Fire

15. Smoke

SATURDAY

(Lana's Point of View)

Eleven in the morning.
I had already taken a shower and had the letter I'd written to Lily hidden in my corset while my husband was still fast asleep. He'd come home really late as usual, probably from the casino. Stinking of whisky like always. I got out of the bathroom making subtle noise, and he started stirring in bed.

"Good morning honey." I said to fully wake him up.

"...What's good about it." He responded groggily.

"Salvador, Martha told me there is nothing to cook tonight for dinner, and she is off at three. So I was thinking I could go to the market and get some Lamb. If that's fine with you." I told him seeming uninterested.

Salvador rubbed his eyes still seating on our bed and then looked at me with an untrustful stare.

"Why can't Martha go get it as usual. Before she is off." He responded.

"Well I wanted to take a walk, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and also get some stuff for dinner." I told him nicely.

He remained silent for several seconds.

"Fine. But I want you back no later than six again."

"Of course honey, I won't take long. Could I take the key?" I said before I grabbed my purse.

"No. I'll be here. I'll let you back in."

"Okay. See you later then."

"Elizabeth, bring a bottle of gin too."

I nodded and left.

I think my husband is becoming an alcoholic. He goes out almost every night and comes home drunker than usual. But I think that is also taking him a bit off my back... Whatever it is, I need to keep playing the game until I have a plan to escape. Now the most important thing for me, is to talk to Lily.

I went directly to the post office so they could send the letter to Lily's house. I hoped the words enclosed in the envelope could really make justice of how sorry I was for not contacting her in over a month. And that I needed to speak with her as fast as possible so I could explain her everything...

I arrived to the small post office. What day is it today? I thought. The course of time had seemed so irrelevant lately. I looked at the postman's calendar on the wall. Saturday the 2nd of August. Fuck. The mail won't be delivered until Monday. there is no mail services on Sunday.

I left the letter and made my way to the market. I Bought a pound of lamb meat and the bottle of gin Salvador wanted. I checked the hour on the clock tower in the market. It was only 4 o' clock. I still had a couple of hours left before I had to make my way back to my house. But I could feel the stare of half the people in pueblo blanco, so I made my way to the only place were I could be in peace.

I headed to the beach and contemplated the waves and the beautiful sunset before I had to return in the dusk.

I arrived to my house and just as I was about to ring the bell, I noticed the gate door was forged open and the lock was on the ground. I was confused because Salvador told me he would stay in the house all day... Maybe he'd gone out and forgot the keys inside, and had to call someone to open the gate since Martha, our maid, was off after 3.

I entered slowly through the dark corridor filled with the rose bushes until I arrived to my house. All the lights were off, which was weird. We always kept everything on. Before I could open the door, I heard a deep voice, shouting something in the kitchen. I recognized the voice right away. It belonged to Alvaro Quirante. What was he doing in our house this time of night on a Saturday? He was probably with my husband talking about money, but the loud shouts made me scared, and I decided to see through the kitchen window from the outside what was going on.

It was very dark by now so I knew they wouldn't see me. I approached the small kitchen window and hid between the bushes. The kitchen was the only room in the house that was lit up. Alvaro and Luis Quirante were both there. My husband was seating on the kitchen table. I couldn't hear clearly from outside but Luis also kept on shouting something to Salvador. I saw Salvador begging for something. I started getting scared. What did they wanted? My heart started beating faster and faster And then, just after a split second, Alvaro took out a bright silver gun from his pocket and a loud gunshot resonated in the room. Blood splat on the window I was looking through. My heart gave a huge jump in my heart and I instinctively covered my mouth to stop myself from screaming. my eyes were filled with tears from terror. I gave three steps backward when I noticed both Quirante brothers instantly went to the door to exit. I covered myself in the bushes and I watched them swiftly get away in a car that was waiting outside my house.

Salvador had been shot in the head. The tears were flooding my eyes so much, they were blurring my vision. My heart was near a tachycardia.

My husband was dead.

I ran as fast as my nerves allowed me to into my house and instantly went to the phone in our bedroom. I tried dialing the police emergency number but my hands were shaking so much that I had to re dial a couple more times before I finally got it. I sounded neurotic but I couldn't hide the desperation in my voice, telling the police department that Salvador had just been shot in the head by the Quirante brothers. They told me they would send a patrol right away.

I waited for around 15 minutes in the main corridor of my house, still crying my eyes out, not wanting to enter the kitchen and look at the now deformed face of Salvador, all covered in blood.

The police finally arrived to my house and they went to examine the body and the crime acene. They took a couple of pictures before the ambulance took it away. Two other officers asked me so many questions it was hard to answer, my mind was still in a state of shock, but I tried telling them what happened with as many details as I could. My crying didn't help though.

They took my now descaeced husband's body, and told me they were going to send another patrol to the Quirante's manor to interrogate them. They told me they were so sorry for my loss, and that they were going to investigate the murder first thing tomorrow morning. The police and ambulance left my house at around two in the morning. I went and laid on my bed after taking some pills the paramedics gave me to help me sleep and calm down.

 I was feeling exhausted, terrified, in absolute paranoia, thinking to myself;

Why is Lily not here holding me right now..?

I'm depressed cause I missed the sale for Lana's show in NYC and now the tickets are up to $280 :( but it's okay... I know I'll see her somewhere else, and I already met her so with that I'm just eternally happy-

Have a nice saturday!

xx
Soho Gal