Sergio De La Pava - A Naked Singularity

I tried to speak but still couldn’t. A voice filled the room. It came from The Whale’s point to point radio on the floor. Dane picked it up and started to hand it to me. I pointed to my throat and nodded no. The speaker wanted to know if everything was all right. What was that noise? Dane pressed the button on the side of the radio. He held it to his mouth and spoke.

“Toedoh bien,” he said. He looked at me. I waited quietly. “He was admirable that prick wasn’t he? The fucking will on that beast, the talent.”

I felt I could croak out words then. “When were you most impressed?” I said. “As he did his best to join his thumb to his pinky with my neck in between?”

“Hey bottom line is I got him off you right?” he said. “And I just bought us a little time too with that bilingual display.”

“That was the worst attempt at a Spanish accent possibly ever,” I said. “It’s a miracle this room isn’t being stormed as we speak.”

“Well it worked and we somehow managed to stay pretty quiet throughout this violent drama,” Dane said. “In fact, that was another thing that was pretty admirable about this gargantuan fuck. Did you notice how he refused to call for help even though he had multiple opportunities? I think that’s a guy used to handling things on his own wouldn’t you say? Anyway they’re distracted down there right now, they’re not focusing on my accent. Another thing about this fucking Whale I just thought of.”

“Can we just look for the fucking money please?” I said. “It’s goddamn 3:17 you lunatic.”

“Okay here,” he said. He handed me the radio. “If they check again you answer it. You don’t look so hot right now by the way, I’ll look for the dough while you recuperate.”

I sat there with the radio in my hand. Dane went into the first room. He came out and said the bag definitely wasn’t in there. I looked at my roof monitor. Heckle and Jeckle hadn’t moved.

I got on all fours to breathe better. Dane went into the other room. I crawled to where the stairs were so I could see the first floor. I bought the radio with me. I saw men down there. They walked around each other. Escalera sat at a table. DeLeon stood next to him.

I saw a woman. I saw a beautiful woman with light brown skin and green eyes. I saw her looking at Escalera. The only thing I saw in the room then was her face. She looked scared. She walked away from the table and the men watched her. I could see her stomach. She was pregnant.

Dane came out and said he couldn’t find the bag with the money. “The damn money’s not here,” he said. “These fuckers don’t plan on paying. They’re just going to rip Flaco off knowing there’s nothing he can do about it.”

“I don’t think so,” I said.

“So where’s the dough?” he said. “I’ve looked everywhere, I know it’s not here.”

I shrugged.

“C’mon Casi stand up,” Dane said. “This is serious, where’s the fucking money?”

I looked downstairs. I saw Escalera signal to DeLeon. DeLeon bought him a radio. The woman was in the corner. She was beautiful. Escalera spoke to the radio. His voice filled the second floor. I looked at Dane. He gestured. The Whale started to stir. I put the radio to my mouth. I spoke in a low clipped voice.

“¿Bajo?” I said.

Not yet Escalera answered in Spanish. But soon he said. I let go of the button and looked down. Escalera was looking at DeLeon in a strange way. He signaled to someone. That person grabbed the woman by the shoulder. He sat her down on a chair and stood over her.

“We better go,” I said.

“Not without the money,” Dane said.

“Whale was looking out the window before,” I said. “Look out there.”

Dane looked out the window. Downstairs I saw Escalera tell DeLeon to go up and check on The Whale because he didn’t sound right. DeLeon walked toward the stairs.

Dane said he had good news and bad news. I said DeLeon was coming back up. We had to go.

“The good news is you’re a genius,” Dane said. He turned around holding a red duffle bag. He lowered it on the floor and opened it. It was filled with money. A lot of money. “This thing’s heavier than a motherfucker though,” Dane said. “Let’s split it up quickly.”

I asked what the bad news was. I reminded him that DeLeon was coming up.

“The bad news is I felt a lot of eyes on this place just now,” Dane said.

“Cops?” I said.

“No,” Dane said. “More like the people we talked about as a possibility, here to make sure the money gets delivered as promised. You get me? I think it’s going to get pretty hot in here soon.”

I heard DeLeon start up the steps. The money was spread out on the floor.

“Let’s go,” I said. I looked at the monitor. Heckle and Jeckle were still sitting right by the door.

“It’s too late,” Dane said. He grabbed his sword and ran to the doorway. I moved to the side. A man walked in. It wasn’t DeLeon. It was Landro. He looked at Whale and turned around quickly. Dane put his sword to Landro’s neck and told him to be quiet. “Or I’ll remove your neck,” he said.

“Tell them everything’s okay up here,” I said.

“Everything’s cool,” Landro said toward the first floor.

“Anybody else coming up?” Dane said.

“No,” Landro said.

“What about DeLeon?” I said.

“He’s the one told me to come up,” Landro said.

Dane pressed his sword in a bit. “Is Escalera going to pay?” Dane said. “I’m not sure. I don’t think so,” Landro said.

“What about the girl?” I said. The Whale was moving. We had forgotten to tape its mouth.

“What channel are the guys on the roof on?” Dane said.

“Three I think,” Landro said.

“What’s supposed to happen with the girl?” I said.

“Don’t think, know ,” Dane said. “What fucking channel?”

“Three, Three,” Landro said.

Dane looked at me. “Give me the radio,” he said. I tossed it at him and he caught it with his free hand. I put the money in the bags. The Whale opened its eyes and looked at me.

Dane put the radio to Landro’s mouth and pulled the sword back a bit. “Tell them to get back to their posts. That Escalera’s pissed. Like they missed something,” Dane said. Landro spoke into the radio. I looked at the monitor. Heckle and Jeckle scurried back to their respective ledges. I nodded at Dane.

Then Landro tensed up and fell. Dane caught him before he hit the floor and set him down. I saw the baton in Dane’s left hand.

The money was in the bags. The Whale was looking at me. Dane grabbed one of the bags. I grabbed the other. We went up the stairs. Dane went first. At the top of the stairs we looked at the monitors. Heckle and Jeckle hadn’t moved from the ledges. Their backs were to us.

“She’s pregnant,” I said.

“Who?” Dane said.

“The woman, the girl, the mule,” I said. “They have her.”

“She’ll be fine,” Dane said.

“Let’s go back and make sure,” I said.

“When?” Dane said.

“Now,” I said. “Let’s make sure.”

“Make sure of what?” Dane said. “Make sure we die? They have guns. We have these and that fucking Whale’s waking up.”

“I’ll just go get her,” I said.

“What?” Dane said.

“She’s beautiful,” I said. “Take both bags and wait for me.”

“Casi stop fucking around,” Dane said. “We’re almost there. Take your bag.”

“Take them both,” I said. “I’ll be back.”

“Fuck,” Dane said. “You crazy fuck. This is the last time I rip drug dealers off with you.”

I went down the stairs. Landro and The Whale were on the second floor. The Whale was trying to sit up. Landro lay motionless on the floor. His eyes were closed. His belly rose and fell with each breath.