In an orange-lit room, walls plastered with large wallpapers of Tarantino movies, decorated with worn-out furnishings on a lemon-colored carpet, and a TV playing a Tarantino discussion about his writing ability on mute.
A sweating Rick, now only wearing a red robe, was tussling about on a sofa, his scream muffled by James’ hands against his mouth as his arms and legs were bonded. A woman, with blonde hair, her face covered with a nose mask, and wearing a black dress was pushing a slim long metal plier into Rick’s bleeding knee with bloody gloved hands
“I got it, hold on Rick.” Said the woman as she pulled out the tool in a composed manner. Rick started thrashing about as his scream became louder.
“That’s it.” The woman said with the bloody plier out with a deformed bullet, she dropped it in a rusted metal bucket, filled already with bloody cotton wool, near a small glass table that had a gleaming metal sheet that had a big pack of cotton wool, surgical gloves, pressure bandage, sterile gauze, sterile dressing, and a metal cup filled up with saline.
She removed her soaked-in-blood gloves, dumped them in the bucket, and put on one of the brand-new gloves, she then brought out the sterile gauze, stripped and dipped them in the liquid, before packing it upon the bleeding wound of the still struggling Rick. She packed the gaze in layers till the bleeding ceased, then used the sterile dressing to cover it. She brought out a pressure bandage, unwrapping it before wrapping it in a meticulous technique, she then stopped, cutting it out.
“How do you feel Rick? You can let your hands off his mouth.” James upon hearing her, let his hands off Rick’s mouth.
“I feel like my knee got shot and would you please untie me?” Rick said as he wiggled his sweaty bound limbs.
“No, I am going to have a shower, when I come back. James.” She said removing her gloves, she dumped them in the metal bucket. She walked out of the room.
James and Rick stared at each other when she left.
“You want a lollipop?” Rick laughed in exaggeration at James’ question
“Very funny, I like to see you get shot and see your reaction while they want to get the bullet out. It's not nice.” Rick said to which James showed him his hands, they had red bite marks.
The two remained silent after that. James walked around while Rick was relaxing.
“Thank you for bringing me here. I thought I would die, it's a weird feeling.” Rick interrupted the silence with James halting upon hearing.
“My mind wasn't working well, I don't want to even process our situation. Besides, you were shot, I had to do something.” James said while looking at the ceiling
“Can we just relax here till she comes here?” James asked.
“Okay.” Rick agreed.
The woman finally came out after hours, face revealed as she looked to be in her 30s. She came out in a baggy blue dress. She had a gun with her, now pointing at Rick who cursed out in response.
“Sweetheart.” James tried to caution her but she still had her gun pointed at Rick
“He better talk. You are going to talk. Rick, please talk, if you are not going to talk to James, then for what I did for you please talk to me.” She pleaded.
“Okay, I will talk. Can you please point that gun somewhere else? You look like you can pull that trigger right now.” Rick said in a now composed form. She points the gun away from him.
“I want you to explain what the man-hunt for you is for?” She asked Rick, who was preparing breaths.
“Most likely, from alleged human trafficking.” Rick answered.
“James. Are you stupid!” She screamed at James who was still looking at the ceiling.
She cursed out with tears coming out of her eyes.
“Listen, what has happened has happened. You are beating a dead horse, the situation has escalated to this point. Can we not do this?” Rick asked.
The woman pointed her gun at Rick.
“Listen to me. Let us try and fix this situation, thank you for my knee by the way.” Rick said.
“How are you calm?” She asked. Her face morphs into confusion.
“Well I am still processing the situation of the man-hunt, a bulletproof vest I decided to wear out of advice saved me from dying. I could have died after two shots. Most importantly I am tired.” Rick stated.
The woman closed her eyes, humming for some time. She crouched and started sobbing, James walked towards her. He crouched and hugged her, she sobbed harder while giving a feeble tug to escape it.
“What is wrong with you James? You have Angel. How do I… what do I say to her? Hello Angel your daddy got put in jail for selling your agemates. James.” She cried out giving feeble punches to which James tightened his grip.
“There has to be a way out. What about that Jimmy guy you said solves problems?” James let go of her upon hearing her question. Rick coughed at the same time.
“Well, sweetheart. About Jimmy, I might have killed him.” James said in a croaked voice. The woman put her hands on her head upon hearing.
“You mean you did. What about Edward, we can go to him for help. Right?” She asked.
“He was in this stuff too. Deeper than both of us, and before we got here there was an episode where things just happened.” Rick interrupted her, James gave a slight nod at him.
“What happened? From you James. Rick shut up please, I like to hear what happened from my dear husband.” She said, now sitting on the floor.
“It's not going to do anything for us but. Long story short, Jimmy shot Rick, it was sudden and I reacted with a shot or two of my own. Jimmy was still standing with his gun now at me, I just continued firing. His body dropped.” James said. The woman's face frowned at him.
“I want to hear the whole reason. You will tell everything, I want to know, I don't care if it helps or not and Rick please don't speak.” The woman said, Rick whispered a curse while James was rubbing his face.
“Okay, the full story can only come from me. The whole thing is more complete.” Rick said, James was still rubbing his face.
“Thank you, but I like to give her my part, the version that makes no one gag,” James spoke out. Rick kept quiet.
“Okay. A girl who was to be sent to a country to a big client. Rick, who didn't know about this business, found out about her. Released her, I don't know what happened there but she ran away. Police came in some hours later, and Jimmy and I found out about it, we met in a warehouse. Stuff happened, Jimmy got a phone call and shot Rick in the chest, luckily he wore a vest. I, at that moment fired in reaction at him, and blah blah blah. We are here.” The woman’s reaction was her rubbing her temple, with her eyes closed.
“Why did Jimmy shoot Rick?” The woman asked to which James looked at Rick, who coughed.
“I am not an undercover cop James. Now you can shoot me if y,”
The woman pulled the trigger, Rick jolted in response, there was a hole in the part of the sofa near his head. He curses out.
“James get that gun away from your wife, she is not stable,” Rick said in a shaky voice.
“You want to do that?” The woman questioned James who raised his hands.
“Don't shoot him. Please, Rick say something cause I can't take the gun from her. Just talk and she won't shoot you, we are in trouble already and I saved you so whatever you say. Nothing is going to happen.” James said.
“Okay, I love you man but I might be working with the… police,” Rick said. James cursed out loud, a door opened, it was a little girl in pajamas and was wearing a large cotton cap.
The woman rushed the girl and carried her into the other room.
“That's your daughter?” Rick asked.
“That should be my older sister, you shit brain. Yes, that's my daughter.” James said, looking at the closed door.
“You know something about you Rick, you are a terrible talker and right now a terrible friend,” James said, now looking at Rick who kept quiet.
“Two hours ago, I saved you. I thought that Jimmy… Why would you do that to us? Rick.” James asked with tears now coming out of his eyes.
“I was going through some stuff man. Going to prison was not in my head at that time, I was there for six years. Six years, I don't want to go there again. What would you have done?” Rick asked with the tone of his voice increasing per word.
“I would have… I would have done the same thing.” James said crouching with his hands on his head.
“James, you have to realize me working with the cops isn't even what got us here in the first place. I am guilty as charged but listen to me, I might not walk well with this leg again, I will have to find some shit job to get paid, you think I like this?” Rick questioned James, who was now lying on the ground.
“James, Angel wants to talk to you.” The woman said coming out of the room. James stood up, wiping off his tears with a bitter smile, he went inside the room. The woman and Rick were now left alone.
“Can I ask your name?” Rick asked with a smile.
“I heard you two.” She responded.
“Just a name would do.” Rick pressured.
“Like your real name is Rick?” Rick laughed upon hearing the woman’s question.
“You call your husband James in front of me,” Rick responded.
“James is his real name.” Rick’s smile disappeared upon hearing the woman.
“Excuse me. That was his real name?” Rick questioned.
“Yes.” The woman responded to which Rick laughed.
“He used his real name as a fake one.” Rick laughed at his line.
“What would happen if I shoot you?” Rick’s laughter ceased, and his face expressed shock when he heard her question.
“That isn't funny.” Rick started.
“I am not, I admit. But what would happen if I raise this gun and blast up your head?” The woman asked with a cocked eyebrow, gun raised and pointed at Rick.
“If you do go to the police, are you going to reveal this moment?” She asked.
“No, of course not,” Rick responded.
“I don't know Rick. The way it looks, you are what is standing in the way of James getting real help. I know you can help him.” She said, Rick’s face was flooded with sweat.
“And before you try to say anything stupid. I am not thinking well, I am not stable and can shoot you for the slightest point of being annoying. You die in that chair, James can't save you. I am his wife.” She said, breathing hard as her hands on the gun shook.
“If you do go to the police, are you going to reveal this moment?” She asked.
“No, of course not,” Rick responded.
“I don't know Rick. The way it looks, you are what is standing in the way of James getting real help. I know you can help him.” She said, Rick’s face was flooded with sweat.
“And before you try to say anything stupid. I am not thinking well, I am not stable and can shoot you for the slightest point of being annoying. You die in that chair, James can't save you. I am his wife.” She said, breathing hard as her hands on the gun shook.
“I am not a cop. I can swear right now that I am not, you can ask James about me. Something can be done if James can come in to talk, but that is if the person I am working with agrees.” Rick said.
“Your head looks nice Rick. You are tempting me here.” The woman said.
“Listen, you can not just fix this problem by just talking. There are charges of indirectly killing cops and being a human trafficker. Those can't just be magically cast away.” Rick said.
“But I don't want James to go to prison. What would I do without him, only me and Angel?” The woman asked Rick whose face was morphing into one of fright.
“I want the three of us to be together. You are going to help us, I never asked for some legal stuff. Don't you know someone who can help us here, or better yet James was an undercover secret guy all along?” The woman asked.
“My contacts are as useful in this situation as… they are not useful in summary.” Rick admitted, the woman crouched and cursed in response.
“So at the end of this. You don't go to jail while James does, if the police get James, you would have been missing by then so think.” The woman said.
“I can't help you. What I can do is possibly help reduce the sentence but that would not still stop him from entering prison. Think, this is something that can't be fixed with someone talking.” The woman still had her gun pointed at him, her hands now stiff, her breathing calmed, she closed her eyes.
“Trafficking people of all the dumb things to do. Of all the things he could enter, I don't know what I can do.” The woman dropped the gun, sat in front of the television, brought a remote near it, and pressed a button that unmuted it. The screen showed a montage of all the violent scenes in Tarantino movies.
“I don't think you should be watching that. It's not…” Rick paused his words when the woman turned to him.
“Can I not enjoy one thing? Now if you don't mind, I would like to watch a movie.” She said pressing a button on the remote. The screen now showed the title of the movie, ‘The Hateful Eight.’ She adjusted the volume so that the sound could be heard.
“She is asleep. Keep it down.” James said coming out of the room, he paused upon seeing the scene of the woman watching a movie and Rick looking at it.
“There is nothing we can do about you?” The woman asked, not turning away from the screen. James went to sit with her.
“James, you are blocking me a bit,” Rick said to which James flipped him off.
“Can we just watch the movie?” James asked, to which the woman gave a bitter smile.
“You know I have watched this movie before.” James smiled at her response.
“Wait, the same guy that made… that movie about snakes?” James asked Rick to which Rick made a buzzer sound, causing the woman to giggle.
“Shut up as if you knew before today any of these movies,” James said to Rick who kept buzzing with his mouth.
“Both of you shut up, Angel is sleeping.” The woman said, still not turning away from the screen. They all kept quiet.
“Wait, I know this Tarantino guy. Isn't he the foot fetish guy?” Rick asked to which the woman huffed in response.
“She is a big fan of his.” James said with a giggle after.
“Yes, he likes feet. Your point?” The woman asked.
“That is freaky,” Rick said to which the woman pressed the remote and the screen now showed a montage of feet in Tarantino movies.
“What is wrong with this, James?” The woman asked.
“He is your husband, he is surely going to support you,” Rick said with a shocked expression.
“First of all, it is not because she is my wife. The guy likes feet, let him be.” James said to which Rick opened his mouth wide.
“Thank you, James.” The woman said.
“James. Of course, she doesn't see it as strange as it is, it's just her feet they would take pictures of. It is the best deal she can take, no nudity or anything. Look at us, we are the ones sniffing and taking pictures of her feet, look at how gross that looks.” Rick said to which the woman looked at James, who had a confused face as he looked at Rick.
“See, you are the weird one here, Rick.” The woman said with a smile as she turned her attention back to the screen, changing the channel back to the movie.
“James, don't do this to me.” Rick exaggerated a tone of sorrow to James who had his attention on the movie, no response from him for some time till James and the woman looked at one another, and laughed together.
“You used your real name as a fake name. You are the weird one, do you know how dangerous that was?” Rick asked James who let out a louder laugh.
“That was stupid I admit but it was something you wouldn't suspect as a real name,” James said.
They all remained silent with the movie being the only sound as the woman was focused on it.
“I always wanted to meet Tarantino.” The woman said with a bitter smile.
“Like you said you wanted an autograph on your right foot?” James asked and both Rick and he laughed at her.
“I will take a picture of it. And what is wrong with that in the first place, someone has done it before?” James raised his hands upon hearing the question.
“I am sure you can do that, besides you will have a lot of time when I am not around.” The TV volume was increased by the woman, everywhere was quiet.
“Really, I have an account. Everything in it is unsuspected… hopefully, it is owned by someone who I trust will come to you to give you any financial support you require as a good friend. I can't give the money to you without triggering someone.” James said, pulling out a card from his pocket and giving it to the woman who folded herself up.
“Bro, why did you just kill the mood?” Rick asked James, who looked at the woman with a pained expression.
“Come on. Look at me now, I am sure I will find some way out of this situation. I always do, even if it makes no sense.” James said to the woman as he hugged her, whispering to her as he muted the TV.
“You know we can't stay here forever. Food and water are limited, sooner or later we are going to have to go out, this safe house is good but when? This manhunt can lead to a lot of things, some of our crew can speak of this place. Jimmy is gone so the possibility of solving this problem is zero, if they catch you… you will be an accomplice. That would be terrible, I don't want to do this, I might even need Rick to do this but I just don't want to waste my time. Anything I can do to help reduce the sentence I will do, I am sorry.” James said to the woman who put her head on his chest to cry on.
“Come on, don't be sad. You have every reason to be but… Rick, say some of your spiritual stuff.” James pleaded.
“Come on… what is her name?” Rick asked to which the woman whispered something to James.
“Call her Mia,” James said.
“Hey, welcome to the fake name club Mia. Let me tell you, I have had 10 fake names so far. Come on, at least smile.” Rick said to Mia, who was starting to show signs of smiling.
“What's your name, and I will tell you mine.” Mia offered to Rick.
“No, that defeats the whole purpose of having a fake name,” Rick said, James whispered something to Mia and the both of them laughed down to the ground.
“What's funny, I don't think I read anything that funny?” Rick asked to which Mia smiled back.
A ringtone was heard, James pulled out his phone and checked it. He looked at Mia, then Rick, he looked at Mia again. He answered the call.
“Your phone Rick, who is Grenil?” James asked as the phone was still ringing.
They all just looked at each other till the phone stopped ringing.
“I honestly forgot about her. James, can you call that number back?” Rick asked, the phone rang again before James could react. He answered the call and put it on loudspeaker.
“Hello, Rick.” A joyful feminine voice came out, Rick gave a little smile.
“Grenil,” Rick responded.
“Where are you?” Rick looked at James who shook his head upon Grenil’s question.
“Listen Rick, we found a dead Jimmy in a warehouse, where are you?” Grenil’s voice got serious upon asking the question.
“Grenil, that can be talked about later. As much as I hate doing this. You know me in these things, I want to ask you for a favor. One that may stretch your power to the limit, before you refuse. This could give you a spotlight.” Rick said to which Grenil didn't reply for some time.
“How big of a spotlight could this put me?” Grenil’s voice was audibly excited, James gave the still-crying Mia a tighter hug, giving out a bitter smile to Rick.
“Grenil, this will put you in a documentary, interviews, probably an opportunity to date a professional wrestler,” Rick s
YOU ARE READING
CRIMSON LABYRINTH TALE
Misterio / SuspensoIf Rick had just kept his calm when he found Nancy in a crate and sealed it back, then this non-linear crime thriller of a botched operation leading to a series of events affecting surrounding people, wouldn't have happened. This story is the first...
