Face of the Assassin

by Bill Brewer

  Kicking his legs apart, she placed her boot on his balls. “You’re damn right, it’s about last night.”

  Struggling to scooch backward, trying to escape her boot, Michael smeared pizza sauce and cheese on his forearms and back.

  “Don’t move,” said Julie as she increased the pressure of her foot on his tender flesh.

  “Okay, okay,” said Michael

  “After all I’ve done for you and all the places from which I’ve rescued you, and all the times I’ve found you and brought you back from near death, you have the audacity to set me up to be sexually assaulted to pay back your debts.”

  Michael stammered as the pressure on his testicles increased. “I… I… don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Bullshit,” screamed Julie. The full weight of her body descended on her boot as she stepped over his body.

  Michael hollered from his soul. The pain was the most excruciating a male human can sustain. He rolled into a fetal position and rocked slowly as the nausea passed through his abdomen and creeped up to his throat.

  Julie strode around his place, disgusted at the unkempt state of her brother’s life. The kitchen and living room were a mess but the bedroom was untouched. It seemed to her that he spent all his time on the living room couch, ignoring the other four thousand square feet of space on his floor.

  Walking over to his huddled mass, she kicked him in the ass. “You know what pisses me off the most, Michael? The lack of trust I now have for you. You betrayed me. You took advantage of the fact that you can rely on me going anywhere and doing anything to help you. You knew I would go there and even as decrepit as that place was, I marched in there to help Michael.”

  She grabbed his shoulder, rolling him onto his back and looked into his eyes. “You are an untrustworthy ingrate, who I still can’t believe led me to a place to be raped.”

  Michael’s eyes clouded over with tears as he gasped, “I… I…”

  “SHUT UP, I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. You will lie to me and try to make up a story that makes no sense. You are selfish and incapable of caring about anyone but yourself.”

  Taking a knee and drawing her face closer to his she said, “Trading your sister to be raped for drugs shows me you have no love in your heart, no conscience in your soul.”

  Standing back up she looked down on the pathetic man, holding his genitals while lying in a scotched soaked pizza box. “You make me so ashamed to be your sister. To have you be from the same family as me is a damn, pitiful shame. The next time you overdose, you will die. I will not come to save you.”

  With a guttural snort, Julie drew a glob of phlegm from her lungs. She rolled the respiratory mucus into a gooey ball and spat it out on to Michael’s face.

  She never looked back as she stepped to the elevator, opened the door and pressed the button for the fourth floor.

  CHAPTER 29

  Vince stood at the window looking out onto the street below. Rolls Royces, chauffeurs and doormen were the most common sights on this exclusive boulevard. Homeless bagmen were discouraged at the intersection and directed to make their way down an adjacent street. Wealth insured a rosy view of the world.

  The elevator door opened, surprising Vince. It had not yet been ten minutes. Julie entered, looking formidable in her battle ready body suit. The pace with which she exited the elevator cabin slowed as she entered the living room. Still dressed in the dark silk robe, Vince faced her, searching her expression for a clue as to the outcome of her confrontation with Michael.

  “I just don’t get it,” she began.

  Vince looked at her with direct eye contact as he listened.

  “How can someone be so callous and uncaring? My own brother sets me up to suffer the most humiliating and demeaning thing a woman can experience and offers no explanation or apology.”

  “It obviously didn’t go well.”

  “He denied it and tried to make up a lie. I know you don’t know this, but I have saved his ass so many times, not just from being in trouble but from dying. He has overdosed multiple times. I learned how to do emergency treatments to detox him. He’s alive because of me, and I would have been raped, and maybe killed, because of him. The irony is disgusting.”

  Vince tilted his head and frowned.

  “How can someone you think you know turn out to be so different? My own brother, whom I would never suspect would do me any harm, betrays me. I just can’t get over it.”

  “He’s got a lot of drug problems.”

  “Yeah he does, but that’s no excuse for betraying a member of his own family.”

  “You’re right. It’s no excuse but it is a reason. Without the drugs, I don’t think he would have ever done this to you. I’m not defending his actions, but he was trying to solve his problem, not deliberately hurt you.”

  Julie drew in a long breath, absorbing the perspective of Vince’s statement.

  “I can’t stand the falseness of who he is.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She looked at Vince and turned her gaze to the ceiling. “I’m an honest person. I say what I believe and I am who I am. I thought my brother was that way as well. Now I know he’s a liar. He’s not who he appears to be. He’s untrustworthy and I just can’t have such a disingenuous person that close to me.”

  Wearing a silk robe, standing in a luxury apartment, falling in love with this beautiful woman, it suddenly felt so deceptive. Appearing as Vince while concealing David Diegert made her words sting. It forced him to realize he was doing something just as bad as Michael.

  “So what are you going to do?” asked Vince.

  “He’s out of my life. I’m out of his. I told him the next time he overdoses, I won’t be there to help him. If he dies, he dies. He’s on his own.”

  “That’s a pretty tough stance. I like it.”

  Julie removed her gloves as she walked into the kitchen, got a glass from the cupboard and filled it with cold water from the fridge. “You want some water?”

  “No thanks, I’m good.”

  Crossing to the couch, she sat down, took off her combat boots and curled her legs under her. Vince sat on the other end of the couch. She took a long drink of water before setting the glass on the end table.

  Sighing, Julie said, “I’m filled with anger toward him. I don’t like the negative energy of hate, but I can’t just let his betrayal … and his … sins go unaddressed.”

  “He really hurt you and now it’s like he’s going to get away with it.”

  “Exactly. There is no one else to hold him accountable. If I treat him as I always have, what kind of a chump am I?”

  “I sense you’re not totally comfortable with the idea of him being out of your life.”

  “How can he be? The next family event, which is a fundraiser this weekend, I will have to appear with him. But now I have to also think of how endangered my life may be because of him.”

  Gazing at the fabric of the couch, Julie had a look of consternation that kept her from smiling and deepened the furrows on her brow. Vince loved her pretty face with its gorgeous smile. Now though he was seeing the true person behind the beauty. She was as complex and troubled as anyone. She had difficult emotions to deal with and challenging situations that were not going to be solved for her just because she was beautiful. She had to look inside to find strength and resolve.

  “You know you don’t owe him anything,” said Vince. “You’ve helped him all along, but you don’t have to. It’s okay for you to let him be on his own for a while. Do you think you were enabling him?”

  She turned her head to look over the back of the couch. With her eyes averted she reluctantly replied, “Yeah I guess I was.” Turning to Vince she said, “I just kept hoping he would change. Learn from his mistakes and get his life on track. He could be so much more.”

  “But then?”

  “But then he would make promises. He would swear he was going to stop drinking, stop taking drugs, and of course bef
ore the end of the day he would renege on all that and get blitzed again.” She shook her head, put her forehead in her palm. “I could see he was headed for trouble, but I thought I could help him. I never thought he would deliberately hurt me.”

  “This is getting a bit circular. I think you’ve got your thoughts figured out. You just have to learn to live with the emotions.”

  She looked up at Vince as a kind smile emerged on her lips. She held her gaze upon him as her face became more contemplative. “You know I never said thank you for saving my life.”

  Vince’s words stumbled a bit as he replied, “Oh… that’s all right. I think you showed me how you felt.”

  “Maybe, but I still want to tell you that I’m very grateful you came for me. You could’ve sat outside waiting, but you followed me in even though I knew you didn’t want to be there.”

  Vince, filled with humility, looked away and circled his gaze back to her.

  Julie continued, “You showed a lot of bravery in there. You showed me your true self. Since actions speak louder than words, you shouted out, I am a brave man who will defend my friends.”

  Her smile broadened, but tears were filling her eyes. “I can’t find the words to tell you how scared I was in that room with those creeps. When you came bursting through that window I was so relieved. And then when you kicked ass on those guys I was amazed.”

  She wiped her tears with her hands. “You are the guy I’ve always wanted to meet. A guy who is kind, gentle, loving, but who realizes the world can be a tough place and is able to be tough right back.”

  Leaning forward, stretching out her hands to his she said, “I really, really like you. I know we haven’t known each other that long, but it’s been intense. I don’t want to scare you off, but I really want to share my life with you.”

  Vince felt her words and message in his Diegert brain. You showed me your true self. Had he? Was his true self a combination of kind Vince and violent David? Bravery. The Ojibwa meaning for bravery was to realize that you are not good enough and that you fear others will find out. An Ojibwa develops bravery by looking inward to face the fear of not being good enough with personal integrity. Diegert always felt not good enough. Perhaps facing that fear and overcoming that sense of inadequacy was the mission of Vince. As Vince, did he feel good enough? Wasn’t Julie, right now, telling him she thinks he’s good enough? If he proved to her she was right to see bravery in him, wouldn’t he be fulfilling the spirit of the Ojibwa belief? He realized he was ill-equipped to respond to her. He did not know how to tell her how he felt. He struggled as he realized her statement required a reply, which either deepened the relationship or turned it off. A neutral response was a mistake that would kill her feelings. He needed to be brave right now and tell her he loved her. For a moment, Diegert thought he’d rather face a room filled with four armed creeps. Looking inward he forced himself to think and feel like Vince. He looked at her lovely face and thought of her integrity and strength. He loved how he felt with her and hoped to make her happy. These feelings, as unusual and foreign as they were for Diegert, were becoming genuine for Vince. Holding her hands, he let his feelings do the talking with the voice of the new person Vince allowed him to be.

  “Julie, it’s true we haven’t known each other long, but I already feel like I know you better than I’ve ever known another woman. You are such an incredible person. You have strength, integrity and perseverance. You are kind, thoughtful and loving with a tremendous commitment to your family. I feel so fortunate to have met you and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to share my life with you. I really, really like you too and I don’t want to scare you, but I hope to be with you forever.”

  Julie’s tears streamed down her face as she reached across the couch and hugged Vince. The silk robe made it easy for him to slide down onto the couch cushions. She lay on top of him, joyfully crying. Vince felt great; this was going to be the beginning of an awesome relationship. Diegert was terrified; this risked total exposure and was extremely dangerous.

  CHAPTER 30

  Japanese Noh Theater was the oldest continuing performance of Japanese cultural expression. Performances consisted of three dramatic plays with humorous stories portrayed during the breaks between dramas. The three plays depicted ancient traditional stories that were usually already well known to audiences. The plays contained little dialogue and instead their messages were conveyed through movement, dance and costumes.

  Although there were many themes portrayed in Noh Theater, a typical three-play performance would feature a Kami play in which a sacred story of a Shinto shrine was depicted. A Shura Mono, or fighting play, centered on tales of warriors, samurais and ninjas. Kinjo Mono was a play in which the protagonist experienced intense grief following the loss of a lover or the death of a child. These forms and others were combined into portrayals in which the story was told to preserve culture, share values and convey that humans experience the same losses and victories throughout generations.

  Some theater companies sought to infuse modern theatrical production techniques, while other troupes avoided any modern methods, preferring to maintain tradition by limiting itself to only that which was available when the stories were first created. The most traditional forms of Noh never left the islands of Japan, while more modern productions were finding audiences around the world who were interested in these exciting theatrical versions of ancient Japanese stories.

  In spite of not having a long-term committed relationship with a woman, Avery Forsythe did maintain close friendships with several attractive women in London. Sakura Yakugi was an account manager for the Mizuho Global Investment Bank office in London. The Mizuho Bank was instrumental in converting Japanese investment from Yen to Digival. Avery and Sakura met at a party, celebrating the Mizuho Bank’s switch to Digival. Her personal net worth, as well as the bank’s, doubled after three weeks and had since tripled again. The early adopters of Digival were the ones reaping profits on investment like no one has ever earned before.

  Having bought the tickets three weeks before, Avery was excited to invite Sakura to join him for an evening of Noh Theater. On the phone she replied, “I’d rather go to the Yes Theater. What do you mean by No Theater?”

  After a brief lesson on Japanese history, of which she was completely unaware, she agreed to go. Avery liked going out with Sakura because she liked to walk. Her apartment wasn’t too far from LPU, and the theater wasn’t too much farther. Being London, Avery made sure to bring his umbrella.

  To really get the feel of the story and truly see the expressions of the actors, Avery believed you had to sit close. This being his first time with Noh Theater he wanted to experience the micro expressions of the actors to truly feel these ancient stories. Sakura would have preferred a seat a little farther back, but she did not want to dampen his enthusiasm. The theater was about three quarters full, mostly people of Asian descent, but that wasn’t bad for an eight week production which was only in its second week.

  The first play was an ancient tale of conflict and cooperation between the God of the Earth, Haniyasu-hiko and Susanowo, the God of the Ocean. During a particular fierce storm scene, those sitting close could feel a fine mist emerging from the stage as Susanowo sent waves crashing against the chest of Haniyasu-hiko. As the story progressed, earth and water realized they needed each other and peace was found on a quiet shoreline.

  Following the high drama of earth and ocean in an epic battle a Kyogen, which is a humorous skit, was performed. In this short, light story, a young man seeks a bride. An old man tells him he’d be better off with a donkey. The young man expresses his desire for love; the old man tells him a donkey will be much more faithful, obedient and useful. The young man asks, but what of children? The old man with an exaggerated flourish, tells the young man he’d be better off with a herd of donkeys!

  The Shura Mono was next. The story opened with a great general marshalling his army to attack a rival village. The general had a thousand men on hors
eback ready to storm the other village and plunder everything they own. It was through decimating conquest that this general had amassed such great power. The village had only 100 men and they had only farm tools to use in their defense. One young man, who had been studying the way of the Ronin, set forth on a mission to kill the general, hoping that the powerful man’s death would prevent the invasion of his village. Dressed in black and armed with a sacred sword given to him by a village elder, the young man silently stole through the dark of night, evading the general’s guards and entered the tyrant’s sleeping chamber.

  As the actor with the Katana approached the general’s bed, he raised his sword, let out a primal scream and leapt off the stage, swinging his blade right at Avery’s head. With lightning reflexes, Avery rolled to the side, pushing Sakura out of her seat and down to the floor. The ninja’s blade cleaved the back of Avery’s seat, embedding it deep into the plastic, foam and fabric. From below his seat, Avery grabbed his umbrella. With his hand on the handle, he pressed a button, releasing a 24-inch blade from within the shaft of the umbrella. Standing defiantly over Sakura, Avery grasped the hilt with both hands, projecting the blade forward. The ninja yanked his sword from the back of the seat and leapt to the aisle. Avery moved forward, exiting the row and squaring his enemy.

  The audience was in stunned panic as they stampeded the exits. What at first seemed like a part of the show was now creating pandemonium amongst the patrons. Screams rang out as slow people were being pushed out of the way by faster ones. The unarmed security guards were unable to enter the theater as the entire gallery of attendees rushed the exits.