Smiling:Rotting Cheese(Teaser)

For those whom have been reading the Smiling series; my previous post is a prelude to what comes in the final chapters for this story. However Lee and I will be trying to write as much as we can so we can get to that point. The comments are deeply appreciated.
Yours to have and to hold,

Scoots


"So he wants us to pay him more?" Scat says in a mockery.

"Yeah, I guess so, think we should do it." I ask

"Do YOU think we should? His whole gang is a sham, I mean c'mon look at that some guy who thinks he's immortal, he'll get his just watch."

"Yeah that would be somethin huh scat? Heheh" I comment

Scat now laughing hysterically, "Whaddya think, d'ya think that he'd roll on down here to talk to us about his fincanical windfall oohhhhhh" Scat says with his arms in the air. "My sister has her kid to raise, what's this guy think he is? No we don't pay him a dime more, leave it at that."

"Scat, I'm gonna go home and rest for an hour or so, should I swing by your place?" I ask

'Give me a call, see if I'm there, I might go pay my sister a visit."

"Okay, I'll do that then,"

"Santa, what kinda jerk does he think he is?" Scat exclaims in a laughing undertone

It draws out a smile out of my face.


I enter the shabby apartment I found for myself. The place isn't all that bad, a leaky faucet, some broken plaster...It's all I could ever want for a guy like me. I throw off my coat on to the couch. The patio doors reveal a setting sun. I sit down and light up a cig. Kicking up my feet on my table there's a ring at my phone. I pick up

"Hello?" I ask

"Talk to your boss yet?"

"Is this Santa?"

"Where's my money?!?"

"We aren't gonna pay you anything at all, you already get a lot out of----"

"OH YOU WILL, I have someone dear to you boss,"

I can hear something on the otherside of the phone, a woman, could it be limps? Wait no, she's not even around that part of town at all....then I hear her.

"Help! Tell Scat I'm alive!"

The bullets that had riddled my body re-enter my psychological state of mind, there's no way it could be...

"April...?"

"THAT'S RIGHT YOU FUCK!"

"Pay us at Union Triangle in two hours!"

(click)

I dial up Scat, one ring, two rings, third ring!

"Hello?"

"Scat! We gotta pay! We gotta pay Santa!"

"What the hell are you talking about? We agreed..."

"April! I remember her voice! It sounded so clear!"

"What are you talking about? April is dead."

"I Know but I heard her! There's no way I could've forgotten that voice!"


"Get over her a soon as possible." Scat says gruffy as he hangs up the phone.

I can't even begin to imagine the sick demented smile that fuck Santa has on himself.



I see my right hand man head off t'wards his apartment. What a guy I think to myself, gets shot to hell and he's still walkin; that's a tough guy. Like old times I think. I grab a cig from my pocket, the sun is setting, and I think to myself. "These are the times worth no amount of respect or dollar amount."

I walk up my sister's stoop and toss my cigarette as I ring the doorbell. I can hear her comin from the kitchen. She opens the door.

"Scat!"

"Heya Gianna, how ya doin today?" I ask

'Great! Jack's in the kitchen eating, c'mon in."

I enter her place, it's nice I mean for just her and Jack. I mean not the Ritz but we aren't the rich and glossy kind of folk. I walk on into the kitchen and pull up a chair to my nephew Jack. Jack, how do I describe this kid. He reminds me of one of the early adventurers, like a pirate or somethin like that. Jack reminds me well of a guy I haven't seen in jesus...20 years? I say aloud "Well look at this, Jacky, what's the happenin with you?"

"Look, Uncle Scat! I made this, it's a macaroni picture. There's me, there's mom, and look there's you with your crew Uncle Scat."

"That's real good I say," as I light up a cig. Gianna takes it from me.

"Not in the house!" she puts it out in an ashtray. I look around the place for a little bit. I spot an old picture. I get up from my chair and it's the old family. My family. My grandpa, pops, Gianna. "Gianna what am I. . . about ten years old in this picture?" She sets down some dishes in the sink and wipes her hands off on a towel. "Yeah, I gotta be what, four years old?" "Hmm."

"Hey what ever happend to that girl April? You two were the big love birds back in school. She move off or something? Wait there was another guy? Ahh! I see, that's why you and limps were---"

"No. That's not it all."

"Well what did happen then?"

"Let's go outside. Jack lets roll buddy."

We all went outside. The sun was setting, daylight fading and the breeze getting cooler. Jack went off playing in his sandbox. Which left me open for questions. I sit down on the back bench and grab for a cig. I reach out my matches and strike one loose. I suck in the nicotene and whatever else is in the small paper tube in my hands, and then let it all out. What a night. Gianna sits next to me, keeping an eye on Jack.

"So tell me everything, where'd she go? What did she do?" Did she-?

I raise my hand up. "All in time. All in time, settle down."
Gianna sits there silently waiting to see the story unroll.

"Well (exhale) I guess after high school I was getting in good with our organization and well it was good, I was getting money saved up, making new connections, pullin off jobs, good times, April wanted to help out in a program in which she'd go overseas and help out the unfortunate out there. Of course, I didn't want her to go, but I knew it'd be good for her ya'know?" (Gianna shakes her head) Another drag off of my cigarette and I'm back in it. "So we made a promise to stay in touch with each other by writing. I had only got three letters the whole time she was over there. I didn't know what to expect, so I waited awhile until one day I get this letter that just buried me. There had been a rebel attack at a village she'd been working at. She was caught in the midst of it all and she was killed. I...I..I lost it, don't you remember any of this?"

"Scat, I lived down south then, we never spoke really unless it was at Christmas or something like that. You never wrote and I ..."

"Yeah I know, but to be honest I didn't want you to get to close to me, I was just unstable, especially with the limps thing, speaking of which that turned out just to be a big plunder, she was intrested in me and we even started seeing each other but just one day she went off with Chuck, and I haven't seen her since...jeez the annual ballroom dance, just a little over a year ago..."

"I remember you introducing me to Chuck, that guy just seemed....weird, like he always tailed you everywhere, he was watching you constantly...whatever happened to him?

"I don't know last time I heard he was running for state office or something like that, doesn't even matter anymore, he went his way, and I'm still doing my thing, but hey I gotta get back, I'm getting tired. I got business to tend to in the morning. Jack! I gotta jet back to my place, but I'll see you later eh?

Jack waved goodbye to me, that kid. I swear reminds me of my dad sometimes. I hug Gianna and give her an envelope with some dough in it. She thanks me and then I begin my way back home. I grab for another cigarette and begin my walk home.

On the way home, I'm thinking about that one special night. That night in which I'll always remember. The day before April boarded that plane. The last time I'd see her. We had danced that day, gone to a show, walked on the boardwalk. Done everything there was to do in this town. I still remember the words, "I'll write you, and I say 'Oh I know you will baby cakes' and then we spent the night at my place, being one of the best nights of my life. Something though about this night; the one I'm walking in. Something makes me smile about everything. Everything in it's right place.

I walk into the house and sit on my couch. The cigarette reaches it's end. Life is good. Business is good, I'm a role model. I got my right hand man. I can sit back and watch life roll. (RING) My phone rings and I go over to pick up.

Hello?"

"Scat! We gotta pay! We gotta pay Santa!"

"What the hell are you talking about? We agreed..."

"April! I HEARD HER I remember her voice! It sounded so clear!"

"What are you talking about? April is dead."

"I Know but I heard her! There's no way I could've forgotten that voice!"

"Get over her a soon as possible." I say. I hang up my phone.

What the hell was RHM talking about? Paying Santa. Shit the idea makes me smile in ridicuclus-ness.

One knock, two knocks, three, he comes in. What the hell were you talking about? I ask.

"Man, I knew it was her, there's no doubt about it. He said if we want to see her we have to pay him at Union Triangle in about an hour!"

"I don't believe this..."

"C'mon man, we have to go there just to see, I wanna see. Besides what if she is there, they'll kill her."

I'm looking out my window, the street lamps are illumanating the street. Showing every shadow, every crevice, every little detail be shown through those lights.

"Let's go see then, maybe Santa can shed some light on this for us."
We both smile as we grab our guns.