FILM NOIR (Player Tease)
First Draft / By: Laughing Chance
May 31st, 2005
Sweet Jesus... my head was aching.
I woke up in a puddle of filthy water.
Though truth be told some of it might
have been my own piss... It was quite
a night for me brother.
I looked at my wrist watch to see how
long I was out for... I tried to focus
on it but no matter how I tried there
just wasn't a watch there to see in the
brief moments of clarity I could muster.
Damn it to hell... I said aloud. I patted
my pants pocket but sure as the sky is
blue, it was gone too. Five thousand
and change, my drivers license, all my
id, my debit card too all gone. Worst of
all... So was the key to the locker at
the bus station where the package was
hidden in Cleveland. Heaven help me,
Monique is surely going to kill me.
I shook my head a bit to try and clear
it a little... Big mistake... The pain and
throbbing intensified and I grasped
my temples with both hands. Turns out
my hair was sticky with my own blood.
That explains the headache...
Good Lord they certainly did a number
on me... I said to myself as I rolled
over and got up on all fours... and spit
out few loose teeth. God damn it... I
just had them fixed a few weeks back.
What the...? Oh, morning hard on...
Hell, good to know something still
works. Thank goodness for that! The
rest of me was questionable at this
point.
My vision slowly cleared as the first
of the morning light started coming in
through the large, mostly busted out
oversized factory windows. The place
was stripped bare. Some rusted barrels,
fallen air ducts, shards of glass and
bits of plaster lay all around me. A big
brown rat squeaked as it ran past me
and into the long shadows.
Son of a bitch... As if things weren't
bad enough, I was now kneeling on a
rusty nail... I yanked it gingerly from
my skin and crawled through the big
puddle. I wasn't sure I had the strength
to stand yet and I was feeling very tired.
I found what was left of my smashed
cell phone and also my now emptied
wallet a few feet away at the edge of
the stagnant puddle.
I dropped my head, closed my eyes
and rolled over to rest awhile. When I
opened them up again, for a minute
I thought I was in the here-after. I
just wasn't sure if it was heaven or hell.
The jury was still out on that one and no
verdict had been returned.
I quickly recognized the beautiful sight
before... or rather... above me. It was
Monique and she just stood over me
in all her radiant glory. Her long, long
legs encased in dark silk stockings...
She was adjusting the strap on one
of her garters. A short white mini
skirt barely covered the tops of them.
She had on a white blazer with a lacy
black camisole top, shinning away in
sunlight with her golden breasts just
about popping up and out from under
it. Her nails all done up in a rose red.
Her long hair was pulled back elegantly
except for two long blonde curls on
either side of her pretty face. You had
to catch your breath just seeing her
pouting red lips and bright blue eyes.
I could smell her perfume over the dust
in the room.
"Well at least you are still alive... for
now anyhow" she snickered.
"You are awful jolly, considering they
freaking double crossed us and took
everything" I scowled. I had come to
bargain for her life. Tony wanted that
package back in the worst damn way.
Monique had lined up a buyer for it...
or a cool $175,000. Tony didn't have
a clue to it's real value she told me.
So, she got me to help and we stole it.
The buyer was a rare books dealer in
New York City.
"Of course they did... Those men are
way out of your league... Maybe more
so then I am" she said, lighting a
Cigarette and placing a gold lighter
back into her large Gucci Handbag.
"Monique... They got the key... they
might be at the bus locker right now
taking the package... All our hard
work for nothing..." I said closing my
eyes again, this time in disgust.
"Baby, are you just going to lay there?
We need to get to Dayton" she said
playfully kicking at my ribs.
"Dayton? What the holy, holy is in
Dayton?" I said struggling to sit up
and groaning in pain.
"Why the package you moron... I have
the real key. You did you really think
I'd trust you to handle a deal like this
on your own?" she said.
She laughed heartily and flicked the
cigarette at me. It bounced of me,
making orange sparks and fizzling out
In the black putrid puddle.
I rose to my feet in anger. She had set
me up, played me like a fiddle all the
along. I was a fool to trust her.
"I needed Tony and his men to believe
they had the real key and it was for
Cleveland. I knew they'd chase us
where-ever we'd go. The package in
Cleveland has a very nasty surprise
inside it." She grinned, like a cat who
caught a canary.
"You bitch, that locker is registered in
my name... If I'm going down for this
then you are going with me..." I was
quite furious. As I walked toward her I
heard some bones pop back into place.
"You've been using me all the long..."
I put my hands up to grab her. All I
wanted was to wring her delicate,
Lilac scented neck. This was turning
Into a Film Noir movie.
"Not another step Nestor" she said
firmly. She was holding a 9mm on
me. She tossed me a set of keys to
her car. It was a Mercedes according
to the silver key chain in my hand.
"Let's take that little ride now, shall we?"
she added, nudging me in the back with
the gun. "I still need you for a little while
longer baby."