by Saurav Dutt
Horns blared and tyres squealed to a resounding stop as she strutted through the cross town traffic-a thousand expletives rang around her as drivers spat, cursed and shook their fists as she wobbled across the street. There was just an empty space at the street corner she had called home. Her knees buckled and her head fell into her hands as she knelt down. Shoes clipped and clopped around her, sounding like gongs going off in her head but she remained completely oblivious to the commotion around her.
‘Um lady…’ stuttered the voice of a man so light and thin that it hardly rose above the crunching sound of feet on the sidewalk. She couldn’t hear him, she refused to hear anything. All that remained was a wall of silence clamped in the front of her head as she struggled to find her bearings. ‘Lady?’ the voice repeated with greater urgency. She raised her head and gazed at a nervous looking diminutive man. He was jumpy, fidgety with hawk like eyes and a long nose which offset his gaunt face, pencil thin neck and unusually large forehead. His hair was uncombed, greasy and unkempt but his eyes twinkled and caught her attention. ‘You’re wondering where your stuff is..’ he cleared his throat ‘well you and the other guy just disappeared so I thought I’d keep it safe for you…you see I work for the hotel’ he nodded as he widened his eyes trying to get a fix on her thoughts
‘Y’know the hotel you sit outside every day?’ he added with a sheepish smile as her mind struggled to register what she was being told.
‘My bags….my hat’ she panted as she slowly regained her breath. ‘Yeah…’ the man repeated ‘I have them, I looked after them for you’ he smiled.
She looked down again at the road in disbelief as she realised the bowler hat was also missing. Looking up again, she saw that the man was gone. She felt her pulse rocket and beads of sweat began to form across the top of her forehead and the base of her neck. She raced forward, pushing aside anyone obstructing her path, and marched into the hotel reception lobby. Her eyes frantically studied her surroundings and behind the counter she saw the gangly figure of the man she had just been speaking with.
Striding up to the counter, she barked at the bespectacled shorter man who stood beside him. ‘Your staff member here is a thief’ she announced ‘I am reporting a theft..get the police here right now’ she glowered. ‘Wouldn’t you like to speak to the manager first?’ came the courteous reply as the man itched the bridge of his nose, shuffling nervously from one foot to the other. ‘Okay get his ass here too’ she boomed ‘but you still have to call the police, you don’t know what he’s done’ she added forking a finger in the direction of the man from the sidewalk. ‘Okay..’ the shorter man replied as he removed his glasses ‘this is him’. ‘This is who?’ she demanded.
‘Why the manager of course, Mr Fisher Strong’ the man replied with a nervous shrug as Fisher smiled back at her.
‘Lady, like I tried to tell you outside, I found your stuff out there unattended and I brought them all in here-I work here, I am the manager’ Fisher smirked.
She stared down at the name tag attached to the breast pocket of his suit and then peered back up at him. “I haven’t seen you before” she replied “you must be new here”
“I am” Fisher replied.
“What happened to Alan? Alan knows me” she shot back, struck by the glow of his hazel eyes, abnormally shaped forehead, pointy nose and realising that in his odd way, he was quite attractive.
“Alan…” Fisher smiled “was fired a week ago..like I said I’m the new manager”
“So you don’t know about me?” she smiled, fiddling with her hair as she tilted her head back teasingly.
“No I don’t think so M’am” Fisher replied with a grin “but your suitcases are safe and sound, and your hat of course..”
“Uh huh” she trailed off, sizing him up carefully “and you would look carefully after the belongings of a guest wouldn’t you…Mr…Strong” she added emphatically, as she leant against the reception counter.
“But of course, Ms….” he trailed off, his voice lowering as he met her gaze.
“Oh names aren’t important” she smiled “not in the grand scheme of things”
“What do you mean.. the grand scheme of things?” Fisher raised his eyebrow.
“Well…I want this.. you want that…that’s what matters, right? Names aren’t altogether important” she replied with a wink.
“No I suppose they’re not” Fisher mumbled, as he found his eyes wandering from her face to the unbuttoned collar of the shirt she was wearing.
“I bet you’re very good at what you do Mr….Strong; managing things, taking charge of things” she smiled.
“Well I can’t predict the future” Fisher answered, clearing his throat as he noticed how she was now pressing her tongue seductively against her bottom lip.
“I can” she replied with a beaming smile.
“Oh, really?” Fisher remarked “How’s that?”
“Lean in real close and I’ll tell you” she whispered, motioning for him to tilt his ears closer to her lips, which he did.
“So, how’d you know?” Fisher asked, feeling her breath whistle past his earlobe as he slowly leant forward.
“’Cause I know exactly where you’re gonna be, just about twenty minutes after you pull your shift for the day…” she smiled.
**
The candle flickered gently in the expanse of Fisher’s room, as the sun began to slowly set outside. The sunrays were strewn all over the walls and trickled down upon her naked back as she lay in his bed. He ran his fingers over her shoulder blade and admired her pale, milk white skin. One of her eyes was slightly open and a glimmer of a smile crept across her face. ‘You look so skinny, you feel so skinny’ she muttered ‘what do they feed you at that hotel, hash cookies?’
Fisher didn’t acknowledge her, his eyes continued to study her exquisite naked body as it clung to the silk sheets. His eyes remained transfixed on a vertical scar on the base of her neck which was about four inches in length. ‘What is that?’ he asked as he ran his fingertip over it. It was an old scar but the mark was pronounced, dug firmly into the skin. She clenched the pillow and turned to face him as her eyelids flickered open. ‘I don’t know-I don’t notice it at all’ she sighed ‘so this is the suite you usually keep for the VIP’s and stuff, huh?’ she added with a chuckle. ‘Yeah’ Fisher exhaled ‘you won’t believe what people will pay to fuck in a King Size bed’ he smiled awkwardly. ‘Well we just did..’ she yawned ‘and it weren’t worth no $5,000 a night I can tell ya baby..the bed that is’
‘Y’know, I find it hard to believe you don’t remember your own name..’ Fisher shook his head as he stroked her hair ‘are you sure you don’t have a key for all those cases?’ he enquired as his eyes fell upon the hefty pair of suitcases which stood atop a couch across the room. ‘Look I appreciate the fact that you’ve been kind to me..’ she smiled ‘and this being your hotel and all, but it ain’t none of your business to pry into my affairs’
‘Affairs?’ Fisher remarked ‘they’re just a pair of worn out, dusty suitcases-and what the hell is with that stupid hat?’ he scoffed. She turned to look at him, and a momentary flicker of anger gave way to compassion. ‘I don’t know’ she mumbled ‘I collect money in it’ she shrugged as Fisher rose to his feet. His skinny body glowed as the light from the table lamp threw its heat across his tanned skin.
He strode over to the hat and studied it carefully, wrapping his fingers around its bow and letting the loose change within jingle and jangle as he gently shook it. Just then he stopped, his eyes burrowing into the surface of the brim as he studied it.
‘I suppose people give me money because I know how to arouse sympathy in others’ she grinned as she stared up at the ceiling ‘y’know I can’t remember the last time I laid down like this in a bed…I mean a proper bed’ she smiled.
‘Yeah well these suitcases ain’t exactly Park Avenue, but they’re not from a pawn shop in South Central either’ Fisher murmured ‘who is that bald guy that always sit
s with you?’ he asked as he brought the hat to the bed and rolled inside the sheets. He felt her warm skin press against his inner thigh and kissed her neck gently as he placed the bowler hat by the bedside table. ‘Tell me something’ she grinned as her nails delicately brushed against his chest ‘how long have you been watching me? How long have you wanted me…like this?’
‘Whaddaya mean?’ Fisher sniffed as he began to unfurl a cigarette pack ‘you mean sleep with you?’
‘Yeah that’s what I mean’ she shot back, snatching the cigarette that dangled out from between his fingers. ‘Well if I told you the truth, you’d probably laugh at me-so it’d be better if I just told you I just wanted to sleep with you and we can leave it at that’ Fisher chuckled as he lit the tip of her cigarette and squeezed another in between his lips.
‘Well I like the truth…’ she replied as he exhaled smoke, leaving a thin layer of mist atop the crumpled bed sheets. ‘Nah you don’t wanna hear that..’ Fisher smiled as he reached around for an ashtray on the table only to stop as he gazed again at the bowler hat. His eyes narrowed to take a closer look. ‘What is it?’ she asked, nudging him gently with her elbow. ‘Who are you?’ Fisher demanded ‘I mean really…’ he added, quickly stubbing out the cigarette in an ashtray beside the hat.
‘What’s it to you?’ she snapped as her fists coiled up the mattress sheets within their grip ‘you gonna be like all the other men and throw my ass out after gettin’ what you want?’ she spat. ‘No..’ Fisher shot back as he carefully placed the hat back on the table ‘it’s just that there’s blood on the inside of this…’
‘Bullshit’ she scoffed ‘I don’t even know where I got that hat from’ she added with a yawn. ‘It’s quite dry, maybe a few weeks..but I know blood when I see it. Which is why I’m asking you now- is there something you need to tell me?’ Fisher asked.
‘You’re not gonna call the police are you?’ she croaked ‘they do terrible things to me...you can’t put me through that again’ she gasped as she stared off into the distance. ‘Look’ Fisher sighed as he sat beside her on the bed and began to gently caress her hair ‘if you’ve done something then you can tell me. For the past few days since you’ve been outside, I’ve always wanted to talk to you..I’ve always been curious..I think you’re beautiful…’
‘Like I told you Fisher’ she hissed ‘it’s none of your business’
‘I can help you’ Fisher smiled ‘that is if you want it, you want to find out who you are, right? Your actual identity?’
‘Have you ever wished you could start over?’ she asked, waving him off ‘take back shit, y’know what I mean, right?’
‘Yeah, sure’ Fisher replied, taking a drag of his cigarette ‘but that still doesn’t answer my question’
‘What question?’ she replied.
‘Why there’s blood on that hat and why you don’t seem to know who you are..’ Fisher replied.
‘I told you’ she sighed ‘I collect money in it, I don’t know where it’s from, I dunno nothin’ bout the damn hat, now can you just leave it alone?’
‘Well I think it..the hat is yours’ Fisher nodded ‘I mean look at your clothes, the coat..it goes with the whole look you got going’
‘What look?’ she snorted ‘these ain’t even my clothes, I don’t know where I got ‘em from’
‘Please…you can’t pull the wool over my eyes lady’ Fisher laughed ‘I ain’t as stupid as I look…I think you’re a very clever woman, and I’d guess that you are or have been in some serious…well some serious shit..’
She stared back at him and smiled, laying her head flat down on the pillow. ‘I’d like to start over again Fisher’ she said, staring up at the ceiling ‘like to connect the dots and realise why I felt this way and that, why I made the choices I did-someone once told me that life is all about the choices you make…or don’t’
‘Yeah well’ Fisher replied with a shrug of his shoulders ‘most of those so called wise people giving advice are either broke, deadbeats or alcoholics. I’d rather go with what I got than listen to people like that’
‘Well I ain’t got much Fisher’ she smiled ‘in that case what happens to people like us? Who listens to us?’
Chapter Four
‘It’s not about knowing my role..’ she flushed as she took a drag from her cigarette ‘it’s a matter of respect’. The afternoon was murky and it had begun to drizzle, spitting down pellets of rain across her dishevelled hair. She stood in the middle of the street, hands on hips, not in the least mindful of the passers by that jerked past her. Pollard strained to look up at her through the swirling wisps of damp fog. ‘Gee, you really are angry’ he puffed as he scratched the smooth curve of his bald head ‘usually when you’re gone this long you come back kinda grumpy’ he added sheepishly ‘but I haven’t seen you this pissed since New Years Eve with that Arab woman’. ‘Pollard, you’re not taking me seriously’ she sneered as she whipped her head round to survey the revolving doors of the hotel entrance in front of them ‘..now did you get what I asked for?’ she demanded.
Pollard wheezed and plunged his stumpy hands deep within his pockets ‘It was pretty easy to steal’ he grinned ‘what are ya gonna do with it?’ he fidgeted nervously as he carefully pulled the object out of his pocket. ‘I’m gonna show that no good S.O.B that nobody just uses me and throws me out like some piece of garbage’ she hissed. She snatched the bottle of spray paint from Pollard’s hands and began to shake it as she smiled to herself. ‘Well I was kinda hoping for an uneventful day..’ Pollard sighed ‘y’know I got about ten bucks when you were gone; the whole disabled midget act can work wonders if you put your mind to it, we should get a monkey and diversify..’ he chuckled.
She wasn’t listening. Her eyes burrowed through the glass panes of the hotel entrance and within she could see Fisher standing idly behind the front desk. As he offered sympathetic smiles to passing customers, his eyes darted towards her direction. ‘I mean, can’t you leave this one alone just this once?’ Pollard begged ‘we’ve been doin’ okay without making any trouble, we’re getting by just fine..’ he trailed off as he realised she had ignored him and was now marching towards the entrance.
‘You seem to forget one thing’ she grumbled, adjusting the lapels of her coat as she began to walk away, ‘he still has my cases, he still has my hat’. Casually slipping the bottle of spray paint within her pocket she pushed through the doors. As they quietly whirled around, she stepped forward into the reception breathless as her heart thumped and churned within her chest. The front desk was vacant, bar the wispy figure of Fisher who was murmuring into the ear of a concerned porter who was leaning over the desk, straining to hear him.
She stood there defiantly, flashing sullen expressions of disdain at patrons passing her by. She felt a sudden gust of wind brush past her hair as Pollard gingerly made his way inside and stood behind her. The porter approached with a solemn expression, clearing his throat and ruffling his collars as he made his way toward them. At six foot two he towered over them both. ‘The management reserves the right to remove trespassers or objectionable persons on the property…please leave quietly without making a scene’ he boomed, looking straight through them. ‘You picked the wrong people, Mr..’ Pollard quipped ‘’cause we’re especially good at making a scene..and there’s nothing objectionable about us’
‘Look M’am..’ came the sharp reply ‘the management has tolerated your presence outside the hotel for long enough..it’s time to move on, don’t you think?’ he added with a shrug of the shoulders as he placed his hand firmly on her back. ‘Can’t Fisher tell me to get out of his hotel himself?’ she hissed ‘why does he have to send his chimpanzee to do it?’
As Pollard guffawed loudly, Fisher shook his head in dismay and promptly scurried away from the desk to confront them ‘It’s alright Glen…’ he frowned as he waved the Porter away. Fisher folded his arms as he waited for the trickle of the porter’s footsteps to dissipate. ‘I hope you know I won’t hesitate to
call the police’ he grumbled ‘you’re lucky we’ve tolerated you sleeping outside as long as we have..people have been filling me in on exactly the kind of person you are’ he added, trying his best to ignore Pollard who was studying him intently from head to toe.
‘Kinda funny..’ she shot back ‘how me leaving..coincides with the fact that we had sex last night, don’t ya think?’
Fisher closed his eyes and shook his head ‘Maybe we oughta discuss this elsewhere, this is private..’ he mumbled with a feeble shrug. ‘No, I think it’s appropriate that your female clientele know that the manager likes to sleep with them in return for a bed for the night’ she grinned as curious ears began to pick up on the conversation.
‘Look..’ Fisher sneered ‘I thought we had an understanding’. ‘Oh really’ she scoffed ‘and what part of that uh…understanding as you put it…included stealing my suitcases and my hat and leaving a note in the bed telling me to haul my ass outta your hotel?’ she flushed as her fingers began to tighten around the neck of the spray bottle in her pocket. Fisher stood there aghast, stunned as he adjusted his tie and cleared his throat. ‘Y’know for a fuckin’ crazy drunk bitch, you’ve got a really high set of morals…’ he replied with a smile ‘look I liked you, I felt sorry for you..I let you have a free bed in exchange for something we consented to as adults…and that’s all there really is to it in my opinion…and you should just accept that’ he sighed.
‘You said you loved me…’ she muttered to herself. ‘Yeah well…’ Fisher blinked ‘I sorta got caught up in the moment…y’know how that can happen sometimes…I didn’t mean it if that helps…I mean we uh..hardly..uh know each other, do we?’ he stuttered ‘now please…don’t make a scene, let’s just leave things as they are and just well…well there’s nothing more to be said’