Linger Awhile

14 Chauncey Lim

10 January 2004. When I turned up at Fallok’s place he said, ‘What?’

‘What indeed,’ I said. ‘That’s a very warm greeting for the guy who showed you how to reconstitute Justine Trimble.’

‘I’ve got a lot on my mind,’ he said.

‘I don’t doubt it. What the hell kind of recipe did you use for Justine? I was there when she committed murder.’

He looked as if he might pick up something heavy and beat me to death with it. ‘What are you going to do about it?’ he said.

‘I don’t know. I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in.’

‘And what condition is it in?’

‘I’m not sure. I’ve got this bloodstained anorak she left in a dustbin in Great Marlborough Street. The police are probably looking for it. Here, take it.’

He took it, felt in all the pockets, shook his head and said, ‘Shit. No keys.’

‘The anorak is just as I found it,’ I said. ‘I didn’t take anything out of the pockets.’

‘Never mind. What do you want, Chauncey?’

‘First of all, I want to know what’s happening. After that it’s negotiable.’

‘You said you saw her commit murder. Did you see how she did it?’

‘No, I wasn’t close enough. I saw the other woman slump down but I didn’t know she was dead until I had a closer look.’

‘She was dead,’ said Istvan, ‘because Justine sucked all the blood out of her.’

‘Oh my God! You mean …?’

‘That’s what I mean, Chaunce.’

‘Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. From the seed of trouble grows the trouble tree. What now?’

‘You tell me. Are you in or out?’

‘In or out of what?’

‘Still fancy Justine?’

‘Crikey, I don’t know. This puts her in a whole new light. Or darkness, rather.’

‘Doesn’t it just! Do you want a piece of the action or not?’

‘You’ll have to be more explicit — I’m not up to speed on this.’

‘It’s like this, Chaunce: she’s already got a pint of my blood in her plus what she got on her own but she’ll need topping up from time to time and I’m going to have to subcontract some of the work. If you want to join the Justine club you’ll have to give her some of what it takes. Like the fellow said, “the blood is the life”.’

‘And in return?’

‘You get what you’ve been craving for. Justine is a treat to look at when she’s been haematologically refreshed and she’ll be very affectionate, I promise you.’

‘My God, you’re pimping for her.’

‘Needs must when the Devil drives, Chaunce. You can take the high moral ground or you can follow your heart.’

‘My heart, for Christ’s sake!’

‘Or whatever part is leading you. We’re talking pragmatism here.’

‘We certainly are, and I’m a little breathless from it.’

‘Perfectly understandable. Take your time, think about it: five, ten minutes, whatever. She’s young, she’s beautiful in full colour, she’s longing for what you’ve got.’

‘Is she here now? Could I see her?’

‘Absolutely. She’s just having a kip. She needs lots of rest.’

He led the way to the bedroom and there she was, nude, only partly covered by the duvet. I looked at her shoulder, her beautiful bottom and the leg she stretched out. She rolled over, exposing her breasts, and opened her eyes. ‘Who’s this?’ she said.

‘This is Chauncey,’ said Istvan. ‘He’s going to be your new uncle if you treat him right.’

‘Hi, Chauncey,’ she said. ‘You look some livelier than Ish. Are you ready for a little uncle work?’

‘I thought you’d never ask,’ I said.