Richard Godwin


SLICK TIME
May 16, 2010, 10:25 pm
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

Thank you Michael, glad you like the site

Comment by richardgodwin

I 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

Thank you Jenny, your weigh-in counts

Comment by richardgodwin

What a wicked story on love gone awry. nice site here.

Comment by Allie

Thank you Allie, glad you liked the story

Comment by richardgodwin

Richard, you never disappoint! I really enjoyed your story.

Sal

Comment by Salvatore Buttaci

Thank you Sal, for your ongoing support

Comment by richardgodwin

Very wicked, sir. The pacing was fantastic and the twist was not totally unexpected, but good nonetheless.

Comment by ThomG

Thank you Thom for your comment, good to see you here

Comment by richardgodwin

Bizness is bizness. Good call. Tasty new gaff, too!

Comment by Paul D. Brazill

Thank you Paul, good to see you at my gaff

Comment by richardgodwin

Good one, Richard, and good luck!

Comment by Kristin Fouquet

Thank you Kristin, good to see you here

Comment by richardgodwin

Deliciously evil.

(I like your new site.)

Comment by Jodi MacArthur

Thank you Jodi, your taste buds are honed, glad you like the site

Comment by richardgodwin

The 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

Thank you Rob, I’m honoured, your feedback is always incisive

Comment by richardgodwin

OH THAT WAS SO WRONG! But right in all the wrong ways! A great read Richard!

Comment by CJT

Thank you CJT, thought you’d like it, good to see you here

Comment by richardgodwin

Here 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

Thank you Miss Alister, thought Anton Chigurh would appeal, you rock too

Comment by richardgodwin

Cold, harsh and spare. Your minimalist style suits the material well.

Comment by Pamila Payne

Thank you Pamila,I’m pleased the style appeals

Comment by richardgodwin

[…] Richard Godwin Slick Time […]

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Oh the conspiracy! Your stories have great twists at the end. I love your stuff, Rich!

Comment by Johnny Russell

Thank you Johnny, you’re a gent

Comment by richardgodwin

Love the characters and the twists! Like the way the paragraphs break — very effective for the story.

Comment by Nicole Hadaway

Thank you Nicole, glad you liked it, good to see you here.

Comment by Richard Godwin

Wow. This was ‘slick’ alright. Wicked is the word to describe this. Beautifully done and perfectly paced. Love this.

Comment by Joyce

Richard, 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

Thank you Joyce,it’s good to hear you enjoyed the story and great to hear you like the site.

Comment by Richard Godwin

Richard 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

Thank you Christopher,I know you like a curveball.

Comment by Richard Godwin

nice tale — like the end very strong writing

Comment by chad rohrbacher

Thank you Chad, I appreciate it.

Comment by Richard Godwin




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