of sweets, yoghurts and chocolates.
It was awfully quiet, he thought as he walked in. He’d left Daymian and dad engaged in a serious Playstation football battle. Chris had been ironing some stuff down the corridor while stewed away in the kitchen.
Sean needed to borrow Daymian’s pair of sneakers and was about to yell out his name when he found his dad lying in a pool of blood. Before the scene could even register in his mind, Sean found Daymian a few feet away in his own pool. He felt for heart beats but nothing moved. Sean brought his t-shirt to his face and shut his eyes tight. He tried not to imagine what had happened to the rest of his family. His trembling legs slowly carried him to the corridor where to his horror his eyes met what he’d been dreading. Chris was sprawled like a rag doll on top of their mom. He’d probably been trying to defend her when they’d both been shot.
Why would anyone want to hurt them? Sean thought in pain. Only a few minutes ago he’d been playing with Viya and now here he was...
Wait a minute? What about Viya? Where was she? Had they found her locked up in bath and...? Oh God please, let Viya be okay, Sean prayed silently. She was all he had left now.
“Viya!” He screamed as he scrambled towards their bath. It was still bolted from outside. “For the love of God Viya please be in there.”
Viya quickly shielded her face and almost bore a hole in the wall with her body when she heard the door open.
“Please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me,” she begged continuously.
“Viya?” Sean asked in disbelief. “You’re alive!”
“Sean you’re back!” Viya leaped when she saw her brother. “Something terrible was going on here. I had no idea what because you locked me in,” Viya spoke quickly but she stopped when she saw the look on Sean’s face.
“What’s the matter Sean? Is everyone alright?” Viya asked wrapping her towel around her now dried body and moving towards the living room.
“Viya don’t go on there,” Sean tried too late to stop her. He heard a frail gasp escape Viya’s lips when he got to her. Her towel had dropped to the floor and she was standing there bare-bodied staring at her brother’s lifeless body in total shock.
“Come here Vi,” Sean said picking up her towel and wrapping it around her again. “You don’t need to look at this.” Sean hugged her tightly.
“Who were they?” Viya whispered.
“I don’t know,” Sean said and went to phone. A few minutes later he was on the phone with the police when he heard Viya’s voice behind him.
“Daymian did two hundred push-ups every day,” Viya said more to herself than to Sean in a childlike tone. “Nobody is any match for him. Chris was the best Law student i ever met. He could talk himself out of any situation. Mom could cook up a storm and dad was simply my hero. This isn’t happening right? I’m dreaming.”
Sean pulled Viya closer.
“You locked me in. I owe you my life,” Viya whispered.
“We’re going to get them,” Sean whispered.
“No, I’m going to get them,” Viya said.
Viya awoke with a start. She had no idea when she’d dozed off on the soya. The last thing she could remember was being pissed at Nadine. That would explain the half-empty bottle of wine.
The nightmares had returned. Every time she passed out, they would return. Each one more grotesque than the last. She tried to blink away the bloody images of her family lying helplessly on the ground that fateful day nine years ago. Now was 2016. She had a whole new life before her now. Sean had not returned to the apartment since he left in the morning. She had not told him about the nightmares returning. He would be worried about her and that was the last thing she needed now.
No matter how hard she tried to forget, the incident would always hunt her. But she had changed. Toughened up. Because she needed to look out for Sean and herself but she wasn’t one of those people who would put blame all their misfortune on one unfortunate event in their past life. She was the way she was because she loved it. Men needed to be taught a lesson...
As for Nadine, she was coming for her. Viya looked at her watch it was getting to 7pm. The One to One would be bustling with people by now.
They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, well Viya was more that furious, that she was sure of. But Donatien was also a scorned man. Viya’s next move depended on how much scorn he had for his beautiful bride.
Viya thought as she hit the shower.
After chatting with the private investigator, Roman had decided to return to the One to One motel. He had a strong feeling the seductress was going to visit the place again. He sat in a bar across the road from the motel and watched intently as the clients flooded in. It was only after seven in the evening. Tuesday night apparently was a busy night for the small motel. He lit a smoke and took a long drag. He sipped on his beer and ignored the girls who were making desperate passes at him. Roman was definitely a catch. He was all muscle (in the right places) and no fat. He had a beautifully strong jaw line that any artist would want to capture in a painting. It had been a while since he got laid. But that was the least of his worries now. There was only one girl he was looking for right now and if the need arose only then would he go down on her but for now sex with a hooker or with any other girl for that matter was far from his mind. The victim had been able to describe ‘Eva’ vaguely. If that was her name in the first place. People like her were fund of using aliases.
Tinsel decided to call up the private investigator himself after concluding that roman had been suddenly very dismissive with him. Tinsel sensed Roman was up to something. He wasn’t sure what but when money was involved people tended to go loony sometimes. The phone rang a few times before the investigator picked up.
“Ludwig Asu,” he said over the receiver.
“Oh, it’s Tinsel,” Tinsel said adjusting himself. He was lying on his bed.
“Tinsel?”
“We called you in the morning about a girl? At One to One?”
“Yes, I remember. Did Mr. Roman find his sister yet?” Ludwig asked.
“His sister?” Tinsel almost yelled.
“She’s his sister right? He told me she had eloped a long time ago with a crazy husband and now the family was trying to find her. Don’t tell me you didn’t know that. You’re his friend aren’t you?” Ludwig asked sounding suspicious now.
“Of course,” Tinsel replied quickly. “I knew that.”
“So why were you calling anyway?”
“I just thought maybe you some new leads,” Tinsel swallowed.
“I think you should talk to Mr. Roman. He knows everything I know. Is that all?”
“Um, yes,” Tinsel said. Before he could say anything else the investigator had dropped the phone.
So Roman had told the investigator he was looking for his runaway sister, tinsel thought. If he was lying to others about the whole affair then he was probably lying to Tinsel too. Maybe they weren’t only after a few thousand after all. This was probably way bigger than Tinsel had imagined. He had been played once but he wasn’t going to be a second fool and let it happen twice. He was going to that motel. It was only after seven anyway. Motels were open till then rite?
Tinsel sighed and got off his sandy bed. Sometimes he wished he had more experience with such things.
Viya was twenty again. She was in the shower when someone knocked on the door.
"Who's there?" she asked through a mouthful of water.
"Chris is that you?" her younger brother Sean asked.
"No," Viya sighed.
"Daymian?" he asked again.
"Nope. Get lost Sean."
"Viya? What are you doing in our bath? Remember when you stressed you were the only girl in the house and needed some privacy?"
"Sean, please.”
"Well, that's why you got you your own bath. Get out I’m late," Sean sulked.
"My sink needs some plumbing. Don't want the plumber sneaking up on my naked butt. What are you late for by the way? It’s Saturday."
"Got a date," Sean replied.
"Wow, a date! Have I met this one?" Viya screamed in the shower.
What for? So you can scare her away, too?"
"Scare them? I just want to approve of the girl you hang out with"
"Viya please, all my girl friends have been frightened by you, "Sean sighed." Would you please hurry?"
"Well" Viya said slowly. "I have a feeling I won't like this one so I'm taking my sweet time," She started whistled.
Sean stood there speechless for awhile then finally said;
"I'm going down the road to get some stuff. Since you love to be in there so much,” he paused and locked the door from outside, “Happy shower time." Then he ran off.
"What?" Viya wiped her face with her hands. "Sean, come back here and open this door,” She said trying the door but it was dead bolted from outside.
Viya sighed. Now what? Should she wash and rewash her body until her skin faded? Sean had better not taken his time at that store and be back as soon as possible.
She was about to call for help Daymian when she heard a lot of noise coming from the living room suddenly. She turned off the shower and listened.
"Daymian?"Her voice was hardly audible.
There was a lot of scuffling and shuffling, things knocked over and the sound of broken glass. What in heaven's name was going on?
Then out of nowhere, BANG BANG! "Oh my God! Viya almost screamed, "What was that?" she was dying to call Chris or Daymian. Or her parents. But her judgements told her it would be better to stay as inanimate as possible. She retreated to one end of the bath and clasped her hand to her mouth.
She was shivering like a rat in water. Then there was bang, bang!
And more bang, bang!
Viya just sat there stifling herself and waiting for what seemed like a lifetime of gun shots to be over. Then someone approached the bath.
“This one’s locked from outside Ollie,” a male voice said. He fiddled with the bolt for a while. “i don’t think there’s anyone inside.”
“You sure about that?” Another voice asked. “Just make sure Andy.”
“We don’t have time,” Andy replied.
“Someone might have called the police already. I say we get out of here.”
“Okay grab what you can and let’s run,” Ollie said as they scampered out of there as fast as they could.
Sean triumphantly whistled in twenty minutes later. He kicked the door open swinging a grocery plastic loaded with all kinds of sweets, yoghurts and chocolates.
It was awfully quiet, he thought as he walked in. He’d left Daymian and dad engaged in a serious Playstation football battle. Chris had been ironing some stuff down the corridor while stewed away in the kitchen.
Sean needed to borrow Daymian’s pair of sneakers and was about to yell out his name when he found his dad lying in a pool of blood. Before the scene could even register in his mind, Sean found Daymian a few feet away in his own pool. He felt for heart beats but nothing moved. Sean brought his t-shirt to his face and shut his eyes tight. He tried not to imagine what had happened to the rest of his family. His trembling legs slowly carried him to the corridor where to his horror his eyes met what he’d been dreading. Chris was sprawled like a rag doll on top of their mom. He’d probably been trying to defend her when they’d both been shot.
Why would anyone want to hurt them? Sean thought in pain. Only a few minutes ago he’d been playing with Viya and now here he was...
Wait a minute? What about Viya? Where was she? Had they found her locked up in bath and...? Oh God please, let Viya be okay, Sean prayed silently. She was all he had left now.
“Viya!” He screamed as he scrambled towards their bath. It was still bolted from outside. “For the love of God Viya please be in there.”
Viya quickly shielded her face and almost bore a hole in the wall with her body when she heard the door open.
“Please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me,” she begged continuously.
“Viya?” Sean asked in disbelief. “You’re alive!”
“Sean you’re back!” Viya leaped when she saw her brother. “Something terrible was going on here. I had no idea what because you locked me in,” Viya spoke quickly but she stopped when she saw the look on Sean’s face.
“What’s the matter Sean? Is everyone alright?” Viya asked wrapping her towel around her now dried body and moving towards the living room.
“Viya don’t go on there,” Sean tried too late to stop her. He heard a frail gasp escape Viya’s lips when he got to her. Her towel had dropped to the floor and she was standing there bare-bodied staring at her brother’s lifeless body in total shock.
“Come here Vi,” Sean said picking up her towel and wrapping it around her again. “You don’t need to look at this.” Sean hugged her tightly.
“Who were they?” Viya whispered.
“I don’t know,” Sean said and went to phone. A few minutes later he was on the phone with the police when he heard Viya’s voice behind him.
“Daymian did two hundred push-ups every day,” Viya said more to herself than to Sean in a childlike tone. “Nobody is any match for him. Chris was the best Law student i ever met. He could talk himself out of any situation. Mom could cook up a storm and dad was simply my hero. This isn’t happening right? I’m dreaming.”
Sean pulled Viya closer.
“You locked me in. I owe you my life,” Viya whispered.
“We’re going to get them,” Sean whispered.
“No, I’m going to get them,” Viya said.
Viya awoke with a start. She had no idea when she’d dozed off on the soya. The last thing she could remember was being pissed at Nadine. That would explain the half-empty bottle of wine.
The nightmares had returned. Every time she passed out, they would return. Each one more grotesque than the last. She tried to blink away the bloody images of her family lying helplessly on the ground that fateful day nine years ago. Now was 2016. She had a whole new life before her now. Sean had not returned to the apartment since he left in the morning. She had not told him about the nightmares returning. He would be worried about her and that was the last thing she needed now.
No matter how hard she tried to forget, the incident would always hunt her. But she had changed. Toughened up. Because she needed to look out for Sean and herself but she wasn’t one of those people who would put blame all their misfortune on one unfortunate event in their past life. She was the way she was because she loved it. Men needed to be taught a lesson...
As for Nadine, she was coming for her. Viya looked at her watch it was getting to 7pm. The One to One would be bustling with people by now.
They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, well Viya was more that furious, that she was sure of. But Donatien was also a scorned man. Viya’s next move depended on how much scorn he had for his beautiful bride.
Viya thought as she hit the shower.
After chatting with the private investigator, Roman had decided to return to the One to One motel. He had a strong feeling the seductress was going to visit the place again. He sat in a bar across the road from the motel and watched intently as the clients flooded in. It was only after seven in the evening. Tuesday night apparently was a busy night for the small motel. He lit a smoke and took a long drag. He sipped on his beer and ignored the girls who were making desperate passes at him. Roman was definitely a catch. He was all muscle (in the right places) and no fat. He had a beautifully strong jaw line that any artist would want to capture in a painting. It had been a while since he got laid. But that was the least of his worries now. There was only one girl he was looking for right now and if the need arose only then would he go down on her but for now sex with a hooker or with any other girl for that matter was far from his mind. The victim had been able to describe ‘Eva’ vaguely. If that was her name in the first place. People like her were fund of using aliases.
Tinsel decided to call up the private investigator himself after concluding that roman had been suddenly very dismissive with him. Tinsel sensed Roman was up to something. He wasn’t sure what but when money was involved people tended to go loony sometimes. The phone rang a few times before the investigator picked up.
“Ludwig Asu,” he said over the receiver.
“Oh, it’s Tinsel,” Tinsel said adjusting himself. He was lying on his bed.
“Tinsel?”
“We called you in the morning about a girl? At One to One?”
“Yes, I remember. Did Mr. Roman find his sister yet?” Ludwig asked.
“His sister?” Tinsel almost yelled.
“She’s his sister right? He told me she had eloped a long time ago with a crazy husband and now the family was trying to find her. Don’t tell me you didn’t know that. You’re his friend aren’t you?” Ludwig asked sounding suspicious now.
“Of course,” Tinsel replied quickly. “I knew that.”
“So why were you calling anyway?”
“I just thought maybe you some new leads,” Tinsel swallowed.
“I think you should talk to Mr. Roman. He knows everything I know. Is that all?”
“Um, yes,” Tinsel said. Before he could say anything else the investigator had dropped the phone.
So Roman had told the investigator he was looking for his runaway sister, tinsel thought. If he was lying to others about the whole affair then he was probably lying to Tinsel too. Maybe they weren’t only after a few thousand after all. This was probably way bigger than Tinsel had imagined. He had been played once but he wasn’t going to be a second fool and let it happen twice. He was going to that motel. It was only after seven anyway. Motels were open till then rite?
Tinsel sighed and got off his sandy bed. Sometimes he wished he had more experience with such things.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The Sorcerer's Emporium of Enchanted Objects
hey guys follow up my new magical story. u'll love it. ENJOY!
CHAPTER ONE
Viya hastily pulled up the sheets against her almost skinny bare chest as soon as the man was in the bathroom. Her smile faded as well. This is boring, she thought. She wondered for how much longer she’d have to pretend and put up with this bastard. Boris was his name. Or Matthias. Or Stanilas. She could barely remember now. Last night was a blur. Where had he even picked her up from? She could only remember that she’d gobbled down large amounts of alcohol as if her life depended on it. Not only because she was fond of alcohol but because she needed to binge on the drink, if she wanted to make her client happy. She had to forget about his atrocious moustache or his mountain of a belly and only the alcohol could help her successfully do that. But most importantly she needed this operation to be a success.
She ran her fingers under the sheets, found her undies and quickly slipped them on. She shivered lightly as she got the chills when she pulled the sheets away. It was after six o’clock in the morning. She yawned resignedly and crinched at the stench of her own breath that hit her. She reeked of stale beer and cigarettes. She pulled the stained sheets up to her face but quickly dropped them again. They smelled worse. The stench was a mixture of protective rubber oil and human bodily fluids.
It was nauseating. Her stomach did a flip in a retching reflex but she forced whatever was trying to come up down again. She swallowed her disgusting saliva and made a face.
Prostitution was so underpaid, Viya thought as she stood up from the bed. Many people thought the sex at least was a bonus for them. But to Viya, that was just a myth. Once it began, she could hardly wait for the session to be over and when it was over, she could hardly remember anything at all.
Which was why it was so disturbing. It was never special. This was the very essence of two people getting together. It was supposed to be...memorable.
Viya quickly shook the distracting thoughts away as she slipped on her now wrinkled skimpy ensemble and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. Now was not the time to think of silly fairy tale get-togethers. Such affairs were certainly not meant for girls like herself, Viya thought.
She had a more important mission to finish here and she needed to focus. She bent forward to buckle her straps and the bed creaked. An annoying sound. One of the only things she could remember from last night. The rhythmic creaking. It was a cheap room from one of those places her friends would call a ‘’ shitty motel’’. The room was small enough to fit just one creaky medium-sized wooden bed, a bed side cupboard on which stood a good news New Testament bible, a plain faced- wall clock and two people. Boris or Mathias or Stanilas had not been able to afford something with a star before its name. He’d said something about everywhere else being jammed. The bastard. She ran her hands repeatedly over arms to warm herself up and wondered how much all this was worth. That was a question that would answer itself in a few minutes.
The toilet in the bathroom flushed. Then she heard water running in the sink. She stood up and picked up her fake designer bag. It was time to act. She rummaged quickly in her bag for any abandoned gum and found a wrinkled one. She unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth then she straightened the tiniest skirt she had ever seen, took out her comb and headed for the bathroom.
She paused before opening the door and brushed her fingers slowly against the comb “I did my part baby,” she whispered to the comb. “Now it’s your turn.”
Then she opened the door and asked in her sweetest voice. “Honey what’s taking you so long? It’s getting chilly out here.”
“Oh,” he looked up. “Getting ready for work. Meeting at 8 o’clock.” Even though he’d cleaned up, he looked more hung-over than Viya. He smiled distractedly at her. She observed him as he knotted his tie and tried unsuccessfully to wipe off an incriminating stain lipstick from his cream-coloured shirt. Viya wondered what ridiculous stories they usually told their wives.
He had all the characteristics of a classic cheat husband. The bulging eyes, a protruding beer belly, the sweaty face and bad teeth. He was now trying to brush his hair. Even though the ‘afro’ was on a decline, his seemed to be on the rise.
“Here let me help you with that,” Viya said pulling out her comb and passing it through the thickest ‘afro’ the poor comb had ever seen.
“There you go,” she said looking at his reflection in the mirror and smiling.
“You look sublime-” She paused forgetting his name.
“Donatien.” He supplied “Call me Donatien baby; I will give you anything you want.” His voice was dreamlike. The charm was already setting in. Viya smiled peevishly and licked her lips.
“Just a signature darling,” she said taking out a chequebook from her bag. “That’s all we’ll be needing for now.”
Donatien followed her in his dreamy hypnotic steps as she went into the room and began gathering her stuff.
“Baby are you leaving? I’m here for you.”
“You just stay right here,” Viya said sitting him on the bed. “Me and my little comb friend here will see how much money your shitty account spits out.”
Then she signed a note that said ‘Compliments of Nadine,’ tucked it in his breast pocket and walked away, leaving her hypnotised victim with a stupid smile on his face.
Roman grunted as he snapped shot his mobile phone. His friend Tinsel looked at him expectantly and raised his hands in question.
Roman shook his head, “False alert,” he said.
“Another one?” Tinsel shrieked.
“Apparently he was just another disappointed lover and nothing more,” Roman said.
“Man that’s like the fourth false alarm today,” Tinsel complained. “What if this tale is just a tale after all?”
Roman looked irritated. He was tired of the kid complaining. Tinsel had been bombarding him with all kinds of questions since his arrival. They were standing on the balcony of Roman’s two-bedroom apartment where the reception was perfect. Roman could not afford to miss a call right now. Roman paced back and forth nervously awaiting his mobile to shrill any second. He had done research worth a lifetime to get to this point and there was no way he was giving up now. He knew the Comb of Persuasion was out there. In fact he believed there were a whole lot of enchanted items out there because he had seen and used of them before. The Whistler. It was a whistle that could make you sound exactly like any other person. At first Roman had been in awe of such an object. They only existed in fairytales. Then he’d become accepting of its magic and had even developed greater interest when he learned there were more where it had come from. The Whistler had come in handy a few times. He and his friends had had their share of fun with it but it was nothing compared to what the Comb of Persuasion would do for him. The places it would take him to. The only reason Roman had brought Tinsel in was because the kid was the best code cracker he’d ever laid eyes on. He’d met the kid at the cyber cafe when he’d crashed his laptop and someone had recommended Tinsel the whiz kid to him. Tinsel had remarkably repaired his laptop and restored all the lost files therewith. Though he was only nineteen, Tinsel could crack anything from simple to complex. Hell, he even saw codes and cracked them where there wasn’t any.
Tinsel’s code-cracking ability would come in handy for what Roman needed to do. So the least he could do for the meantime was put up with any kind of nosiness from the kid as long as he didn’t find out too much about how valuable these objects really were.
“What if this is just a crazy goose chase?” Tinsel asked.
“Well we’re about to find out,” Roman replied and lit a cigarette. His hands were shaking uncontrollably. They always did this under pressure.
“What are we after again?” Tinsel pried. Roman eyed him and tried very hard not to cuss. Tinsel’s lanky body was resting on an empty flower pot just against the wall.
“Damn comb,” Roman replied trying to remain calm.
“Oh that,” Tinsel replied. “And what does it do?”
“Hypnotize.”
“Using a comb to subdue people. Cool,” Tinsel nodded. “And why do we need it?”
Roman looked at Tinsel, his jaw bones tightening. He balled his fists and took a long drag from his cigarette. This kid could genius code cracker or whatever but he was definitely dim at times. This made Roman wonder why intelligence was not compatible with practical knowledge and common sense. You can’t have it all after all.
“To entrance people. For example the people with the code,” Roman answered.
“Oh yes, you’re right,” Tinsel nodded. “Then they wouldn’t be able to say no.”
Roman rolled his eyes. “Look Tinsel you need to focus and get this straight. This comb will help us get a code from another guy. He has the teddy bear that the code has been recorded in. And he won’t let the doll out of his sight.”
“A grown man moving about with a teddy. That’s a bit odd,” Tinsel remarked.
“You don’t know the lengths some people would go for money,” Roman said before he could stop himself. Why could this kid not shut up?
“Money?” Tinsel’s eyes lit up. “That’s a new development I didn’t know about. How much?”
“Huh?” Roman pretended to be distracted.
“How much does the code lead us to?” Tinsel pressed.
“Not much,” Roman shrugged. “Just a couple of thousands.”
“Thousands!” tinsel sounded. “Man, were you keeping this as a surprise?”
Roman shrugged and dragged on his smoke.
“And you think this guy’s just going to let you comb his hair like that? He probably knows you’re coming and shit like that.”
Roman’s phone rang before he could say anything. It was the private investigator he’d hired to find the Enchantress.
“Just found another man in a semi-charmed state,” the investigator said.
“Sure it’s not another disappointed lover?” Roman asked cautiously.
“No, we think it might be her this time. She left a note.The victim keeps asking for a certain Eva.”
“Where is he?” Roman asked.
“Found him at One on One. You know one of those cheap places around Carrefour Cinq? Not her kind of place but it’s definitely her.”
“Talk to him. He should know where he picked her up from or what she looks like now. I need to keep her in check,” Roman spoke quickly.
“I’ll do what I can,” the investigator said before adding. “Sorry about this, man.”
“Happens,” Roman said and snapped the clapper shot.
“Anything?” Tinsel was standing beside him now. He looked anxious.
“We’re going to Carrefour Cinq,” roman said. “I think we found comb girl.”
“I’m gonna be rich,” Tinsel yelled and ran into the house. His baggy t-shirt bouncing as he skipped up and down. The inscription on his t-shirt read, ‘I Got It 4 Cheap.’
Roman took one look at him and shook his head. He had other plans for this kid that involved him buying clothes that were any better than these.
**********************************************************************************
Viya watched the young lady as she slowly signed the cheque. The pen in her fingers looked as though it was going to fall off any minute. She probably didn’t want to ruin her meticulously manicured nails. An expensive looking diamond ring sparkled in the sun as she tried to push back the smooth strands of hair that had fallen on her face. They were standing just outside the Western Union building in Metroville. Most of the male clients were bumping into the glass doors as they stared rudely at Nadine.
She gave a final swirl of her pen and looked up. Even Viya had to admit Nadine was a stunner. She had all the right curves in the right places. She was undebatably pretty and was what most men would consider a stunner. But still she was too young to be married to Donatien.
“There,” she handed the cheque to Viya. Nadine was trying to look stern and business-like but her good looks were not helping. There was no way she could pull off the sassy bitch look. She came off looking sad.
“That will do,” Nadine said. “Go on and cash that. I’ll be out here.”
Viya turned to leave when Nadine called her back. “He didn’t suspect you, did he?” Nadine asked.
“I already told you that,” Viya said. “We didn’t talk much.”
“Did you both of you do it? I mean did he...” Nadine’s voice faltered.
“I had to please the client before anything,” Viya replied. Good-girl –trying-to-go-bad-Nadine flinched.
“My husband is not your client,” Nadine tried to sound firm.
“We just proved that,” Viya said and Nadine flinched again. What was wrong with her? What had she expected? Viya sighed and went closer to Nadine.
“Look,” she said. “You knew he was two-timing you that’s you sent me after him in the first place. Now that you got him to sign this I think you should just cheer up and...live,” Viya finished unpersuasively. She didn’t sound convincing even to herself. She really was terrible at giving pep talks.
“Our marriage was only almost a year old,” Viya rolled her eyes and hugged the poor disappointed young bride.
“Well if it helps any, with all the money he has, your husband has really poor taste in hotels,” Viya said smiling at Nadine.
Nadine managed a smile and cleaned her eyes. “Are you telling me? For a rich man he’s stiff with money.”
“Well, you’re lucky he made you a signatory to his account. That didn’t turn out bad,” Viya waved the cheque in the air.
“I know,” Nadine said. “How did you manage to get him to sign that by the way? I have never succeeded in doing that.”
Viya shrugged. “We do have our methods,” she said and glanced at the building. “I better go cash this before they close up.” She turned and hurried towards the bank.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Viya was a few millions richer by the time she got home that evening. She could not believe how much luck the Comb of Persuasion had brought. First of all she needed to quit her stinking night-time job and find something less demeaning. She had to stop being a bat and come out more often during the day if wanted to have a real relationship. Next, she needed to get out of this shitty apartment and find some posh place around the Metro Cite locale that would be more befitting for a millionaire like herself. She licked her lips, poured herself another glass of wine and took a sip. The taste of victory was good. Real good. She was tempted to a light a smoke but tossed the cigarette away. She wouldn’t be needing those either. Smoking was a bad habit she needed to break. She added it to her ‘Habits to Toss’ list.
Then her face fell as she thought about the comb. She wondered if it was time to give it up. It had done some good for her but it had also done its fair share of evil. She definitely didn’t need it anymore...or did she? It had become part and parcel of her. Viya reached for her bag and delved inside for the comb. It was nowhere to be found. She emptied the contents of her bag on her bed and frantically tossed them about. Nothing.
Viya could not recall taking out the comb ever since her encounter with Donatien that morning. She tried to retrace her steps mentally but she could not remember stopping anywhere except at...the bank! She had probably lost it there. But she’d only spoken to Nadine.
Viya stood up and clenched her fists as it all came back to her.
The bitch! Nadine had probably grabbed the comb when Viya had hugged her. And there Viya was thinking the whole time that Nadine was capable of no evil. So much for her good and innocent looks. The girl had been pretending the whole time. She and her shitty husband deserved each other. Viya gritted her teeth and found the cigarette she’d tossed away. She was definitely cancelling breaking the smoking habit from her ‘Habits to Toss’ list. She lit the smoke and dragged on it hungrily.
As for giving up the comb, she just changed her mind. They were a lot of things they still had to do together and the back-stabbing bitchy Nadine had come in between them.
Viya took in a long drag. “Pretty pretty Nadine, have no idea what you just yourself into.”
CHAPTER ONE
Viya hastily pulled up the sheets against her almost skinny bare chest as soon as the man was in the bathroom. Her smile faded as well. This is boring, she thought. She wondered for how much longer she’d have to pretend and put up with this bastard. Boris was his name. Or Matthias. Or Stanilas. She could barely remember now. Last night was a blur. Where had he even picked her up from? She could only remember that she’d gobbled down large amounts of alcohol as if her life depended on it. Not only because she was fond of alcohol but because she needed to binge on the drink, if she wanted to make her client happy. She had to forget about his atrocious moustache or his mountain of a belly and only the alcohol could help her successfully do that. But most importantly she needed this operation to be a success.
She ran her fingers under the sheets, found her undies and quickly slipped them on. She shivered lightly as she got the chills when she pulled the sheets away. It was after six o’clock in the morning. She yawned resignedly and crinched at the stench of her own breath that hit her. She reeked of stale beer and cigarettes. She pulled the stained sheets up to her face but quickly dropped them again. They smelled worse. The stench was a mixture of protective rubber oil and human bodily fluids.
It was nauseating. Her stomach did a flip in a retching reflex but she forced whatever was trying to come up down again. She swallowed her disgusting saliva and made a face.
Prostitution was so underpaid, Viya thought as she stood up from the bed. Many people thought the sex at least was a bonus for them. But to Viya, that was just a myth. Once it began, she could hardly wait for the session to be over and when it was over, she could hardly remember anything at all.
Which was why it was so disturbing. It was never special. This was the very essence of two people getting together. It was supposed to be...memorable.
Viya quickly shook the distracting thoughts away as she slipped on her now wrinkled skimpy ensemble and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. Now was not the time to think of silly fairy tale get-togethers. Such affairs were certainly not meant for girls like herself, Viya thought.
She had a more important mission to finish here and she needed to focus. She bent forward to buckle her straps and the bed creaked. An annoying sound. One of the only things she could remember from last night. The rhythmic creaking. It was a cheap room from one of those places her friends would call a ‘’ shitty motel’’. The room was small enough to fit just one creaky medium-sized wooden bed, a bed side cupboard on which stood a good news New Testament bible, a plain faced- wall clock and two people. Boris or Mathias or Stanilas had not been able to afford something with a star before its name. He’d said something about everywhere else being jammed. The bastard. She ran her hands repeatedly over arms to warm herself up and wondered how much all this was worth. That was a question that would answer itself in a few minutes.
The toilet in the bathroom flushed. Then she heard water running in the sink. She stood up and picked up her fake designer bag. It was time to act. She rummaged quickly in her bag for any abandoned gum and found a wrinkled one. She unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth then she straightened the tiniest skirt she had ever seen, took out her comb and headed for the bathroom.
She paused before opening the door and brushed her fingers slowly against the comb “I did my part baby,” she whispered to the comb. “Now it’s your turn.”
Then she opened the door and asked in her sweetest voice. “Honey what’s taking you so long? It’s getting chilly out here.”
“Oh,” he looked up. “Getting ready for work. Meeting at 8 o’clock.” Even though he’d cleaned up, he looked more hung-over than Viya. He smiled distractedly at her. She observed him as he knotted his tie and tried unsuccessfully to wipe off an incriminating stain lipstick from his cream-coloured shirt. Viya wondered what ridiculous stories they usually told their wives.
He had all the characteristics of a classic cheat husband. The bulging eyes, a protruding beer belly, the sweaty face and bad teeth. He was now trying to brush his hair. Even though the ‘afro’ was on a decline, his seemed to be on the rise.
“Here let me help you with that,” Viya said pulling out her comb and passing it through the thickest ‘afro’ the poor comb had ever seen.
“There you go,” she said looking at his reflection in the mirror and smiling.
“You look sublime-” She paused forgetting his name.
“Donatien.” He supplied “Call me Donatien baby; I will give you anything you want.” His voice was dreamlike. The charm was already setting in. Viya smiled peevishly and licked her lips.
“Just a signature darling,” she said taking out a chequebook from her bag. “That’s all we’ll be needing for now.”
Donatien followed her in his dreamy hypnotic steps as she went into the room and began gathering her stuff.
“Baby are you leaving? I’m here for you.”
“You just stay right here,” Viya said sitting him on the bed. “Me and my little comb friend here will see how much money your shitty account spits out.”
Then she signed a note that said ‘Compliments of Nadine,’ tucked it in his breast pocket and walked away, leaving her hypnotised victim with a stupid smile on his face.
Roman grunted as he snapped shot his mobile phone. His friend Tinsel looked at him expectantly and raised his hands in question.
Roman shook his head, “False alert,” he said.
“Another one?” Tinsel shrieked.
“Apparently he was just another disappointed lover and nothing more,” Roman said.
“Man that’s like the fourth false alarm today,” Tinsel complained. “What if this tale is just a tale after all?”
Roman looked irritated. He was tired of the kid complaining. Tinsel had been bombarding him with all kinds of questions since his arrival. They were standing on the balcony of Roman’s two-bedroom apartment where the reception was perfect. Roman could not afford to miss a call right now. Roman paced back and forth nervously awaiting his mobile to shrill any second. He had done research worth a lifetime to get to this point and there was no way he was giving up now. He knew the Comb of Persuasion was out there. In fact he believed there were a whole lot of enchanted items out there because he had seen and used of them before. The Whistler. It was a whistle that could make you sound exactly like any other person. At first Roman had been in awe of such an object. They only existed in fairytales. Then he’d become accepting of its magic and had even developed greater interest when he learned there were more where it had come from. The Whistler had come in handy a few times. He and his friends had had their share of fun with it but it was nothing compared to what the Comb of Persuasion would do for him. The places it would take him to. The only reason Roman had brought Tinsel in was because the kid was the best code cracker he’d ever laid eyes on. He’d met the kid at the cyber cafe when he’d crashed his laptop and someone had recommended Tinsel the whiz kid to him. Tinsel had remarkably repaired his laptop and restored all the lost files therewith. Though he was only nineteen, Tinsel could crack anything from simple to complex. Hell, he even saw codes and cracked them where there wasn’t any.
Tinsel’s code-cracking ability would come in handy for what Roman needed to do. So the least he could do for the meantime was put up with any kind of nosiness from the kid as long as he didn’t find out too much about how valuable these objects really were.
“What if this is just a crazy goose chase?” Tinsel asked.
“Well we’re about to find out,” Roman replied and lit a cigarette. His hands were shaking uncontrollably. They always did this under pressure.
“What are we after again?” Tinsel pried. Roman eyed him and tried very hard not to cuss. Tinsel’s lanky body was resting on an empty flower pot just against the wall.
“Damn comb,” Roman replied trying to remain calm.
“Oh that,” Tinsel replied. “And what does it do?”
“Hypnotize.”
“Using a comb to subdue people. Cool,” Tinsel nodded. “And why do we need it?”
Roman looked at Tinsel, his jaw bones tightening. He balled his fists and took a long drag from his cigarette. This kid could genius code cracker or whatever but he was definitely dim at times. This made Roman wonder why intelligence was not compatible with practical knowledge and common sense. You can’t have it all after all.
“To entrance people. For example the people with the code,” Roman answered.
“Oh yes, you’re right,” Tinsel nodded. “Then they wouldn’t be able to say no.”
Roman rolled his eyes. “Look Tinsel you need to focus and get this straight. This comb will help us get a code from another guy. He has the teddy bear that the code has been recorded in. And he won’t let the doll out of his sight.”
“A grown man moving about with a teddy. That’s a bit odd,” Tinsel remarked.
“You don’t know the lengths some people would go for money,” Roman said before he could stop himself. Why could this kid not shut up?
“Money?” Tinsel’s eyes lit up. “That’s a new development I didn’t know about. How much?”
“Huh?” Roman pretended to be distracted.
“How much does the code lead us to?” Tinsel pressed.
“Not much,” Roman shrugged. “Just a couple of thousands.”
“Thousands!” tinsel sounded. “Man, were you keeping this as a surprise?”
Roman shrugged and dragged on his smoke.
“And you think this guy’s just going to let you comb his hair like that? He probably knows you’re coming and shit like that.”
Roman’s phone rang before he could say anything. It was the private investigator he’d hired to find the Enchantress.
“Just found another man in a semi-charmed state,” the investigator said.
“Sure it’s not another disappointed lover?” Roman asked cautiously.
“No, we think it might be her this time. She left a note.The victim keeps asking for a certain Eva.”
“Where is he?” Roman asked.
“Found him at One on One. You know one of those cheap places around Carrefour Cinq? Not her kind of place but it’s definitely her.”
“Talk to him. He should know where he picked her up from or what she looks like now. I need to keep her in check,” Roman spoke quickly.
“I’ll do what I can,” the investigator said before adding. “Sorry about this, man.”
“Happens,” Roman said and snapped the clapper shot.
“Anything?” Tinsel was standing beside him now. He looked anxious.
“We’re going to Carrefour Cinq,” roman said. “I think we found comb girl.”
“I’m gonna be rich,” Tinsel yelled and ran into the house. His baggy t-shirt bouncing as he skipped up and down. The inscription on his t-shirt read, ‘I Got It 4 Cheap.’
Roman took one look at him and shook his head. He had other plans for this kid that involved him buying clothes that were any better than these.
**********************************************************************************
Viya watched the young lady as she slowly signed the cheque. The pen in her fingers looked as though it was going to fall off any minute. She probably didn’t want to ruin her meticulously manicured nails. An expensive looking diamond ring sparkled in the sun as she tried to push back the smooth strands of hair that had fallen on her face. They were standing just outside the Western Union building in Metroville. Most of the male clients were bumping into the glass doors as they stared rudely at Nadine.
She gave a final swirl of her pen and looked up. Even Viya had to admit Nadine was a stunner. She had all the right curves in the right places. She was undebatably pretty and was what most men would consider a stunner. But still she was too young to be married to Donatien.
“There,” she handed the cheque to Viya. Nadine was trying to look stern and business-like but her good looks were not helping. There was no way she could pull off the sassy bitch look. She came off looking sad.
“That will do,” Nadine said. “Go on and cash that. I’ll be out here.”
Viya turned to leave when Nadine called her back. “He didn’t suspect you, did he?” Nadine asked.
“I already told you that,” Viya said. “We didn’t talk much.”
“Did you both of you do it? I mean did he...” Nadine’s voice faltered.
“I had to please the client before anything,” Viya replied. Good-girl –trying-to-go-bad-Nadine flinched.
“My husband is not your client,” Nadine tried to sound firm.
“We just proved that,” Viya said and Nadine flinched again. What was wrong with her? What had she expected? Viya sighed and went closer to Nadine.
“Look,” she said. “You knew he was two-timing you that’s you sent me after him in the first place. Now that you got him to sign this I think you should just cheer up and...live,” Viya finished unpersuasively. She didn’t sound convincing even to herself. She really was terrible at giving pep talks.
“Our marriage was only almost a year old,” Viya rolled her eyes and hugged the poor disappointed young bride.
“Well if it helps any, with all the money he has, your husband has really poor taste in hotels,” Viya said smiling at Nadine.
Nadine managed a smile and cleaned her eyes. “Are you telling me? For a rich man he’s stiff with money.”
“Well, you’re lucky he made you a signatory to his account. That didn’t turn out bad,” Viya waved the cheque in the air.
“I know,” Nadine said. “How did you manage to get him to sign that by the way? I have never succeeded in doing that.”
Viya shrugged. “We do have our methods,” she said and glanced at the building. “I better go cash this before they close up.” She turned and hurried towards the bank.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Viya was a few millions richer by the time she got home that evening. She could not believe how much luck the Comb of Persuasion had brought. First of all she needed to quit her stinking night-time job and find something less demeaning. She had to stop being a bat and come out more often during the day if wanted to have a real relationship. Next, she needed to get out of this shitty apartment and find some posh place around the Metro Cite locale that would be more befitting for a millionaire like herself. She licked her lips, poured herself another glass of wine and took a sip. The taste of victory was good. Real good. She was tempted to a light a smoke but tossed the cigarette away. She wouldn’t be needing those either. Smoking was a bad habit she needed to break. She added it to her ‘Habits to Toss’ list.
Then her face fell as she thought about the comb. She wondered if it was time to give it up. It had done some good for her but it had also done its fair share of evil. She definitely didn’t need it anymore...or did she? It had become part and parcel of her. Viya reached for her bag and delved inside for the comb. It was nowhere to be found. She emptied the contents of her bag on her bed and frantically tossed them about. Nothing.
Viya could not recall taking out the comb ever since her encounter with Donatien that morning. She tried to retrace her steps mentally but she could not remember stopping anywhere except at...the bank! She had probably lost it there. But she’d only spoken to Nadine.
Viya stood up and clenched her fists as it all came back to her.
The bitch! Nadine had probably grabbed the comb when Viya had hugged her. And there Viya was thinking the whole time that Nadine was capable of no evil. So much for her good and innocent looks. The girl had been pretending the whole time. She and her shitty husband deserved each other. Viya gritted her teeth and found the cigarette she’d tossed away. She was definitely cancelling breaking the smoking habit from her ‘Habits to Toss’ list. She lit the smoke and dragged on it hungrily.
As for giving up the comb, she just changed her mind. They were a lot of things they still had to do together and the back-stabbing bitchy Nadine had come in between them.
Viya took in a long drag. “Pretty pretty Nadine, have no idea what you just yourself into.”
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Musiq & Me
If i've been MIA for some time it's because i was so engrossed in the book am writing( which is why i started this blog in the first place).
I've had a really rough last few days but like i said earlier nothing can hold me down..besides this blog is like my happy zone so I'm really feeling super now.
Well,the reason am all happy and sinsongy now is because the lives of some people out there really touched me.They make me grateful for being who i am no matter what. People like them give me hope that there are still some people out there with HOPE,HEART and LOVE to share. So thanks to all of you who are a source of inspiration and hope for others. Thanks for being strong,and positive and unrelentless.
Because i want this blog to inspire and encourage others am going to direct u to some of these wonderful minds. Maybe it'll change something for u. It did in my case..
So here's to MY HEROES. Give it up for....(Names not necessarily in order of merit).
Age: 12 years old
Country: Uganda
Story: Malaria Survivor. At 12, he is youth ambassador for United Against Malaria Campaign.Malaria is a number one killer disease in 3rd world countries. The only things i hate as much as malaria are reptiles. Malaria kills thousand ofchildren everyday in Africa. Charles Ssali wasn't one of them. He survived that.Now he is a youth ambassador,a global emissary for United Against Malaria,educating other toung ones and saving lives. He also plays soccer.... check outthe full story at www.one.org/blog
Appearances: Big Brother Africa 3
2. Name: Korto Momolu
Country: Liberia
Appearances: Project Runway 5
Story: Embraces her colour and diversity.Exuded such
etraordianary talent that she was voted fan
favourite of the show. November 13th was
named Korto Momolu Day in Arkansas.
she was 1st runner up. Such a talented and
driven young woman. Way to go ,girl!
3.Name: Anne Nsang
Country: Cameroon
Story:
Anne Nsang Nkwain, Initiator of the United Nations, UN, Press Club in Cameroon. She worked for CRTV before moving to head the UN Information Centre in Yaounde.Nsang, 41, and a mother of five, is also a gender crusader.
4.
Name: Eveyone who is helping the Haitian Victims In ANY way Is a HERO. You are Changing
a life. Kudos to you. Pray for these victims.
You are a lifesaver..
Hope these stories touched someone or made a difference to them.
Keep the faith. One love. be back for more
gtg write. love
I've had a really rough last few days but like i said earlier nothing can hold me down..besides this blog is like my happy zone so I'm really feeling super now.
Well,the reason am all happy and sinsongy now is because the lives of some people out there really touched me.They make me grateful for being who i am no matter what. People like them give me hope that there are still some people out there with HOPE,HEART and LOVE to share. So thanks to all of you who are a source of inspiration and hope for others. Thanks for being strong,and positive and unrelentless.
Because i want this blog to inspire and encourage others am going to direct u to some of these wonderful minds. Maybe it'll change something for u. It did in my case..
So here's to MY HEROES. Give it up for....(Names not necessarily in order of merit).
Age: 12 years old
Country: Uganda
Story: Malaria Survivor. At 12, he is youth ambassador for United Against Malaria Campaign.Malaria is a number one killer disease in 3rd world countries. The only things i hate as much as malaria are reptiles. Malaria kills thousand ofchildren everyday in Africa. Charles Ssali wasn't one of them. He survived that.Now he is a youth ambassador,a global emissary for United Against Malaria,educating other toung ones and saving lives. He also plays soccer.... check outthe full story at www.one.org/blog
Appearances: Big Brother Africa 3
2. Name: Korto Momolu
Country: Liberia
Appearances: Project Runway 5
Story: Embraces her colour and diversity.Exuded such
etraordianary talent that she was voted fan
favourite of the show. November 13th was
named Korto Momolu Day in Arkansas.
she was 1st runner up. Such a talented and
driven young woman. Way to go ,girl!
3.Name: Anne Nsang
Country: Cameroon
Story:
Anne Nsang Nkwain, Initiator of the United Nations, UN, Press Club in Cameroon. She worked for CRTV before moving to head the UN Information Centre in Yaounde.Nsang, 41, and a mother of five, is also a gender crusader.
4.
Name: Eveyone who is helping the Haitian Victims In ANY way Is a HERO. You are Changing
a life. Kudos to you. Pray for these victims.
You are a lifesaver..
Hope these stories touched someone or made a difference to them.
Keep the faith. One love. be back for more
gtg write. love
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
One more Thing
Hi. If you read my last blog you'll notice that i finish off nicely. That's because i was rudely interrupted by the poor connection right in the middle of a thought.I wasn't thrilled about this and it's not the first time. Why is the connection here so bad? I can't figure.
But am grateful for whoever built this site did a brilliant job with the instant-automatic-saving- to-draft thing. If not 2hours of strenuous typing(3 pages of my work) should have been lost.
So i just came back to say thank you 2 whoever created that option and i owe you one.
aanyway on my way here i read some interesting facts that i just had to share with my fellow blogmates..:
1.First novel ever written on a typewriter was "Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain.
2.Starfish have eight eyes.One eye at the end of each leg.
3.The Sistine Chapel was named after Pope Sixte IV.
4.Mark Twain didn't graduate from elementary school.
5.Intelligent people have more zinc copper in ther hair.
6.Only animal besides humans that can get sunburnt is the pig.
7. 90% of bird species are monogamous, 3% of mammals are monogamous. (dat explains a lot)
8. 28% of Africa is wildernerness.
9.Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better than men.
10. Coca Cola was originally green.
Weird but interesting stuff rite? I'll be back wit more.I just love discovering new n strange things.
Bye bye lot,see ya in a few.
Watch Moments With Mo. very educative,it got me thinking maybe i could my own show...maybe something like
Idling wit Aidyl or no this is better....Ideal wit Aidyl. EUREKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Got2 go,love. stay healthy n in love....doctor's orders.
1love ,aidyl
But am grateful for whoever built this site did a brilliant job with the instant-automatic-saving- to-draft thing. If not 2hours of strenuous typing(3 pages of my work) should have been lost.
So i just came back to say thank you 2 whoever created that option and i owe you one.
aanyway on my way here i read some interesting facts that i just had to share with my fellow blogmates..:
1.First novel ever written on a typewriter was "Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain.
2.Starfish have eight eyes.One eye at the end of each leg.
3.The Sistine Chapel was named after Pope Sixte IV.
4.Mark Twain didn't graduate from elementary school.
5.Intelligent people have more zinc copper in ther hair.
6.Only animal besides humans that can get sunburnt is the pig.
7. 90% of bird species are monogamous, 3% of mammals are monogamous. (dat explains a lot)
8. 28% of Africa is wildernerness.
9.Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better than men.
10. Coca Cola was originally green.
Weird but interesting stuff rite? I'll be back wit more.I just love discovering new n strange things.
Bye bye lot,see ya in a few.
Watch Moments With Mo. very educative,it got me thinking maybe i could my own show...maybe something like
Idling wit Aidyl or no this is better....Ideal wit Aidyl. EUREKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Got2 go,love. stay healthy n in love....doctor's orders.
1love ,aidyl
Monday, January 11, 2010
Happy Zone.
Hey y'all.How'd the weekend go? Mine wasn't so off the hook,just a few hassles here n there.I've not been in a very happy,chirpy mood lately. Can't link it to anything or explain why.
Anyway i made up my mind about something yesterday.This blog is my happy zone.No depressing posts shall be put on it.Only positive energy and laughter which is best medicine.I watched Deepak Chopra on Ellen a few days ago and he was so inspirational.Actually i got the positiveness from him.
For example if u surround yourself with happy people u are increasing your lifespan.How is that possible? Unbelievable but true.Being depressive causes you to keep more weight in than when you're happy.Personally i think it's because people tend to eat a lot(food can more entertaining than some best friends sometimes)when thy're depressed.
So this blog is like my happy hour,happy zone or something just cheerful where i can tune out all the depression. Also,i don't want to be responsible for somebody's extra pounds because they read my blog and cried.I wouldn't want that.I want y'all to stay healthy so please laugh !!!
Though am going to keep the bad feelings as far away from my blog as possible,it's going to be good for my book.Someone(actually I mean myself) once said that "The best works of art are born out of depressed minds" so am hoping it's going to proof useful.
When i say depressed it's not like i'm crazy or i have some issues but it's just that some things didn't work out as planned and it's only the beginning of the year........Snap out of it,Focus,remember more happy less downy...
Ok. I found this brilliant list or Mission Statement.It's a good way to keep your resolutions this year.
Here's mine for the year(remember try to use strong words that'll motivate and push u to action.
I will
FIGHT.......For my Beliefs
For Love
For my Dreams
To be the best that I can be.
ACHIEVE.......My Goals
Greatness (not by drinking Guiness)
DESTROY....Hatred
Apathy(lack of enthusiasism and proactiveness)
Fashion Crimes
Discrimination
BRING......More to the the table
Laughter
Sexy back
GO.........For it.!!!!!!!
Yes,this will motivate me to be proactive.The list was actually longer than this .I had to edit some parts off it.It was becoming just too ambitious....
Friday, January 8, 2010
Welcome 2 BlogWorld.
blog verb
/blɒg/
/blɑːg/ v [I]
/blɑːg/ v [I] to write or add material to a blog
blogger
noun /ˈblɒg.ər //ˈblɑː.gɚ/ n [C]
/ˈblɑː.gɚ/ n [C] someone who writes a blog
Happy Twenty Ten People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well,I started this blog so that it could help keep me focused on writing my book.I had to look up the meaning of blog before anything else.Now that i know wat it means I'm not really sure if i can rightfully call myself one.I mean I thought it was a diary where i could vent out my securities for the day.But i now understand that a blog is a diary but everyone gets to read your thoughts which is ...great i must say because maybe am going to be getting loads of fun ideas for my book here.
You might be asking how is this blog going to keep me focused?Well,if i know dat someone is out there anxious to read something from me,i'll take my writing more seriously.I wouldn't want to let my (future) readers down. I already have a title,not that it's going to be my final title for the book but it's always fun and easier to pick a title first.Am not going to give away the title though;what if someone plagiarises that?
Well,for those in the blogosphere(i just wanted to use that word) who'll be reading my blogs,i just want to say am not writing from home.I don't own a pc or laptop so I work at the local cyber cafe just around the corner.How much i write therefore depends on how much time i pay for.Today for example,because i was i a good mood and because am a good netizen(another word i love.I'd love to know who's coining all these terms),i bought 2hours which i'm in the process of exhausting.I'll try to be as regular as possible but with my class schedule,i might have to pass sometimes.One thing i just noticed is working/blogging/writing from home is really comfortable.For example,while I'm trying to blog,do some research,check my mail and chat with my friends on Facebook(did i say Multitasker on my profile?); this rude surfer is literally staring at my screen,peeping at my chat messages.Why are people so rude sometimes?Can't a girl gossip with her friends anymore? Another thing with surfing in public is u can't go around surfing adult sites which is what Rude Guy is doing right now.No wonder he can't look at his screen.
Anyway I have bigger things on my mind.Like I was saying am going to be providing interested readers with updates on my book and titbits of previews of the novel. I already have a possible title and know it's fiction which means am way ahead of myself.
Like I said I might not be as frequent as expected because of my school schedule (amongst other things like Phineas & Ferb,Ellen Show,Big Brother,Shear Genius...) but i'll try my best.One thing am good at is surprises,so expect the UnExpected!!!
.........30 mins later.
Whew,am back.Had to go after some snacks.This kid just wheezed by with some cool groundnut/popcorn combination...Yum..yum..,i so needed something to eat. Have a few mins left to be online(makes sorry-face),it's so sad.
But I'll be back tomorrow or by evening if I'm lucky.We'll see.
..........5mins later.
Hey guys, as i was about to sign out something just happened.This guy walked in that I've been avoiding so ducked under the computer.But he walked right up to me and said hi.Am dark-skinned but my face flushed literally.Then he gives me a 500FCFA coin and says "use this for your airtime."I felt terrible but,how cool is that?And i was trying to hide from him.
I wonder if that would be good for my story.I could spice things up a bit.I could make myself fall as am about to duck so that i end up embarrassing myself,or i could say my cell phone rang just as i was hiding thereby giving me away.
You see,that's the fun thing with writing;you get to do whatever you want with your characters.You're like the potter and they're the clay,their destiny is practically in your hands. Am getting really good at this i need to get home fast and write this all don before it goes away.
So long guys,u'll be hearing from me soon.
Phineas and Ferb should be on by now.Promise i'll start writing as soon as it's over.
Peace out.
Happy Twenty Ten People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well,I started this blog so that it could help keep me focused on writing my book.I had to look up the meaning of blog before anything else.Now that i know wat it means I'm not really sure if i can rightfully call myself one.I mean I thought it was a diary where i could vent out my securities for the day.But i now understand that a blog is a diary but everyone gets to read your thoughts which is ...great i must say because maybe am going to be getting loads of fun ideas for my book here.
You might be asking how is this blog going to keep me focused?Well,if i know dat someone is out there anxious to read something from me,i'll take my writing more seriously.I wouldn't want to let my (future) readers down. I already have a title,not that it's going to be my final title for the book but it's always fun and easier to pick a title first.Am not going to give away the title though;what if someone plagiarises that?
Well,for those in the blogosphere(i just wanted to use that word) who'll be reading my blogs,i just want to say am not writing from home.I don't own a pc or laptop so I work at the local cyber cafe just around the corner.How much i write therefore depends on how much time i pay for.Today for example,because i was i a good mood and because am a good netizen(another word i love.I'd love to know who's coining all these terms),i bought 2hours which i'm in the process of exhausting.I'll try to be as regular as possible but with my class schedule,i might have to pass sometimes.One thing i just noticed is working/blogging/writing from home is really comfortable.For example,while I'm trying to blog,do some research,check my mail and chat with my friends on Facebook(did i say Multitasker on my profile?); this rude surfer is literally staring at my screen,peeping at my chat messages.Why are people so rude sometimes?Can't a girl gossip with her friends anymore? Another thing with surfing in public is u can't go around surfing adult sites which is what Rude Guy is doing right now.No wonder he can't look at his screen.
Anyway I have bigger things on my mind.Like I was saying am going to be providing interested readers with updates on my book and titbits of previews of the novel. I already have a possible title and know it's fiction which means am way ahead of myself.
Like I said I might not be as frequent as expected because of my school schedule (amongst other things like Phineas & Ferb,Ellen Show,Big Brother,Shear Genius...) but i'll try my best.One thing am good at is surprises,so expect the UnExpected!!!
.........30 mins later.
Whew,am back.Had to go after some snacks.This kid just wheezed by with some cool groundnut/popcorn combination...Yum..yum..,i so needed something to eat. Have a few mins left to be online(makes sorry-face),it's so sad.
But I'll be back tomorrow or by evening if I'm lucky.We'll see.
..........5mins later.
Hey guys, as i was about to sign out something just happened.This guy walked in that I've been avoiding so ducked under the computer.But he walked right up to me and said hi.Am dark-skinned but my face flushed literally.Then he gives me a 500FCFA coin and says "use this for your airtime."I felt terrible but,how cool is that?And i was trying to hide from him.
I wonder if that would be good for my story.I could spice things up a bit.I could make myself fall as am about to duck so that i end up embarrassing myself,or i could say my cell phone rang just as i was hiding thereby giving me away.
You see,that's the fun thing with writing;you get to do whatever you want with your characters.You're like the potter and they're the clay,their destiny is practically in your hands. Am getting really good at this i need to get home fast and write this all don before it goes away.
So long guys,u'll be hearing from me soon.
Phineas and Ferb should be on by now.Promise i'll start writing as soon as it's over.
Peace out.
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