Page 23 - Demo

2 2 JAGGEDEDGE
“What about the sheets?”
“When you leave,” she wrote.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I know you have issues, but I can see good in you. That’s all
I need to know.”
“I need to leave shortly. What will I wear?”
“I have a closet full of clothes. Take what you wish.
“Why should I leave you alive?”
“That is your dilemma. Eat now. Talk later.”
Throughout the meal, they stared and smiled at each other.
Tom even found himself wishing he had met her sooner. Just as suddenly his mission came trickling back: got to get back to Corin and report. When he placed his fork down, she could see that he was troubled but knew it was beyond her influence. The closet yielded a good fitting pair of slacks and a shirt yet not exactly what he expected from a pimp. He realized he had seen too many movies. He sat on the bed and dressed, then stood quietly staring at her again.
“Look,” he said, fumbling for words, “I am not going to kill you. I appreciate your help but it’s time for me to leave your life. Will you be all right?” he heard himself asking.
She smiled and started toward him suddenly realizing she should stop. He swallowed hard and walked out of the door not wanting to look back. She looked down; when she looked up he was gone. Tom walked down the steps and paused feeling money she had placed in his pocket. He wanted to look back; instead he turned and walked away.
Rounding the corner made Tom smile from his brief respite from the real world. Wearing the pimp’s clothes he caught a bus. The thought haunted him that Corin wouldn’t want to hear anything he had to say once he heard that Tina was dead. Every word after that, will fall on deaf ears, Tom mused. Leaving the country was an option, but not a good one. The kingpin of Blue Heaven had enough money to pursue him into almost any country. If he only knew the secret of the drug’s ingredients he could be a multi-billionaire.