Chapter 23
As these events unfolded within the Kankers trailer, the municipal lights lining 22nd Avenue (the place of Kate's temporary home) had finally activated. The city streets themselves were completely devoid of life, a consequence of the mostly law-abiding residents fleeing indoors to escape the shadow of crime that engulfed the neighborhood as the sun went down.
The still silence was quickly interrupted as the slow repetitive sound of automotive engines filled the air. Coinciding with this sound was the arrival of two vehicles; a black BMW sedan and a large black Ford passenger van. The two vehicles rounded the street corner in a slow manner, coming to a controlled stop around forty feet away from Kate's property. In almost perfect synchronization, both vehicles deactivated their engines and headlights, as if they were attempting to remain discrete.
Four individuals occupied the mid-sized sedan. A diminutive woman of Hispanic descent acted as the proverbial driver for her much more intimidating passenger: Gianna. She was a woman of very large stature, with broad shoulders more reminiscent of a male than female; her olive, face was adorned with a sarcastic and evil smile, accented by her perpetually scowling eyes. As a member of the pink ladies, she donned the signature pink coat of the clan, adorned with the same small graphic of a martini glass that graced their calling card. Her shoulder length dirty blonde hair was tied up and back into a tight bun, exposing her somewhat misshapen and asymmetrical ears (scars let over from previous street fights).
Edyta herself had taken her place behind the driver, still wearing her typical summer outfit of choice; a black, skin tight knee length designer dress with loose fitting long sleeves and a pair of silver high heeled shoes. The auburn-haired woman sat with her legs crossed, her emerald green eyes staring forward as she adopted a sly smile. To her left, seated behind Gianna was the slim and beautiful figure of Mingxia, wearing her pink custom Chinese-themed version of the common Pink Ladies coat. She gazed towards Edyta with a slight smile as she cradled her signature dragon staff in her right hand.
The silence was quickly broken by Gianna, who turned to address Edyta in a raspy voice.
"We have arrived at the location you requested Noble Madam," said Gianna, "GPS says its that run down piece of shit at the end of the block..."
"Very good." said Edyta as she gazed down the street towards the house, "I suppose I should congratulate you and driver for job well done, we get here in record time!"
"Only the best for you, Noble Madam," said Gianna
Edyta turned towards Gianna.
"So," said Edyta, "You have business of your own to take care of, no?"
"Yes ma'am," said Gianna, "Seems some of the girls in our Bronx chapter are having a bit of trouble getting the local hustlers to pay up. If you don't mind, I'd like to take the rest of the girls to meet our friendly neighborhood clients face-to-face and help me work out a small business deal. I believe it's good manners to stop and say hi to old friend if you happen to be in town."
Gianna giggled sarcastically at her own joke as Edyta continued to stare in the direction of the house. Eventually, she decided to reply.
"Conduct business as needed," said Edyta, "There is no need to rush back to hotel once finished. Take money earned and use to buy drinks for rest of girls, and enjoy beautiful nightlife."
At that point, Mingxia adopted an expression of surprise.
"Drinks and a free night on the town for the girls?" asked Mingxia, "That is truly a rare and generous gift that I'm sure will be wholeheartedly appreciated. With all respect Noble Madam, this is certainly not a typical occurrence...someone appears to be quite gratuitous!"
Mingxia giggled in a feminine manner as Edyta turned towards her with a sarcastic stare. A few seconds passed, at which point the foreign woman turned towards the front of the vehicle, closing her eyes, and adopting a relaxed smile as she did so.
"They should consider rest of night off as reward for job well done with finding address." said Edyta, "No more, no less."
Edyta leaned forward, placing her head between the driver and passenger seat.
"And Gianna," said Edyta in a sarcastic and haunting tone, "Please, feel free to cause as much trouble as possible. It is good for cause."
Edyta delivered a slight wink to Gianna as she returned to a seated position. Following their exchange, both Gianna and the driver exited the vehicle and proceeded to make their way towards the passenger van parked behind the sedan. Both Edyta and Mingxia observed actions through the rear view window as a group of around 15 women rapidly exited the vehicle at the direction of Gianna. After a quick "pep talk" of sorts, the hulking brute began leading her compatriots down the street at a rapid pace, eventually disappearing from view as they entered the a small side alley.
As the last Pink Lady disappeared from view, Edyta unbuckled her seatbelt.
"Now, I suppose it's time I take care of business of my own," said Edyta, "I go alone."
"Are you sure that is the best course of action?" asked Mingxia, "Perhaps I should accompany you for your safety?"
"No need," said Edyta as she opened the car door, stepping outside onto the ground, "I will be fine. Element of surprise will be broken if you are present, and I must get used to handling these type of things on my own. As they say...one small step for man and one big jump for mankind."
"I believe the actual quote was one giant leap," said Mingxia, "But it's a start!"
Mingxia giggled to herself.
"I must figure out how to deal with that smart ass tone of yours," said Edyta, "But for now, I must go initiate beautiful reunion years in making. You watch car, I'll be back soon."
"Very well," said Mingxia, "Have fun!"
At the conclusion of her statement, Edyta closed the door of the vehicle, and proceeded to make her way down the street towards the abandoned house. Within the vehicle, Mingxia continued to monitor her "boss" from afar, adopting an expression of curiosity and concern as she did so.
Within seconds, the petite foreign woman had found herself at the base of the stairs leading up to the abandoned house. After a slight pause, she slowly made her way up the stairs, coming to a stop in front of the partially open door.
"Knock...knock..." said Edyta in a slow deliberate manner as she nudged the door open, "Someone special is here to see you!"
As the door reached the fully open position, it became apparent to Edyta that the one she was searching for was not present. The small woman gazed upon her surroundings with a blank stare, taking note of the peeling wallpaper, and deteriorated wood trim lining the walls. On the far side of the room was a small love seat that appeared to have seen better days; most of the upholstery had been torn away, apparently destroyed by invading rodents, and the cloth that remained was heavily stained.
Edyta continued to gaze upon her in silence, adopting a blank stare as she took notice of a severally corroded coffee table. On the coffee table were several empty bottles of soda, a box of moldy cheese crackers, and a few empty cans of processed ravioli; one of which was occupied by a rusty metal fork.
Eventually, the woman's ears detected the faint sound of female human chatter, attracting her attention to the houses kitchen. As she gazed towards the wooden panel door, separating the kitchen from the remainder of the house, she adopted a sly smile.
"Right where I want them," said Edyta, "It's time..."
Edyta took a deep breath, walked towards the door, and proceeded to push it open, adopting a somewhat uncharacteristic nervous expression as she did so. Unfortunately, she did not find what she expected; there were no human occupants, the source of the chatter was a small, battery powered tape recorder that had inadvertently been left on (and behind) by Kate in the course of her exit. The blue cassette player sat on the decrepit marble counter, next to a pile of photographs that Kate had been going through at the time of the Kanker sisters arrival.
The tape recorder, as well as the voices currently being emitted by the tape within, seemed to illicit a sense of curiosity within the small woman. Eventually, the girlish voices on the tape began to sing, (as if singing along with a karaoke machine of sorts), to the tune of Dancing Queen by Abba.
Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah!
You can dance, you can Ji-Ive!
Having the time of your life, oohh!
As the voices rang out from the tape player, Edyta made her way over to the counter, and began to gently page her way through the exposed photographs. As she did so, her collected demeanor seemed to vanish. Her initially relaxed face began to contort into a grimace and her teeth began to clench; most notably, her right eye began to uncontrollably twitch, eventually adopting a perpetual squint.
As these events unfolded, the sound of footsteps sounded from within the living room. These footsteps were accompanied by the sound of two male voices, hoarse in timbre, and with inflections of alcohol intoxication.
"This one's empty..." said the first male voice, "We can crash here tonight."
"Yeah," said the second male, "Let's see if there's any booze in the kitchen...that's where they usually keep the stuff, right?"
The two drunks laughed as the first male pushed the kitchen door to the open position. The two men were completely taken aback as they spotted the petite and sexy Edyta, who was currently standing with their back towards them.
"Whoah boy, check her out" said the first male in a whisper as he checked out Edyta from head to toe, "The lord is shining on us tonight."
"Hey baby!" said the second man as he stumbled towards Edyta's position, "Got any booze for us on that counter?"
Edyta did not respond, merely standing still as if she were a statue.
"What's da matter lady, you deaf!?" asked the guy, "I knew hot girls were usually stupid but you can at least answer a simple question! Ya got any booze for us or what?"
There was a slight pause, at which point Edyta finally decided to respond.
"Yes," said Edyta, "As matter of fact I do..."
Without warning, Edyta took hold of one of the large empty glass bottles adorning the top of the counter. While emitting a scream, the previously calm woman suddenly whipped around, hurling the bottle at the second mans head, knocking him down.
"Holy Shit, man are you okay!" yelled the first man.
"You best worry about yourself!" yelled Edyta in a crazed manner as she took hold of an aluminum coat rack, and used it to deliver a body blow to the first man, causing him to fall to the kitchen floor adjacent to his friend.
Both men, now dazed and confused, backed fearfully into the rearmost corner of the kitchen. Both cowered as Edyta, now apparently in a state of total psychosis, slowly approached them; brandishing the coat rack as she laughed in a maniacal fashion.
"Oh shit," said one of the men, "This bitch is crazy!"
At the sound of the man's words, Edyta adopted a wide, toothy smile.
"What you say is what you get!" yelled Edyta, "You want crazy bitch...YOU GET CRAZY BITCH!"
As the men cowered in fear, both they and Edyta failed to take notice of the slowly opening kitchen door. Edyta lifted the coat rack up over her head, preparing it for use as a bludgeoning device. As she did so, she began speaking in what seemed like a series of incoherent phrases.
"Two stupid men...you will pay for the foolishness." said Edyta as she stood over the men with a crazed expression, "You fucked with wrong crazy bitch, and now you pay with your BRAINS ON THE FLOOR!"
At the conclusion of her statement, Edyta lifted the coat rack higher above her head, preparing to strike.
"SEE YOU IN HELL!" yelled Edyta as she began to bring the coat rack down towards the cowering men. However, her actions were suddenly ceased, as Mingxia approached from behind at rapid pace. Her hand was formed into the shape of a knife, her elbow bent as if she were prepared to strike.
"THAT'S ENOUGH EDYTA!" yelled Mingxia in an aggressive manner, in complete contrast to her usual calm persona.
As quickly as she appeared, Mingxia delivered a swift, yet powerful karate chop to the side of Edyta's neck. At that point, the house was completely silent, with two exceptions; the sound of the now released coat rack hitting the tile floor, followed the heavy thud of Edyta's unconscious body following suit.