TEN SECONDS , The Kenny Ackerman Story BOOK ONE~ ORIGINS ,by Melly O'Hara

LEVI

CHAPTER 5 LEVI

So's, it were ta her l went first, a hidin' an' sneakin' my way back through the outskirts o' Wall Sina, inta the capital o' Mitras an' back down ta the Underground. After checkin' on my boys ( an' nah, it hadn' all gone ta shit while l was gone - only needed ta settle a couple o' scores with some greedy, ass- cracks, but there would be time enough for that after l seen Kuchel) an' after buyin' some perdy flower smellin' perfume, I went straight ta Kuchel's rooms above the Innkeeper's, but she weren' there. So's I checked the bar ta see if she were workin', but nope, she weren' there neither. Panic began ta rise in me. This weren' right – Kuchel never left either of them two places.

I went ta Bob's 'office', a shit hole – no bigger than a closet, behind the bar that only had enough room for a desk, his chair an' standin' room for one; the place where he did all his accounts an' booze orderin'.

"Where is she ?" l demanded, as l burst in, slamin' the door against the wall as it opened."Where's Kuchel? You're s'posed ta be keepin' an eye on her! If you've done anythin', I'm gonna rip ya a new one!" I screamed.

He rose from his desk, takin' his spectacles off his nose an' placin' them in his pocket.

"Kenny, Kuchel's alright. I promise you. But she's not here and l couldn't stop her. She's nearly a grown woman and I'm not her Pa, I'm not even kin! I tried Kenny, I really did , knowing how upset you'd be. But nine months is a long time, Kenny", Bob explained.

"STOP HER?! Whadda ya mean stop her?! Where'd she go? Why'd she go? What in fuck's name happened?" l yelled at him.

" Kenny, come in, close the door and take my seat. I'll get you a drink", he answered as he moved from behind the desk ta the door, where l stood, and went inta the bar.

"Make it strong", l sneered. " An' top shelf, none o' your cheap shit", l called after him as l wound my way around the desk an' sunk inta his chair. Bob came back with a full glass an' put it in front o' me, leavin' the bottle beside it.

"Look Kenny", he said as he sat himself down on the corner o' his desk. "I don't want to be the one to tell you all this, that's Kuchel's job, but you got a right to be upset and worried and you trusted me and my wife with Kuchel and l want you to know we did our best not to let you down".

"Fine, fine, get on with it", l said, wavin' him on an' swallowin' the whiskey in one gulp. It burned, but the burn was good; helped disguise the lump in my throat an' it took the edge off wantin' ta kill somebody.

"Well, it all started about six months ago. Before that, everything was just like normal; Kuchel did her studies, worked at the bar, took her meals with us or in her room and spent her free time either there or with my wife."he began.

"So's, what happened?", I demanded, pourin' myself another drink.

"Levi happened", he answered dully.

"Who the fuck's Levi? And what the fuck did he do to Kuchel?" l bellowed at him in confusion. My head was spinnin'. I jus' couldn' make sense o' it. I didn' know no Levi. No-one that worked for me went by that name. I wracked my brains – were it some nobody I'd used or bribed tryin' ta get back at me through her? But nothin' came ta mind.

"Well", continued Bob, "like l said, about six months ago, a young man came inta the bar. Must have been about your age, maybe a little younger, say nineteen or twenty. He was a ragged, skinny thing, said he'd been travelling through the Underground, looking for work. Said he came from the east where they'd just shut down the coal- mines after the'd had a major collapse there and his Pa had been killed in the cave-in. Seems he'd worked the mines with his Pa since his Ma died when he was thirteen and it had been just them two ever since".