Lords of Underworld

They may be alive

Immediately Jeff alighted from the cab, feeling slightly inebriated, he knew he had crossed the red line and there was no retracing of tracks. His strap wristwatch read  7:45 PM. He walked casually into the barroom of  Mandigos Nite Club. The barroom was already crowded and customers were already on bottles while the ladies, mostly disheveled, displayed the characteristics that made them typical ladettes.

He got himself a bottle of Liebfraumilch, moved to a table and sat down. He could see pole dancers on the stage, almost naked, devilishly corrupting the innocent poles, and making money off clients.

He knew if he was to interview any of them, she would say she was doing it to pay tuition fee.  Chris Rock said there aint no strippers in college. He needed a decent girl, one who kept her body a sacred temple for only one worshipper which was him, and there was only one girl that had all he wanted: Melly.

Their love affair turned out to be an euphoria. Sweet but short. She had stopped picking his calls and did everything to avoid him. He did not blame her and it showed her loyalty, dedication and honesty but he was too deeply in love to be rational and reasonable. She told him about she and Steve.

They had grown together and  always very close. His father was her father’s close associate and Steve had been very patient, faithful and kind. He could do anything to make her happy.

Jeff also saw some qualities she wouldn’t mention. He was cute, a good footballer, and a billionaire. By inference, he realised they had a strong bond, one difficult to  break and she was not ready to cheat on him.

She had feelings for him. She was in love with him . What she had for Jeff was …lust? Infatuation? Whatever it was, she chose Steve over him. He almost told his mother on phone about her but changed my mind. He knew what his love life meant to her.

His mother went through hell with his father so telling her about been dumped would have broken her heart…..Like his was broken. Yes, he had to admit it, at least to himself. He could not bring himself to forget her. He saw those infectious smiles, the constellation blue eyes that penetrated into his heart,  her mellifluous saccharine voice, her dignified, majestic personality. Oh Lord! Why did he meet her? But meeting her was the best thing to ever happen to him.

He could imagine her and Steve, happily engaged. Engagement! Her engagement party was two days from now. Oh my God! So, he was taking her away from me. Melly…….

“Hello, Mr Jeff Simon”

A voice he recognised at once brought him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see a tall, middle aged lady wearing chalk white bun hair with bangs. She had sulky eyes, well painted lips and heavily made up face. She must have been a lady of substance in the past.

She had a body that only a few men could resist. She sat down before me and immediately brought out a gold cigarette case.

“ My name is Margarita Eduardo .” She sat opposite him confidently, flicked her finger to call waiter, ordered for beer, removed from her old cigarette case a stick of cigarette and lit with an old golden lighter. He could see that she had seen the better side of life in the past.

“ I am sorry, I am two minutes late. I called you on phone.”

“ I know.” Jeff said sceptically watching her.

Her beer was brought, she opened it, disgorged some down her throat, inhaled cigarette, puffed out then smiled at him. “ I had a day.”

“ So, I am here.” He said.

“ I will go straight to the point. Like I said in retrospect, my time is almost up. Never knew I would get to this point. I got your number from your place of work. I pretended to be a client. I was a valley girl and used to patronise such places frequently before…….before they took him away.” She grimaced.

He sat patiently listening, sipping his drink gradually.

“ I am a Mexican and when I was just sixteen, I left home. I came down to the States and hung on the Street. One year later, I moved to Vegas and business was good.

I was young and voluptuous  so I always got busy but Pacho was always on us. He had a percentage for each client we had. Then I met Pepe. He was a fellow Mexican. He fell in love with me after three weeks of business. He was cute, rugged and had a lot of money to spend. He spoilt me. This golden case and lighter were from him. Pacho wanted to extort him and wanted half of what I got from him. Pepe found out and on a good Sunday, Pacho and his men were found dead in a cabin. I knew Pepe did it, but I did not ask, he did not talk. Pepe made me untouchable and we moved in together.

Life was good. He was not always around, he had to work and was never sure if he would return from each job, but he managed to survive. He had a family. By family, I don’t mean mother, father, child relationship. I mean the mafia. We met in 1993. He wanted to opt out. He wanted to get a big hit and leave with me. Then the chance came. A young couple like us with plenty money, I mean plenty, plenty money: Richard Cliff and Maria Cliff. They were married then. This was in 1999.

The couple was ruthless. Gawd! Taking lives meant nothing to them. They were also very smart, cunny and slippery. They were wanted by the Law but they lived happily in the States. They never stayed more than a week at a particular place. They lived a high life, drinking the most expensive drinks, snuffing high quality devil’s powder. They were masters of disguise, so kaleidoscopic and protean. According to news, they were found dead on 23rd of April, 1999 in Varmount Hotel. On 20th of that same month, Pepe told me he was expecting a couple. The couple he was expecting arrived the country and they spent two days having the best time of their lives. On 23rd, they  were taking to Varmount. This was the deal: They were  to be taken to the hotel through a back door. This arrangement was done with the knowledge of the hotelier who managed the hotel. He was paid handsomely. The couple was paid one million dollars a few months before then as advance payment for the job, and promised four million after the job. They thought their job was to come and pose like business men to represent a couple in a deal with an old rich woman. But That was a charade. The real deal was this: Pepe was to kill them.”

She paused, inhaled and exhaled smoke.

“ Pepe killed them and he was to let himself get caught. The plan was to make him confess to the crime then he would be made to escape.”

“ Why would he agree to that?”

“ He was already a wanted man both in the US and Mexico. He had no reputation to protect. He was promised fifty million dollars and given ten million in advance. That was when I had my first fur coat. It was the best time of my life. So we planned to leave to Europe after that. Peppe killed them, owned up, gave the story he was asked to give but he never escaped.” She looked sad now as the memory seemed to hurt her.

Jeff remembered the police file they had. So Pepe was the man said to have killed them, confessed but died in cell.

“ They lied to him." She went on.  "He was never going to escape. They killed him right in the jail cell. Mafias were dangerous. Then the general clean up. They killed the hotelier, the receptionist who booked them, and the cop who did the inside work of killing Pepe.” She gulped the remaining beer.

“ The only mess left was me. They did not know that I knew. Pepe told me everything. But there was nothing I could do. I could not demand for justice. Pepe was dirty himself. But we did not know dirt then. We were always right once it was for money. But I could not forgive them. Pepe left and life changed. I got back to small time hustling. I never bounced back. There is one witness I later discovered. A man named Bath Cameron. He lives here in Miami. 34, 8th street, West Creek Avenue. He was the forensic officer who identified the deadbodies. There is a record because they had to go through some checks and he provided fake information."

“ Why are you telling me these?”

“Oh numbskull, the dead couple believed to be  Richard and his wife were these black Africans from Saberia, killed and completely burnt and identified by Bath to be Richard and his wife. They died in the room Richard and his wife lodged in. They booked under fake names  because the police would ask why they booked under real names when they were wanted. But CCTV cameras caught them and proved they lived in that room. They planned everything. They brought the couple from Saberia, killed Pepe, killed everyone they knew was involved and disappeared. Richard Cliff and Maria Cliff did not die that day. They may still be alive.”