Chapter 11: The Same Old Revy
He calmed himself down, watching over the remains of what he had just made inside his boss's office. Shards of glass littered the floor, shining like dust of diamonds under the dim rays of the sun. The temperature of the air inside the room dropped as the much colder air outside rushed in and mixed with it. He felt cold. And the air made it even worse.
He knew, sooner or later, they'd find out what happened. Many people saw him in and no one but him had entered his office that morning. Many would testify against him, he was sure of that. Every other table in the prairie coveted his position. He was sure they would take this as a chance for revenge and testify to accusations thrown at him even though they barely knew what those were and what those supposed to mean. His aspiration for a normal life was over. Maybe it was really his fate to belong to a less brighter world than the majority had. Anyway, it was not that hard for him to accept it, now, especially that his current situation would never give him a choice but to sink lower.
As he was walking down the hallway, Theresa passed by. She was heading for the Penguin's office. And that was it for him. The torch for the beginning of another adventure had come. She would be calling the police and it would be bad if he didn't hurry out.
He got out before the mobiles came. Lucky for him, it was quite tight on the road. Even though the precinct lay more or less five-hundred meters only from the Crest Bach building, it was impossible to respond quickly in that kind of traffic. A horse as a mount was already obsolete. He thought that if that was the case, they could have had a chance.
He wasn't in the mood, yet, to come home and the police would have difficulty in tracing him after he donned his disguise. Having that in mind, he went to relish the last day of his being completely normal. He decided to go to his favorite place, which offered a great view of Liberty. The place had benches to wait at and beautiful lampposts. They were lit already to brighten the gray surrounding. Thankfully, Liberty was still visible despite of the sad weather. The lights coming off from her crown were like stars around the head of a goddess, and her torch gave off the impression of valor and patriotism which were only tangible in legends. He stood there looking at her like her lover while he reminisce some events that had happened to him there in New York.
He heard her voice in his head again.
"Please…I know you can help us."
He wanted to forget her bruised face drenched by tears, but the image was so clear in his memory he couldn't help himself from remembering it.
"Please…Help me escape…Help us escape from him."
It was Elena, his former boss's wife. She had confessed the abuse she had been suffering from Mr. Robins a time when he and she had had the chance to meet. At first he had been reluctant to believe. He didn't know her well to pay a considerable attention. Besides, he was still striving to act as a normal person as far as he could in any given situation.
"I don't know what you are talking about," he said.
"You do. I know you do…Please."
"I…"
She held his arm with her frail hand and he felt his knees softened. He didn't know what to do now. He stared at her and all he could think of was, No, this woman isn't lying. And then, something occurred to him after that thought, something that brought in him a brief rush of genuine happiness. He felt human who could feel for someone else.
He could still feel the gentle pressure on his arm. It was weak but he was stuck. He couldn't free his arm as he could if the grasp was hostile.
"Please…" she went on. "I'll do—"
He stopped her the moment she spoke those words. He never wanted to hear something as what she was about to say.
"Let me… investigate."
Her face brightened up and she couldn't be more beautiful.
"I will not promise you…"
"Thank you," she said. Her voice now had more confidence than earlier. He didn't understand how she saw through him, or could it be that he was a part of a selection process she had come up with in desperation to escape her situation.
Anyhow, he had now rid her of Mr. Robins. I've done enough. You should start doing your part of the deal.
He fetched his pack of Rhino out his breast pocket and lit one stick. Then, he withdrew to a chair. After a while, he heard voices coming across the street. There was a woman and a man shouting at each other. The man was tall and huge. The woman…
What the fuck…? He followed the woman with his gaze as she gave the huge man the finger and then stomped away. He could not believe what he was witnessing.
As she was about to descend to the subway station, she stopped to look around as if someone had called her. She swept the streets and once, but briefly, their eyes met. She seemed not to recognize him so she went on to what she was about to do.
He could only watch her for a moment until he realized that he was passing on a chance. She would be gone just like that? Again? No. So he stood up and hastily crossed the street with a bunch of curses and beeps tailing him from behind. Fuck them. He only had one thing in his mind that time. It was to see her face to face.
Once he got in the subway, he wasted no time to find her. She was wearing a fatigue jacket. That was the only thing clear in his mind. People. All he could see were people. The place was crowded as usual and frustratingly full of tall individuals. He started to feel really afraid not to spot her. Then, in a corner near a bench, he saw her, smoking.
He hesitated for a moment, thinking of vague possibilities that might come up. But he swallowed that hesitation in. Here was his only chance and he was not planning to wait for another.
It felt weird to be that close to her, again. And that new look she was with made her a little unfamiliar to him. Anyhow, he was sure that he wasn't mistaken. She was who he had known she was—the same old Revy.
To be continued…
