I told you so! {Revisited}
This is one from the past. However, it has been upgraded to fit into the current storyline of the European Queen. it is short and one for that might have fitted in as a final chapter.
I wasn't sure what was happening. I was standing on top of a building, looking down into a darkened alleyway. I could see four single lights along one side of the alley. They weren't bright enough to illuminate any more than a ten-foot circle they left on the ground, directly under them. I saw some moment by the dumpster and a large rat ran along next to the wall towards an open drain. Water or something oozed from the pile of rags down in the gutter and with a drip drip drip the liquid flowed away. A cat screeched and gave chase, jumping over the pile of something dumped and left there. Strange that I could clearly hear the dripping of liquid falling into the open drain. The acoustics of the alley sent the sounds up the three flights to us. The dark of night kept us hidden.
I could see quite clearly the rat, the cat, the dumpster, I could tell you exactly what they looked like. What colours they were, the dirty rat, covered in oils and muck, its thick fine grey fur, stuck together with the slime and gunk of the mess in the alleyway. The cat, all tabby with a missing eye and a scar on its face. I could tell you how the dumpster had been moved so the pile of rags in the alleyway wouldn't be seen from the street. The finding of a body will have to wait until someone came and needed the dumpster, or someone, collected the rubbish.
We hadn't counted on a lonely old woman, pushing a worn-out supermarket trolley, with four dodgy wheels, all trying to go in different directions at once. She was searching for whatever she could find. Hoping, beyond hope that the Chinese restaurant had thrown something out in the trash last night. I could see her thoughts, 'They always leave me something'.
The old lady looked down the alleyway and saw the bin blocking her way, she mumbled a curse to herself. I heard her as clear as day. Strange I thought, I could see the old woman, her tangled and unkempt matted hair, the wrinkles on her face, the dirty clothes she had on, the baggy overcoat, wearing thin on the elbows, I could see all that, but I couldn't see how they had turned a body into a pile of rags and dumped it behind the dumpster.
I looked down the three stories, I knew what it was meant to look like and I also knew that I had to remain up here and silent. Stella had a hand on my shoulder, she was making certain I didn't fall, and someone had a handful of my jeans, their hand took hold of my belt on my jeans they made certain I wouldn't jump, I couldn't move.
I was getting angry and suddenly tired. So very tired. I needed sleep. I wanted to close my eyes and drift off to find peace. I had told the Matron so many times this past month or so, which is why so many hands were holding me still. There was so much racing around my head. So much had happened. All those lies, all those deaths just because of me. The betrayal of the people who I held closest to me, my parents or the people who raised me as their daughter, and my so called grandparents, how I loved them. Lies all lies. Then the different agencies from Europe trying to kill me. Hearing the truth from my Pere-Pere (Fathers Father or Grandfather).
The Matron whispered in my ear and brought me back to the roof top. "Now is not the time to think on it," She told me.
