The stench of the room filled my nostrils like the lingering fog of a wet back ally on blues night. The room was dark and quiet with just a shiver of light coming from underneath the bedroom door. Ugh, how do I wake up in these situations? I seem to be attracted to trouble like rats are attracted to old cheese. Not that I’m comparing myself to a rat, I consider myself much better looking that a rat. The night before was a blur in my head as I sat up on the bed realizing I had dead weight lying on my arm. Looking at the empty beer bottles on the floor and covering the nightstand and dresser, I grabbed my cell phone and shinned the light down onto a young girls face. She was around twenty with long blond hair and streaked mascara smeared down her face. The multi colored glitter on her face gave off a shimmering reflection of lost innocence as I very carefully removed my arm from under her resting head. It sometimes saddened me to see girls like her who were so beautiful turn into prostitutes and strippers, but hey it’s how the world turns right?

I looked around on the floor for my jeans and my lacy bra that somehow had made its way off of me sometime the night before during strip poker. The pounding in my head was a sign that I had enjoyed myself the night before as I got dressed in the dark as quietly as possible. Grabbing my keys off of the nightstand, I bolted for the door. This wasn’t the first time I had left someone laying in bed while I took the walk of shame. The house was empty by what I could tell as I made my way to the front door. I moved as fast as I possibly could with a hangover that was bleeding onto my brain as I walked and then climbed into my car. The leather seats of my black Camaro were hot enough to fry an egg on but I didn’t let it phase me as I pulled away from the curb to head to my house.

It tends to get pretty hot in Louisiana during the summer months. I guess once you’re raised around here you just learn to deal with the heat along with the swamps and dirty lifestyle. I live about twenty minutes from New Orleans in a small town that caters to the local fisherman and hunters. It’s not so bad if you were raised in this type of atmosphere, but to be honest, it isn’t for everyone. The mosquitoes are the size of cars, the alligators will come up in your back yard, no matter where you go you can more than likely see some water or sign to it, and every restaurant here serves seafood. I like it though because I can hide what I am and where I have been without people questioning me. What I am. Yea, Ellie Marie Frickey, that’s a subject that Einstein couldn’t even come to terms with.

When I was just a little girl I started training in martial arts and in sharp shooting. By the time that I was thirteen I could have been a skilled hit man and lethal weapon. But my parents continued to keep my normal girl persona. When I turned sixteen I came home to find both of my parents murdered and my existence fell apart. I then moved from one side of the Louisiana swamps to the other to move in with my crazy Aunt Betty who practices magic on a day to day basis. She brainwashed my head with promises of fairies and love spells until she had taken most of the pain of losing my parents away. We would drink vodka by the bottle and sit on the front porch at night and listen to the crickets sing and the frogs chirping talking about all the spells she knew and stories of when she had used them. Those were the good old days.

Lately I hadn’t had much time to spend with Aunt Betty since I had started working in New Orleans as a bouncer for a local escort service. I also take an occasional contract to off some crack head or dirty business man. Some people wouldn’t think what I do is an appropriate lifestyle choice for a young lady, but those people don’t know me and sure don’t know what I need. Yep I had to admit that I was one hell of conversation piece to the locals, but they didn’t know the truth. They all thought I was some kind of outcast with a pretty face who had emotional problems and that pushed men away. If only they knew that I could kill a man in three seconds with my hands, point blank with the draw of any gun, and knew enough spells to make man or woman melt in my hands emotionally, or physically. Yea I wouldn’t fit in with the rest of the town if they knew the truth, that’s for sure. But they didn’t know so I was good for another day.

Pulling down our long driveway paved with gravel pieces and lined with oak trees, I noticed that there were dark clouds starting to roll in. Looked like there was bad storm coming in and it was going to be here pretty quick. I pulled in my parking spot and made a straight line in the house and to my room to shower. The weather in this part of the United States was unpredictable and would strike at anytime. Being that we lived so far out in the boonies that there were hardly any road signs, we were always the last to get power turned back on once a bad storm came through, hence me hurrying to get a shower. Stepping into the warm shower I let the water caress my chest and shoulders as I watched the tainted water roll off of my body and swirl down the drain. The dirt and scandal of the night before was flowing down my leg and into the sewer where it belonged. I didn’t usually hook up with the girls that I worked with but occasionally it was nice to step out of the ordinary and let a different side of your soul dominate your norm. And I will be the first to admit that there is just something you get from a woman that you can’t get from a man, and vice versa. I heard a crackle of thunder in the distance as I washed the rest of my shampoo out of my long brown hair and shut the water off. I could hear Aunt Betty outside the bathroom door yelling, “Best get out of that shower young’un, don’t you know you gona push that luck one day and I’m gona have to come up with some spell to bring your burnt, lightning struck tushie back to life!” I couldn’t help but smile as I dried off and put some clothes on.

Aunt Betty was in the living room closing up the windows when I walked in. The curtains were all dancing around the windows as the wind picked up outside. I helped her close the rest of the windows and then Aunt Betty skipped to the kitchen to fix us a Bloody Mary. If there is one thing that will make the storm pass by a little quicker it’s having two witches talking over a stiff drink at one o’clock in the afternoon. The rain started to come down like cats and dogs hitting the top of a tin roof. The house we lived in was an older Cabin with a new tin roof that was funded by a contract I took on a man who was beating his wife and selling her out on the streets like a free for all. I hate when people think they own someone just because they are married to them. Aunt Betty had been widowed for some time now since her fourth husband had a strange boating accident. You would think the locals would find it odd that all four of Aunt B’s husbands had died all mysterious deaths, but not one time had the police tried to bother her with suspicious questions. I’m pretty sure that Aunt B took care of that in her own way, although it wasn’t very odd for people to just vanish or die mysteriously on the swamps.

When I first moved in with Aunt B I couldn’t believe the woman had been married four times. I mean that was just crazy, and so one day I asked her why. “It’s better to marry than to burn child, don’t you know nuthin? Besides they are bound to die on ya eventually, that is if you do ya job right,” was her response. I didn’t ask many questions after that about Aunt B’s husbands and how they died; besides she ended up telling me about each of them over the past few years while drinking Bloody Marys. Yeah, Aunt B and I defiantly had some stories to tell between the two of us. She always enjoyed hearing about the city life and the contracts I occasionally took. Peaking over at Aunt B I noticed she had already downed half of her drink while I was still sipping on mine. “That thing aint gona drink itself,” Aunt B managed to say between gulps. “Yeah, I know it; I’m still recuperating from last night. Things got a little crazy in the city last night. I had to beat up some ruff neck for messing with one of the girls at a private party and then we ended up making a party of our own,” I said with a smile on my face. The memories of the night before were starting to come back more clearly now as I was mixing alcohol to my hangover.

The escort service I work for, as a bouncer, hired a couple girls out for a bachelor party in town at a low end blues club in the gutter of New Orleans. The party went like all the parties usually do, drunken men, loud music, women dancing just trying to pay their light bill, and then one of the wasted men pushing one of the girls to far. That’s when I come in, I politely asked for the man to keep his hands to himself and like always they never listen. They just add another shot of liquor and start grabbing. So I broke some guys’ nose and then got the money and got the girls out. Mission accomplished. I don’t always party with the girls after their sessions but last night I decided to break free and let my hair down, hence me waking up with no bra on and a bad hangover this morning, typical Friday night in my life for the most part.

I caught Aunt B up on the previous night and how it all went down and then proceeded to tell her about a big job I had coming up. “Yeah some dealer in the city has been selling laced drugs to the girls on the streets, and whatever it is that they are lacing it with is dropping them like flies, and that’s not good for business. I managed to track down the area that it’s being sold. Several of the escort services and local drug dealers have all chipped in to get this problem taken care of,” I explained to Aunt B. She just looked at me with a worried look on her face and then wiped it away while saying, “Well we will have to just whip up some spells just in case, cause I would hate to have to pull out my shot gun and ride into that dirty city and start shooting folks.” I just smiled at her and continued to think silently while I drank the remainder of my Bloody Mary. The job would take a few nights just to feel out the situation and make sure I was getting the right guy. I want to make sure I get the source and not the messenger. That’s something that will weigh on you and taunt your dreams if you have a conscious. Luckily my aunt has erased mine to help me sleep better at night.

A few hours later the storm had passed through and left its trail of broken limbs, large mud puddles, and dense fog in the swamp air. I decided it would be a good night to hit up the streets to do some more homework on my ‘laced dead hookers’ case. I wasn’t big on walking the streets in New Orleans at night because all the weirdos and the perverts come out to play with the hookers and drug dealers. Not saying there’s anything wrong with them, but they aren’t exactly my type of fun on a foggy night like tonight. Aunt B was in the kitchen looking into a pot on the stove when I got done getting ready in my slut attire; I figured I would look the part since I would be in the neighborhood. Aunt B took one look at me and shook her head saying, “It’s going to take another frog leg and a coon in heats hair to keep you out of danger being dressed like that!” Throwing things in the pot she started singing like she always did before she said her spells aloud. She once told me that if you sang before you cast spells then it would cast the evil away and that the mean spirits couldn’t interfere with your spell.

I sat down at our old and antique wooden table as she finished up her touches on her concoction until she finally poured it into a vase on the table in front of me. As the vapors arose like a sweet candy cooking in a candy shop, I inhaled and closed my eyes as she chanted, “Thru the streets alone you walk, and in your tracks evil will halt, may no evil hold you down, deep inside the strength is found. “ She continued the chant for several minutes until the hot liquids had cooled and vapors no longer rose above the vase into my nostrils. I opened my eyes once she quit chanting and grabbed my keys off of the counter. “I don’t know what time I will be back Aunt B, just don’t wait up,” I said to her as I walked out the back door. Aunt B had never said much of anything about the line of work I was in, unlike what others would have had they known. She knew the spells she place on and around me would protect me when my talents wouldn’t.

As I pulled into a parking spot near the neighborhood I came to do the damage on I noticed one of the drug dealers who had given me some info on the case. Apparently my hooker attire was pretty good because he was staring back at me hard enough to burn a hole slap through me. At least I knew that if it came down to it I could start charging for sex to pay the bills. A slight shiver ran down my spine warning me that something wasn’t right or either I was really nervous one. It took a lot to make me nervous so I was going with something not being right. I would defiantly be watching my back today. Stepping out of the car the man they call Curley started walking my way. “Well hey der, you looking to make some money der girl?” He asked me. Trying to hide the disgust in my voice I replied as calmly as I could, “You don’t remember me do you? You told me you had some competition on the streets and you wanted some help with finding it.” He stood up tall and without apologizing he turned around and said just loud enough for me to hear, “follow me; I got someone I want you to meet.” So I followed him down two blocks on foot and then made a left turn onto an ally with four or five girls huddled up together. I guess he was a pimp on top of a drug dealer, man he set his limits to the sky. “Dis here girl is going to help us find out who been lacing dem drugs.” One of the girls walked up to me and introduced herself as Lillie. She was probably around 21 but looked like she was 30. Her hair was oily, her skirt was ripped down the side, and her red lipstick was as bright as a Vegas night; she was defiantly a keeper. She told me about how one of her friends had been working two nights before and bought what was supposed to be a plain jane crack rock and after smoking it she didn’t wake up the next morning. I took mental notes and asked a few questions about where she was when she bought the drugs and what the guy who sold it looked like and all that jazz. After talking with a few of the other girls I had enough information to do a stakeout. I was going to find this guy and take him down.

Lillie and the other hookers had agreed to let me stand with them in the neighborhood that the drugs were being sold and pose as one of the crew. I watched as one of the girls got into an older mans car and drove off slowly. The next car pulled up and Lillie nudged my arm and whispered, “Dat's the guy that my friend went with to get her fix.” I started walking up to the driver side of the car and leaned down on the window twirling my tongue around the tip of a blow pop in my hand. “Well hey there baby, what can I do for you tonight?” I asked him in the slutiest voice I could throw at him. My goal was to get alone with him and find out if he’s my guy and if not if he knew who was. He was a middle aged white male with tattoos peeking below his sleeves and shoulder length dirty blonde hair. It’s too bad he was a suspect cause he was kind of cute. His voice startled me when he replied, “No, but I brought some goodies if any of you girls are interested.” I looked into his lap and saw a handful of dime size bags while he was awaiting my answer. So this guy thinks he can just roll in here and kill all the hookers? This may be the rough side of town, but it isn't grand theft auto by a long shot. Thinking of a way that I could get alone with him to break his arm and get some questions answered I replied, “Well we could ride around the corner and work out a deal for the whole stack if you want.” He looked very hesitant about it at first but I guess my charm and the fact that he wanted to get rid of the whole bag of crack took over his brain and he nodded his head for me to get in. As I walked around the car I winked at Lillie and she just nodded back. This guy just picked up the wrong hooker on the wrong side of town. His mama should have taught him better.

Once we pulled around the block and he put the car in park he turned to look at me and said, “So you can give me two hundred for the whole bag. Its top of the line shit, and there’s even a little extra something in there to keep you going all night.” So looks like I had caught the bandit red handed, but I had to make sure he was the one making the mixed product before killing him. “Don’t you want to work some other kind of deal out? I mean I’m all about trading.” I asked him in the sexiest voice I could come up with. “No, I just want the cash and we will call it even. I’ve never paid for sex and I’m not about to start.” Well if he isn’t just a gentleman. In the blink of an eye I managed to grab his arm and pull it over his head and around his back making him squirm in pain and in a position where he was not able to move. “Now that I have your attention, where did you get these drugs from? And who laced it for you?” I asked in my serious tone when I’m trying to be patient with a good looking scum bag. “It’s mine; I get the Ex from a friend and lace it myself. What the hell is your problem? Let me go!” Well that helps me. But Ecstasy mixed with a little crack shouldn’t be dropping people like flies around here. I mean these people do drugs every day and so their tolerance is pretty damn high. Something wasn’t adding up with this story. “Do you have any of the ecstasy that’s laced in with the crack your offereing me?” I asked him hoping like hell he did. I could test it to see if it really was ecstasy and if it wasn’t I would have to talk with Aunt B to find out what it was since concoctions were her specialty. Lover boy broke my thought pattern by yelling, “Yea it’s in the glove box, look this is only my second time selling. Can you give me a break you crazy whore!” He just keeps digging the grave deeper and deeper for himself. I opened the glove box to see a small bag of white powder and nine mm Smith and Wesson lying there just as pretty as you please. I picked up the gun and pointed it at my new friend. “Let’s go for a little drive, shall we?”

I told lover boy how to get back to my car and once we arrived he parked and with a little push, shove, and gun to the head, he got into the trunk of my car. I wasnt too much worried about him having leg space because the trunk to my old 1971 oldsmobile 442 had plenty of room. The car was older than I was but man how I loved it. After grabbing the drugs I drove home to the swamp land. Aunt B was sitting on the front porch when I pulled up in the drive and I flashed my lights at her several times to warn her something was up. She took my sign and headed inside. I told Aunt B when I got in this business that I didn’t want her to see something she would have to lie about later. If she never saw anything then there’s nothing to hide, so the flashing of lights was our little sign. I watched as she walked inside and waited until the front door was closed. I heard yelling from the trunk and I could tell that lover boy was still a little pissed about being stuffed in my trunk. I put the crack and Ex in my purse and walked to the back of the car. “Look, I don’t want to shoot you, at least not until I find out what I need to know. So just stay calm and I’ll be back in a few,” I yelled to the banging coming from my trunk. He had nothing but anger on his voice when he responded, “Who the hell do you think you are! You can’t just kidnap people when you feel like it! I didn’t do nothing wrong, just trying to make a dollar lady!” Ok, if that’s the case then he will be a free man, but until I test these drugs he will sit his cute little ass in my trunk.

I took the goods inside and pulled out my handy test kit and see if this is really just plain old ecstasy. After pouring the solution into the test capsule, shaking it, then waiting for results, it came back as sometime different. Aunt B walked into the room about that time and peeked over my shoulder. “Whatcha testing for there pumpkin?” She asked wanting to be a part of the action. I gave into her nosiness and replied, “I was hoping this was plain ecstasy, but it’s not, and I don’t know what it could be.” About that time Aunt B pushed me out of the way and took over. She smelled the baggy and disappeared for a minute. When she returned she said, “Well if you’re trying to make some feel good stuff, your way off young’un, cause this is boric acid.” Well that explains a lot. “I think you should get rid of this stuff while I take care of something outside.” I said to her as I stormed out the door.

Lover boy had quieted down a great deal once I reached the trunk. I opened the trunk with one hand and held the gun in the other. As fast as the trunk opened I said, “I should put a bullet in your ass right now. Boric acid? What the hell is wrong with you?” I was as mad as a junkyard dog and he could tell it. Throwing his hands in the air he stuttered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I get the ecstasy from my guy and then lace it in with the other. I always tell them what’s in it before I sell it.” I know that I shouldn’t give in but the look in this mans eyes told me that he was telling the truth. He was just a random idiot thinking he was buying high grade ecstasy when in reality someone was selling him boric acid. But why the hell would someone want to do that. They would have to know how fatal the intake of that is. The only other question I needed to test him with I did, “Who did you get the ecstasy from?” I could tell by the next look he shot me that he wasn’t going to give me a name, so I persuaded him otherwise by cocking the gun and straightening my aim. About half a second later he responded, “A guy named Curley. I don’t know anything else about him, I swear!” Well mama always told me that if you have a bad feeling you best go with it, God rest her soul. So that sneaky bastard was the one selling the dirty drugs all along, but why? Why would he want to kill his own hookers and risk his income? I guess I would just have to ask him after I put a bullet in his ass for putting me on this wild goose chase. I put the gun down and raised my hand to help lover boy get out of my trunk. “I’ll take you back to your car after I fix a drink. You can join me if you want or just sit here on the car. By the way I’m Ellie.” I said to him as I turned around and walked past my car and the old oak tree leading to the front porch and into the house. I knew he would follow; he is a man after all.

I walked into my room and put some jeans and a tank top on. Once I walked back into the living room I saw Aunt B and lover boy sitting on opposite sides of the room looking at each other. Aunt B was smiling when she asked, “So who’s your friend Ellie?” Before I could say anything lover boy piped up and answered, “I’m Josh and she is not my friend. She kidnapped me.” Without missing a beat Aunt B laughed and replied, “Yeah that girl has always had a way with men. She just knows how to steal their heart away, whether it is by kidnapping or cutting it out.” I loved that woman, and the smile on my face showed it. I walked into the kitchen to leave Aunt B and Josh to talk as I fixed a glass of Jack on the rocks and took a big gulp then refilled. I knew that when I saw Curley earlier in that night I had a bad feeling. That mans more slippery than snot on a glass doorknob and I didn’t trust him from the beginning. I still couldn’t understand why he would want to hurt his own girls though. That would be like shooting your best coon dog; just doesn’t make sense.

So as I was pondering on these new thoughts I overheard Aunt B offing Josh a drink. He seemed to be loosening up some and I wasn’t sure that was a good thing or not. Aunt B had a way sometimes with tampering in my love life. She thought that every woman should be married at least a few times to know what life was really about. The closing of a cabinet startled me as Aunt B sat a glass on the countertop. “Snap out of it young’un, Aunt B is about to make some magic happen!” Aunt B said as she started pouring from an unmarked bottle. Once she had about a third of the glass full she added jack on top of it. I couldn’t let her mess with this guys head like this, even if he was a total knockout and I could picture him naked without even looking at him. “Aunt B I don’t think that’s a good idea, besides I’m about to take him back to his car.” I could tell that wasn’t going to fly with her, because she was out of the kitchen giving him the drink before I had time blink an eye. Damnit, it was going to be a long and interesting night.

After a few of Aunt B’s love and truth concoctions Josh was telling us all about how he use to be a logger and how his family was on top of the world. “Everything was great. We had a good paying business doing what we loved to do. Then one day we were working on a big job and a tree fell on my dad and killed him. After that my mom drank away her problems along with the family business’ money and the business just crashed. I started scrapping cars and trying to support the family. That lasted for a while, but times are tough you know? So I mechanic full time now and sell occasionally when someone pays good enough,” he explained. I don’t know if it was the fact that I felt sorry for the guy or I just thought him being a logger and then a mechanic was sexy, but for some reason I just wanted to hear more. His voice was soothing and reminded me of molasses on a summer day. Yeah I know, I’m a total loser, but hey the man was sexy. After we sat around the living room laughing and getting to know each other I looked at the clock and it was a few minutes after One a.m. in the morning. Aunt B sensing to see where my mind was headed stood up and waddled to the hallway. Looking over her should her she said, “Well boys and girls I’m going to hit the sack. You kids play nice.” Like a flash she was gone and now I was all alone with a good looking blonde haired, green eyed, tan hunk of a man. I was starting to wonder if Aunt B had spiked my drink instead of his. To avoid awkward silence I asked him, “So can I take you to your car now? Since it’s so late I don’t mind letting you crash on the couch; that is if your girlfriend or kids won’t miss you tonight.” Yea I played that card. What? I may be many things but I am no home wrecker and I defiantly want to know if he has some little hottie waiting for him. He eased my nerves some when he replied, “No, no, I don’t have any kids or a wife. Those things seem to complicate life too much for me. And it’s up to you if you want to wait until morning to take me back. I’m sure you don’t want to be on the roads this late; you may hit an alligator or something.”

I offered him another drink in hopes that the smile on my face would be hidden in the kitchen. After returning to the living room we moved to the front porch and sat on the swing. I told him why I had kidnapped him and about the hookers who had been killed and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he felt horrible. We sat and joked and laughed for two solid hours on the front porch and I finally decided it was time to call it a night. He followed me into the house as I walked into my bedroom to get him a blanket and pillow for the couch. As I turned around he was staring me right in the eyes with a sexy little grin on his face. His teeth were so white and his eyes had more sparkle than the stars looking down on Louisiana. I had to say something before I melted in his arms, “I got you a blanket and a pillow for the couch… is there…anything else you need?” I couldn’t believe I was stuttering like a school girl. Out of nowhere his rough hand barely ran its finger along the curve of my face and down my neck. A welcomed chill climbed my spine with desire of his touch. The only thing going through my mind was how I was going to kill Aunt B for what she had done. Josh leaned down and his soft lips grazed across my cheek bone as his other hand grabbed the blanket and pillow out of my arms and tossed them on my bed. In one motion he had pulled me into his arms and was holding me tight as he kissed gently from my ear to my collar bone. What had Aunt B given him? Horney juice? I knew I should have stopped him but my body wouldn’t let me.

I gave into his arms and let my fingers softly caress his chest, and boy was his chest carved nicely. My lips met his and I swear it was like fireworks lit up our side of the swamp. All of a sudden his body collapsed onto me so I released him on the bed. Oh my gosh I had killed him. Wait, no, I didn’t kill him, Aunt B killed him. I checked his pulse and started to relax a little after I realized he had just passed out. I will have to let Aunt B know that she needs to work on her concoction a little more before serving it to the guest. I laid him across my bed since I knew I couldn’t carry him back to the couch and I grabbed a blanket and pillow and headed for the couch. Maybe he wouldn’t freak out in the morning when he woke to find himself in some strange girls’ room.

The sun was shining a little too bright this morning on the bayou for me. Rays of sunshine tore through the curtains waking me bright and early. I decided there was no use in trying to stay lying on the couch so I took a shower and made some breakfast. Aunt B joined me once the coffee pot started spilling amazing aromas in the air. “So, where is the stud this morning?” Aunt B asked playfully. My reply wasn’t as chipper, “Well he is sleeping off your concoction. He passed out last night and I left him in the bed. I hope he is ok.” Aunt B played off my comment like it didn’t bother her and she disappeared down the hallway. I assumed she was going to check on him, but I wasn’t in the mood to follow. About two minutes later Aunt B and Josh emerged from the hallway and sat at the table. Wow he still looked amazing first thing in the morning. The lighter blonde hairs on his head seemed to pick up the sunshine coming in from the window and also seemed to make his eyes sparkle a little more. There was something about a grease monkey first thing in the morning that just gets a girl like me going. We all ate breakfast and then I offered to take him back to his car in the city. He wasn’t as enthused as I thought he would be but he agreed.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 28.02.2011

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