Dark Corners - Twelve Tales of Terror (11 page)

She smiled at him again, showing her perfect white
teeth.

“
I’m
not afraid. Monde said he would come for me and take me away from
here.”

“
Look
Tina, I’m going to be honest with you. It’s not looking
too good for you right now. You have to tell me what happened.”

She shrugged, looking unconcerned.

“
I
haven’t done anything. I already told you. Monde did it.”

“
So
you keep saying, but it was
you
we picked up covered in blood. Now unless I get some answers, you are
only a matter of hours away from being charged.”

“
Monde
said it didn’t matter. He said he would take care of things.”

“
Tina,
don’t be fooled by the stuff you see on television. The fact is
that the bloody clothes you were picked up in are now with forensics.
If they determine that it’s human blood, we would have enough
to charge you.”

For the first time, she seemed to be flustered, chewing
her lower lip nervously.

“
You
can’t do that, can you? I didn’t do anything!”

“
Then
you had better tell me what happened. All of it, starting from the
beginning.”

She leaned on the desk and sighed. He sipped his coffee
and watched her, waiting patiently until she was ready to continue.
She looked tired and waxy under the harsh strip lights of the
interview room. After a few minutes, she leaned back and looked him
in the eye.

“
It
doesn’t really matter anyway, but if you want to know what
happened, I’ll tell you.”

Thomas picked up his pen.

“
Tell
me everything, starting with how you met Monde.”

Two

Quint’s bar was the only place to go in the small
town of Oakville. During the day, they served hot lunches and the
place had a mellow, easy-going feel. Tina didn’t work the
dayshift. Her clientele were a different breed; the factory workers
and hillbillies who were looking to unwind after a hard day’s
work. The nights were noisy and smoky, and she’d lost count of
the number of times she had been groped or had her ass grabbed by
some too-drunk-to-remember Oakville native. She had noticed the man
watching her from the end of the bar when she first arrived for her
shift. She only noticed him because he looked so completely out of
place that it was impossible not to. It was just after eleven, and
even though the place was now almost full, and getting more and more
rowdy, he still hadn’t moved. He simply sat and sipped his
drink. He was very tall and thin, with broad shoulders, and was
dressed in an expensive looking crème suit. As he toyed with
his vodka, she could feel his eyes crawling over her. His skin was
naturally tanned, and he had a thin moustache and slicked back
jet-black hair. She didn’t normally like men with facial hair,
but it somehow looked right on him. She couldn’t decide on his
nationality—perhaps Italian or Spanish.

She glanced up and found his brown eyes still locked on
to her intently. Tina quickly looked away, embarrassed. She gathered
the rest of the bottles and headed behind the bar and into the
kitchen area, enjoying the brief respite from the country music being
stomped out by the house band. Lexi was there, leaning on the
stainless steel counter and sipping a beer.

“
Here
she is, the object of affection,” she said with a smirk.

“
What
do you mean?”

“
Come
on, Tina. You know what I’m talking about. The guy in the
suit. He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since he came in.”

“
Cut
it out, Lexi, he isn’t watching me.”

“
Oh
come on, T, surely you must have noticed. He’s not even trying
to hide it. You should go talk to him.”

Tina had known Lexi for the three years she had worked
at Quint’s, and although they hadn’t liked each other
initially, over time they had become friends. Lexi was more confident
than Tina, and was unafraid to respond to the drunken approaches and
gropes of their customers with verbal abuse of her own, somehow
knowing just how far to push without crossing the line. At
twenty-three, she was two years older than Tina, and she dressed like
a punk rocker from the Eighties. Skinny jeans and vest tops were her
thing, and she had that maddening knack for looking stylish in
everything she wore. She was naturally pretty, with smooth skin,
green eyes, and full lips, which made her hugely popular with the
men. She considered herself a free spirit however, and wasn’t
the type to get bogged down in relationships. Lexi tucked a stray
lock of blonde hair behind her ear and took another swig of beer.

“
I’d
lose my job, Lexi. You know how Stokes feels about us getting too
involved with the customers.”

“
Fuck
Stokes,” Lexi replied with a chuckle. “He’s a
fuckin’ prick with an attitude problem. Besides, he’s
holed up in his office and probably won’t show his fat little
face tonight anyway.”

“
That’s
easy for you to say, you always seem to get away with whatever you
want.”

Lexi offered her beer, which Tina took a long drink
from.

“
It’s
no secret, T. I just know how to push his buttons enough so he
doesn’t fire my ass. People like him walk around all angry and
self-important, but it’s always just a front.”

“
I
need this job, Lexi. I don’t wanna rock the boat, that’s
all.”

“
Are
you kidding me?” Lexi responded, taking the offered beer back.
“It’s not like you have your hands in the fuckin’
cash register or anything. Even a dick like Stokes can’t fire
you for talking to a customer.”

Tina chewed her lip and turned back to Lexi.

“
It’s
not just that, Lexi. After the business with Paul, I really don’t
need the hassle of men; I’m going through a lot right now.”

“
Oh
come on, T. You need to stop moping around and get back out there.
Besides, old crème suit out there looks rich. Hell, I would go
for him myself, if he didn’t have such obvious eyes for you,”
she said with a small smile on her black painted lips.

“
I’ll
give it some thought. Look, could you watch my tables for five
minutes? I need to use the bathroom.”

“
Yeah,
no problem, you go right ahead. I’ll pass Mr. Smooth your
best,” Lexi said with a wink, then disappeared through the
swing doors into the bar.

Feeling anxious, Tina went through to the back, heading
for the employee bathroom. She glanced into Stokes’s office as
she did so, but he was busy with bookkeeping, the top of his bald
head moving from side to side as he worked through the books. She was
glad. The last thing she needed was any more crap from him about
unauthorised breaks or whatever else he decided to complain about.
She watched him, his small fat hands working quickly as he counted
money. Even from the doorway of his office, she could smell his cheap
aftershave mingled with sweat and felt her stomach roll a little. He
was a nasty piece of work all right, and seemed determined to make up
for his physical and social shortcomings by pressing his authority on
the staff. Even the gold plaque on his desk stank of self-indulgence.

Henry T. Stokes

Manager

She wondered why he even had it. It was unnecessary, and
probably more for his own benefit than anything else. She glanced to
the family photograph on the wall, the one that said more about Henry
Stokes than any amount of bullying or nastiness could ever hide. The
five-foot-four Stokes smiling awkwardly beside his mountain of a
wife, who towered over him by a good seven or eight inches. There was
no way of sugar coating the fact that she was dog ugly at best. Their
daughter stood in front of the mismatched pair, with her father’s
bug eyes popping out of her chinless face. Tina suppressed a smile
and walked quietly past the office entrance. She reached the small
bathroom and went inside, locking the door behind her and basking in
the silence. She shot a repulsed glance at her mirror image, and
realised she hated the person she had become. Three years in the same
dead end job and nothing to show for it. Her stomach vaulted, and she
knew she needed to do it now, before things got worse. Besides, she
always felt better after.

She removed the small zip bag from her purse and
carefully opened it. Inside were her most prized possessions, the
only things in the world that made her happy—her drugs. She
took inventory:

Heroin. Needles. Cocaine.

She had tried to convince herself that she was only a
recreational user, but knew deep down that she was gradually becoming
the dreaded ‘A’ word. The one that people like her always
insisted they would never become. She had a definite need for it now.
It took her to a warm, fuzzy place, and allowed her to at least
tolerate the mess her life had become. The heroin was for later, back
in her damp, cold flat, where she could finally drop the act that she
was as happy and content as everyone else. She opened the small wrap
of cocaine and arranged it into two neat lines on the counter top.
Then, holding one nostril closed with her finger, she snorted it up,
blinking as the numbing electricity overcame her. It was less than
she would usually take, but it would be enough to see her through
until her shift finished at three. Only then could she ready herself
for the main event—the bliss of her beloved heroin. It was the
one constant in her life that never seemed to let her down; the best
relationship she ever had. Straightening her hair and making sure she
hadn’t left any evidence behind, she headed back to work,
feeling more confident for the shift ahead—even though the need
for smack was already tugging at her guts.

Back in the bar, the band was just finishing their cover
of Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman,” and Tina thought
they were doing a decent job of it. She watched the locals dancing as
the band surged towards the song’s finale, and felt embarrassed
for them. They looked ridiculous enough when they were sober, but add
alcohol and jerky dance moves into the mix, and you were in for quite
a sight. Fortunately, she had mastered the art of keeping a straight
face long ago.

Her eyes drifted to the strange man at the bar, and
unsurprisingly, he was looking right back at her. She couldn’t
read his expression, but she also could not deny that she was
attracted to him. He was by far the pick of the bunch here in
Oakville—the land where mullets and beer bellies were king. As
she crossed the room towards the bar area, she could feel the men
leering at her with their half-drunken, glassy-eyed stares. The room
was suddenly too hot and the air too thick, and as she reached the
bar, she exhaled deeply. She watched the band finish their set to
drunken whoops and scattered applause while she collected herself.

“
You
look like you could use a drink,” a voice spoke from behind
her. It was smooth, deep and confident, and she knew it belonged to
him—to the man in the Crème suit. He was looking at her,
watching intently, and she felt her heart skip with giddy excitement.
There was something in his eyes, a deep, animalistic intensity that
both scared and aroused her.

“
I
could, but I don’t think my boss would approve of me drinking
on the job.”

She half expected a cheesy line or clumsy response here,
but the man only nodded, still watching her as he swirled the dregs
of his vodka around in its glass. She looked at his hands, his
fingers long and thin, his nails manicured. She imagined him touching
her with them, running them over her body—she blinked, pushing
the thought aside.

“
I
haven’t seen you in here before,” she said, regaining her
composure.

“
Yes
you have,” he replied as he drained his glass and set it down.
“You’ve seen me watching you.”

She smiled at him nervously, but his face remained
neutral, his eyes intense and locked on hers.

“
You
certainly don’t sugar coat it, do you?” she said,
flashing a smile at him.

“
When
I see something I want, I take it. It is the only way. Tell me your
name.”

She felt herself blush with embarrassment as she looked
at him. It wasn’t a request. It was a demand.

“
Tina.
My name is Tina,” she said softly, trying to keep her voice
from trembling.

“
I
am Monde... Tell me, why do you work here, in a place like this?”
he asked, cocking his head at the room that no longer seemed to exist
for Tina.

“
It’s
not by choice, believe me, but the bills won’t pay themselves.”

“
You
are far too beautiful to work in a shithole like this.”

“
I
don’t know about that,” she replied, feeling a hot flush
bristle on her skin.

“
I
can take you away from all this. I can show you a world you have
never seen before.”