I’m participating in this month’s AW’s Blog Chain. We get a prompt and then have to write something. Don’t worry, I didn’t write anything smutty. lol But I did have fun writing the piece that follows. That being said, below are the rules.
This month’s prompt:April Fools
Instructions:
Simply post your blog’s URL in this thread to join. Each post should be less than 1000 words if possible. Read and comment on other participants’ posts if you possibly can–they’ll be doing the same for you!
April’s Fool
She stepped around the body that landed at her feet. He didn’t get back up. The blood pooling around him might be the answer to his immobility. Not that she really cared.
The noise hit her a second before the stench. Booze, vomit and body odor. Eau de Bubba’s bar. Dirty sock smell was all that was missing. Her face carefully blank despite her disgust at being here.
She weaved her way over to the bar. The bartender gave her a chin tip.
“Tequila,” she ordered.
The tequila was delivered without salt, without lime. This wasn’t that type of bar. She was surprised the bottle hadn’t accompanied the shot glass. Because it was that kind of bar.
She took her glass and drained it. She fought the grimace. The tequila was vile, cheap and burned like hellfire.
She waved for another. It was a double shot kinda night.
She left some money on the bar next to her glass. She turned her back, resting her elbows on the bar and scanned the room. Her eyes moved until she saw the person that had drawn her here. At least the information had been good.
He didn’t see her until she started walking toward him. He went still. His face went white. Pulling himself together, he relaxed his body. It was false. She knew it was false. But still, she gave him points for the effort.
He should be scared.
“Mel,” she greeted him as if this was a social call and she was the neighborhood greeting committee.
“Lucy,” he greeted her back. His voice was almost even. But she could hear the tremor beneath the forced calm. “What brings you to Bubba’s? This ain’t your usual haunt.”
They both knew what brought her to this pigsty.
“Alice told April that you hadn’t made it over to see her even after April gave you an extension. Asked me to come find out why,” she explained her presence when it became apparent that Mel wasn’t going to say anything else.
“Well you see. I had planned to go yesterday like I was suppose to but my old lady got sick and I had to take her to the doctor and then I had a few things to take care of today and then time got away from me and then I had to meet some people here,” Mel rambled. “I was planning on going tomorrow if you want to tell Alice.”
Somehow Mel had come to the conclusion that she was there on a fact finding mission. Had he been using the small part of his brain that was left from the shit he shoved up his nose, he would have realized that she never went on fact finding missions.
Fact finding wasn’t in her job description. Hadn’t ever been. Wouldn’t ever be.
“I’ll be sure to let her know when I see her,” was all she said.
She felt the two arrive at her back. Mel wasn’t as stupid as he looked. He had somehow signaled for back up. Shit, why couldn’t this night be getting better instead of worse.
“A simple job Alice says. Won’t take you very long she says. Be in and out quick she tells me,” she muttered under her breath, repeating Alice’s earlier words.
If Alice was the brains, Lucy was the brawn. Woman could and did run these streets. And Mel had tried to avoid Alice by using April. April was soft. Alice was not.
Mel puffed up once he caught sight of his backup. “April gave me the extension. She’d give me another one.” He obviously thought she gave a shit. Or that Alice gave a shit. Whether April gave a shit didn’t matter.
“Yeah, I know,” Lucy said noncommittally. She didn’t work for April. She worked for Alice.
“Tell Alice I’ll come around tomorrow,” he told her with a touch of bravado brought on by his hired muscle.
She started to stand. Glancing into the mirror behind Mel, she pinpointed the position of the two that were supposed to have his back. Keeping her senses open to make sure they didn’t move, she got all the way up. Her body position hid Mel from the men who were suppose to protect him.
“I’ll be sure to let Alice know what you said Mel,” she said calmly. “Alice doesn’t much like looking like a fool. Going behind her back to April, well that just wasn’t smart.”
“Alice isn’t a fool,” his response was conciliatory, his hands held up.
He thought he was safe. Fool. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Just because she didn’t usually let her targets see her coming didn’t mean that it never happened. It did. Not often. But still, it happened.
She moved fast. So fast that the two behind her didn’t have time to react. She had her blade out slicing through Mel’s throat so quickly that no one without a direct line of sight would even see his head wobble. The cut so clean, his head barely moved. Just as quickly, she replaced her blade, long knife really, back in her thigh sheath. She pivoted and walked past the two guards Mel had signaled over.
As muscle went, they were a big fail. You get what you pay for. Mel was in deep to Alice. He didn’t have a lot of cake left over to pay anyone. He had obviously gotten exactly what he paid for.
What a fucking waste. All of it.
“No, April’s the fool and now so are you,” she finally responded softly as she walked away.
In her head she counted it down as she strode to the door. “3…2…1…”
“Hey,” someone called out. She’d bet it was either dufus one or dufus two. Right on time. But really, it was already too late.
“Hey…” the closing door cut off the rest.
One down, April to go.
Here are the other April Chain Bloggers. Go read their posts. Read and comment. Or just read.
orion_mk3 – http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to post)
Ralph Pines – http://ralfast.wordpress.com (link to post)
Angyl78 – http://jelyzabeth.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
Araenvo – http://www.simonpclark.com/ (link to post)
MsLaylaCakes – http://www.taraquan.com/ (link to post)
Lady Cat – http://randomwriterlythoughts.blogspot.ca/ (link to post)
LanaK – http://lanaketrick.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
Lyra Jean – http://beyondtourism.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
Sudo_One – http://sudoone.wordpress.com/ ((link to post)
articshark – http://www.drslaten.com/blog (link to post) <——————-you are here
Ghostwriter-Mom – http://www.fictionblueprints.com/ (link to post)
AngelaGreenfield – http://www.becomingawriterblog.com/ (link to post)
