( As if the roads would've been clear if there wasn't an accident..)
Seeing this, I started my horn, hoping this would help, but no use.. Every passing car had to slow down and take a look, and maybe the driver went out to ask what happened, so I decided to take a side road, and turned on the speaker, which made me a pain in the ass to those around me, and they'd to take a side to let me pass to get rid of me, I took the first empty Street I passed by trying to cut the road short, which made me arrive a little quicker than I expected.. But when I got there, I found the place closed and the curtains pulled down and the whole place looked deserted, and on the door there was a sign of:
Renovation.. Will be opening shortly..
What did that mean..? Was it some kind of a joke..? After driving all this time in the sun..?
Did I take a wrong address from the centre..?
It happened before a lot, because people in many times tend to mistake in any of the details of the address when they are in tough situations like this, or the operator hears a wrong word among the address which leads to changing it completely, wasn't the first time, so I decided to make a final try before leaving.. I called "Emad", the one working with me in that shift, on his cell phone, and asked him to make sure I got the right address.. He disappeared for a minute, before his coarse-from-cigarettes voice came back:
- The address is correct.. Why..?
Trying - without much success - to see through the glass door that was completely covered by a curtain I answered:
- Because the whole place is closed for renovation and..
I stopped talking because I thought I heard something inside..
- Mmm.. I don't know, but according to the information I've got, the address is completely right.. Did you try knocking on the door..?
So smart.. As if I didn't do that already and.. Shit.. I really didn't..!!
I rubbed my nose embarrassed, answering him:
- OK.. I'll try knocking again and if nothing happens I'll be leaving.. Bye..
- Bye sugar..
Before I could manage to find an appropriate answer I found that he had already closed, so I returned my cell phone to my pocket then walked along the place carefully, and knocked on the door several times but no answer.. Maybe I just imagined those sounds I heard..? I pushed the door but no use.. It was obviously closed firmly from the inside.. Walking around the place to check things out, I saw a young girl running towards me as fast as she could.. As she came closer, I noticed her clothes were all dusted.. I waved at her to slow down, but she just grabbed my hand, taking me from where she came, yelling frightened:
- Please.. There are bad guys inside..
Bad guys..? That's interesting.. I stopped her asking:
- And where are those bad guys sweetie..?
She pointed at the closed café, trying to catch her breath, continuing:
- Inside.. They are locking Mrs "Dalia" and lots of people inside..
If we ignored that Mrs "Dalia" who I didn't know who the hell she was, this seemed big.. Or was it just a child's imagination..?
- And how did you manage to get out..?
Because I knew the kids these days.. Maybe it was just a prank she was doing to her friends, but she answered in quick confused words that I hardly understood, while she took my hand and led me to round the corner..
- From the bathroom window.. Hurry to catch the bad men before they hurt them.. Mrs "Dalia" got me out of the window and told me to go get help from the first person I see..
Too complicated story for a child to make up, I guessed, besides, getting out of the bathroom window part went along with the fact that I saw her coming from the back alley in dirty clothes, which meant she was probably saying the truth.. But why was the café's main door closed..? And another important question: what would be the right thing to do now..? No time to call the police because by the time they come the people inside would probably be dead already and went to heaven, and the worst part was that I didn't know the number of those armed men.. I followed the girl to an opened tiny bathroom window.. With some imagination I could say that this tiny window was probably really enough to get a child of her size out of..
(Another point in the favor of buying her story..)
Then I walked away with her quickly, because if the story was really true, then the armed men would soon come to the room the girl escaped from..
I looked around the place, checking every inch, trying to find a weak point to sneak in through..
I found a back door beside which stood few trash cans.. Guessing that this was the kitchen's door didn't need a genius.. Was closed as I saw it few minutes ago, but now I had the motive to look more..
I told the girl to stand back beside the car, while I stepped toward the door.. Not out of courage, but guilt would eat me alive if I went away to get help and things went really bad meanwhile.. The courage of the woman who took that risk to get the girl out of the place gave me a push, especially that thinking about what would happen to that "Dalia" who made the girl reach this place alive made me realize that whatever I'd do now wouldn't even reach half her courage..
I took out a thin tool from my pocket that I used often to open closed doors, and inserted it in the key opening and started working..
Wasn't the first time to be called to a place where a locked up person needed to be saved, so opening closed doors wasn't that difficult for me, meanwhile I called "Emad" again, and told him in low voice to call the police and tell them to come to the same address, and they'd better come quickly..
- What have you got over there sugar..? Some hottie harassing you..?
He asked me in his usual cold as ice tone..
- Hurry up you idiot because it's serious.. I'll explain everything when I come back..
I whispered nervously before I ended the call to make him realize it was serious.. I was whispering because I was afraid that those people would be smart enough to leave one of them as a guard behind the kitchen door, The thought that proved to be wrong when I opened the door easily without anyone noticing me or try fighting.. Shit.. I didn't have any weapon, and I didn't know how well were they prepared while I was sneaking stupidly to the inside like this..
I felt a shiver along my back while the door was opening in front of me, and as I sneaked into the empty kitchen, I heard the sound of a gunshot coming from the inside..!!
****
-18-
"Waheed"
I closed the bathroom door behind me, before putting down the toilet cover and sit on it, then stayed for two minutes in my place listening to see whether anyone was waiting for me to come out to enter after me or something.. Didn't want to start taking out my things, then find someone knocking on me because he wanted to take a leak.. The detergent's smell they use here sneaked to my nose, while I started relaxing in my place upon finding that no one noticed me entering..
I took out of my pocket a small plastic bag, and just stayed there starring at the white powder inside, then spilled a little amount on my hand, before sniffing them in.. My hands were trembling, as I didn't have a shot the whole morning because I'd been in the office and didn't get the chance to be alone long enough to do it.. I felt my body longing and my blood boiling.. Few shots were enough to retain me to my normal state of mind..
Passing footsteps in both directions were in the background, then I heard knocking on the door that made me froze.. I coughed loudly to make the one outside understand that I'd be here for some time, then I heard his knocks on the next male bathroom, where similar coughs aroused, making the guy outside mumble few angry words before walking away as his footsteps showed, so I continued what I'd been doing.. I took two other shots, finishing the stuff I had, before throwing the empty bag in the toilet and flushing water over it to cover my crime totally..
Looking at my pale reflection made me realize how tired I was because of that long bloody work day.. I took off my glasses and watched in the small mirror my puffy eyes and those bl
ack circles lying under them.. Thinking that some cold water would be refreshing and make me look human again, I turned the cold water on and immersed my head under it for a whole minute, before removing my head and drying myself..
Having washed my face and put my glasses back on, I looked at myself in the mirror again to find it slightly better, then I heard loud knocking on a near door (probably the next bathroom) and screams and fight.. I walked out of my room after I made sure everything looked normal, to find several people arguing in front one of the lady's rooms.. Few men together with a fat lady were engaged in a furious talk, and a guy was calling an ambulance.. Someone passed out I guess, and since I was the only one with a medical experience due to the first-aid class I had at the beginning of the year, I decided to offer my help..
- Is anyone injured..? I can help..?
- A girl tried to kill herself.. Are you a doctor..?
The woman looked at me suspiciously..
- Not exactly, but maybe I could do something..
I answered her coldly while making my way into the room, liking that I embarrassed her, because I've always loved embarrassing this kind of pretending-to-be-important people.. The few guys standing took a side slowly letting me in, and the room's contents started to appear before me.. There was a girl's still body lying in the corner of the room, around which had been a pool of blood that wouldn't stop growing, and all around the place where her scattered belongings and purse and soul, and in the sink there were signs of blood.. Wasn't the first time for me to see a dead body, but the state itself made me shiver..
Death and blood and pure overwhelming silence, except for the scattered continuous furious talking between the people standing at the door.. Idiots.. If you wasted half that effort in helping the girl when she was alive she wouldn't be dead now, but all you were good at was talking and judging her being a sinner and whether she would enter heaven or not.. At that moment my eyes dropped on her left hand and saw the cuts in it which made it obvious that she left our world completely, anyhow I decided to do anything since I'm already here, so I measured her pulse from the other arm, but we were too late.. I stood up again feeling guilty as if I was the cause of this..
Then a horrible thought crossed my mind.. While I was having my dose in the other room, all soaked up in my self-drama, that poor girl was spending her last moments on that earth.. Was she feeling lonely..? Feeling that no one loved her..? That things could never be better..?
I looked at the guy standing by the door who was watching me silently, and when he saw me standing he asked:
- Is there any hope..?
- Unfortunately no.. She lost too much blood, and there's no pulse at all..
Leaning on the door while still inside the room, I found that guy pointing at me secretly to stay inside, before looking towards the end of the corridor that led to the main hall, and before leaving he whispered:
- call the cops..
And from outside I heard a man's coarse voice:
- Come outside..
Not understanding a thing, I watched him and the other man walking away, then I heard a loud weird voice that I didn't recognize..
I looked towards the girl's dead body that left all this drama behind and went away, thinking: what was happening outside..? Something told me not to go out for my own good.. That guy's pointing at me and whispering secretly, and those loud voices I heard..
A couple of seconds passed before I heard the quite voice that gave me the answer to all of my questions:
- I shall be quick.. Any silly attempts to be a hero won't give any of you anything except for a bullet in the head.. We'll take.....
An armed robbery attempt..!!
That's why the guy asked me to stay inside.. I partially closed the door in order not to appear if someone walked beside the room.. Didn't want to close it completely fearing it'd make a sound and someone hears it..
Leaning on the wall beside the door, I looked at the dead body.. Did her leg just move..? No... Probably I'm just a little hysterical.. Shit.. I could almost feel those white ceramic walls getting nearer and nearer, preventing me from breathing..
As if death was still flying in the air, waiting for his chance to reap my soul too.. Will washing my face with some cold water calm me down..? Worth a shot..
So I walked carefully trying not to step on the blood, and turned the tap on, when I had a blood-freezing thought:
What would happen if any of the people outside heard me..? They'd certainly hear the sound of water since the door wasn't fully closed, so I closed the tap again cursing my bad luck.. But on thinking, my luck was certainly not worse than the luck of the people outside, or was it..? I asked my reflection in the small mirror over the sink, in a failed attempt to make myself feel less lonely, and then imagined it answering me with its serious quite voice:
- Both positions are worse than each other.. Believe me..
I sighed nervously while walking away from the mirror, then turned to the door, trying to listen to any voices outside, but none reached me now because the bathrooms were at the end of the hall, even after the kitchen that was at the beginning of it, so the sound needed be too loud to reach me.. Thinking that this concept applied both ways, I decided to test this fact practically, and pushed the door slowly till I closed it..
I sat back again on the covered toilet, took out my cell phone, and called the cops asking them to come as soon as possible because there was an armed robbery taking place.. I knew I probably sounded nuts with that low voice and hanging out quickly, but was there more that I could do..?
Finishing the call, I looked at the door, waiting for some surprise visitor to show up any second, but there was no sign of any human being near me.. Just the sound of my heavy breathing, and the sound of my heart beats that felt loud like drumbeats in my ears..
Seeing that my companion was still lying lifeless in the corner of the room, I started looking around trying to find something else to take my attention of the dead body that was just few steps from me, but the damn room was too small for that, so I sat their feeling the presence of the dead body suffocating me..
The walls felt cold and even worse, like they were closing on me.. Did the room just shrink a little or I started hallucinating finally..? No sounds outside but I couldn't go out now unfortunately.. If it was safe to go out, then someone would've come to tell me.. Things must've became serious now.. Did they kill them..? The thought froze the blood in my veins.. How would I know if they did..? I'll just be forgotten here till the day of judgment.. I looked at my cell phone's watch to find that I've been here for less than 15 minutes.. Shit.. Time was too slow here as if it was the doomsday..
Why didn't the bloody police come till now..? I went to the door again and tried to catch any sounds coming from outside but no use.. Couldn't risk opening the door due to security-related reasons.. Maybe on my bad luck that guy with the coarse voice hears the sound of opening the door or sees it opened, and they end up discovering my presence, and I end up a dead body with a hole in its forehead.. Maybe just a small opening that I could sneak peek through to see what was happening..?
Can they hear my loud heartbeats..? Did the body move its leg again..? And weren't her eyes closed..? Why were they opened now..? I forced myself to take few deep breaths to calm down.. Calm down you idiot.. Her eyes must've been opened from the start.. You're just too damn nervous.. Your sick imagination found its best time for working, and you would be the victim if you just went along with it.. It must be the effect of that adulterated stuff you just had.. Forcing myself to look away from the body, I didn't find something else to look at except the ceiling.. Looked at the fluorescent bright lights above me just bedimmed my eyes, so I moved my eyes again to fell on the sink this time with its blood remains and the pieces of the broken mirror that the poor girl used to kill herself with..
(Did any of the people out there notice the lights here..? And more important, did anything move inside the mirror or was it just a
nother work from my sick imagination..?)
Dammit.. Never thought my nerves were that weak..
Then I heard some sounds.. I adhered to the door listening.. Someone was coming..!! Ones and not just one if I was hearing the steps right, and they were coming closer, closer..
(Did that classy guy or the waiter say anything about me..?)
- You've got only five minutes..
The coarse ordering voice struck my ears, followed by a female voice answering:
- OK ..
I froze in my place, while the sequel of sounds kept sneaking from under my door: the sound of closing a nearby door, then the sound of a lock, followed by the sound of footsteps coming and going, then finally came the siren of the ambulance that startled me ( that guy called them a long time ago.. It just arrived now..? ) would that mean a good twist in the events in our favor..? I wished that really, otherwise we would become another report in the evening news..
- .. You bitch.. I knew something like this would happen..
The tense angry voice suddenly hit my ears, followed by sounds of a quarrel.. Screams..
- Bitch.. I could read you from the start..
More hitting sounds.. Couldn't help but sliding the door's lock slowly to the right, being careful not to make the tiniest sound, before opening the door and watching the shocking scene ahead of me.. The guy - whose back was facing me - was pointing his gun at a dark blond girl who froze in her place, starring frightened at the guy's hand that carried the weapon
- ... I'll show you now what we do to liars slut..
The guy's last sentence made me freak out, thinking that I was about to see another dead body falling in front of me.. I watched his fingers as they went towards the trigger, then I returned to inside the room quickly, already decided what I would do, as every second had its value..
In the first moment I removed the heavy ceramic toilet flush-cover..
In the second and the third, I was hurrying back outside..