Sixty Seconds (6 page)

Slumped
on the floor, Mary wasn’t sure if she hallucinated the scene before
her. The room seemed to spin, literally, although she stayed put.
The Christmas tree was hurled across the room and through the
window but the splinters of the glass stayed in the air for a few
seconds before falling to the ground.

The
floor shook so hard that Mary’s teeth chattered together and she
felt drill like vibrations under her. One of her daughter’s rolled
too close to the crack in the ground. Even though she knew they
would all die, Mary grabbed her child’s ankle and held on tight,
unwilling to let go. She could hear screaming but over it was
another sound, something she had never heard before.

From the
crack in the ground rose a spirit, or at least, that’s what it
looked like to Mary. It grabbed Mary’s daughter and pulled,
dragging the girl back into the crack with it. Mary scrambled to
see where she went but the hole was dark – she couldn’t see a
thing.

The
spirit appeared in front of Mary’s face before she could pull back,
close enough to see it didn’t have a distinguishable face. It put
its hands on Mary’s cheeks and she felt drenched through. It pulled
her into the crack, into an unimaginable darkness. Mary felt like
she was falling from a cliff but never felt the landing. She
screamed and screamed as she fell and heard voices whispering in
her eyes.

“
Final call.”

“
Last chance.”

“
Get it right this time.”

“
Welcome to the next world.”

“
Welcome to the final world.”

Mary
wondered if she was in hell, in a dream, if she had gone
insane.

The
darkness enclosed itself around her until she felt trapped in a
soft, wet cage. She felt her knees tip her nose. She struggled to
break free, pushing herself in the one direction that gave her a
little leeway. She felt herself move and began to hear noises
again.

Through
the darkness, she moved slowly, feeling the darkness expel her
through a crevice. She couldn’t breathe and screamed out loud as
she finally made her way into light. Hands gripped her roughly and
she shivered, a cold, wet mess. Gigantic people who cleaned her
off, ignored her terror and finally covered her in a
blanket.

Mary
tried to talk to them, beg them to help her. Even though they
smiled, none of them listened. They carried her once again and lay
her somewhere soft and warm. Mary yawned, feeling comfortable all
of a sudden. A woman looked down on her with a huge smile on her
face.

“
She’s beautiful,” she said, and looked down at Mary,
awestruck. Mary blinked a couple of times, felt something touch her
lip and turned her head to clasp it, even though she wasn’t sure
why. Something warm flooded through her entire body and she relaxed
completely in her new mother’s arms, her previous life fading into
darkness.

Sharkey
buttoned his shirt up to his chin. “Thanks for that, love,” he
said, and threw money onto the bed. The girl grabbed the notes
greedily and gathered her clothes together. “Don’t forget,” he
added as she passed him by. “First payment’s due next
week.”

He knew
she wouldn’t forget but it was always good to remind them. Just in
case.

He took
a steak and kidney pie out of the oven and a cold can of beer from
the fridge. He should have used a good, homemade meal as a loan
guarantee, not sex. He snorted with laughter but nobody was around
to hear.

After
his meal, he made his rounds – knocking on the doors of the poor to
collect repayments. Hefty loans with even heftier rates of
interest. They called him Sharkey because he was the most
blood-thirsty loan shark around. Hey, he was helping people out.
Not his fault they got over their heads in their own desperation.
All he asked for was his money back – and then some.

Same
shit, different day. Money owed, some handed it over, some needed
another week – more interest, no problem. Others tried to hide.
That’s when he earned his nickname. He didn’t need heavies to get
his money back. Everyone was scared of Sharkey’s
tempers.

He had
plenty of money. If someone missed a week, it was no skin off his
nose but that wasn’t the point. Lessons had to be taught and
examples had to be made. When Damien Murphy answered the door with
a still broken nose and handed Sharkey cash without saying a word –
that was a lesson learned. When Rachel Doyle had to use her left
hand to pay him because her right wrist was still sprained – that
was a lesson learned. And when Della Conway opened her door with no
bra on, well, it was all in a day’s work.

Money
pocketed and non-payers adequately scared, Sharkey headed to the
pub alone. Carrying around that amount of cash was foolish for
some. For Sharkey, nobody would be stupid enough to look at him
crooked. That’s how it was. In the pub, everyone steered clear of
him. He downed pint after pint but the chairs around him remained
conspicuously empty.

He was
cool with being alone. Nobody to nag him, upset him, break his
heart. He had enough company doing his job. Women offered
themselves to him on a regular basis – to persuade him to give them
a loan or to keep him happy if they couldn’t meet a payment. He
knew it and he didn’t care.

People
didn’t approach him, even to ask for a loan. They made
appointments, dealt with him through text messages, but only after
they had been recommended.

When the
dark-haired woman sat next to him in the pub, uninvited, he was
beyond surprised.

“
They tell me you’re Sharkey,” she said, and held his stare,
something that didn’t happen very often.

He
nodded, unsure of himself for a change.

“
I need a loan, pretty quickly. I can pay you back.”

He
sneered. “Why not go to a bank then?”

“
Because it’s urgent. I don’t have time to wait.”

She
looked desperate enough but something told him she wouldn’t be
spreading her legs for money. He kind of liked that. He liked how
her chin jutted out and she held her head up like she knew her
worth. There was something defiant in her eyes. Not the kind of
defiance he was used to, the one that needed to be knocked out of
people. More like the proud kind. It was interesting.

“
How much you need?”

“
How much you got?”

He tried
not to smile. “Why should I give you a loan?”

Her
forehead creased. “That’s what you do, right? Play on people’s
desperation? Give them money they can’t afford to pay back? Well, I
can pay it back, I just need it right away.”

“
What do you need it for?”

Her
cheeks flushed red and she looked away. “I need to take a
trip.”

“
One way? Trying to scam a poor man out of his
money?”

Sharkey
was joking but she looked aghast. “No! I just need to go to
England. For a weekend.”

He
caught it then. The look of shame. “Ah. That kind of
trouble.”

“
Not me!” She was quick to deny it. She shrugged. “It’s my
daughter. A man . . . took advantage, she doesn’t need to be
burdened with the consequences. It’s her choice, I’ll do what she
needs.”

“
She needs to pay for her own mistakes,” Sharkey said, hoping
to draw her out.

“
She’s just a kid and it wasn’t her mistake. The bastard
attacked her knowing she’d be too scared to tell.” The flush in her
cheeks was warmed by anger, not embarrassment.

This
interested Sharkey. He pushed around the people who deserved it, he
wasn’t sure he liked the idea of a bully in his
neighbourhood.

“
Maybe I can help. If you work for me.” The words were out of
his mouth before he could think about it. What was he
doing?

“
I . . . I’m not that kind of woman.” She edged away from him,
making sure her body faced away from him. She crossed her
arms.

“
Don’t worry. I’m not asking for anything. I need an employee.
Office work, someone to help me keep track of things. Maybe make a
dinner sometimes, maybe accompany me on an outing. Someone with
their ear to the ground, able to pass on info.”

“
Are you looking for a companion?” Her eyes opened wide but she
didn’t laugh.

He
shrugged. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Sometimes he felt
lonely but he would rather pay for the company. That way, he
controlled the situation. Not an escort because they were greedy
and had usually been around the block. This woman though, he could
work with a woman like her.

She
shook her head. “I have a job. I’m a nurse. I don’t have time for
more work.”

“
You don’t have time for a baby either then. It’s a part-time
thing, flexible, a bit of change. Tell you what, to sweeten the
deal, I’ll help you in another way. Make sure baby daddy deals with
some consequences. What do you say?”

He
wasn’t sure what he expected but the look in her eye thrilled him.
She leaned forward, her cheek twitching. “I can’t tell you how
badly I want him to deal with consequences.”

Sharkey
laughed. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“
Wendy.” She stood up to leave. “How do we do this?”

“
Leave your number, I’ll contact you tomorrow when I’ve roped a
couple of grand together. That be enough?”

She
nodded. “Why me?”

“
What?”

“
Why do you want me to work for you?”

Sharkey
frowned. He didn’t have a fucking clue. “Well, you’re smart. And
you obviously ain’t gonna sleep with me for it so I have to figure
something else out. The world doesn’t need any more unwanted
babies, right?”

She gave
him her contact details and the name of the man who impregnated her
daughter. “You’re not as bad as they say,” she told him.

He
showed her his teeth. “Tell that to your man.”

He was
sad to see her leave. “Going fucking soft,” he muttered under his
breath. Sharkey finished his pint and went home alone, feeling
hopeful. Maybe it was time the shark had some real
company.

That
evening, Sharkey wondered how much pain the rapist had to be in
before it impressed Wendy.

The
nurse pushed her into a wheelchair, more rough than necessary.
Annie didn’t mind. She didn’t care about anything anymore. The
wheels squeaked as they moved, like a tiny person crying out to
Annie. She did her best to ignore the sound.

“
Some fresh air will you good, Mrs. O’Reilly.”

Annie
didn’t answer. Nobody expected her to. Outside was still nippy
enough to make a blanket necessary. The nurse tucked the corners
under Annie’s legs, knowing she wouldn’t make an effort to stop the
blanket flying away in the wind. She knew Annie wouldn’t
care.

“
There,” she said. “Now sit there for a while, I’ll be back in
a bit.” She hesitated. “Maybe take a walk today.” She didn’t
believe Annie would but it didn’t hurt to try.

Annie
stayed silent and stared at the tree a few feet ahead of her. She
didn’t see it at first, nor did she hear the nurse’s footsteps fade
away.

Instead,
she saw the only thing she ever saw. The car crash that wiped out
her family. The one instant that changed everything and turned her
to stone. When she woke, they told her. They spoke of the dead in
hushed tones. But tears didn’t come for Annie, neither did death
nor hunger nor pain. Nothing happened and Annie did nothing, not to
live, not to die – she didn’t care.

In the
end, being committed meant nothing to her even if her lack of
reaction broke the hearts of her friends.

Annie
blinked a couple of times when the cat peeped out from behind the
tree. A beautiful, white cat with keen green eyes stared right at
her. Not that Annie was interested. The cat had stiffened, as if
waiting to be attacked. That held Annie’s attention briefly. Then
she looked away until the cat felt brave and slipped into plain
view, revealing a heavy swollen belly.

Annie
saw from the corner of her eye, wondered if the cat was a stray and
watched as it sniffed around. It fled when the nurse
returned.

“
Everything okay, Mrs. O’Reilly?”

Annie
realised she was sitting forward, staring, and leaned back into the
wheelchair without a sound. The nurse sighed and took Annie back to
her room.

The next
day, Annie saw the cat again. This time it mewed at her, begging,
crying, a persistent noise. Annie shivered at the sound but said
nothing. Did nothing.

Two days
later, Annie carried the food she refused to eat in a napkin. When
the nurse left her, she stood up slowly, unwrapped the meat, and
laid it by the tree. The cat watched with wary eyes until Annie sat
in the wheelchair again. The meat was devoured in under a minute.
The cat approached Annie, circled her, let her tail touch Annie’s
leg and wandered away. Annie pretended not to notice.

After a
couple of days of meat, the cat leapt into Annie’s lap for the
first time. Annie gasped, then touched the cat’s head. It pushed
its ears against her fingertips, purred when Annie moved her hand
in an awkward petting motion. She shooed the cat away when the
nurse returned. The cat looked back at her and Annie felt like it
understood.