by Once the key was pulled from the ignition, Katia leaned back and stared out the window at the other empty parking spaces of the garage deck. She was not sure how much use her truck really would get considering she was now deep within the city. It might be easier to just walk everywhere. However, selling her truck was not an option. She liked the idea of being able to get out of the city quickly if she needed to.
It was clear that the person she was meeting was not yet here, so she settled in to wait and started to drift into memories that she seldom gave herself time to work out.
--
"Katia, sit up straight." Her mother had said. Even at her twin brother's funeral they were on her about damn near everything. She did one better, she stood up and walked away. She moved to the side of the room and leaned against the wall not really listening to anything that was going on. Instead her eyes had focused on the box her brother was in. They could not even have an open casket. The car accident had been that bad.
She stood there for the longest time deep within her own mind before an older woman made her way around starting to make rounds up to the casket. She stopped in front of Katia with a smile upon her face and taking her hands in hers.
"I am sorry for your loss, young one." She had said. As if somehow that smile conveyed any real sympathy. Katia's mind ranted about how she was probably 'just glad it wasn't her old ass in the box.' Her jaw clenched and she nodded, if anything just to have the old woman move on. Katia didn't know anyone here other than her parents. The rest of the visitors were probably just friends of theirs. The one person that mattered to Hagan wasn't even there. More than likely due to no one knowing how to contact her in time for the services.
"Katia..." She turned and looked at her father. "You should try and stand up straight." He said after a moment. Katia did as she was told, but her teeth were clenched so tight that they started to hurt. Her eyes would not meet with those who came up to her to apologize for her loss. Instead they stayed focused upon her brother's box. Most of it seemed like a blur. All she could think about was how she felt the night it happened. How she knew something was wrong and tried to call him. How Megan answered the phone. She felt her throat start to close up.
"Katia, you have a stain on your dress." Her mother had sighed and clicked her tongue as she started to poke and pull at Katia's black dress.
"You can't even see it." she said through gritted teeth. "Mother stop.. STOP IT!" She snapped finally. Her mother looked at her with a bit of shock and finally let go of the dress.
"Kat.." Her father started to say, his tone as stern but quiet as he could be.
"Don't even start!" She near snarled at them.
"Go home." He said. Katia's eyes grew in disbelief. Were they really kicking her out of her own twin brother's funeral?? "NOW." She blinked and glanced among the large room full of people she didn't know.. all of them looking at her. Her eyes had lastly settled on the casket for a split second. "Katia, now. I mean it." Her eyes, filled with hatred, looked to her father and with that she spun around and left them all.
"Fuck them." she growled as she had gotten into the truck. She remembered that she fumbled and fought to put the keys in the ignition. "Fuck them.. fuck them! fuck them! fuck them.." she was starting to lose it. All she could say was that over and over again until she found herself sobbing against the wheel of her truck. "Hagan." She whimpered.
She wasn't even sure how she had gotten home. Her head hurt, her eyes burned. In a haze she had walked down the hall and stopped at Hagan's room. Their mother had cleaned it because she had planned to bring people over after the funeral. Katia hated the idea of people coming in. She knew Hagan would have as well. She stood outside that door for a long while just thinking about how he wouldn't even let her come in at times. How angry he got when she came in without asking.
Slowly she had moved her feet into his room. Thanks to their mother it didn't even smell like him anymore. His sandalwood musky body spray that nearly choked her whenever she walked by. The loud music of AC/DC would have been welcomed in place of the silence she faced then.
As she walked through she looked around, seeing the spots where posters had been removed. Book shelves organized. Things put away in places Hagan never would have put them. They didn't flow with his energy. The air had started to feel thin and stale in her lungs. Then her eyes stopped upon one shelf, and stepped close reaching for the item. How she snagged it to her chest as the room started to spin...
---
A tap on her window startled her enough for her to grip her keys tightly in her hand. She hadn't heard or noticed the car that had pulled up next to her. Looking face to face with a young square jawed blond man in thin framed round glasses. His brown eyes focused on her with a bit of concern.
"You OK Katia?" He asked gripping hold of her door handle and popping the door open.
"Da, I am fine." she said in a soft voice turning to drop out of her truck as he opened the door. "I was just thinking of all the work that had been done is all. How are you Anton?" She asked moving so that he could close the door.
"Well, though you should think of all the work we have left to do." he said raising his finger in a matter of fact wag.
"Please.. do not do that." she said and started to walk away from him to the elevator. He followed behind her and she straightened her skirt after pushing the button to go down.
"Sorry, I had forgotten you do not like being told what to do for a moment." he said smiling.
"And yet you continue to do it because it is your job." she said glancing at him. As they stepped into the elevator she pressed her hand against her nose. The small box smelled of rotten food. For a few they stayed silent, if just for the sake of saving their breath.
"I still think this was a bad idea. This part of town does not seem like such a good spot for such an endeavor.." He started to say as they came to the sidewalk and street. "I know I said I would hold my judgment till you told me your plans and design." he said before she could say anything. He had his hands up in a surrender pose for a split moment.
"Da, you did. So shush until you have seen it." She said just as they stopped at the corner. There was no traffic, but before they could step off the curb a loud shout was heard. A white man came running out of an alley and ripped off his shirt. Slamming it to the ground in the middle of the street.
"FUCK YOU! YOU DON'T KNOW ME BITCH!" He screamed at it pointing and walking around it. "I DO WHAT I WANT! AIN'T NO GOVERNMENT GONNA TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Anton passed Katia a wary glance before they continued across the street quietly. "I OWN YOU! YOU DON'T OWN ME!" the man continued and soon his shouts faded to the background as they reached the building with broken windows and walked inside.
Katia looked around the scuffed abandoned building. From the broken glass to the graffiti covered walls and the spots on the floor that looked as if someone had set up a fire. She could not help but smile.
"Katia, this is really bad." Anton said, his expression was one of disgust. "There is no way.."
"Shush, listen to my idea. This is nothing. We clean this up, Da? and we put in thick shatter resistant glass.."
"Do you know how expensive.."
"Stop, listen. You will like this." she said trying to convey her excitement of her plan. "Here, waiting area." She said gesturing around the room as she moved through it. "A bar, here. Tables here, here, here and here. But here we will have live band."
"You can't put a bar against the window. If anything that is just encouraging someone to break in for the liquor." Anton interrupted. A glare shot from Katia. "Ok.. continue." he said giving in.
"This floor will be for just appetizers and drinks." She moved to the stairs and started up carefully trying to avoid tripping over broken railing and plaster. "Up here will be more tables. Around this corner will be a sort of waiting area and here more tables. Back in here the kitchen with a few more tables. This will be main meal." She continued, her eyes full of light as she continued through. She started up the next set of stairs but stopped when Anton nearly slipped and fell. Once he was up she navigated further to the top floor.
"Here, dessert. Not just ice cream or cake. Desserts from all over the world." She said with a wide grin. For a long moment Anton stood looking around as she explained everything she wanted to put down. "This is not all." she said when she finished. "This is just here." He rubbed his chin and sighed shaking his head.
"Continue then. Let me see all of it before I tell you what I think." Katia smiled wide and they started their dangerous journey back down the stairs. As they came to the door they paused glancing out watching as the man in the street was now taking on a taxi that was trying to get by. The taxi pushed through nearly running over the man, who then chased after the taxi with intent to do some major damage. Coast clear, the two moved around to the other shop door. Though there were chains upon the door to keep it locked, the glass was also shattered and looked as if there had been some squatters.
"Here we could have a dress shop or clothing shop. Selling the uh.. nick knacks." She said and smiled at him. When he was not showing any good signs of agreeing with this place she held up a finger. "Yet there is more!"
"More?" he said slightly annoyed. Katia simply smiled and nodded before heading around down the darker alley. "Katia..." He called out in a tone above a whisper. "This does not look safe."
"Come on." she gave him an almost knowing look before she continued down the alley without fear. She pointed at a door. "I will explain this one once we are in private." They passed by it, Anton giving it a raised eyebrow before following Katia around the corner. She pulled out some keys and started to unlock another door. When she tried to push it open it did not budge so easily. She turned and put her shoulder into it and gave it a nice jolt before it suddenly swung open. The strong scent of fecal matter and BO hit them. Katia's eyes watered slightly and she stumbled to the side when she caught sight of someone inside. When she looked at it closer the skinny tan male with jet black matted hair jolted up and barreled out the door past Anton. It was clear he had been in there a while, perhaps accidentally locked in somehow.
As Katia looked to Anton he tilted his head with a not so amused expression on his face. When he finally gave up and stepped in, Katia closed the door and locked it behind him. They made it up several flights of stairs coming to two landings that broke off into rather spacious spots.
"These could easily be made into rooms." she said walking by the second one.
"Rooms for what?" Anton said in a bit of mocking tone. "More meth heads? I would suggest you put some bathrooms in them, but I doubt they know how to use them." he scoffed.
"Oh, I am sure with a bit of bleach and some scrubbing those meth heads can be just as good as you." she said snidely looking over her shoulder. As they came to the last door, it was clear someone had tried multiple times to get in, but could not. Closer inspection from Anton, he could see that the door was false wood atop a thick layer of steal. When Katia unlocked it she caught his inspection and smiled. "They wanted to make sure no more homeless could get to the roof. apparently being homeless is rather depressing. People have jumped for less." She said swinging open the door.
The size of the loft was surprising enough. What he did not expect was how nice it looked after being in the rest of the building. Clean stained wooden floors. A working well put together kitchen. Nicely done paint job on the walls. It looked more like an uptown loft that would have cost more than Katia's Father could afford. The further he inspected the loft, now on his own simply out of awe, the more impressed he was.
"How much is this?" He asked finally joining Katia in the kitchen.
"For entire building, six hundred a month." She said with a wide grin.
"No.. not possible." He said near breathlessly.
"Yes, possible. We are in it." She said, her grin wider now.
"That is not including costs to fix up everything else." He said giving her a side long glance.
"No, but... the rest could not cost that much." She said. "I have looked up.. total of perhaps one hundred thousand." Anton eyed the apartment for a moment longer.
"Alright.." He said finally and sighed. "Just let me do the math.."
"No need. I have already bought and paid for." Anton near fell against the counter.
"Why do you tease me so much? Why do you bring me out here to look at something to advise you on and yet.. you do not even need me?!" he sounded upset.. and oddly this pleased Katia. She smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
"Just thought you needed to know."
"No, I will be more involved with this from now on." he said and crossed his arms. Katia shrugged slightly. "What is the other door?" he asked.
"Basement. Thick, sound proof and door just like this steal one." Anton raised his eyebrow. "So that each month I am locked up and safe from the change." Anton nodded.
"Are you sure you need such a large place? You are so small.."
"Roommates."
"No.. That is not safe, Katia." Katia paused and glared at him for a moment longer. "I just mean to say, are you sure that is good idea?"
"I am." She said sternly.
"Alright. Lets go. I will need to calculate what you need for this building." he said with a sigh. "Also, the smell is seeping into this beautiful part.. We should start to get it cleaned up." He added with a shake of his head. They made their way back to their cars without incident. Katia waited for him to leave first. Once he was gone she drove down and as she got to the street and stopped, she could see a rather large man standing across the street from her building. He glared her direction, and she averted her eyes to look for traffic. There was a soft foreboding feeling, that would make her think of that man later on that night.
It was clear that the person she was meeting was not yet here, so she settled in to wait and started to drift into memories that she seldom gave herself time to work out.
--
"Katia, sit up straight." Her mother had said. Even at her twin brother's funeral they were on her about damn near everything. She did one better, she stood up and walked away. She moved to the side of the room and leaned against the wall not really listening to anything that was going on. Instead her eyes had focused on the box her brother was in. They could not even have an open casket. The car accident had been that bad.
She stood there for the longest time deep within her own mind before an older woman made her way around starting to make rounds up to the casket. She stopped in front of Katia with a smile upon her face and taking her hands in hers.
"I am sorry for your loss, young one." She had said. As if somehow that smile conveyed any real sympathy. Katia's mind ranted about how she was probably 'just glad it wasn't her old ass in the box.' Her jaw clenched and she nodded, if anything just to have the old woman move on. Katia didn't know anyone here other than her parents. The rest of the visitors were probably just friends of theirs. The one person that mattered to Hagan wasn't even there. More than likely due to no one knowing how to contact her in time for the services.
"Katia..." She turned and looked at her father. "You should try and stand up straight." He said after a moment. Katia did as she was told, but her teeth were clenched so tight that they started to hurt. Her eyes would not meet with those who came up to her to apologize for her loss. Instead they stayed focused upon her brother's box. Most of it seemed like a blur. All she could think about was how she felt the night it happened. How she knew something was wrong and tried to call him. How Megan answered the phone. She felt her throat start to close up.
"Katia, you have a stain on your dress." Her mother had sighed and clicked her tongue as she started to poke and pull at Katia's black dress.
"You can't even see it." she said through gritted teeth. "Mother stop.. STOP IT!" She snapped finally. Her mother looked at her with a bit of shock and finally let go of the dress.
"Kat.." Her father started to say, his tone as stern but quiet as he could be.
"Don't even start!" She near snarled at them.
"Go home." He said. Katia's eyes grew in disbelief. Were they really kicking her out of her own twin brother's funeral?? "NOW." She blinked and glanced among the large room full of people she didn't know.. all of them looking at her. Her eyes had lastly settled on the casket for a split second. "Katia, now. I mean it." Her eyes, filled with hatred, looked to her father and with that she spun around and left them all.
"Fuck them." she growled as she had gotten into the truck. She remembered that she fumbled and fought to put the keys in the ignition. "Fuck them.. fuck them! fuck them! fuck them.." she was starting to lose it. All she could say was that over and over again until she found herself sobbing against the wheel of her truck. "Hagan." She whimpered.
She wasn't even sure how she had gotten home. Her head hurt, her eyes burned. In a haze she had walked down the hall and stopped at Hagan's room. Their mother had cleaned it because she had planned to bring people over after the funeral. Katia hated the idea of people coming in. She knew Hagan would have as well. She stood outside that door for a long while just thinking about how he wouldn't even let her come in at times. How angry he got when she came in without asking.
Slowly she had moved her feet into his room. Thanks to their mother it didn't even smell like him anymore. His sandalwood musky body spray that nearly choked her whenever she walked by. The loud music of AC/DC would have been welcomed in place of the silence she faced then.
As she walked through she looked around, seeing the spots where posters had been removed. Book shelves organized. Things put away in places Hagan never would have put them. They didn't flow with his energy. The air had started to feel thin and stale in her lungs. Then her eyes stopped upon one shelf, and stepped close reaching for the item. How she snagged it to her chest as the room started to spin...
---
A tap on her window startled her enough for her to grip her keys tightly in her hand. She hadn't heard or noticed the car that had pulled up next to her. Looking face to face with a young square jawed blond man in thin framed round glasses. His brown eyes focused on her with a bit of concern.
"You OK Katia?" He asked gripping hold of her door handle and popping the door open.
"Da, I am fine." she said in a soft voice turning to drop out of her truck as he opened the door. "I was just thinking of all the work that had been done is all. How are you Anton?" She asked moving so that he could close the door.
"Well, though you should think of all the work we have left to do." he said raising his finger in a matter of fact wag.
"Please.. do not do that." she said and started to walk away from him to the elevator. He followed behind her and she straightened her skirt after pushing the button to go down.
"Sorry, I had forgotten you do not like being told what to do for a moment." he said smiling.
"And yet you continue to do it because it is your job." she said glancing at him. As they stepped into the elevator she pressed her hand against her nose. The small box smelled of rotten food. For a few they stayed silent, if just for the sake of saving their breath.
"I still think this was a bad idea. This part of town does not seem like such a good spot for such an endeavor.." He started to say as they came to the sidewalk and street. "I know I said I would hold my judgment till you told me your plans and design." he said before she could say anything. He had his hands up in a surrender pose for a split moment.
"Da, you did. So shush until you have seen it." She said just as they stopped at the corner. There was no traffic, but before they could step off the curb a loud shout was heard. A white man came running out of an alley and ripped off his shirt. Slamming it to the ground in the middle of the street.
"FUCK YOU! YOU DON'T KNOW ME BITCH!" He screamed at it pointing and walking around it. "I DO WHAT I WANT! AIN'T NO GOVERNMENT GONNA TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Anton passed Katia a wary glance before they continued across the street quietly. "I OWN YOU! YOU DON'T OWN ME!" the man continued and soon his shouts faded to the background as they reached the building with broken windows and walked inside.
Katia looked around the scuffed abandoned building. From the broken glass to the graffiti covered walls and the spots on the floor that looked as if someone had set up a fire. She could not help but smile.
"Katia, this is really bad." Anton said, his expression was one of disgust. "There is no way.."
"Shush, listen to my idea. This is nothing. We clean this up, Da? and we put in thick shatter resistant glass.."
"Do you know how expensive.."
"Stop, listen. You will like this." she said trying to convey her excitement of her plan. "Here, waiting area." She said gesturing around the room as she moved through it. "A bar, here. Tables here, here, here and here. But here we will have live band."
"You can't put a bar against the window. If anything that is just encouraging someone to break in for the liquor." Anton interrupted. A glare shot from Katia. "Ok.. continue." he said giving in.
"This floor will be for just appetizers and drinks." She moved to the stairs and started up carefully trying to avoid tripping over broken railing and plaster. "Up here will be more tables. Around this corner will be a sort of waiting area and here more tables. Back in here the kitchen with a few more tables. This will be main meal." She continued, her eyes full of light as she continued through. She started up the next set of stairs but stopped when Anton nearly slipped and fell. Once he was up she navigated further to the top floor.
"Here, dessert. Not just ice cream or cake. Desserts from all over the world." She said with a wide grin. For a long moment Anton stood looking around as she explained everything she wanted to put down. "This is not all." she said when she finished. "This is just here." He rubbed his chin and sighed shaking his head.
"Continue then. Let me see all of it before I tell you what I think." Katia smiled wide and they started their dangerous journey back down the stairs. As they came to the door they paused glancing out watching as the man in the street was now taking on a taxi that was trying to get by. The taxi pushed through nearly running over the man, who then chased after the taxi with intent to do some major damage. Coast clear, the two moved around to the other shop door. Though there were chains upon the door to keep it locked, the glass was also shattered and looked as if there had been some squatters.
"Here we could have a dress shop or clothing shop. Selling the uh.. nick knacks." She said and smiled at him. When he was not showing any good signs of agreeing with this place she held up a finger. "Yet there is more!"
"More?" he said slightly annoyed. Katia simply smiled and nodded before heading around down the darker alley. "Katia..." He called out in a tone above a whisper. "This does not look safe."
"Come on." she gave him an almost knowing look before she continued down the alley without fear. She pointed at a door. "I will explain this one once we are in private." They passed by it, Anton giving it a raised eyebrow before following Katia around the corner. She pulled out some keys and started to unlock another door. When she tried to push it open it did not budge so easily. She turned and put her shoulder into it and gave it a nice jolt before it suddenly swung open. The strong scent of fecal matter and BO hit them. Katia's eyes watered slightly and she stumbled to the side when she caught sight of someone inside. When she looked at it closer the skinny tan male with jet black matted hair jolted up and barreled out the door past Anton. It was clear he had been in there a while, perhaps accidentally locked in somehow.
As Katia looked to Anton he tilted his head with a not so amused expression on his face. When he finally gave up and stepped in, Katia closed the door and locked it behind him. They made it up several flights of stairs coming to two landings that broke off into rather spacious spots.
"These could easily be made into rooms." she said walking by the second one.
"Rooms for what?" Anton said in a bit of mocking tone. "More meth heads? I would suggest you put some bathrooms in them, but I doubt they know how to use them." he scoffed.
"Oh, I am sure with a bit of bleach and some scrubbing those meth heads can be just as good as you." she said snidely looking over her shoulder. As they came to the last door, it was clear someone had tried multiple times to get in, but could not. Closer inspection from Anton, he could see that the door was false wood atop a thick layer of steal. When Katia unlocked it she caught his inspection and smiled. "They wanted to make sure no more homeless could get to the roof. apparently being homeless is rather depressing. People have jumped for less." She said swinging open the door.
The size of the loft was surprising enough. What he did not expect was how nice it looked after being in the rest of the building. Clean stained wooden floors. A working well put together kitchen. Nicely done paint job on the walls. It looked more like an uptown loft that would have cost more than Katia's Father could afford. The further he inspected the loft, now on his own simply out of awe, the more impressed he was.
"How much is this?" He asked finally joining Katia in the kitchen.
"For entire building, six hundred a month." She said with a wide grin.
"No.. not possible." He said near breathlessly.
"Yes, possible. We are in it." She said, her grin wider now.
"That is not including costs to fix up everything else." He said giving her a side long glance.
"No, but... the rest could not cost that much." She said. "I have looked up.. total of perhaps one hundred thousand." Anton eyed the apartment for a moment longer.
"Alright.." He said finally and sighed. "Just let me do the math.."
"No need. I have already bought and paid for." Anton near fell against the counter.
"Why do you tease me so much? Why do you bring me out here to look at something to advise you on and yet.. you do not even need me?!" he sounded upset.. and oddly this pleased Katia. She smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
"Just thought you needed to know."
"No, I will be more involved with this from now on." he said and crossed his arms. Katia shrugged slightly. "What is the other door?" he asked.
"Basement. Thick, sound proof and door just like this steal one." Anton raised his eyebrow. "So that each month I am locked up and safe from the change." Anton nodded.
"Are you sure you need such a large place? You are so small.."
"Roommates."
"No.. That is not safe, Katia." Katia paused and glared at him for a moment longer. "I just mean to say, are you sure that is good idea?"
"I am." She said sternly.
"Alright. Lets go. I will need to calculate what you need for this building." he said with a sigh. "Also, the smell is seeping into this beautiful part.. We should start to get it cleaned up." He added with a shake of his head. They made their way back to their cars without incident. Katia waited for him to leave first. Once he was gone she drove down and as she got to the street and stopped, she could see a rather large man standing across the street from her building. He glared her direction, and she averted her eyes to look for traffic. There was a soft foreboding feeling, that would make her think of that man later on that night.
