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Water: Written by Shelly Jacobs. Hotday 1999.
The mechanic rubbed the oil from his hands and eyed Vanus.
He grinned at her,
exposing a glint of golden capped decay. She ignored him and counted
out the
money she owed for the repair of her jeep."Ma names Rion,"
he said. "There no need to pay me in cash. Kind is much
better." "If you don't mind I'd rather pay in cash,"
she said, handing him the money.
He knocked it out of her hand and pushed her up against the jeep."You
sayin I ain't good enough for ya. Is that it!" She went to
lash out but it was too late, the butt of his gun was already
cruising her temple. "Now ya don't wanna be doing that, do
ya," he said, grinning. Nausea fingered Vanus' throat as
the smell of stale oil and unwashed
genitals filled her nostrils. She felt Rion's hands painfully
probing.... She woke with a start and saw the other passengers
on the train starring
at her. She had been dreaming again. The horror of the rape in
the desert
village of Cail a year ago, lived and breathed in her unconscious
as if it
were only yesterday; crawling out in dreams or souring the flavour
of any
sweet moment. She alighted the train and walked the short distance
to her flat. Inside
she made the final preparations for her journey to Cail to face
Rion. She had
planned the trip for a year and in that time covered every aspect
leaving nothing to chance. The drive through the desert dawn gave
her the peace she needed to think about the task
ahead.
Her craving for revenge told her to drive to Cail and shoot Rion
dead.
Yet that idea was far from practical. He had already ruined her
life enough and she did not
intend to help him ruin it further by being imprisoned for his
murder.
No, the act would be clean and untraceable as she had planned.
She parked up on a ridge a mile from Cail, and through binoculars,scanned
the dead soil and red heat. Knowing Rion was down there seized
herfear and anger, and she felt herself sinking back into the
void that hadher life since he tore into her flesh. She wanted
so much to live herof brutal indulgence; to see him writhing in
agony as she shot hisand groin; to hear him beg for his life as
the blood gushed from his, and finally to hear the silence of
his death song. I must be patienttold herself. The dream will
become reality soon enough, and then thevictory will be mine to
saviour. At nightfall she walked across the mile of desert separating
her from Rion, tracing
her route along the village's broken water supply pipe. Since
the onset of the drought two years previous, the village was forced
to rely
on a water supply from over fifty miles away. At first the population
tolerated the expensive trips to fetch water, but as time went
on the
villagers realised the situation was hopeless and joined the exodus
to find
a new water source. Now only Rion remained. He enjoyed the apathy
of the desert isolation.
No phone, no neighbours, just whisky and melting heat. Vanus entered
Cail and walked with a strange calm up to Rion's house.
She could see him moving around in the lounge and felt a great
desire to finish
it now with a single bullet to the head. Steadying herself she
moved around
to the water storage tank at the back of the house. She knelt
down and steadily unscrewed the
plug and watched with a contented smile as the water therein poured
onto the parched soil.
Next she went over to Rion's truck and emptied the radiator. She
knew from her year long surveillance that Rion kepttwo to three
bottles of water at most inside the house, preferring toany space
in his generator© powered freezer for beer or iced whisky.
At midday she watched from the ridge as Rion came out into the
red heat and went around to
the water storage tank. He stood for a few minutes, starring at
the area of damp land and shaking his head. He walked back intohouse
and emerged a few moments later with a bottle of water. He walkedto
his truck, got in and started the engine. Immediately a cloud
of steamthe vehicle. He angrily jumped down from the cab truck
and went backthe house. He reemerged from the house carrying another
bottle of waterproceeded to pour it's contents into the radiator.
He jumped back into theand again tried to start it. As before
a cloud of steam exploded fromengine and he leapt out and wrenched
open the bonnet. After a few minutes of cursing and badly singed
fingers he gave up and stormed back into
the house. He reemerged an hour later with two bottles of whisky
and sat on the porch. As the day progressed he drank more and
moreand by nightfall he was languishing in a drunken stupor. Vanus
smiled,all she had to do was wait for the dehydration from the
alcohol to set inthe absence of water to take it's toll. At night
fall she went back down into the village and sat opposite Rion's
house.
She could hear him inside, cursing under his breath. She went
boldly
up to the window and looked in. There he was slumped in a chair,
whisky bottle
cradled in his lap. He looked tired and parched, his eyes reddened
and face
showing the first signs of thirst. For a further two days Vanus
went back and forth from Cail to ridge and ridge to Cail.
Each time checking on the decline of Rion. the fourth day she
decided it was time to go and watch him die. Vanus stood outside
Rion's house and waited for him to emerge.
He eventually stumbled onto the porch, clinging to a whisky bottle.
He looked at Vanus, but it
was clear he could not focus properly and after a few minutes
he flopped down into the parched
soil. He clawed at the earth and tried to get back onto his feet,
but it was impossible as the
dehydration from the alcohol and the lack of water crippled him.
Vanus pulled out two bottles of water from her rucksack and poured
the contents onto
the red soil. Rion on hearing the sound, lifted his head. "Please,
the water. I,I need to drink." Not for one moment did Vanus
feel pity. How could she when the dirt of his dead seed,
languished in her body. By morning Rion was dead, but Vanus found
no satisfaction in his demise.
There was no sweet edge to taste, no laughter and joy, just the
sickening memory of the day
he ripped into in her flesh and crushed her life for ever.
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