by J.P Jackson
It was late afternoon when Taylor made it to his apartment. He slammed the door shut behind him and the glass window darkened at his command, leaving just enough natural light to make out the mattress on the floor and the boxes stacked around it.
"Would you like to have sex now?” said a warm female voice. A woman sat patiently in the corner, her face caught in the fleeting light. She was a curvy blonde around Taylor's age, dressed in formal business attire hardly in-keeping with her seedy surroundings.
Taylor threw off the parka and boots, rubbed his toes then inspected the blotchy bruises covering his torso. “I don't think I'm in the mood, darlin'.”
"You promised.”
He turned to her, scratched his face and thought it over. “What's your charge at?”
"39%”
Taylor frowned. “Hardly enough time to get your knickers off. I want you to fold her clothes back where you found them, understood?”
"I thought you liked it?”
"I like it just fine. I just don't need to see it every day.”
The woman lowered her head and a pleasant blue light pulsed from her eyeballs. Taylor threw on a creased red shirt and pulled a pack of cigarettes from the pocket. Shirt undone, he lit up and lay down on the stained mattress.
"Messages," he mumbled, enjoying a deep drag from the coffin nail.
"You have 34 new messages!" chirped the answering machine, as if this was good news. "Would you care to know which agencies have read them?"
"Don't care, play all."
Taylor turned onto his side, using his right arm as a pillow. Staring back at him was a brick wall with an oversized map of New York State taped over it. Pinned around the map were various newspaper clippings; headlines and articles alongside photographs pulled from security cams and the Net. Taylor let his mind wander over the contents of the wall while he savoured his smoke.
"Hamilton Taylor, would you like more from your body?" asked a cheerful salesman. "Arms, legs, eyes and ears - discounts on any appendage today!"
*Beep!*
"Taylor stay off my street, you lousy cheap fuck! You're scaring off business!"
