She walked through the station with the many buses and the even more people. The diversity cheered her up as she whispered to herself, ‘‘Dorothy, you’re surely not in Kansas anymore.”
She spotted the small blue WC sign and entered the ladies room, ignoring flashbacks to what happened to her the last time she was in a ladies’ lavatory. She walked through the dirty, glutinous restroom towards the once white ceramic wash basins. The odour was unpleasant and overwhelming. Katie quickly splashed some water upon her face and ran her fingers through her hair that had been finally freed from that awful ponytail. She looked at herself in the mirror and was glad to see her eyes glowing without those ugly glasses. Glasses she did not really need.
‘‘Showtime,’’ she said and rushed out into the station. She headed straight over to a big brown board on the side wall of the station. Papers of different sizes and colours filled up its space. NOTIFICATION BOARD it declared at the top and the word that stuck out was FOR RENT. New York was surely more expensive than Dayton but to Katie that was the price to pay to be in the big city.
‘‘The City of Sin,’’ her father would call it as he watched the news. ‘‘You know why it is called the Big Apple, right? Because just like the apple Satan gave to Eve, so does New York lead you to sin and dismay,’’ he continued.
‘‘Modern Sodom and Gomorrah,’’ mother would add.
Katie took out her pink Poochie pencil case from her school bag and her biology notebook which she was glad she would not be in need of anymore and started to write down all the numbers for one bedroom and two bedroom apartments. She emptied all her change into her right palm and with a never felt before confidence she walked over to the pay phone.
First number.
‘‘Hello?’’
‘‘Woman,’’ she said as she hung up the phone.
Second number.
‘‘Yes?’’
‘‘Shit,’’ and hung up again.
Third number.
‘‘Hello?’’ came the man’s voice through the receiver.
‘‘Third time lucky,’’ Katie thought as she arranged to meet the man at the apartment. She wrote down the address and looked for a cab. There was a whole line of yellow taxis, but Katie was searching for the right one. After a quick look, she walked over to the last one on her left, went up to the window and looked in. The indolent taxi driver was in his fifties, bald, unshaved and was wearing some old jeans with a blue and red checked shirt. ‘‘The perfect choice,’’ Katie whispered to herself.
‘‘Excuse me,’’ she said. ‘‘I need to go to this address in Brooklyn?’’ and passed the paper to the driver.
‘‘Sure, jump in,’’ he said with his rough voice.
‘‘Erm, there’s just one problem. You see, I just got back from out of town and my handbag was stolen. I haven’t got any money on me. If you could just take me home, I’d be very grateful.”
She saw the taxi drivers’ face go dark in a heartbeat.
‘‘Listen kid, I’m not driving all the way up to Brooklyn for free,’’ he barked.
‘‘I said, I’d be very grateful,’’ Katie said, emphasising the very and giving him her best shot of a seductive look.
‘‘What?’’ he asked, obviously puzzled.
‘‘I could sit up front, next to you and my hands could help kill the boredom of driving all the way up to Brooklyn for free,’’ she smiled.
The cautious cab driver looked around not believing what his ears were hearing.
‘‘Is this some sort of set-up or some hidden camera shit?’’ he thought.
‘‘Get in,’’ he finally said as being forced to.
When the scruffy and now excited cab driver drove out of the bus station and turned left down the street, Katie’s left hand reached out and touched his knee. The driver looked down and smiled mischievously with pure excitement in his brown round eyes.
‘‘At his age and with his looks, he must not get any that often. This is going to be easy,’’ Katie thought as her hand ran all the way up his thigh. She could see him getting hard, his bulge pushing up against the zip of his dirty, tattered, blue jeans. He helped Katie unbutton him and soon he was in heaven. Katie loved it, hearing his small grunts and heavy breathing while he desperately tried to concentrate on the road.
A few minutes passed before he gasped ‘‘Fuck… I’m going to explode.”
Without a second thought, Katie leaned over and began to please him orally, just in time to feel his release.
‘‘Oh my God,’’ she heard him repeating in a whisper as she sat back up in her seat. The satisfied driver tucked away his genitals, turned right and drove for a while in silence as Katie turned up the volume on the radio and began to sing Gypsies, tramps and thieves out loud.
Finally, he parked outside a tall bricked building with a couple of young Ginkgo trees planted outside on the grey cracked pavement.
‘‘We’re here,’’ he said, pointing to the old looking block of apartments.
Katie opened the door, but she did not get out just yet. She turned and looked at her fifty year old and overly excited driver and asked, ‘‘what’s your name, mister?’’
‘‘Huh? Matthew,’’ he replied, not expecting the question.
‘‘Matthew, I am Katie. Can I have your number if I may require your services again?’’ she asked and watched him clumsily open the glove department, take out a piece of paper and write down his work number.
‘‘Here you go,’’ he said and passed her his number. ‘‘Just ask them to send Matthew, ok?’’ he asked and Katie nodded back.
‘‘Have a nice day,’’ she said with a flat smile and got out of the car. She stood there watching the cab drive off and vanish into the traffic that was flowing like a river through the endless streets of this strange big city.
‘‘Transportation? Check!’’ she whispered as she mentally ticked the list of things to do in New York. She looked around. All the buildings looked the same. Same old brown-red brick, same tree every few meters, same steps leading up to the entrance and all the little windows with the same few plants and flowers.
‘‘How do they find their house when they come home drunk?’’ she joked to herself as she walked up the steps and pressed the doorbell button for flat 312.
‘‘Hello?’’ the deep, manly voice answered over the speaker phone.
‘‘Yeah, err… its Katie. I called you earlier?’’ she questioned as she heard the buzz and pushed upon the front wooden door.
‘‘Come on up,’’ he replied cheerfully.
The elevator was small and obviously outdated; however, it had a very pleasant scent of roses. She stepped out on to the third floor and looked left and then right. The walls needed a good repainting while the carpets were quite clean; probably changed recently. She looked at the golden little numbers nailed on each brown door. ‘‘306…308…310…312!’’ she silently said as she walked passed each door. She stayed still for a good whole minute just looking at the door of apartment 312.
‘‘Showtime, Katie! Act 2,’’ she finally said and gently but firmly knocked upon the door. The wooden door opened to reveal a man in his late thirties, clean shaven, with short dark-brown hair and modern black reading glasses. His eyes were kind and he smiled widely at her.
‘‘Come in, Katie. Come check out the place.”
Katie smiled back and walked past him to stand in the middle of the living room. It had an old brown sofa and opposite it was a small bookshelf and a little TV stand with an outdated television upon it. There was only one picture on the wall and it pictured some yellow flowers placed inside an orange clay vase.
‘‘Well, this is the main living area and that’s the kitchen. There are two bedrooms of equal size and a bathroom. Have a look around,’’ he said with his smile never leaving his face. Katie walked into the tiny kitchen thinking that she did not know how to cook anyway. One bedroom had a bed in it while the other was completely empty. The bathroom was one of the uglies
t she had ever laid eyes upon, but at least it was clean and had all the essentials. Green and purple tiles obviously did not combine and had no place living together in a two by two bathroom.
‘‘Staying alone?’’ he asked.
‘‘Yes.’’
‘‘Student?’’ he asked, slightly bemused as colleges had already started back in September.
‘‘Yes,’’ she answered, hoping he would not ask her where.
‘‘Where you from?’’ the questions continued coming.
‘‘Florida,’’ she said as it was the first that popped into her head.
‘‘Wow, must be lovely down in Florida this time of year.”
Katie just smiled back and walked into the bedroom on the right and sat on the double bed with the red bed sheets and the two puffed up pillows.
‘‘So, how come you are late to college, if you don’t mind me asking?” he asked, entering the room behind her.
‘‘I was going to come in September, but financial difficulties in the family kept me away. I guess I have a lot of catching up to do.”
She hoped the mention of financial difficulties would lead him away from asking personal questions and getting down to business.
‘‘It’s one hundred dollars per month, two rents upfront,’’ he said, looking at Katie.
Katie looked up at him with her big round eyes looking straight into his. She stood up, never releasing their eye lock, and walked towards him. She pushed her body up against his and with her right hand, she cupped him right between the legs. He then placed both his hands on her thighs and kissed her passionately on her neck. Katie, who was caught off guard by his spontaneous erotic response, sighed out loudly and gently bit his earlobe. His hands ran up all over her body as he kissed her with force on her youthful rosy lips. It was Katie’s first kiss and it could not have been more perfect; she felt her whole body shiver and her knees get weak. The robust man, whose name she did not even know, picked her up and threw her upon the bed. Katie sat there watching him as he rashly took off his grey shirt and pulled down his blue jeans. The bulge in his boxers was where Katie kept her eyes. He teased her, pulling them down slowly, finally revealing his erected penis. Katie’s eyes opened wide and she smiled in delight at the sight of the naked man she had opposite her.
‘‘Take all your clothes off,’’ he said, emphasising the all in his demand.
Katie, without hesitation, stripped away all her clothes and laid naked on the bed. The man then climbed up onto the bed and came on all fours above her. He kissed her gently on the mouth, then on her neck and with his tongue, he journeyed down to her breasts. Katie’s heartbeat was echoing in his ears. He continued his journey down and found himself between her legs. Soon, his tongue was inside her and his hands were caressing her upper body. Katie could not control herself any longer and began to breathe out loud. As he heard her screams get louder, he lifted his head and with his tongue, he journeyed back up to her mouth. Katie yelled out with joy as she felt him inside her. She felt she was in heaven as he changed positions with her. Her young body melting in his experienced arms. Soon, Katie was on top of him and he was thrashing Katie back and forth with his hands placed on her lower body, giving Katie her strongest orgasm yet. He lifted up his body, hugged her and turned them round for him to be on top. He pushed deep inside her while swirling around. Then, he suddenly pulled out and with a small grunt, he came all over her belly and breast. Panting, he fell back on top of her and kissed her on her forehead.
‘‘That… was…’’ he began to say breathlessly.
‘‘Amazing!’’ Katie cried out with pure satisfaction.
He smiled at her as he got up and walked over to his jeans. He bent down and searched for his pack of cigarettes and his silver Zippo lighter. Naked as he was, he stood there looking out the window, enjoying one of his Marlboros.
‘‘I want to stay here but… I can’t afford it,’’ she said, sitting in the nude on the edge of the bed and quickly added ,‘‘but I will! I promise I will pay you. I will find a job…”
‘‘It’s ok, kiddo. I knew you didn’t have the money. A young and beautiful girl like you, going for an older guy like me. Don’t stress. Pay me when you can and… if it’s ok by you, maybe I could come round and visit you now and then,’’ he said as he turned and smiled at her.
‘‘Sure,’’ she rushed to answer, happy to be called beautiful for the first time.
As he got dressed, Katie remained naked. Her body was too hot for clothes. She had just made love for the first time and she did not want it to end.
‘‘I’ve got to go baby girl,’’ he said, winked at her with a warm, gentle smile and slowly walked out of the room. Katie walked behind him to the front door and as he opened the door, he turned and laid a tender kiss upon her lips.
‘‘See you soon my little Katie,’’ he said and turned to leave.
‘‘Wait! I don’t even know your name,’’ she said with sorrow and gave him a love struck puppy eye look.
‘‘It’s Alexandros,’’ he said.
‘‘Alex…an-dros?’’ Katie repeated never having heard the name before.
‘‘Yeah, it’s Greek. From the ancient general, Alexander the Great.”
Katie shook her head as to say she did not know who he was talking about.
‘‘Guess, I’ll have to teach you a thing or two about Greece and its history!’’ he laughed and closed the door behind him.
With the door closed, Katie ran and jumped onto the bed. Her smile was running from ear to ear.
‘‘Accommodation? Check!’’ she said and giggled out loud.
The next morning Katie headed down the street to the phone booth and called up Matthew. She remained there waiting for him to show up. As she stood there, she wondered for a second what her mother could be doing and if they had the police looking for her.
‘‘I should send them a letter, just in case,’’ she thought.
The thought of being forced to go back terrified her. That was her old life and she had buried that horse deep in the ground.
Soon, Matthew parked up beside her and leaned over to open the passenger door. Katie sat in the cab and smiled a good morning to enthusiastic-to-see-her Matthew. He had not anticipated her to call so soon.
‘‘So, where to, me lady?’’ he asked.
‘‘Nowhere,’’ she replied and saw that same puzzled face as yesterday.
‘‘I need a job. I need cash.”
‘‘And what do I look like? An agency or something?’’ he said and chuckled.
‘‘Well, you drive around. I thought you might have seen some wanted signs.”
‘‘Now that you say, there is a wanted sign at the diner just a couple of blocks down,’’ he said.
‘‘Perfect!’’ she responded and placed her hand on his leg.
*****
Chapter 13
We both just stood there, looking at the car.
The Greek-Cypriot police had provided us with a rental car. A shiny silver Honda Civic. It was a nice car. It was just that the steering wheel was on the wrong side.
‘‘Go on then,’’ Ioli said.
‘‘Ladies first,’’ I joked and passed her the keys.
‘‘Chivalry when needed, huh?’’ she asked as she took the keys, opened the car and situated herself in the passenger’s seat.
‘‘Oh, the wheel is missing, oh, look it’s over there. In your seat!’’ she said and laughed out loud.
As I sat in the driver’s seat, I knew that one of her nudges was to follow and I was not wrong.
‘‘Pissouri village here we come,’’ she said as she placed the Nat Vat on the board and gave me a nudge.
I turned the key, the engine started and we were on our way to the village where our murdered model had walked her last hours.
For the first time in a while I had enjoyed a dreamless good night’s sleep at Aphrodite Hills Resort where the good old captain had booked us two rooms. Six hours without a visit from Ga
by. No waking up shouting as cold sweat fell from my face. I had enjoyed a good meal too. Late evening, Captain Filippou came back to the five star hotel and offered to buy me dinner at one of the resort’s high maintenance restaurants.
‘‘Two Captains on a date,’’ I joked, but once again, my humor did not register well. Maybe that is why I am into homicides and not comedy. I must admit, it was a pleasant evening, which halfway through, detoured from the case and turned personal. Drinking our Cypriot brewed beers after two amazingly well-cooked, honey marinated, Godzilla size pork chops I realised how much I had missed hanging out with friends back in the States. Especially Jimmy, who by the way I had to call and ask to check up on the list provided by Mrs Blair. Captain Filippou, as it turned out, was the type of guy that after a few drinks opens up about everything without even being asked. Soon, I was listening to how he had started an affair with Helen, the seductive, sultry coroner, how his faithful wife finally found out and how his marriage ended badly after twenty years.
‘‘Of course, my daughters took their mother’s side and now I only hear from them on birthdays and holidays. They didn’t even care to ask if I was unhappy in my marriage and what a miserable cow my ex-wife was. And Helen? She thought that after the divorce we could be something! As if I would marry again! I’m not that crazy,’’ he announced laughing.
Ioli too, was being entertained over dinner at a nearby restaurant. She had bumped into the helpful professor at the hotel reception and he missed no chance on asking her to accompany him to dinner. An offer she at first declined, most likely thinking of me being alone. Now it was my turn to give her a nudge. ‘‘Go, I’ll be fine. Go be young and have fun,’’ I said and then added, ‘‘be home by 10,’’ to gain an angry look with tones of ‘‘enough said, go away now.”
Greek Island Mysteries Boxed Set (Books 1-2-3): Gripping, psychological mystery/thrillers destined to shock you! Page 7
