Rain fell through the night sky, pasting road and rooftops slick with wetness. Roads sheened with mirror reflections, multiplying the spotted gas lamps that did their best to bring about illumination in the night. The streets were clear. Of course they would be. Nobody would want to be caught out in this and for a region that was only accustomed to heat, a little flooding would be inevitable. So bars were full of rowdy workers who had clocked off early and homes well lit with pale light, finding a moment’s respite in the cooler air.
In the far distance a gentle shock of light was accompanied with lazy thunder that rolled over the close mountains. Sheets of rain periodically waved across the road, sending spray all around.
The rhythmic drumming of raindrops did nothing to pacify Cole. He leant over a balcony edge, hunched in a single frame-folding chair that was now soaked through. He was wrapped in an oversized wax jacket with a hood and despite his best efforts his hands were damp and cold. He stared out across the road, watching workers in an opposite factory who had their loading bay doors pitched open, the occasional one sneaking outside for a quick smoke unnoticed.
The vantage point was concealed enough so as to not raise suspicion. With a partial overhang from the stairwell itself. At least there was some shelter though the clouds were showing no sign of letting up from dropping their load on the world beneath. The chair’s wood frame was wet and slippery, offering little comfort, if any. It was already ten at night and this weather was apparently going to go on for a few hours more at least.
The cold, the damp, the noise, Cole detested it. He would much rather be sat in front of a fireplace drinking whatever exotic concoction of tea he could come up with. Why did he throw it all away? The little perks tidy living brought like a private bath, constant hot water and control over his own life were a treasure. What had they been replaced with?
Cole adjusted his hood as another breath of wind cast rain upon his face.
All in the name of revenge. How stupid of him. He should have just vanished like his conscience demanded he did. Instead, he got to endure all this.
‘Oh I most certainly don’t envy you,’ Alvina called behind him. She had made her way out from the stairwell, wrapped in a caramel leather duster and wide-brimmed hat, fancy attire that was doing a much better job of keeping her dry than Cole’s was. She leant forward on the balcony alongside him and checked to see if he gave a care. Droplets of rain traced the lines of his face though his expression remained unchanged.
Next, she took in the street, securing her hat with the press of a hand should the wind wish to claim it. Raindrops bounced from the leather. The worn road now resembled something of a shallow river. ‘Wow. This is terrible weather.’
‘Come to check up on me?’ He pouted.
‘Yes. Jack wanted to make sure you wasn’t shirking being that it’s wet and all. Now, I told him that won’t be necessary but, well, you know Jack.’
‘I know Jack,’ Cole repeated. ‘As you can see, I ain’t gone nowhere. You can report on back that I’m behaving myself.’
Cole expected a response but got nothing in response. This was the frustration talking and responding would have only made matters worse. He continued, just as sullen: ‘I can’t think of anything more demeaning than this. It’s a complete waste of my time.’
‘Yes it is. It’s your recompense for keeping a big, dirty secret from us.’
He lowered his head in defeat, knowing this all too well. The admittance didn’t help matters. ‘I get it, I get it. How long am I expected to do this for?’
Alvina emitted a low whistle into the night air, condensing into steam upon leaving her lips.
‘According to Jack, until you learn your lesson. According to Blake … he used the word indefinitely but I’m unsure whether it was in jest.’
‘Wonderful.’ Cole slinked down and rested his face on his sodden arms. ‘And if there is any trouble with this here factory I’m staking out?’
‘You come home,’ Alvina stated bluntly. ‘You don’t get involved. If something goes down, you take notes and, when clear, come back and tell us all about it.’
‘I don’t get paid enough for this you know.’ Raindrops spat from over Cole’s lips.
‘It was my understanding that you didn’t get paid at all, bar whatever our generous leader tosses your way.’
‘Case in point.’
Alvina gave a piece of advice as her parting gift before retreating into the welcoming interior and leaving Cole all to his lonesome. ‘Do yourself a favour and don’t fall asleep. You’ll catch your death in this weather.’
The stairwell door closed and Cole was, once again, alone.
Sleep. Who the hell could fall asleep in this weather? The rain poured down and the hours ticked by, making his very bones ache with the dank. Cole made notes of the comings and goings as ordered, as uneventful as they were. The only comfort gained was the cheap swills from a hip flask. Mouthfuls of some godforsaken liquor, which burnt like paraffin mixed with the hellish tips of blood cacti. It sent a warmth down his throat to reside in the pit of his stomach. Before long he began to drink not to keep the damp away but to accompany his thoughts. Sour thoughts at that.
Of course there was no trouble. There was never going to be any trouble. Secretly, Cole knew the truth: that this was just some shipping company with no ties to anything shady. It was just part of the menial punishments he had to endure in penitence. Come four a.m. the factory went dark and the foreman sent everyone home. Anyone lingering departed after a communal smoke. The rain had settled to a fine drizzle. The sky was slowly embracing bright pinks as the breaking sun emerged over the horizon, washing the landscape with its golden rays.
Cole trudged up the factory stairs one at a time and with no urgency whatsoever. His coat was heavy and wet, his clothes were sodden and his fingers had turned numb. He pressed the dead digits against the door and eased it open. He sullenly took stock of Alvina, who glanced up from her card game at the table, looked at the man from head to toe, then returned to her distraction.
Cole peeled off his overcoat and hung it, water quickly pooling beneath the stand. His hat followed, though was misplaced, sending it to the floor in a sodden heap. Cold, miserable and in no mood for arguments, he dragged himself over to the dining table and sank into one of the chairs. Opposite, Alvina shuffled a handful of cards, looking for any sign of protest. There were none of course – he knew better than to gripe.
‘Report,’ Alvina demanded. She slipped a couple of cards from her hand and placed them with the sets drawn out on the table.
‘To you?’
‘Jack is sleeping, so sure. To me. Or you can wait for him to rise. I figure you would want some shut-eye today at least.’
‘Quiet,’ Cole begrudgingly stated, thumbing through his damp notepad. ‘Expectedly quiet. The only remotely eventful thing from my observations was that the yard dog goes out at six, eleven and two for a shit. Quite the revelation. I’m sure Jack will be overjoyed with such profound knowledge and, as such, will be able to avoid fully stepping in said shit should he pay a visit to the premises.’
‘He likes his boots clean that’s for sure.’ Alvina smiled somewhat. Cole eventually followed himself, snorting in amusement.
‘I never took you for an early riser,’ he said. ‘Trouble sleeping?’
‘Dreams seem to escape me recently,’ Alvina replied, focusing on her cards. ‘Trouble lassoing anything to dream about truth be told. No matter the time, regardless of what I’ve had to drink, I’ll go to bed but just be lying there in sheets, staring at the ceiling.’
‘Sounds like a fine time to me with good company.’
Cole hoisted himself back up into his chair, setting into motion an enthusiastic grin. His hopes of fortune were shut down immediately with an unenthusiastic glare before Alvina settled back on her game. Instead, he eyed the cards and made a proposition.
‘Fancy a couple of hands for money?’
‘Not my sort of thing.’
‘I’ve seen you play before.’
Alvina paused momentarily, rolled her eyes and patronizingly exhaled.
‘At my discretion. A trait brought on since someone did so with my life. Brings back bad memories. Would do so for you too.’
Sheepishly, Cole dried his face further with one of the few parts of his shirtsleeve that had escaped precipitation.
‘Sorry. I meant no disrespect. What happened?’
She played the cards without looking up. ‘They won. Why do you think I’m stuck with this here life?’
Cole’s face scrunched up in disgust.
‘Jack owns you?’
‘No,’ she dismissed, ‘my family had a debt and my uncle, impulsive gambler that he is, figured that he could put me down on a good hand. Jackdaw humoured him. Needless to say the hand wasn’t good enough. As a result, I ended up working for him until things change. Doesn’t look like anything that will happen this side of soon …’
‘Your uncle?’
‘The portly fellow you gave a black eye to at Cutter’s. Seems to be something of a trend.’
‘He’s your uncle,’ Cole repeated for clarification, needlessly, but his astonishment, and subsequent disgust forced a desire for confirmation.
‘I’m afraid so,’ Alvina said.
‘So I’m correct. You’re a slave, basically.’
‘I’m not. It’s just that I’ve done this gig for years and it’s all I’ve ever known. I could leave any time I wanted, but what would be the point in that? Where exactly would I go? Back to my family?’ Alvina scoffed at the thought and sipped more of her water. ‘Jack has me on no leash. I live on my own accord. We live beaten down, where chances are few and the best we could wish for is a long life coupled with a quick death. Look around you. People like us are stepped upon, like your father. You said it yourself. I would rather take the share of what life owes me, than be polite and watch the undeserved steal it.’
Cole said nothing as she placed her cards back down upon the table, visually harbouring a resentment that had been nurtured unspoken. For a moment Cole thought of reaching out and reassuring her but since he liked all his bones intact, kept his hands in his lap.
‘I came here demanding Jack to pay up for what he took from me.’
‘From your employer, you mean …’
Cole shrugged. ‘Little details. My point being, I relate to what you’re saying. Life is full of thieves stealing from one another. If you don’t get involved yourself, then you end up with nothing. My pappy was trapped in that circle. My mother too. I set out to make sure I wouldn’t, nor would anyone else. I never realized that what I was doing was similar.’
Alvina turned away momentarily, drawing the back of her hand across her damp eyes. Something resembling a wet sniff emerged, though it was not commented upon.
‘I’m glad you’re with us, Cole. Things would be much more boring without you around,’ Alvina mumbled, returning to her game once more.
Cole gave a nod, bravely patted her shoulder and retreated to his bed for some welcome shut-eye.