Chapter 26
The small street on which Katie's "house" was located exhibited an almost melancholy demeanor. By this time, the sun had disappeared completely over the horizon, engulfing the small street and its deep alleys in the shadow of night. The only illumination available was that of a single utility light, mounted high on a wooden telephone pole located near the vicinity of Katie's house, which bathed the street in a dim orange glow.
The still silence was broken as Marie and May rounded the street corner, their footsteps rapping on the ground as they made their final approach to their planned destination. The two girls approached the large yet decrepit stoop leading up to the door of the abandoned house, at which point they paused, staring at the half open door with an expression of concern.
"Alright," said Marie, "Ready to do some investigating?"
"I guess," said May, "Do you really think we are going to find anything interesting?"
"Only one way to find out." said Marie, as she began climbing the stairs.
May reluctantly followed her older sister up the stairs with a nervous expression. Upon reaching the landing, Marie took a deep breath and placed her hand on the door. With a small push, the door proceeded to swing to the fully open position with a long, drawn out, audible creek, allowing the two girls to slowly make their way into the interior of the house.
The interior of the house was poorly lit, due to the absence of a standard utility connection; the orange rays of the street light seeped into the front parlor through two narrow windows located on the front of the house, allowing the girls just enough light to navigate and observe their surroundings. After passing through a small vestibule of sorts, the girls entered the rather spacious parlor. The floor was covered by wall-to-wall sky blue carpeting, which was torn in several places, revealing the tarnished padding and brown subfloor underneath. The walls were adorned with dark faux wood paneling, a common interior design of the 1970s. Above, the suspended ceiling was missing several tiles, with those present being in a tattered state due to rodent activity.
The room was occupied by a single couch, the fabric of which was covered in stains and tattered in several places. Several empty bottles of barbecue sauce, soda bottles, cigarette packs and canned raviolis were scattered across the floor, immersed within several piles of empty orange pill bottles. The girls also took note of several empty cans of cat food, one of which contained a plastic fork; an indication that it had once served as a meal for a person.
"Jesus," said Marie, "This is sad. Look at all these empty pill bottles. And eating cat food...gross."
"Yeah," said May, "I can't believe Aunt Katie could live like this all these years."
Marie and May observed their surrounding in sadness for a few moments, at which point Marie decided to continue their exploration.
"C'mon," said Marie, "There ain't anything in here worth seeing. Let's check out the kitchen."
May shook her head up and down as if to oblige, at which point the two girls made their way towards the swinging panel door leading into the houses kitchen.
Upon reaching the door, Marie pushed it to the open position. The girls eyes widened with surprise as they laid eyes on the modest sized room, which appeared to be in a state of disarray, with signs of an earlier struggle. A pile of broken glass (the remnants of the cup thrown at the drunks by a crazed Edyta earlier that night) remained scattered by the back door. In addition, the coat rack that had been attempted to be used as a weapon remained on the floor, next to several wood splinters that had been generated due to a cabinet being broken apart by one of the falling men. The two drunk men had disappeared, as had all traces of any other human presence within the house; the counter, once occupied by several photographs and an old tape recorder, was now completely bare.
"What in the world happened in here?" asked May.
"I don't know," said Marie as she reached downward, lifting the coat rack off of the ground, "Perhaps Aunt Katie was defending herself from someone trying to steal the house. I mean, she didn't hesitate to try to kill us with a bat before Mom stopped her, so we know she's willing to do it."
As Marie gazed upon the coat rack, May's curiosity suddenly seemed to peak as she spotted an item near the far wall.
"Hey!" said May in an enthusiastic manner, "Check this out!"
At the sound of May's voice, Marie's attention was drawn away from the coat rack and towards her sister, who exuberantly dashed across the room. Marie placed the coat rack down on the floor, observing May with a curious expression as the blonde girl retrieved what appeared to be a small piece of paper.
"So," said Marie, attempting to gaze over May's shoulder, "What is it?"
May suddenly whipped around with a smile.
"It's a picture!" said May in an absentminded manner.
"Really?" asked Marie, "Let me see!"
Marie suddenly snatched the photograph from May's hand, grasping it using both of her hands as she stared at it intently. As May joined her side, both girls eyes widened with astonishment.
"May..." said Marie as she slowly turned her head towards her sister, "This is the same picture you found in the box...the one that drove mom nuts when you pulled out during our card game."
May continued to stare at the picture in silence, after which she decided to respond.
"It is," said May, "The one of you and Lee all dressed up...but, who is that?"
Marie stared at the photograph for a few more seconds, at which point she took notice of another surprise contained within the picture.
"I don't know," said Marie, "But check out what's in the background. Do you see what I see?"
May took hold of the picture, adopting an expression of distress as she examined it.
"But how?" asked May, "We didn't...this can't...
As May stumbled over her words, the sound of loud crash characteristic of broken glass filled the air. The sound seemed to emanate from outside the home, and quickly drew the girls attention away from the photograph.
"What the hell was that!?" asked Marie.
"I dunno, sounds like someone broke a window!" said May.
A few seconds passed, at which point a second crash filled the air, this one accompanied by the sound of splintering wood and the sound of a male voice screaming.
"It sounds like someone's hurt!" yelled Marie as she began dashing towards the kitchen door, "C'mon, let's go!"
In an instant, Marie dashed through the kitchen door, on her way out of the house to investigate the strange noises. After a slight hesitation, May placed the photograph down her shirt for safe keeping and reluctantly followed her sisters attempt to trace the source of the noise.
Without hesitation, the girls dashed out of Katie's house, momentarily taking their place on the side walk. A few seconds passed, at which point another crash filled the air, drawing Marie's attention to the end of the block.
"There," said Marie pointing to the end of the block, "It's coming from the back street, come on let's go check it out!"
Marie once again dashed away from May's position, who followed her sisters lead in a much more reluctant manner. The two girls swiftly made their way to the end of the block, at which point they entered a narrow, dark alley, lined on both sides with a six foot tall wooden fence. Marie quickly darted down the narrow path, the end of which was blocked by a decrepit wooden gate. The barrier, while quite robust strength wise, was not without damage. Several of the board were dry-rotted, featuring cracks just large enough to view the action occurring on the other side.
As she approached the gate, Marie turned towards May, lifting her index finger to her lips as if to tell her sister to remain silent. She then proceeded to place her to one of the small cracks, allowing her to see the events occurring on the other side.
The back street was typical New York inner city street, a narrow asphalt path lined with small two story row houses. However, in lieu of the quiet atmosphere characteristic of Katie's block, the back street seemed to be in a state of chaos. In the street stood several women, all of different heights, hair colors, and ethnicities, but united under one common feature; all were wearing matching pink designer coats, the back and left chest adorned with the "sign of the hot pink glass"; a simple black graphic depicting a pink lady cocktail garnished with a cherry.
These woman surrounded the large and hulking, broad shouldered Gianna, the "exalted" six foot-one, 240lb leader of the group. As always, the blonde brute commanding the respect of her comrades, barking several orders at them in rapid succession. The windows adorning the property in front of her had been shattered, and the door had been forced to the open position. Kneeling in front of Gianna were two individuals, both of whom had their hands placed behind their head as if they were under arrest. The individuals consisted of two men, both appearing quite scruffy and under the influence of a certain substance, and a . A cache of life like weapons, apparently "requested" to be dropped, sat on the ground in front of him, as Gianna spoke to them inaudibly.
"What the hell's going on here?" asked Marie.
"I dunno," said May, gazing through the crack below Marie with concern, "Maybe undercover cops arresting some bad guys?"
"I don't think these people are cops," said Marie, "There's no way they would all be wearing the same outfit if they were trying to be stealth. They must be some kind of crazy cult dedicated to drinking martini's or something. Whatever it is, they look like idiots."
"I guess," said May, "But check out the lady in the front. She's massive!"
"If it's even a lady," said Marie, "Either way, it looks like she's the head hancho calling all the shots!"
At that point, Marie took notice of movement within the shadows of the house, as several individuals began making their way out of the house.
"Shush," said Marie, "Let's see if we can hear what they're saying."
Marie and May turned towards their attention toward the street, where two "worker bee" pink ladies were forcefully shoving two more women out of the house.
"Come on, let's go, get a move on," yelled one of the pink ladies, "We ain't got all day."
The pink lady shoved the two men down the three concrete stairs, causing them to land flat on their stomachs. After recovering, the men slowly gazed upward, meeting the crazed evil eyes of the woman known as Gianna.
"Hey boys," said Gianna in a heavily raspy voice, "Is that your fear showing, or are ya just happy to see me?"
Gianna giggled maliciously.
"Gianna..." said one of the men as he rose to his feet, "You've come along way. I'm surprised, I always took you too stupid to be running a get up yourself."
Gianna walked towards the man, looking down into his eyes.
"Oh I'm afraid it is you who are the stupid one," said Gianna, "Nobody crosses the Pink Ladies and gets away with it, especially some small time wannabe rat bastard like yourself."
Gianna took hold of the man's shirt collar, lifting him slightly off if the ground.
"Now," said Gianna, "Let's talk business. It seems that you and your cronies here are a little late on your latest payment for using our workers. Tsk tsk, it's obvious your mother didn't raise you right..ignoring the value of a dollar. I'm in shock."
From behind the gate, Marie momentarily turned her attention towards May.
"The Pink Ladies?" asked Marie, "That must be their moniker."
"Wow," said May with a smile, "Just like the girl group in that movie!
"This ain't anything like that movie you moron" said Marie, "They are obviously some kind of crime syndicate, and it sounds like this other group pissed them off something fierce."
There was a slight pause.
"So, what do we do now?" asked May.
"We sit back and watch," said Marie, "It sounds like this fight might be over drug money. Maybe this has something to do with this mysterious 'Aunt Katie' that just popped up out of nowhere after supposedly being dead for years."
May remained silent for a few moments, staring at Marie with a somber expression.
"But Marie," asked May, "Should we be jumping into thinking Aunt Katie is not who she is, and that mom and Lee are lying to us this fast? I mean, we didn't even get to know Aunt Katie, and I don't think that Mom or Lee would ever put us in any kind of danger."
"Look," said Marie, "It's not that I don't trust Mom. It's just, she puts herself in these bad situations all because she bottles up her emotions. This is all to help mom, not hurt her, and if it means exposing suspicious people then I'm all in."
May sighed.
"Whatever you say," said May as she turned her attention back towards the street.
Back in the street, Gianna continued her interrogation of the modest sized man.
"So," said Gianna as she pulled the man by his shirt collar towards her face, "Pay up, or face the wrath of the Pink Ladies."
The man remained silent for a few moments, maintaining a stoic facial expression. Eventually, the man suddenly puffed out his cheeks, after which he released a small stream of saliva from his mouth; ejecting it directly into Gianna's face with force.
At that moment, each of the remaining Pink Ladies emitted a long, drawn out simultaneous gasp. Gianna remained momentarily still as the man continued to bravely stare into the eyes of the large brute. After a few seconds, Gianna slowly reached upward, and used the long soft sleeve of her coat to wipe the disgusting fluid off of the front of her face. As she did so, her face turned progressively red, as it adopted an expression of unrelenting anger.
"You little shit," said Gianna in a quiet manner as she pulled the man closer to her face, "Just for that, paying in no longer an option. You will die at my hand."
In an instant, Gianna released her grip on the man's shirt collar, allowing him to begin his descent to the ground under gravity. The man fell to the ground, at which point Gianna delivered a strong upper cut to his chin with the bottom of her high heeled boot, sending him into a daze. She then proceeded to use her boot to gently turn him over, staring down into his face with an evil gaze.
"Now," said Gianna, "Time to say night night."
"Oh my God," said May as she placed her hand over her mouth, turning away from the scene as she did so, "She's going to kill him, what are we going to do!"
Marie remained still, an expression of determination adorning her face as she clenched her fists tightly out of frustration. The brash, somewhat impulsive girl slowly lifted her hand to the latch of the gate, as if she were going to make an attempt to open it. However, she stopped as her attention was drawn to the sounds of sirens rapidly approaching from a short distance.
"Wait, listen," said Marie as she focused her ear towards the end of the block "It's the police! Someone must have called them."
Within seconds, the sound of the police sirens grew exponentially as the officers rapidly approached the location. Upon taking notice of the approaching officers, all of the pink ladies, and the members of the rival group they were interrogating, seemed to throw themselves into a frenzy. Seemingly entering an "every woman for them self" mode, the pink ladies attempted to scatter in various directions, bumping into each other in a buffoonish manner as they screamed various expletives.
In an instant, around ten police cruisers swarmed the city block, blocking both ends of the street and preventing escape of the criminal groups. The officers, dressed in blue and brandishing guns stormed the streets, yelling at the women to "get on the ground". The response was quite varied, several of the pink ladies immediately obliged without hesitation, as did most of the rival group. However, several resisted arrest, opting to attempt to fight the police, at which point they were forced to be forcibly detained.
"Wow," said Marie, "Some of these women are pretty strong. It's taking two or three cops to bring some of them down."
"Yeah," said May, admiring the police officers work, "I'm glad they arrived before anybody got hurt."
After a few minutes of struggling, the police had managed to finally gain control of the situation. One-by-one, the officers stood each suspect up and led them to a large emergency patrol wagon for transport to the police station for processing.
As one of the officers helped the last pink coated female into the van, a small card fell out of her pocket; the calling card depicting the hot pink glass, intended to be left with their victims bodies as a threat.
"Whatta ya know," said the officer with a New York accent as he closed the doors to the patrol wagon, addressing another officer in the vicinity, "A gang of genuine Pink Ladies, and we made the first pinch! They usually work too fast for us and are long gone by the time we get to the scene, but that anonymous tip really helped us out."
"Don't get too comfy and stay alert," said the other officer, "There's way more where these girls came from. We've been after these drug dealing brutes for around ten years, and let me tell you this ain't even half the gang. And you know what they say if you want them gone, you have to get em by the root."
The second officer paused, turning back toward his patrol car.
"Get on the radio with the city down south and tell them about this pinch," said the second officer, "They're based out of that city, and this is the first step in putting them away for good."
The first officer obliged, at which point he made his way to the driver's seat of the patrol wagon. In a flash, the police cars had dispersed, taking the pink ladies, the rival gang and all of the remaining chaos with them.
As the sound of the emergency vehicles revving engines dissipated, the still silence characteristic of the small side street returned. Marie and May, still positioned behind the gate, remained completely still, in a state of shock at what they had just witnessed. Eventually, Marie decided to break the silence.
"That was...interesting," said Marie.
"Yeah," said May with a smile, "It was like watching a real life episode of Cops!"
May stood up, making several karate poses as she did so.
"I've been thinking about training with Daddy again," said May, "I've always wanted to be a superhero, but maybe being a regular old hero is the next best thing."
Marie giggled.
"May, you will always be a hero in my book, no matter what!" said Marie.
After sharing a slight smile, Marie proceeded to lift the small latch securing the gate in the closed position.
"Marie, what are you doing?" asked May, "The trailer is back that way!"
"I know," said Marie, "But I want to check out what's left of the scene. You heard the cops, they said these Pink Ladies are involved in the drug trade. Isn't it just too much of a coincidence that we just so happened to find them in the same neighborhood as Aunt Katie's house, who herself is a drug addict?
"I guess," said May, "But haven't we had enough adventure for one night? Besides its getting late, and..."
"Ah, it will only take five minutes," said Marie as she pushed the gate open, and proceeded to make her way out towards the street, "C'mon, we'll be quick I promise."
May proceeded to follow her sister out into the center of the street, where the two girls quietly observed their surroundings. The humid weather characteristic of the day had disappeared, replaced by a gentle and somewhat chilly summer breeze. This prompted the girls to don the hoodies that they had brought with them, with the girls tucking their dual ponytails down inside for extra warmth.
The two girls quickly took note of the vacant house that had been broken into by the Pink Ladies. Both downstairs windows had been shattered, as had the wooden door. Several shards of glass peppered the street, along side several empty soda can and other forms of trash.
"Wow," said May, "They sure did a number on the house. I guess they really wanted to get in there to get those guys."
"Yeah," said Marie as she took a few steps forward, examining the broken door, "I guess that overgrown doofus' big frame came in handy for something. Too bad...she got what was coming to her, now her and her friends are going to spend the rest of the days in the slammer...dumbass."
At the conclusion of Marie's statement, both girls froze as the sound of an ominous, deep and raspy feminine voice filled the air from behind them.
"Guess again bitch," said the voice.
The girls whipped around in an attempt to locate the source of the voice, which appeared to emanate from the vicinity of a modest sized trash dumpster. The girls watched sat the heavy dumpster slowly advanced into the air, revealing the large frame of Gianna who, in the midst of the chaos, managed to escape arrest by hiding behind a pile of trash.
The girls watched in awe as the hulking woman easily lifted the dumpster above her head, just as an Olympic power lifter would lift a heavy barbell, all the while staring in the girls direction with an evil glare. The large woman proceeded to toss the dumpster behind her, after which she slowly approached the girls position.
"What have we here?," asked Gianna as she stomped toward the girls in an angry manner, "Two little girls, pretty ones too, all dressed up for a night on the town...too bad they won't live to see the sunrise."
The girls remained silent as Gianna took a few more steps towards them, pausing as they came into view.
"Seeing as you two are the only other people willing to be in this shit hole past sunrise, I'm going to assume that you are the ones who squealed to the cops" said Gianna, "Thanks to you, I lost an entire squad of my best fighters, and now you are going to deal with the consequences of your actions."
"First of all, we didn't call any cops," said Marie in a bold manner, surprising the somewhat frightened May, "If I wanted to take action, I would have kicked your ass myself! Grown women wearing matching pink coats like some kind of high school clique, how stupid. Not only that, but could you have been anymore original with the name!? I mean, the Pink Ladies? Give me a break."
Gianna giggled.
"Such big words for such a little girl," said Gianna, "Seeing as you are familiar with my persuasion, I assume you know how dangerous we can be. Yet you still have the balls to belittle me to my face. I'll admit girl, you got guts, and your pretty as can be. If I wasn't so pissed I'd ask ya to join my cause!"
"Take your offer and shove it up your ass," said Marie, " I don't know who you are or what the Pink Ladies really are, but I did see you torturing those innocent people you drug out of that house, people like you make me sick."
Gianna laughed.
"Stupid girl," said Gianna, "I have no problem admitting what I do for a living, and I'm damn proud of it, but don't be so quick to jump to the defense of those you know nothing about. Those people in that house were drug dealers, murderers, rapists, pimps, some of the worst human beings you could ever imagine existed on this earth. They owed us money, and we decided to take action, it's as simple as that. You wouldn't understand, I can tell by those expensive dresses that you have never been exposed to the street."
"Don't judge a book by it's cover," said Marie, "Me and May have quite a bit of experience with self defense, and we aren't afraid to use it."
Gianna laughed.
"Well then," said Gianna as she adopted a stance similar to that of a professional boxer, "You can choose to go out fighting if you want, but you two skinny bitches are no match for me. Just to let you know, I've never lost a fight, and anybody who has ever crossed me has wound up in a body bag at the morgue."
"You know what they say," said Marie in a brave manner, "There's a first time for everything."
"M...Marie," said May, in a sheepish manner, "What are you doing?"
"Don't worry May, I got this," said Marie, "If I need help I'll let you know."
"You'll need all the help you can get," said Gianna, "I could take on four of ya if I wanted to."
May watched with nervousness as he sister stepped forward, standing tall with her guests raised in the air, preparing to face her newfound foe head on.