CHAPTER 8 OLYMPIA
Unlike the previous night, I were finally able ta sleep. It were late when I awoke the next mornin' an' I knew that my plan ta find the ol' guy (Gramps), hadn' given me the answer ta getting' me an' Kuchel ta the surface, an' outta the Underground. Not when he were hunted all his life, an' now at the end o' it, he were a prisoner unable ta even use his power ta strike back or free himself. Sure, I'd go back an' visit him, but the questions that had haunted me, seemed ta disappear now I knew that it were, as it always had been, only me that could change things.
But, he were right 'bout one thing, I did have ta find Kuchel. I called my boys together an' gave them the order ta find Kuchel, even if it were jus' a body. I had boys workin' on it day an' night, 'cross the entire Underground, as they ran their ususal rackets, an' report back ta me when they made their payments an' took their cuts. An' me, havin' quite an association with mos' o' the tarts in the district, did my own 'research'.
After two months, there were still nothin' so's I told 'em ta search again, but this time check out ANYONE that even vaguely matched Kuchel's description, even if the name an' age didn' match. This time, it only took a couple o' days, afore one o' my boys came back with a story ' bout a new establishment that had recently been set up. It weren' like a regular whore house, more like a boardin' house, where the girls worked in the same rooms they lived in an' their landlord were also their pimp. This shit, were bottom o' the barrel, no wonder it had flown under the radar- not listed as a whore house, not listed as a boardin' house - invisible.
The other thin' my boys had found out were that there were no Kuchel that worked or lived there, but there were a few new girls; young, dark an' all had workin' girl names - anonimity for the customers an' the girls were assured.
I had no hope, but it were the closest I'd come ta any sorta real lead, even the bodies my boys had turned up weren' nothin' like her, so's I still had reason ta believe she were still alive an' down here somewhere. So's I went across town, nearly ta the Southern district, an' came ta a small, run down, wooden two storey shack o' a house. Blink an' ya'd miss it, which is 'xactly what I suspected my boys had done first time 'round. The front door were open. It looked abandoned, but I went in, anyways.
It were dimmley lit, unfurnished an' dirty. Under the stairs, a greasy, smilin', fat pig o' a man stood at a desk, watchin' me with his greedy eyes.
"Welcome to my establishment. Can I get you somethin' to ease your troubles? We got a nice variety here, an' they'll do ANYTHING, no questions asked, no refusals given. And all for a resonable price", he smirked at me, spreadin' his arms wide. " 'T' aint much, but we like ta call it home!"
My hand reached for Silver Lady as the urge ta slice that greasy smile off his face became over whelmin', but instead I pulled out the creased picture o' Kuchel an' me ( the only one I had) an' showed the greasy pig.
"Her. Do you have her?" I growled, prayin' the answer would be 'no'.
" Now, now, come on, we haven't been properly introduced. Now, my name is Johnas. Just think of me as your own personal gofer - if I don't have it, I'll 'go' get it 'for' you", he slimed ingraciatingly.
His grin widened ta reveal his missin' teeth. " Now, let me see... Aaaaaahh, yes, Olypimia. Fine choice, sir. New too, not yet proper broken in, if ya know what I mean. Now, that's one mountain ya want to climb!" he laughed, as I lost some o' my self- control an' hit him square in the jaw.
The laughter stopped.
I grabbed his sweat stained, grimy collar an' pulled his face close ta mine, Silver Lady glintin' in the dim light in my free hand, as every ounce o' self control I had were exercised in NOT slittin' his throat there an' then. But this were 'bout findin' Kuchel, so's I held steady.
"Now,' Jones', my name is Kenny the Ripper. That name mean anythin' ta ya?"
His head bobbled forward in affirmation, as he blubbered an' sweat trickled down his face," Oh sir, it's Johnas sir. I'm sorry sir. I mean no disrespect, sir. It's just that I wasn't expecting someone of your stature to come into my humble establishment, sir."
"Your shit – hole – in – the –wall, you mean! Now, where's Kuchel?" I snarled.
"Who?" he asked, shakin'
"Kuchel! MY SISTER!" I yelled, shovin' the picture in his face.
"Oh, you mean Olympia. I'm sorry, sir. I didn't know. No disrespect sir. I only know her by that name, and I never guessed she was a relation to you. I'm sorry Mr. Ripper, sir. I just forgot myself", he apologised.
"Forget again an' it won't be my fist", I threatened , shovin' him back inta the wall behind him. "Now, where is she?"
"Room five, top o' the stairs , on the left, Mr Ripper, sir", he answered shakily.
So she'd made it official. No longer were it jus' drunken pick up's ta quell the lonliness. Now she were an actual whore.
I paused for breath afore climbin' the stairs. An' once at the top, I must've stood ouside that door for a full five minutes, afore I knocked. This time, no happy voice askin' who it was, only the groggy question from a body with a hang-over, unused to visitors.
I cleared my throat, "It's me, Kenny. Open up Kuchel".
"Come in. It's already open", answered the groggy voice.
Of course it had come to this. Now she didn' even have a lock on her own door. Nothin' she had left ta protect from bein' taken.
I walked in slowly, my boots echoin' on the unswept floor boards. She lay in the bed at the end o' the room, the blinds still drawn, her hand over her eyes, squintin' at me as I entered.
"What do you want, Kenny?" she asked." I told you never ta come back, that I never wanted ta see you again, that I want nothin' from you", she continued.
"Aaaahh, come on Kuchel, we're family. I heard what happened ta Levi. I'm sorry for ya", I replied.
"Yeah, sure you are. You never even met him. Never wanted us to be together, to be happy. We were married less than a MONTH when it happened. MARRIED!" she screamed.
" A month, a month to be man and wife, to truly belong to each other!" greif and anguish choking her voice. " Not that you'd know. My own brother, not at my wedding. No-one to stand up for me! So don't come here now, pretendin' to be all caring. I KNOW how you really feel", she said, her eyes angry an' resigned.
"It don' matter no more Kuchel. It's all over an' we can start again, clean slate. I'll take care o' you an' you'll get back on your feet an' it'll be jus' like before, when we was happy. I don' need ta leave no more. No more bein' seperated. I can be here for ya this time. An' we got family. I found our Grandpa. We're not alone any more, Kuchel. It'll be different, I promise," I entreated her.
"And my baby, is that part of your new 'family' or do I have to 'clean the slate ' with that too?" asked Kuchel sacastically.
"You're, you're, havin' Levi's ch.. child?" I stammered.
A strained, gutteral laugh echoed from deep within her body an' a hardness came into her eyes.
"His child?" she laughed. "I'm not having his child!"
"You're not pregnant?" I asked, surprised.
" Now there may be a little bun in the oven.. But God knows it's probably not his. Maybe Jason's or Ben's or Nick's or whatever their names are.... But , no, Kenny. It's probably not his, but the dates of when all this happened ARE all pretty foggy in my mind. After all, it was a busy time!", she laughed deseperately.
"Well, that's okay then. You can jus' get rid of it an' come home an' I'll get ya to the surface somehow an' it'll be alright", I answered happily.
"Get rid of it? GET RID OF IT?'' she screamed. "It COULD be his. It COULD be! And even if it's NOT, this is the only person in the whole world that's going to love me for me. Not because they want to protect me or because they want a wife or because I'm pretty or because they can get something out of me."
" He or she, this baby", she said, clutchin' her hand ta her stomach, " will love me for me. And they'll have what I didn't..... a mother!"
"I've heard your talk of getting me out of here and going up to the surface with you. And it's just talk, Kenny! It's never going to happen! And I'm not giving up my chance at a family on one more of your dreams!"
"This", she continued, cradlin' her stomach with both hands. "This, is REAL! This is not a dream! And NO-ONE is going to make me get rid of it – now or EVER!"
"But Kuchel, you can't do this alone. Look at where you're livin'! Look at what you're doin'! You need money. Don' be so dog – gone pig headed stupid", I pleaded.
"I told you, Kenny, I'm not takin' your blood -money. This baby is going to be clean!" Kuchel answered.
"Clean?! When his mother's a whore?!" I yelled increduously.
"At least it's honest work, Kenny! Oldest proffession in the world! No-one DIES in order for ME to get paid.... You just don't get it, do you? I'm NOT taking your BLOOD- MONEY and I'm NOT giving up my BABY!" she screamed.
"So, if that's all you came for, you can just turn back around and leave the way you came in. And don't come back here until you can give me and my baby more than just dreams and money made from the deaths of the masses."
"I may be just a whore, brother, " she smirked," but I'll be the best mother there ever was."
"I already love this baby, and I'll do whatever I have to do to make it feel safe and loved, and it will want for nothing. And one day, you'll see, this will all be a memory and I'll have a good job, a clean job and we'll be the happiest family you ever saw. And on THAT day, you'll be able to come to us, without dreams that don't come true and without your blood- money. Then and only then, can you come back", she finished.
I looked at her an' wondered if she realised that she sounded jus' like me. That she sounded like me when I were lookin' after her. But I couldn' see no irony on her face, jus' pride an' determination.
I walked outta the room with tears in my eyes as my hopes collapsed in front o' me, leavin' me alone. AGAIN.
But this time I wasn' gonna get drunk. This time I would do what I shoulda done before.