Between The Bear And 2 Snakes

Pretty Snake

I crept towards the door and placed my ears on the door. There was nothing except the sound of steel banging against each other. I reached behind me and got out my gun. With my gun in my right hand, I held the door knob with my left, took a deep breath, and slowly turned it. I pushed the door open slowly so it doesn't make a sound. I slowly walked in, closed the door the same way, and crept in like a cat, not making any sound. The only sound I could hear myself making was my breath and my heart beating out of my chest. I tried to steady my breath but it wasn't working so I went on with it.

The room was small in a way and smelt of tomato stew. I could still hear the sound of steel coming from the kitchen. It was a single room with a toilet to its extreme right and a kitchen to the extreme left. The room was neatly arranged, everything looked in place except for a red shirt that lay carelessly on the bed. A locked shelf stood at the right of the door. I kept creeping towards the kitchen until I heard whistling coming from the kitchen. It seemed like whoever it was in the kitchen was about to step out. I felt my heart jump through my mouth as I made a quiet run for the shelf. I ran behind the shelf and I heard footsteps enter the room. The whistling continued and then stopped abruptly, along with the footsteps. I suspected that I've been found out so I readied myself. I was taught to expect physical combat always in the field, and I excelled at it, but I had never been in one since I left training. It felt weird coming over here to arrest someone for the first time, and doing it alone, but it was a direct order and I couldn't say no.

The whistling continued and the footsteps receded back into the kitchen. I exhaled and slowly stepped out of hiding as I made my way to the kitchen creeping. I got to the kitchen door and steadied myself.

"Show me your hands" I said as I pointed my gun at her.

"You're not as good as you think you are." She said without even turning around. She kept washing her plates. She had apparently made stew and was boiling rice. "Your nice perfume gave you away. You smell good by the way. If not for the nature of your visit, I would have initiated something else."

I stood there, taken back a bit. She caught me off-guard. I was a sitting duck. I thought I had everything under control but I had given myself away thanks to my perfume. A very stupid thing to do.

"I want to see your hands." I said as I steadied myself for a fight in case it came to that. She didn't even flinch. She didn't even act like I was there with a gun to her head. She walked to her sink and turned on the tap. She started scrubbing the plates in the sink. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to go close because I've heard that she was good in physical combat. Most guys won't even engage her in a fight. Surprisingly, she looked like she was in her thirties and was very attractive, well built, and had a great figure, a body men will give a lot to have in their beds. But she was as dangerous as she was beautiful. She stood at the kitchen sink and there was a cup of utensils close to her. That cup of utensils had knives in it as well so I didn't want to take any chances.

"I'm not joking. Trust me, I'm not playing here. I want to see your hands up." I said as I took one more step into the kitchen. At this point, I was trying so hard to be on top of the situation, to be in control and it seemed like I was doing a terrible job at it.

"I know who you are" she said while still backing me and washing.

"Yes. Everyone knows me. So what makes you think you are special?" I snapped back.

She stopped and slowly turned around. I braced myself for a fight while she took a towel and dried her hands. She folded her hands across her chest and looked sternly at me before breaking into a smile. At this point, I wasn't seeing any beauty. I was only seeing how dangerous she was.

"I know how you joined the police. I know the things you had to endure at the academy. I know about Mr. Pio or whatever he was called. All the time I spent observing that man and I never really learnt the true pronunciation of his name." She paused and smiled again. "I know the things he did to you. You didn't want anyone to know because maybe, you didn't want to be the snitch or the mummy's boy or the boy who couldn't handle being toughened up. But you knew that the things you endured weren't things that the academy needed you to learn. Mr. Pio used you the way he wanted. I bet you're not the first boy he did it to. Maybe you're going to need me to correct whatever he did to you."