Another Last Chance

by Tristan Walker

  “So, you going home and wait?”

  “Nah.” Wendell said without hesitating. He had an, obviously not look on his face. “I not going back home to get them mix up in all this. I would go and spend the night by Curtis them and go home tomorrow once everything work out.”

  “Or, okay, cool.” Kevin felt relieved.

  Curtis was Wendell’s cousin and he lived two streets from Kevin’s apartment. Regardless of the situation with Wendell’s family, that was no doubt the better decision.

  It was a fact that time was against them, but he knew it would be a lot safer to move around while the place was still in darkness. Tonight was out of the question since Kevin was feeling very weak due to lack of sleep, but tomorrow night or perhaps the early part of the morning would be more suitable.

  Wendell said he would be back at 4:30 in the morning, which was only a few hours away.

  “You sure that would be enough time for you?” he asked. “Cause you look like you would need all the sleep you could get.”

  “Nah, I good. That is enough time.” Kevin rubbed his face, trying to look more awake. It didn’t make much difference.

  “I will have enough time to sleep when all of this over,” he said.

  “Okay, well you go ahead and get some rest. I will come back and meet you in a little while.”

  Wendell left, and Kevin lay down on the newspapers, looking up to the ceiling. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Wendell returned around 4 a.m. bringing a change of clothes for Kevin. Kevin was still asleep, but got up when Wendell entered the room. He dressed quickly. Wendell had brought a hoodie, but Kevin didn’t pull it over his head since that might have drawn attention at that hour of the morning. But the coldness outside still made him shiver even in the short walk from the house to the car parked outside the gate.

  Wendell got in and started the engine and took the shortest route to Kevin’s place.

  There were a lot of police vehicles patrolling the area. The bright blue flashing lights were easily seen from a distance. It made Kevin uneasy at first, but Wendell kept assuring him that everything was going to be okay.

  After driving for few minutes Wendell made a left turn and then drove about one hundred metres before pulling up in front of Kevin’s apartment. There weren’t any officers or vehicles seen on his street. Kevin found this strange—he was certain he would have to sneak into his place—but he kept his thoughts to himself.

  “Hold this.” Wendell handed a cell phone to him. It was already on. Kevin noticed this after he’d pressed a random button and the screen lighted up.

  “It will look suspicious if I stay here. I will park on another street and you will give me ah call when you get yuh stuff, okay?”

  Kevin nodded. “Yeah, alright, no problem.” He opened the door and got out.

  Wendell quickly drove away without wasting any time.

  Kevin walked towards the house. His apartment was the only one with all its lights off. He inspected the front door and only opened it when he was satisfied that there wasn’t any forced entry. He locked the door behind him.

  As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he was in disbelief of what he saw. Inside the house was ransacked and the couch was ripped up and pushed across the room. His radio, dvd player, tv and all his cd’s where scattered on the floor as if the country had been hit by an earthquake. The entire place was a mess.

  Beyond the living room area, he could see his kitchen appliances on the floor together with broken plates and glasses. It was evident that whoever broke into his place had destroyed his furniture and appliances, apparently out of sheer anger.

  Kevin got on his toes and walked through the rubble making his way to his bedroom.

  As he pushed open the door he noticed that his bed was lifted and leaning against the wall and all of his clothes were torn up and scattered across the room.

  The window curtains were pulled down making it possible for everyone to see inside the house. It was something that he should have noticed before entering, and he cursed himself in his mind.

  He went back into the living room and retrieved one of the table chairs. He placed it below the ceiling tile that he had marked and climbed up.

  He pushed on the ceiling and the memory card and chain that he’d hidden fell to the ground. He picked up the memory card and stuck it into his pocket. He studied the chain and realized that because of his situation, finding a sale for it wasn’t important right now. He left it there.

  While standing on the chair Kevin noticed the neighbour who lived two houses down the street leaving his house for an early morning jog. It was something he’d normally do around this time on random days of the week.

  Kevin put the ceiling back into place and came off the chair before the man saw him.

  He knew that staying in the house longer than necessary would be too risky. He took out the cell phone and began dialing Wendell’s number.

  “Yeah, you get everything?” Wendell answered on the first ring.

  “Yeah, I have everything. You could come and pick me up now.”

  “Alright, no problem, I coming.”

  Kevin hung up and stuck the phone back into his pocket. He stood at the bedroom door studying the damage done to the place. Throughout the week he was thinking to himself that he would return home when everything was over and focus on building back his life and his relationship with Shantel. But now after seeing the state of the house, he realized it would not be so straightforward.

  He saw a flash of blue light in the wall mirror that almost instantly disappeared. He turned and walked to the window.

  Outside he could see several police cars coming in his direction at a fast pace. They had only their headlights on.

  Kevin immediately dropped on his hands and knees and crawled into the bathroom. He knew there was a fifty-fifty chance of escaping, so his first priority was to hide the memory card again.

  He got on his feet and started looking around. There were too many things going through his mind making it very difficult for him to think. As much as he tried to focus he couldn’t think of anywhere to hide it. The ceiling was too high and besides the fact that the toilet contained water, it was something that they’d easily break apart in their search.

  He pushed the shower curtain aside and stared at the tiled walls in frustration as if there was once a secret passageway.

  He could hear footsteps moving around the house now. They were closer than he thought and yet he was still holding the memory card.

  Within a few seconds he heard the doorknob shaking. He clenched his fists and started pacing back and forth. He was confused and overcome by anxiety. He held his fist to his head, hoping to come up with something before they came running in.

  He held onto the curtain rod and attempted to reach the ceiling. It was no use. He also thought about unscrewing the curtain rod to move the ceiling tile, but he knew it would be difficult to put the ceiling back into place as if it was never tampered with. It was then that he came up with a brilliant idea.

  He unscrewed the curtain rod and stuck the memory card in. He screwed it back and crawled back into the bedroom and got behind the bed. It was then that he felt and remembered that the gun was still stuck in his waist. He pulled it out and slid it across the room. It hit the wall and went behind the wardrobe.

  He had no use for a firearm there. His shooting skills would never overpower theirs. And, besides, his motive wasn’t not getting caught, but not being killed. His plan was to remain there until they found him.

  Within a few moments the front door was opened and he could hear their light footsteps. It sounded like four persons or more. They were whispering to each other as they moved throughout the rooms. No one had yet entered the bedroom.

  Kevin made himself smaller and prepared himself to take yet another beating. It was like a norm that had been fitted into their portfolio. He knew it was something he couldn’t get away from.
/>   He heard their footsteps entered the room. They moved towards the window and after a few moments he heard someone take up the chain.

  “He was here,” one of officers said to another in a low voice.

  “Yeah, the bitch was actually telling the truth,” another one replied and then they were all quiet for a while.

  The phone started vibrating in Kevin’s pocket and as soon as he held it down to ease the vibration it started to ring.

  “Fellas, he behind the bed!” one of the officer shouted and the bed was immediately pulled to the ground. As Kevin looked up he saw three masked officers with guns pointing at his face. Two more officers came running into the room and all five guns were pointing at him.

  “Get up,” one of the officers said and pulled Kevin up by his arm. Kevin was on his feet without even realizing it. Another officer held on to his free arm and they both took him into the living room, kicking aside whatever was in their way. They’d put him to sit on one of the dining table chairs.

  “You call him yet?” the officer who was doing all the talking said, and upon getting a negative response he lifted the radio to his mouth and communicated with someone by telling them that he had the suspect in custody.

  After he had finished talking an officer came from outside with a roll of caution tape. He simply moved aside and gestured for the officer to proceed, and then the officer with the help of another used the tape and started wrapping it around Kevin’s body, making sure to keep both of his hands behind his back. Kevin sat there and allowed them to do what they had to without resisting or attempting to negotiate. He knew that there was someone bigger than them who was in charge and calling the shots. That person was the decision maker and regardless of his plea for them to have mercy on him, that person was the only one who would give a listening ear. That was the person they were waiting for.

  When they were finished with the tape Kevin could hardly move his hands. All the movements were lost from his wrist upward and he could also feel a tightness around his chest that made it even more difficult for him to breathe. He tried to ignore the discomfort, hoping that it would not become life threatening.

  He looked around at the officers. There were six of them standing around in front of him. Their faces were hidden beneath ski masks.

  None of the officers said anything after the call. They just held their positions, alertly holding their firearms in their hands.

  They left the door open and Kevin was distracted by the blue flashing lights that were just turned on. Beyond the lights he saw that the sky was becoming bright. The sun hadn’t yet appeared, but he could see its glare behind the clouds in the horizon.

  The neighbourhood cars were starting to make their way through the street. Kevin noticed that a few of them were slowing down just enough to get a glimpse of what was taking place inside. It was only then that Kevin realized that the officer had intentionally made it difficult for them to see by turning on the lights.

  Kevin leaned back on the chair in an attempt to take some of the tension off his chest. He exhaled and then relaxed. His twisting and turning actually made a difference.

  The sun had come up and the leading officer signaled two officers to join him on the outside. Four of them remained inside, surrounding Kevin by positioning themselves at the four corners of the room. It was easy to see their eyes now. He also noticed that the officer standing to his left had a bullseye tattoo on his neck. It was the size of a walnut and looked as if it was professionally done. It wasn’t customary to see tattoos on exposed parts of an officer’s skin, so Kevin thought he looked more like a thug than an officer.

  About ten minutes after Kevin heard a vehicle pull up and he heard the officers outside saying something just before seeing a few shadows approaching the door. Both officers in front of him straightened up and waited for the person to enter. Their anticipation made Kevin anxious.

  “Good day, sir,” the two officers said, almost simultaneously as they saluted a stocky built man neatly dressed in a khaki suit. He was wearing sunglasses and, oddly, holding a staff in his right hand. Kevin had no idea of police ranks, but he saw several badges on the man’s chest and thought that he had to be a high person in the Police Service. The man gestured for both officers to relax and the officer who had done all the talking came in behind him and closed the door.

  The man in the khaki suit walked closer to Kevin, observing him thoroughly.

  “So, this is the fella who causing we all this trouble?” he said to no one in particular. It wasn’t necessary for him to talk loudly due to the quietness and the closeness of everyone in the room. No one said anything. He remained quiet for a while as he continued observing Kevin’s appearance.

  “You have something for me?” the man said to Kevin. Kevin hesitated, though he knew very well that he was speaking about the memory card.

  Kevin was thinking about the dangers of cooperating and whether he’d be able to walk out of there alive once he gave him what he wanted.

  There was no telling who to trust anymore. Words had no meaning in these types of circumstances. Kevin wanted to be released and freed of all threats and slander to his name. The only thing he had on his mind was to stop hanging out with bad company and to walk the street and live a normal life. That was all he was thinking about before the man arrived. He thought about it so much that he hadn’t taken the time to work out the steps of how he was planning to negotiate his freedom.

  The man in the khaki suit looked around at them when he hadn’t gotten an answer from Kevin.

  “Like I talking to myself?” he said to the officers. He was obviously annoyed.

  “Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Let me start over.” He took off his glasses and kept it in his hand. His eyes were black and cold, like a snake’s.

  “Let me tell you who I am. I is the man who tell these men what to do,” he said. “My name not important. You know why? Because names only important for birth and death certificates.” He paused. “I is a fair person. Well, at least, I would like to believe that.” He smiled and looked around at his officers. They grinned back under their ski masks.

  “So when I hear somebody come to my place of business looking for safety, and I gave the instructions that they should be protected and safely escorted out of there to reunite with their family. And that same person take something valuable to me, and on top of that they try to kill my people. I does get upset.” He folded his arms and fixed his cold eyes on Kevin.

  “Now you tell me. If you was me how you would’ve dealt with that?” His hands went behind his back and he turned and walked towards the kitchen, carefully stepping across the rubble.

  “I waiting for yuh answer. Think fast because we don’t have too much time. We have other criminal duties to perform.” He was in the kitchen.

  Kevin was thinking about a good enough answer. He had to do this under the intimidating stares coming from all the officers in the room.

  “You have bottle water in this fridge?” The chief said while looking through the fridge.

  “Yeah, it supposed to have some on the bottom shelf,” Kevin said, hoping that the persons who had vandalized his place hadn’t drank all of it.

  “Okay good, I see it.”

  He came back into the living room and threw a bottle of water for each of his officers, who caught them easily without letting go of their guns.

  “So?” He stood with his hands folded across his chest again, waiting for his answer.

  “I woulda tell my officers to go and get it back,” Kevin said, knowing that was what he wanted to hear.

  “Good.” He was nodding and smiling. “I like that answer. What about if they don’t find it? What you would’ve done then?”

  “I would go and try to find it for myself.”

  He continued nodding, and then the smile vanished from his face as quickly as a snake’s flicking tongue. He closed his fist and punched Kevin in the stomach in one quick movement. Kevin felt all the air escape from his lungs a
nd his eyes and mouth opened wide.

  “Look I right here! Where my fucking memory card?” he said, his voice suddenly full of rage and the three officers instantly raised their machine guns to Kevin’s face. Kevin tried his best to catch his breath and regain his focus, hoping not to pass out.

  The chief definitely wasn’t on games or any sort of runaround. He wanted an exact location of the memory card and Kevin knew wherever he directed him to, it had better be there.

  Kevin started thinking whether he should give in or not. He didn’t expect things to move from bad to worse this fast, and now he had limited time to come up with a good enough answer, or at least try to buy some time while he thought about it.

  The chief was waiting. Kevin could see the anger in his face as he was becoming more and more impatient.

  “I really don’t want to disappoint you,” Kevin said in a weak voice. He tried coughing to soothe the pain.

  “What?” the chief said.

  Kevin cleared his throat before repeating himself. “I don’t want to disappoint you.”

  “What you mean by that?”

  Kevin’s mouth was trembling in fear and when the chief noticed that he gestured for his men to lower their guns.

  Kevin’s intention was to buy time and hopefully get some answers while he tried to change the chief’s mood and persuade the chief to release him, so he could cause a diversion.

  “How you know I was here?”

  “What?” The chief seemed confused by the question.”

  “How you…”

  “No,” he interrupted. “I hear what you say. But what that have to do with anything?” He was still angry.

  “Everything…”

  “Hmm.” He wiped his hand across his face, looking as though his frustration had reached its highest point. Kevin knew he’d have to continue talking without any hesitation, even if the chief wasn’t paying attention.

  “We does just know things,” he said and looked at the others as though he was wondering how the question was connected to his purpose for being there. They were all looking at him as if they were disappointed that he was even tolerating the conversation. Kevin had him right where he wanted him. All he’d have to do was continue talking.