The Debt

Lacey lay her sleeping bag on the back porch of a shop and shivered as she slipped her legs into it. Rolling up her long brown hair and pulling a black oversized woolly hat over it, she tucked in the straggly ends; keeping her hair covered prevented bugs from crawling through it while she slept. Zipping up her hoodie, she took the small brown paper bag from the side of her, licking her lips as she opened it. The chef at the restaurant where she washed dishes, always gave her leftover food and filled her flask with coffee.

Taking a small chicken wing from the bag, she rolled her eyes at the sound of a woman giggling close by. Here we go again she thought; another prostitute with a punter that was going to disturb her night. Sheltering behind the shops in the alley close to where she worked, was not the best idea, but if she slept on the main street, people leaving nightclubs and other passers-by, would urinate and spit on her as she slept.

Staying in the alley behind the shops was bad too. Drug dealers would hang around with junkies that were lining up for their next fix. The local prostitutes would be performing sex acts behind the bins with their clients and homeless drunks would be fighting nearly every night. Maybe it was worse in the alleys but so far, no one had ever urinated or spat on her.

Taking a sip of her coffee, Lacey’s thoughts turned to her boyfriend, Jack. Usually in the early hours of the morning when she’d finished washing dishes, she would have made her way across the city to sleep behind the city hall with him; but he hadn’t been seen for days. Jack would always get drunk and wander off.

Lacey suspiciously watched everyone walking past her and listened to every sound around her; she was always on guard. Male voices arguing in the distance, that were getting closer, caught her attention. Leaning out of the doorway to look down the dark alley, she could see everyone rushing out of it. Lacey’s gut instinct was telling her to leave too, she knew something serious was about to go down.

Two men dressed in dark suits gripping a man by his jacket marching along the alley came into view. They pushed the man to the ground; the man scrambled to his knees begging for his life.

“Shit,” Lacey hissed grabbing her sleeping bag and flask off the floor. Her heart painfully thudded as she glanced up at the moon. “Watch my back.” She muttered.

Quickly glancing out of the doorway to see if it was clear for her to leave, she noticed a tall dark-haired man dressed in a suit walking toward the other men in the alley. Her eyes widened with shock when he held a gun up and pointed it toward the man on the floor.

Quickly placing her hand over her mouth to muffle the sound of her gasp, she dropped her metal flask. The noise of it clattering down the steps caught the men’s attention. The man with the gun looked straight at her. Lacey’s heart painfully thudded in her chest as they stared at each other for what seemed like forever. Tears welled in her eyes; she knew he wouldn’t want any witnesses. This is it now, she thought as the gunman stormed towards her, she knew her life would soon be over. Maybe she could thank him before he killed her, for freeing her from her miserable existence.

The gunman grabbed Lacey by her hoodie and slammed her hard against the wall, knocking the breath out of her. Her legs turned to jelly as she slumped against him. Lacey kept her head down as his strong musk-scented body squashed her against the wall. Her woolly hat slipped down covering her eyes. The gunman pressed the tip of his gun under her chin and raised her face as he yanked her woolly hat off.

Lacey’s long dark hair fell messily over her shoulders.

“What the fuck.” The gunman mumbled taking a step back, staring at her.

Lacey’s heart thudded harder in her chest as she stared at the good-looking, dark-haired man with icy blue eyes.

The gunman cleared his throat. “What’s your name?” He growled in a low deep voice.

“L, Lacey.” She stuttered.

“Lacey, what?” He barked.

“Jackson.” She whispered.

“Well, Lacey Jackson,” The gunman smirked moving his face close to her; his lips hovered over hers. “Did you see me here tonight?”

Lacey could smell the alcohol on his breath as she shook her head.

“Do I scare you?” He slyly smiled.

Lacey shook her head again. She didn’t want to admit to being scared of anything, not even a man with a gun.

“Say it then.” He ordered, looking at her with amusement.

Lacey took a deep breath. “Thank you.” She clearly said.

What for?” he asked.

“For killing me.” Lacey half-smiled

The amusement slowly faded from the gunman’s face. That wasn’t what he’d expected her to say. Was the girl’s life so bad, that she wanted to die? He glanced at the other men that he was with, who were standing over the man that he was going to shoot. He looked back at the petite girl; her big brown eyes were the coldest he’d ever seen. He was going to kill her, but for the first time in his life, he couldn’t do it. “Lacey Jackson,” He growled, roughly yanking her away from the wall and pushing her out of the doorway, slapping her backside hard.

Lacey squealed as she stumbled away from him and spun around to face him. Tears streamed down her face; she didn’t know what to do. Was he letting her go or was he going to shoot her?”

“Fucking get out of here!” The gunman bellowed, grabbing her sleeping bag off the ground, and throwing it at her.

Lacey’s heart felt like it was going to explode; she kept eye contact with him as she cautiously began to slowly walk backward out of the alley. The couple of minutes it took to exit the alley, felt like hours. The gunman’s eyes were locked on her. Lacey’s body shook. Tiny beads of sweat formed over her forehead; he may have let her go but she was waiting for him to raise his gun and shoot her.

Exiting the alley, Lacey collapsed on the pavement, holding her chest, gasping for breath. The sound of a gun firing echoed through the alley. Terrified, she crawled over the cold concrete, gripped metal railings to steady herself onto her feet, and began to run. The bright lights of the city blinded her as she ran through it. Drivers beeped their horns as she ran across the roads without looking. Seeing the city hall just ahead of her brought some relief. Whether her boyfriend, Jack, was behind there or not, at least she would feel safer.

Gasping for breath, Lacey ran behind the town hall and saw the lone figure of Jack sitting in his sleeping bag. “Jack!” She cried, rushing toward him.

“What the hell’s wrong?” Jack asked concerned; he’d never seen Lacey so panicked before.

Lacey’s legs ached from running so hard, she fell to the ground, exhausted. “Give me a moment,” she gasped for air as she rolled onto her back.

After Lacey calmed down, she told Jack about what had happened in the alley. Jack was shocked. “You must keep quiet about this. If you tell anyone, you know that they will go running to the police.” He said passing her a hand-rolled cigarette.

“I know that,” Lacey sighed lighting her cigarette; she knew that the police paid good money to anyone that had valuable information on any crime. The people who lived on the street were all happy to snitch if they knew it would pay for their next drug or meal. “My only worry is if the gunman might change his mind and come looking for me.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Jack laughed playfully nudging her. “He’ll never recognize you. All you scruffy street bitches look the same.”

“That’s true,” Lacey choked a little laugh. “But I told him my name.”

“What!” Jack gasped grabbing her arms. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I wasn’t thinking straight!” She cried yanking her arms out of his grip.

“You stupid girl!” Jack yelled pushing her.

Lacey fell backward on the grass and stared at the sky; thick clouds had now covered the moon. “Jack.” She quietly said.

“Yes?” He sighed rubbing his face with both hands.

“When I thought that man was going to kill me, I thanked him,” Lacey half smiled rolling onto her side and resting on her elbow.

“Why?” Jack stared at her in disbelief.

“Because.” Lacey shrugged. “What have any of us got to live for?”

Jack’s heart sunk, he wished he could make life better for her. Lacey was one of the toughest girls he had met on the streets but the more he had gotten to know her, the more he could see how vulnerable she was. “I’m sorry for shouting at you, but you shouldn’t have given that man your name; you haven’t a clue who he is.” He quietly spoke as he held her hand and pulled her towards him. “Did you overhear any names mentioned while you were there? You need to know whom you’re dealing with if he decides to come after you.” He asked wrapping his arm around her.

“No, I didn’t hear any names.” She sighed resting her head on his shoulder.

“Ok, we’ll talk about this tomorrow,” Jack kissed the top of her head pulling her closer to him. “Get some sleep now, you look a mess.”

“Thanks, Jack, you always know how to make a girl feel good don’t you,” she laughed, wrapping her arms around him.

Lacey gazed up at the sky as she relaxed against Jack’s chest. The night’s events ran through her mind like a movie stuck on repeat. Closing her eyes, she shuddered; all she could see were the gunman’s icy blue eyes staring at her.

Slipping Jack’s tobacco tin out of his coat pocket, Lacey sat up and rolled herself a cigarette. Taking a long draw of it, she gazed at the sky thinking about the gunman; with his dark hair, clear blue eyes, and how his tall strong body squashed her against the wall.

Lacey felt confused, she didn’t understand why he’d let her go. Would he change his mind and come after her, like Jack said he might do? Taking the last draw of her cigarette, she slowly shook her head as she flicked the butt across the grass. Pulling her sleeping bag up to her chin, she placed her hands under her head and relaxed. Jack was right, if the gunman did come looking for her, he wouldn’t recognize her.

Evan Durber sat at his father’s desk and poured himself a whiskey. Relaxing back in the plush black leather chair, he stared at the gold-framed photo of his father proudly placed in front of him. “I got the last one,” he said as he raised his glass, then knocked back his drink. “Now you can rest in peace.”

Gazing around the dimly lit office, he slowly nodded with approval. Everything he’d waited for in life, was now his; but why didn’t he feel happy? Pouring himself another drink, he made his way to the window and stood by it. His thoughts turned to the pretty girl in the alley. When he first saw her standing in the doorway, he thought she was a boy until he’d yanked the woolly hat off her head. Evan choked a little laugh, for a split second, it had caught him off guard. Taking a swig of his drink, he wondered if he’d made a mistake letting her go. Had she kept quiet about what she’d witnessed, or had she gone running to the police? He needed to know.

Taking his mobile out of his jacket, he scrolled through his phone and dialed his closest friend and confidant, Jim.

Jim answered.

“Find that homeless girl we saw in the alley tonight,” he ordered. “Her name is Lacey Jackson.”