Chapter 9

As soon as I got back to St Barnabas, I locked myself in my room. I ripped off the clothes I was wearing and jumped into the shower. I scrubbed my body clean from any evidence I had on me. The clothing I had on I dumped in a black garbage bag, to get rid of later. All these items needed to be destroyed. My adrenaline was still high. I emptied the contents of the rucksack onto the bed, covering the bedspread with money. It took me a while to separate the notes into their category and count it. There was over £10,000 in cash. I didn’t get any shut-eye until the early hours of Sunday morning.

The loud knock on the door woke me up. Grabbing my watch, it showed a few minutes after eleven. I could hear in the background the sound of the clergymen, they were reading from the bible. It can’t be Father Petrou at the door. He will be in church.

There was more knocking on the door. “Give me a minute!” I shouted. I quickly slipped into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. I splashed some water on my face then brushed my hair back. Turning to look at the bed, I gazed at the black garbage bag and the rucksack. I pushed both items under the bed.

A female voice in broken English shouted, “Open door. I know you there.”

“Ok, I’m coming!” I yelled.

When I opened the door, Tatiana stood there in front of me. She was the last person I expected to see this morning. She rubbed her hands together, trying to warm them up. I looked thoroughly to see if she was with anyone. She was alone.

“You invite in or I stand in cold,” she said.

I stared at her for a moment before I stepped aside, making way for her to come inside. She slowly walked into the room. She gave the place a quick scan, before she walked up to the bed, sitting down on the edge of the mattress.

“How do you know where I live?” I asked her.

“After you leave, police come, many police,” she said.

“That wasn’t my question. I want to know how you found out where I live!” I demanded, raising my voice.

“Don’t worry, only me.” She smiled.

I smiled back. Shaking my head

Tatiana tried to explain to me, what happened after I’d left. The neighbours delayed in calling the police so that I could get away. As soon as Jimmy heard the sirens, he got into his car and drove out of Gladstone Avenue. Some gang members did the same. Whoever was left behind was arrested when the police arrived.

She laughed. She said, “Many police come. Neighbours say.” She was thinking to find the right word before she continued. “Many man come and they fight.”

“The neighbours said to the police that it was a gang-related incident?” I said.

“Yes, yes,” she replied.

We occultly sat and looked at each other for a moment.

“Where are you staying?” I said.

“Staying?” She gazed at me with a confused look on her face.

I tried again. “Where are you going to live?” I said slowly. With a hand gesture, I drew a house on the bed mattress with my finger.

“With friend, Kilburn. You know Kilburn,” she said.

I nodded my head.

I pulled the rucksack from under the bed, opened it and pulled out a bundle of money. I counted £2000 and gave it to Tatiana. She watched me put the rest of the money in the bag. “Is everything ok? Do you need more money?” I said.

“No.” Her vision went from the bag to my face. Her eyes were moist. She said, “You good man. Money goes to Salvation Army. You help many times.” Leaning forward, she kissed me on the cheek.

She got up and walked over to the door.

“Tatiana, we have to work on your English, if we’re going to keep on meeting like this,” I smiled.

She smiled back, opened the door and left.

The church was full. It was over spilling with Christians wanting to get inside. They had to pay the price for coming to church late as I did. Everyone went quiet as the Orthodox Archbishop said a speech after the service. I watched the masses around me, consisting mostly of families. In the crowd, two individuals stuck out like flies in milk. They were CID. I turned to look onto the street. Parked on a double yellow line was a black BMW 5 series. I smiled to myself. These guys make their presence visible wherever they go.

The Archbishop’s speech dragged on for a while. It was the same speech you hear every time you go to church. ‘The church needs money for its up keeping’. After his talk, the small silver trays appeared for people to put donations. When his lecture had finished, he began making his way to the exit. It took him a while to go through the crowd, to get to the vehicle waiting for him outside. Every woman who was over sixty-years-old blocked his path, asking him for his blessing. When he got to his Mercedes limo, his driver held the back seat door open, as Father Petrou helped him to get inside. A few minutes later, the limo disappeared around the corner. The crowd also scattered like ants under attack, going in different directions. A few stayed inside the church to pray. There were also two clergymen from St. Mary’s Church who had come to help. They were inside the church, finishing off their duties. Father Petrou was outside his office. He was speaking with the two detectives.

Father Petrou looked over at me. “Tony can you come to my office please!” he called.

Without saying anything, I walked over. Father Petrou introduced me to Detective Smith and Detective Brown. They took over the conversation. They explained to both of us about the events of the previous night, not getting into too many details.

“You go jogging late at night Tony? Did you go last night?” Father Petrou said.

The two detectives turned their attention to me.

“Yes. I went between one and two,” I said.

“Did you see anything suspicious while you were running? Maybe you saw some cars going over the speed limit or a group of men that were acting suspiciously?” Detective Smith said.

I shook my head. “I did hear police sirens, but I didn’t think much of it. Saturday night, you guys are always busy,” I said. Trying to look as calm as possible.

Detective Brown said, “Tell me about it. Saturday nights are a handful, especially with Christmas coming up.”

Father Petrou and I nodded our heads in agreement with him.

We all exchanged hand gestures. Detective Brown said, “If you remember anything from Saturday, don’t hesitate to call us.” Both of them handed me their cards, with their details.

“Sure, detectives.” Taking the cards, I put them in my jeans back pocket.

I watched them both get into the beamer and drive off. I took a deep breath and sighed. “Thank God they are gone,” I said to myself. Father Petrou came next to me. He stroked his beard.