Assassins

CHAPTER FOUR

Shinji


I bought a cot bed for Joe from Sampson’s Furniture Palace and I emptied his apartment of any personal belongings.
I burnt his books and films, they were no use now. His CD’s were mainly classical, stuff I didn’t like. I took them home anyway and bought him a walkman. That way I wouldn’t have to hear it.
It was sad handing over his keys to the fat landlord who told me he was sorry for my loss; Joe had been a perfect tenant.
Mike held a small funeral and gave a speech about how Joe had been a faithful worker and a good man. They all prayed and waved incense about, their faces solemn.
I wanted to cry even though it was a lie. But he may as well have been dead for all that he could do now.
Everyday I left him in the apartment, a sandwich beside him and a drink with a lid. I didn’t want him to knock it over and get sticky liquid all over the floor.
At night I came home, tired and exhausted from whatever I had been doing and helped him into the shower.
I had never been so close to a man before and to tell the truth I wasn’t entirely comfortable with it but I was determined to help him. He would wash and then call me back and I would hand him his clothes.
I cooked him dinner every night, sometimes I ordered takeout; never French
Food, though I knew how he loved it.
He barely spoke to me anymore and I suppose in some way I was punishing him. I banged the dishes about when I cooked and handed him towels and clothes roughly. Sometimes I turned the radio off in the middle of a programme or song I knew he was enjoying and I often left the windows locked when I left for work, even though it was sweltering outside.
He didn’t complain; he just sat there, expressionless behind his bandage.
The truth was my mind was filled with anger at Gabriel Kynaston. The blonde assassin had become the centre of my thoughts, everything led back to him. I was always watching out for him in the streets, my ears perking up when I heard news of another murder.
Mike had given me a break from killing for a few weeks after the incident. He thought I needed time to get over Joe’s death. I could clear my head and come back to work with a vengeance.
I poured over newspaper clippings of the latest murders in the city. Gabriel was good, he was so good. But then I had always known that. He was so cold; he could murder babies and not blink an eye. A formidable man to make your personal enemy but I couldn’t help it.
I was obsessed with the idea of revenge; an eye for an eye or so to speak.
I didn’t tell Joe of my feelings; I didn’t want him to condemn me. Or worse, to want to help; he would only be a hindrance now.
When I returned to work my first job was to follow Pete Wong, a small time drug dealer from Hong Kong and prevent him from making a deal with Caitos, an operation headed by Olivia Richards-Donnelly that specialises in selling drugs to teenagers and young children.
All I had to do was make a lot of noise; throw a grenade and fire a couple of warning shots, Wong disappeared yelling curses into the warm night air.
They scattered quickly and I returned home unsatisfied, boiling some rice for Joe and settling down to watch the news on my crappy pawn shop TV.

(A/N) promise promise i'll get to the good stuff soon :)