Filed under: Crime Noir
It was twilight when he arrived.
The crowd standing outside the club didn’t even see him walk past them.
He went straight to the back and kicking the door open punctured the smiling face of Benito Grillini with so many bullets he was unrecognisable when they found him.
His wife stood for some time staring down at his body before she vomited and wiping her mouth on the hem of her Gucci dress said ‘get the bastard who did this’.
By that time Jack Slick had already returned to his immaculate flat and was pouring himself a glass of whisky.
He sat down and made the call.
‘He’s dead.’
He hung up and stood staring out at the silver skyline where birds wheeled in unutterable space devoid of all humanity.
As he gazed out at the river’s stretch beneath him Mimi Grillini was getting undressed.
She removed her silk skirt and stood in her underwear as her lover lay on the bed admiring her full figure.
‘Alberto’, she said, ‘I told you I would get rid of him.’
He took a long satisfied drag on his cigarette, admiring the swing of her tits as she undid her bra and said ‘no one suspected?’
‘No one.’
And so she lay down to soil her silk sheets.
The next morning as the sun rose Jack checked his bank account.
He left his flat as Mimi got into the shower and washed Alberto from her skin.
Then she dressed and went to her lunch appointment, wearing dark glasses and the slouched gait of the grieving widow.
When she had milked the support of her friends she returned home and fixed herself a martini before calling Alberto.
‘Get here in an hour’, she said and hung up.
He was late and her greeting left him in no doubt about her displeasure.
‘What fucking time do you call this?’
‘I don’t like being spoken to like that’, he said.
There was a moment’s square off as she stared at him and he ran a hand through his thick black hair.
Then she reached out a hand and unzipping his flies said ‘come on I want you. Fuck me in his bed, screw me until I come on his memory.’
Afterwards as they lay there he looked at her.
Her face was perfectly rigid, like some carving of a woman without any trace of emotion whatsoever.
‘This guy you’ve got’, he said.
‘Yes?’
‘There’s no way anyone could find out?’
‘He never met me.’
‘We’re in this fifty-fifty.’
She ran her hand down his chest.
‘You’ll get your cut.’
‘People are asking questions.’
‘Like?’
‘Like how the killer knew he was there at that time.’
‘Just keep that pretty mouth shut. Now stop needling me’, she said and turned over to sleep.
When she awoke it was getting dark and Alberto had left.
She turned resentfully in the empty bed and got up.
She made some dinner, opened a bottle of wine, walked about her huge and empty mansion and fell into a comatose sleep on the sofa where she awoke to feel a gloved hand on her neck.
She was choking and could see a face but the features were too indistinct in the darkened room.
There was another man in the background.
She was losing consciousness and lay very still until he relaxed his grip.
She disguised her breathing and listened to them rummaging through drawers.
‘She keeps them in there.’
She knew the voice and it chilled her.
And as Alberto removed her banking files and handed them to his accomplice she reached for the gun in the drawer beside her.
They were talking and their backs were turned as she took aim.
‘Stupid bitch’, Alberto said, ‘does she really think I want to screw an old dog like her?’
‘Women like her don’t think. They live in a bubble, getting their own way until they’re too old and someone removes them from their path.’
The figure speaking caught the flash of metal in the moonlight streaming in through the window and he pulled his piece so quickly that Alberto didn’t even register the movement until he heard the muffled shot.
Mimi slumped back on the sofa spreading a dark trail of blood on the fine fabric.
‘Hand me those files’, he said, putting his piece away.
‘Well, I won’t have to fuck her again’, Alberto said. ‘She thought she still had something. But she was worn out and smelt of decay. Without Benito she was nothing.’
‘She was no better than a fucking whore.’
‘We got this one worked out don’t we?’, Alberto said.
‘She would never have guessed, her vanity let her down. That the lot?’
‘Yup.’
Alberto watched as his accomplice removed a small leather case from his pocket. He opened it and pulled out a needle. It was long and silver in the moonlight.
He walked over to where Mimi lay and calmly threading the tool ran it through her lips, which he pressed together in a soft gesture that was both erotic and absurd. She looked like a duck.
As Mimi’s lips were sewn shut, the tip of her pink tongue protruded slightly, bringing to Alberto’s mind the last time he screwed her.
His accomplice tied the cotton and stood back.
‘There, now they’ll know it was her who betrayed him.’
Alberto looked at her a while before they left.
Outside the moon was bright and full as Jack Slick drove them to his flat where they sat and drank whisky.
Jack reached over and ran his hand through Alberto’s hair. Then he pulled his face towards him and kissed him on the mouth.
‘We got a great thing going ‘, Alberto said. ‘No one would ever suspect us.’
‘Business is good and sex is even better’, Jack said, looking down at the files. ‘I’ll hang this out to wash, you’ll like the Cayman Islands.’
Copyright © 2010, Richard Godwin. All rights reserved.
This is my entry in Needle’s First Flash Fiction Challenge.
36 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Nice new crib richard, welcome to the 21st century!
Comment by michael j. solender May 17, 2010 @ 12:06 amThank you Michael, glad you like the site
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:23 pmI never read noir, so my weigh-in will not be very useful, I fear, but I will be very interested to hear how this fares in the contest! Good luck!
Great photo for it–there’s no one scarier than Javier!
Comment by jenny milchman May 17, 2010 @ 12:20 amThank you Jenny, your weigh-in counts
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:23 pmWhat a wicked story on love gone awry. nice site here.
Comment by Allie May 17, 2010 @ 12:31 amThank you Allie, glad you liked the story
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:24 pmRichard, you never disappoint! I really enjoyed your story.
Sal
Comment by Salvatore Buttaci May 17, 2010 @ 12:36 amThank you Sal, for your ongoing support
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:24 pmVery wicked, sir. The pacing was fantastic and the twist was not totally unexpected, but good nonetheless.
Comment by ThomG May 17, 2010 @ 4:23 amThank you Thom for your comment, good to see you here
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:25 pmBizness is bizness. Good call. Tasty new gaff, too!
Comment by Paul D. Brazill May 17, 2010 @ 11:24 amThank you Paul, good to see you at my gaff
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:26 pmGood one, Richard, and good luck!
Comment by Kristin Fouquet May 17, 2010 @ 10:33 pmThank you Kristin, good to see you here
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:28 pmDeliciously evil.
(I like your new site.)
Comment by Jodi MacArthur May 18, 2010 @ 6:09 amThank you Jodi, your taste buds are honed, glad you like the site
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:29 pmThe usual pacing, economy of language I enjoy. So many of these kinds of stories seem to thrash around on their was to conclusion. Yours are quiet, just as a predator should be. Good work.
Comment by Robert Crisman May 18, 2010 @ 6:42 amThank you Rob, I’m honoured, your feedback is always incisive
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:30 pmOH THAT WAS SO WRONG! But right in all the wrong ways! A great read Richard!
Comment by CJT May 18, 2010 @ 1:14 pmThank you CJT, thought you’d like it, good to see you here
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:31 pmHere it is. Richard Godwin enters Blogworld like Anton Chigurh enters a room and commences to splatter its walls with blood. Nothing like the element of surprise. Like “Slick Time” with its freaky twist, a new weapon from the Godwin arsenal. Ditto Crisman re: style. You rock as usual : )
Comment by Miss Alister May 18, 2010 @ 3:22 pmThank you Miss Alister, thought Anton Chigurh would appeal, you rock too
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:32 pmCold, harsh and spare. Your minimalist style suits the material well.
Comment by Pamila Payne May 19, 2010 @ 6:57 amThank you Pamila,I’m pleased the style appeals
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:36 pm[…] Richard Godwin Slick Time […]
Pingback by Needle Flash Entries « Needle: A Magazine of Noir May 19, 2010 @ 3:39 pmOh the conspiracy! Your stories have great twists at the end. I love your stuff, Rich!
Comment by Johnny Russell May 19, 2010 @ 4:19 pmThank you Johnny, you’re a gent
Comment by richardgodwin May 19, 2010 @ 10:36 pmLove the characters and the twists! Like the way the paragraphs break — very effective for the story.
Comment by Nicole Hadaway May 20, 2010 @ 3:29 pmThank you Nicole, glad you liked it, good to see you here.
Comment by Richard Godwin May 29, 2010 @ 6:01 pmWow. This was ‘slick’ alright. Wicked is the word to describe this. Beautifully done and perfectly paced. Love this.
Comment by Joyce May 21, 2010 @ 8:24 pmRichard, I wanted to tell you too that I really like the way your site looks. The photo is SO fitting for noir and/or horror. He’s one of my all time favorite evil guys!
Comment by Joyce May 21, 2010 @ 8:28 pmThank you Joyce,it’s good to hear you enjoyed the story and great to hear you like the site.
Comment by Richard Godwin May 29, 2010 @ 6:03 pmRichard Godwin has outdone himself again.
As the publisher of seventeen of his stories, I think I’m a little bit qualified to say that.
Didn’t see it coming, Richard. In fact, I was wondering when you were getting back to Jack Slick and then, punch to the gut, there he is.
Great story, great site.
Comment by Christopher Grant May 21, 2010 @ 10:17 pmThank you Christopher,I know you like a curveball.
Comment by Richard Godwin May 29, 2010 @ 5:57 pmnice tale — like the end very strong writing
Comment by chad rohrbacher May 24, 2010 @ 8:40 pmThank you Chad, I appreciate it.
Comment by Richard Godwin May 29, 2010 @ 5:58 pm