Chapter 21
"We have to get out of here," said Kate, "They're going to find us and then we're as good as dead! As good as dead! They tried to kill her, they finally tried to kill her...but they couldn't, she came too quick and..."
"Kathryn," said Tabby in a calm motherly and authoritative voice, recognizing Kate's oncoming panic attack, "You need to calm down, everything's alright. Nobody is going to get us right now..."
A few seconds passed at which point, Kate managed to calm herself down, allowing Tabby to continue with her questioning.
"Now," said Tabby, "Who are the Pink Ladies, and why would they be after us?"
Kate paused, swallowing heavily as she did so.
"The Pink Ladies are an all female pack of ruthless, vile street thugs," said Kate, "They dabble in various criminal activities, including drugs, gambling, prostitution, and have a body count higher than you could ever imagine. The gang prides themselves in the use of hand-to-hand combat, their philosophy being that weapons only act as incriminating evidence, and their fighters are feared by rival gangs across the city."
Kate took a puff of her cigarette.
"They were once lead by a woman named Gianna ," said Kate, "A ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She is a six foot tall, broad shouldered, hulking brute, rumored to be an ex-competitive power lifter. Men and women alike fear her and her minions, as well as their fighting skills. I have heard many stories of those who have fallen at the hands of the Pink Ladies, and even some where rivals managed to overpower the underlings. Of course, they didn't last long, because Gianna was there to finish the job in the only manner she knows how...brutally."
Kate paused.
"As dangerous as Gianna is," said Kate, "There is a rumor that there is now someone even deadlier calling the shots above her. She's known as the 'Bright Halo of the East', and they say unlike Gianna, they say you won't even see her coming. Nobody on the street outside of the Pink Ladies has ever seen her, and even within nobody knows who she truly is or where she came from. She's a deadly assassin, rumored to be familiar with every known martial arts technique, and is deathly feared by Gianna and her women, though she may just be another rumor made up by Gianna to keep control."
"Okay," said Tabby, "I get it, Pink Ladies...bad. But why the hell would these street thugs be after us? What, do you owe them money or something?"
Kate took a draw of her cigarette.
"No," said Kate, "I can only think of one reason, and one reason only as to why Brandy would have warned you about the pink ladies...and after everything that has happened today, I am sure of it."
"Well," said Tabby, "What is it? I'd kind of like to know why I'm being potentially being stalked by the equivalent of the female mafia!"
Kate peered towards Tabby.
"Edyta." said Kate.
Tabby's face transformed to an expression of nervousness.
"Edyta?" asked Tabby, "For your information, the Edyta problem was finally dealt with, the right way, around six months ago. I hardly doubt it has anything to do with these Pink Ladies."
"The right way!?" yelled Kate, rising from her seat and pointing into Tabby's face as she did so, "Give me a break, you said the same thing last time and look how that turned out!"
"Really?" asked Tabby, "How would you have handled that, smart girl? Please, tell me all your brilliant ideas! At least I attempted to take action, you just stood around watching things crumble. But that's to be expected...I know your secret, and after what you did you are no better than these Pink Ladies!"
Kate stared into Tabby's eye's with an expression of intense anger for a few moments. Eventually, the red headed woman retook her seat on the couch, deciding to continue her explanation in a much calmer manner.
"Like I said, we obviously have a totally different definition of what the right way is," said Kate, "After I finally made the decision, I watched for years as she roamed the streets, quickly becoming a minor annoyance to the more serious criminal organizations...I guess I don't have to explain the rest to you, not that you care anyway, after what happened. Around five years after she hit the streets, someone, I don't know who, took her in. After that she became even more erratic, screaming at random people, getting into fights, and threatening to kill us...your name even came up on occasion just to let you know."
Tabby adopted a disheartened expression as Kate continued.
"Anyway, last December, shit finally hit the fan," said Kate, "She'd run errands for the Pink Ladies and the Seksones, a rival Polish prostitution ring. Of course, they didn't take her seriously or let her handle too much money, but they both used her condition to their advantage, manipulating her into doing all of their legwork for them. One was in control, and has been since they shot her up with all that nasty gunk, so she was for lack of a better term oblivious to what was happening. Things were going rather smooth and remained stable, until someone decided to make some waves for her."
Tabby turned towards Kate, adopting an expression of distress.
"What do you mean?" asked Tabby.
"The morning of Christmas Eve," said Kate, "Someone called the Seksones with a tip, saying that she was stealing money from the group."
"Oh shit," said Tabby as she turned away from Kate, placing her hand over her mouth as she did so , "No...they didn't..."
"I was standing on the sidewalk when I heard the sound of tires squeaking," said Kate, "Suddenly, a black car came flying around the corner, jumped the curb, and crashed into one of the el's support beams. As it crashed, two SUVs came skidding down the street, coming to a stop next to the car."
Kate swallowed.
"Edyta was driving the car," said Kate, "She got out, and by Jesus Tabitha, she looked like the walking dead. She must have been trying to escape; her wrist was broken and burnt, and it looked like she had taken a few punches to the face. She could barely stand, and was yelling all kinds of gibberish in English and Polish, and crazy stuff like 'You want me, then come and get me!' and 'You think I'm afraid, I want to die!'"
"Well?" asked Tabby, whipping around suddenly to face Kate, "What happened, is she dead!?"
"She got lucky," said Kate, "Just as they were about to unload their weapons, a huge street fight broke out. The Seksones made the fatal mistake of showing themselves and making a scene,. The Pink Ladies took advantage and decided to attack. I can only guess that it was some kind of battle over operational turf for their 'ladies of the night'."
Kate adopted a tearful expression.
"It was horrible, a proverbial blood bath," said Kate, "Complete and utter chaos...there were punches, stabbing and even gunshots...I can only thank God that no innocent people got killed!"
As Kate completed her statement, Tabby retrieved her smart phone from her handbag. Her hands been to tremor as she quickly opened the contacts to search for Lee's name. Once located, she typed and sent a brief message to her eldest daughter:
Come to the trailer...I need to talk to you now! Bring Tiffany!
"Get to the point!" yelled Tabby, "Where is Ev...Edyta!?"
"The Pink Ladies overpowered the Seksones," said Kate, "But not before someone else intervened...she was like a ninja, hiding her face and dressed totally in black, tall, very slim and very agile. One by one, she fought her adversaries off as if she were a knife cutting through butter, her sole target seeming to be Edyta. She powered through the masses, eventually reaching the still screaming Edyta, who she quickly silenced with one swift karate chop to the neck, knocking her out."
Kate took a breath.
"As quickly as she arrived, the woman escaped, dashing down the street with the incapacitated Edyta on her shoulders," said Kate, "A few minutes later, the fight had finally ended. The Pink Ladies had won...they tied up all of the remaining underlings, and brought them into the house to join their captured leader. Obviously, the issue did not go unnoticed; somebody managed to call the police, at which point the sound of sirens filled the air, rapidly closing in on the house. Outside, Gianna ordered the girls to burn the leader alive, and leave the remainder of them to be captured by the cops...the Pink Ladies escaped undetected, just as the police arrived."
At the conclusion of Kate's statement, Tabby took hold of Kate by the throat, staring into her eyes in aggressive manner.
"Where...is...EDYTA!" yelled Tabby.
"Get offa me!" yelled Kate as she swatted Tabby's hand away, "As far as I know, she's back in...there...at least that's what the records said."
"But, how?" asked Tabby.
"I don't know," said Kate, "And I don't want to know. The important thing is that because of that stupid fucking tip, we are more than likely the number one targets of the Pink Ladies! That fight resulted in the deaths of several of their members, and because she was involved, we are involved! The fact that you are harboring her most precious possession...so to speak...doesn't help either! If they manage to find that out...oh my God..."
Tabby turned towards the wall, pondering her thoughts for a few moments. After a few seconds, she slammed her fist into the trailers wall.
"FUCK!" yelled Tabby, "This is all my fault! I should have just told them...then nobody would be going through any of this..."
Kate remained silent, her hands continuing to shake as she witnessed her older sisters meltdown.
"I think I know who gave the tip," said Tabby, "And I take full responsibility for it. We'll find out for sure in a few minutes."
Kate continued to shake, her eyes now appearing to dart back and forth across the room as if they were following a table tennis match. Tabby took notice of her sisters condition, prompting her to make a proposition.
"While we are waiting, go upstairs and do what you have to do to stay straight," said Tabby, "I can tell you're having a withdrawal episode, and even I don't want to see you suffer like that."
At the conclusion of Tabbys statement, Kate rose from her position and darted up the stairs leading to the upper level. As she did so, Tabby took a seat on the chair, staring towards the ceiling and sighing as she did so.
"Lord," said Tabby, "I have tried and tried again to do the right thing for the ones I love. I know you understand why I do things the way I do. Your grace has helped my girls so much in the last year...I don't ask for much, but please, if you could find a way to help us, I would be forever in your debt."