Day 12. A Fire.

It was almost midnight on Christmas Eve and it was still 25 degrees celsius outside, inside it was even hotter.

Carrie fanned herself with a menu and looked around the empty café. The working girls didn’t need the warmth in the summer time, and since there was no air conditioning they didn’t come in to get out of the heat either. They hadn’t had a single customer since 10pm.

“I think we should call it a night,” she said to Jeff as she lent against the counter.

“I’m inclined to agree, do a final clean up and then we will lock up.”

“Done already, let me give you a hand.”

She started to walk towards the back when the sound of the bell over the door rang.

“Spoke too soon,” she said with a smile and turned back toward the door. The young man who had come in had a nervous look to him, and his eyes seemed to dart round everywhere. His clothes looked dirty, like he had lived in them for weeks, and his hair hung in oily dreadlocks. Not because a hairdresser had crafted them, but because he just didn’t wash his hair or anything else by the look of him. Carrie smiled at him, they had been known to give street kids a free meal, she assumed this one had heard about it and come to see if he could get one.

“Hi, you want something to eat?” she asked.

“Nah, well maybe. What you got?” he walked over to the open end of the counter.

“Burger and chips sound good to you?”

“Yeah.”

She turned to go back to the serving window in the back wall of the café to speak to Jeff. She felt an arm reach around her waist and then something cold at her neck, and smelt the kids foul breath as he spoke close to her ear.

“I want your money and any drugs you have, I’ll take my order to go.”

“We don’t have any drugs, it’s a café, not a pharmacy.”

Jeff looked up and froze before speaking quietly and calmly.

“Give him everything in the till Carrie. We don’t want any trouble kid, just take the money and go, we won’t stop you.”

“Damn woman you’re fat,” the kid said as he felt the swell of her belly. Carrie swallowed but didn’t answer him.

“The till is behind us, let me go please and I will get your money.” She tried to sound calm, but her heart was pounding in her ears and she was having trouble breathing.

“I’ll just keep a hold of you, you smell pretty.” He jerked her back as he turned and located the till, then pushed her forward. She banged her stomach on the edge of the counter and tried not to whimper as she opened the till and scooped the notes out.

“It’s not much, we had a quiet night,” she apologised as he took the notes from her, looked at them then stuffed them in one of his pockets.

“You got money in your bag, the old man has a wallet, I want that money too, and any drugs you got, the old man must have some, hell he looks like death warmed up.”

“I only have some change,” she told him as he pushed her along behind the counter to the open door into the back.

Jeff already had his wallet out and held it out to him.

“The only medication I have is for angina, it won’t do anything for you, but take it if you want.”

The kid took the wallet and pushed it onto another one of his pockets then held out his hand for the medication. Jeff dug into his shirt pocket and pulled out the small blister pack of pills and passed them over.

“Hand over her bag,” he ordered.

Jeff moved back to the back of the room and opened a cupboard before reaching in and pulling her handbag out. The kid pushed Carrie forward telling her to take the bag and hold it open for him to go through. She held her breath as he leaned over her shoulder and rummaged in her bag. He took her change purse and a roll of quick-eze.

“This it? You got nothing! What type of woman are you?”

“The broke kind,” she answered quietly.

“What else have you got here?” he looked around as if he expected to see treasure just waiting for him.

“Food, that’s all we have, food,” Jeff said trying to calm the kids who seemed to be becoming agitated.

“What? You expect me to believe this is it?” the hand on Carries belly reached up and took the knife from the one at her neck. He wrapped his fingers around her throat and pull her head back as he squeezed. “Where’s the safe?” he asked looking at Jeff.

“We don’t have one, you saw the takings, what would we need a safe for?”

“I’ll kill her,” the kid said tightening the hold he had on her throat.

“I promise you, there is nothing else, search the place if you don’t believe me, please just let her go.” Jeff held out his hands palms out to show him he wasn’t going to try anything.

The kid growled low in his throat as his hand choked Carrie. She reached up her own hands to try and pry his fingers off her so she could pull in a breath.

“Please!” Jeff yelled his eyes wide. He wished he was younger, or even just healthier so he could fight the kid. Hell in his younger days he would have taken the kid in the first few moments, but now when his body was ravished with cancer he hadn’t even told Carrie about, he knew the kid would get the better of him, and he might hurt her just to spite him.

The kid threw back his head and vented his anger in a roar, as he turned the knife and pushed it into Carries stomach.

Even without breath she let out a scream of pain and fear. Jeff rush at him trying to push him off her. The kid dragged the knife from her, slicing her as he did then he plunged it into Jeff’s upper chest. He went down like a sack of potatoes.

Carrie had slumped to the ground holding her stomach as she cried. The kid bent down to plunge his knife in to Jeff again aiming for his heart, then moved past him reaching down to casually slice Carries neck.He looked round at the mess and smiled.

This was a most fun he had had in ages.

He opened the nearby freezer and pulled out a large bag of sliced potatoes then up ended the lot into the deep fryer. Spying a newspaper he screwed it up and tossed it into a fry basket before he pulled out his lighter and lit one corner of it.

“Merry Christmas,” he said as he turned to walk out.

It was only a few moments later that the bubbling oil in the fryer caught alight sending splatters of burning oil all over the kitchen.Mercifully both Carrie and Jeff had succumbed to their wounds before the kitchen and café were fully engulfed by flames.

The headlines read, “Tragedy as three die on Christmas Eve in a Café fire.”

~#~