Lee Weeks - Kiss and Die

The prison guard appeared at his door and ordered him to stand. ‘Someone wants to see you.’

Mahmud cowered. He shrunk back into the corner of the bed. He feared the worst, a trap, a set-up. He feared this time they would kill him. The guard ordered him to march out. Mahmud kept his eyes on the ground as he walked past the people who had beaten him. They taunted him as he went. They told him he would die next time.

Mahmud sat opposite Shrimp. A guard stood in the room.

‘How long will I have to stay here?’ Mahmud was dressed in the prison-issue tracksuit that had seen many inmates before him – one size fits all and it swamped Mahmud. He looked like he’d lost weight. He hadn’t brushed his hair or his teeth. His eyes had taken on the hollow look of one who has lost hope. But he leaned towards Shrimp, eager for any news of help, from any quarter, no matter how unlikely.

‘A long time; unless you tell us what happened.’ Shrimp felt sorry for him. He could see how terrified he was. His face was swollen. ‘You took a beating?’ Mahmud nodded. ‘I’m sorry.’

Mahmud looked through his tears. The last thing he wanted to do was cry. He was terrified. He wanted to open the window and jump out. ‘They broke my wrist. They stamped on my arm. I can’t write now.’ Mahmud talked as if in a dream. He talked as if it didn’t matter. He shook his head. His shoulders slumped over.

‘Yeah, the sooner we get you out of here the better, Mahmud. But you have to work with me. As long as you’re not telling us what happened then we can’t help you. You’re not telling us anything new. You were caught at the scene. I caught you myself, you didn’t even run. What were you doing there? Did you give time for someone else to get away? You were with the Outcasts that night, and yet you say you are not one of them. Your dad says you said you were going to study. What took you across town that night?’

‘I don’t belong here. I am not a Triad. I hate the Outcasts for what they’ve done to our family. I hate the way they’ve ruined everything in the Mansions. It was always tough but we all looked after each other. We were all a family. It didn’t matter what colour you were. Now it’s like living in hell. Now they are turning on each other.’ He paused. ‘Have you seen my family?’

‘I’ve seen your sister. She asked me to come.’

Mahmud’s eyes glued onto Shrimp’s. The mention of home, of his family was enough to make him well up. ‘How is she? And Hafiz, how is he? My father and Ali? What about Grandmother? How are they all?’

‘They are all right. They are worried about you. They want you to come home. They don’t understand why you’re here. Your father wants you to co-operate. Nina wants you back.’

Mahmud nodded, blinked away a tear. ‘Is she still to be married?’

‘I don’t know. I hope not.’

Mahmud searched Shrimp’s face. ‘Do you know my sister well? Shrimp nodded. ‘Then you have to stop her. You have to help her. Her life will be ruined. Tell her it is not too late. Tell her to run away. I will be okay here, tell her not to worry.’

‘Mahmud, listen to me, it is an honourable thing to cover for your younger brother but we will uncover the truth in the end. Hafiz was involved in the fighting that night, wasn’t he? He had a wound on his arm. He ran from the scene, didn’t he? You saved him.’ Mahmud stared down at his hands. ‘Or was it Lilly?’

Mahmud looked at Shrimp and shook his head. ‘Lilly and I were good friends once, but not so much now. She has changed. She is getting into more trouble every day.’

‘You’ve known Lilly a long time?’

‘All my life. Her mum has been so kind to us all since my mum died. Nothing was the same after that. Nina had to look after things. Grandma became an invalid. We all had to help in the restaurant. Michelle and Lilly have been like family, until now.’

‘Michelle is a hardworking woman. Do you ever help her out?’

‘Sometimes, when she needs things doing and Rizal is busy. I don’t mind helping.’

‘She’s an attractive woman. Does she ever ask you to join her in the hotel sometimes? Sometimes she entertains guests, alone. They need a bit of something extra? It’s nothing to be ashamed of.’

Mahmud shook his head and blinked at Shrimp. He didn’t understand.

‘What about Rizal? Do you get on well with him?’ Shrimp continued.

Mahmud flushed with anger. ‘Rizal is a scumbag. He has something going on in every part of the Mansions. He thinks he owns the Mansions the way he struts around, and he abuses Lilly. She’s told me. She hates him. She would kill him if she could.’ Mahmud stopped, controlled his anger and remembered he wasn’t talking to a friend.

‘The head of the Outcasts is Victoria Chan, right? What contact have you had with her? Does she come to the Mansions?’

Mahmud stared down at his hands whilst he considered what to say. He looked at the guard. He was shaking again.

‘Sometimes she comes. She came to our restaurant first a year ago. She sat down with all of us. She told us that the time would come when the Mansions would be knocked down. We didn’t believe her. It has been the same for so long. She said we could sign a document that would mean we would definitely have a place in the new Mansions, better, bigger. She made it seem like we were special. She said as we had been there so many years we could expect extra-special treatment. And what she wanted was to help us have a place in the new Mansions. We only had to let things happen: let the Outcasts do what they wanted, let people be murdered every day, let decent people live in fear. She said our family would be okay. But they’re not.’

‘What happened that night? If you tell us who organized the fight then we can help you. Was it Rizal? Why should you be banged up in here while he is free to do what he wants on the outside? Mahmud, listen to me…you want me to get you out, I will do my best. Tammy was a friend as well as a police officer. She was young, sweet, so sure she could make it. She had a boyfriend, she had parents. Their lives are ruined now. She was their only child. I want to get the person who did this.’

Mahmud shook his head. ‘She says different things to different people. She hooked in the Outcasts to do her dirty work. I don’t know if there were orders to kill the officer. I was just in the wrong place and was passed the knife, nothing more. I can tell you nothing else.’

‘I need something more to work with if I’m going to get you out of here. I need a name. Was it your brother? Was he ordered to target the officer?’

Mahmud lifted his eyes slowly and looked at Shrimp incredulously as he shook his head and then stood to leave. ‘You do not understand anything. Soon it will all be too late to help any of us. I have nothing more to say. If you love Nina then save her.’

‘It’s not your fault, Genghis.’ The office was subdued. The news of Tammy’s death sat heavily on the whole of Headquarters. Questions were on everyone’s lips as to why she was put at such risk. Mann was staring into space and seeing nothing but his thoughts when Ng came back into the office and found him.

Mann shook his head angrily. ‘I should never have put her into a mission like that. I pitched her against the skills of Victoria Chan. Why didn’t Tammy get out when I told her?’

‘It was always just going to be a matter of time before we put a female agent in there and before it went wrong. It just means she was unlucky – it happens. There’s nothing you could have done; it wasn’t just your decision. We’re a team, remember?’

Mann shook his head. ‘No, Ng. I was her operator. The buck stops with me. No matter what you say, it doesn’t help. Maybe others have lost agents, maybe it happens, but it hasn’t happened to me before and it was my duty to protect her.’