Chapter 16

Once I got out of the taxi, I walked towards the house where we were living. I could hear a scream of joy, and then I had Sofia clinging all over me. I laughed and started swinging her over, when I heard a motorbike approaching and then there were shots that hit laughing Sofia in her back. I felt some bites on my already hurt left hand, but what really hit me was the emptiness that suddenly came to Sofia's eyes. Eyes that were so full of joy a fraction of a second ago. Somewhere in the back of my head, I could hear that the biker had some problems, and that he probably fell down. But that was not important. Subconsciously, I knew that nothing could be done for Sofia, as there had been several hits to her back, and I noticed that she did not breathe any more. Her eyes were now so empty. So empty. Empty.

I carefully lowered her to the ground, and closed her eyes. I also noticed that there was blood in my hands and her eyelids became bloody, too. Damn, I knew that I'd need to clean them later as she always wanted to look pretty for me. I looked at the fallen motorbike and the driver who was lying on the ground. He had started to make some attempts to rise and reach again for his Tommy gun, which was a bit further away. I walked to him and just when he tried to stand up I placed a kick to his groin. I held nothing back. My leg hurt but something gave away when he fell back screaming.

I picked my mobile from my pocket and placed a call I had hoped I'd never need to make. Once I heard who answered, I did not listen but started talking immediately.

"You may need to convince the authorities that they are not interested about the fireworks someone is shooting off, here. I think that we should meet. An ambulance will also be needed."

I shut down my phone, and took away the bastard's belt. After that, I tore some of his clothes while he lay there, whimpering. Once I had managed to do that I put tourniquet's high to both his arms and legs, and made sure that they were really tight. Once that was done I walked to the gun, which seemed okay. That was good, as I was sure that I did not have that much time. Once I had the gun in my hands I made sure that it was in single shot mode.

I walked back to him, and used my foot to turn him to his back. For a moment I felt sad that I had kicked him so hard, but just because I knew that it would probably take away some of the pain I was about to give him. Once he was lying on his back I put my foot on his right hand, and forced it away from his body. Then I placed two shots to his elbow. Those hollow-tipped bullets shattered his elbow into small pieces, but I could see that my tourniquet was holding nicely. I ignored his screaming, and repeated the procedure with his left elbow. Once I had done that, I had to tighten that tourniquets. It was not that easy, as I had only one fully working hand.

His screaming was bothering me a bit, and it even rose one octave when I placed two rounds to his right knee. The silence which followed when I repeated the gesture with left one was almost as disturbing. Once that was done, I dropped the gun. I walked back to Sofia, picking up my handkerchief.

I was cleaning the mess I had created on her face, when two approaching cars came to sudden stop. After some time I could sense that someone was standing next to me.

"I kept my promise. He should make it if he is taken to a hospital, quickly."

The old man looked sick, himself, when he nodded to me.

"Another thing, could you please arrange that she gets cremated. I'll take care of her after that."

I turned my back to the scene, and started walking towards the house. I waited for the bullets to hit my back, and felt almost disappointed to be alive when I entered the house. Once I stopped there, I again noticed the blood dripping down from my left hand. Shit, I was making a mess. There were several people looking at me but no-one seemed to dare to come even close. I picked up some paper an started cleaning up the mess I had created. That was when Manuela screamed and started yelling instructions around. My mind was totally empty. I was totally empty.

A part of me wondered why they really bothered, but I was all numb, and simply allowed the hassle to flow around me.

I sat down and someone took my shirt away. Then they tied the wounds in my left arm. Some time later a lady doctor appeared. I was walked to my room, where she looked and my wounds. She cleaned them and put in some stitches. They did not look like serious wounds to me. More like scratches. At least those bullets did not break there. She was not too gentle, but instead cursed me and men altogether, especially when she checked the soaked bandage in my left palm. I did not care. Not any more.

I woke up the following morning with a warm body next to mine. For a second I thought I was having a really bad dream; but, together with the pain, reality hit me. The shade of color in the hair was not right. It was Manuela who was sleeping next to me, and not Sofia. Just when I had accepted that Sofia loved me, and it was okay for me to love her, she was brutally taken away from me. As the effect of the painkillers had died, now, my whole left arm hurt. Yet it was nothing, compared to the hurt I was feeling inside. When Manuela noticed that I was awake, she tried to make sure that I remained in bed, but I smiled to her and declined. There must have been something in my smile that made her uneasy. I thanked her for helping me. I tried to convince her that I was better - now - and that the pain was not too bad. I told her that I could block it away. Yes, I could block away a huge amount of the physical pain, but I could not do a thing to the pain I felt all around me. That pain was not physical.

I forced myself to the kitchen, to have some breakfast. Gone was the joyful mood that had been there a few days before. Instead, it became totally silent when I entered. I could see a totally new feeling in their eyes. Fear. It was the same kind of look that had come to Hanna's eyes when she had heard what I had done. These girls knew that some of their clients were dangerous men. Men who had killed. But I was the one who had brought it to their backyard and done something in cold blood in front of their eyes. I took something with me, and went to eat alone.

When the lady doctor visited me later during the day, her attitude towards me was totally different compared to the previous day. Like it would have mattered to me, much? We only argued when she tried to give me some strong painkillers. I refused those. She was about to argue but I put my right hand very gently to hers. I noticed that she shivered, too.