Adelee's World is Her Dream(Val Amant) Adelee’s World is Her Dream
Val Amant

words: 3317

(..)
/(.)\
/\

I lean on the door and unlock it, close it behind me then deadbolt it. I put my piece on the side table, remove my bloody shirt then sit on the edge of the day bed. I pull each boot off then sit with my arms draped over my knees. My head droops.
It bobbles not once but twice when I lean back and immediately leave hell and enter my world.


“You decide to return, Adelee, but only after you drain your lifeblood,” it comes closer.
“You miss me?” it looks over and speaks more gently.
“You leave home and go to hell then expect me to fix your soul upon your return. It’s simply not going to last much longer, it's getting more and more difficult.”

It walks away then looks beyond as it clasps its hands behind its back, “You are my experiment, Adelee, and you enjoy it, why I always return.”

My lips quiver and my head rolls, “no, I don’t understand, she was lying on the floor, in her own blood, dead. I well know what I am to expect,” I speak to no one but myself.

“Aye but you take the path back to hell every time. That is all you know and it will be the death of you.”

(..)
/('.')\
/|


I stand up, strip then shower. The night was more than I asked for but it returns every damn night and it doesn’t leave me alone.
After breakfast I holster my piece then unlock the door and close it behind me. It locks automatically.
I quickstep down the stairs then make my way to the newspaper stand corner where Kenzo sells the Herald Towne Crier.
I pay him with four quarters knowing that he is blind and he smiles as his fingers count four.
“Miss Adelee, you are looking Spring chipper today!”
“You tell me that everyday my friend. Besides, it's on the verge of a bitter Winter.”
“Aye, but Spring is here everyday,” he grinned, his trademark in living.
I kiss him on the cheek then hustle to the coffee shop more for the table than the rot gut coffee.

“Adelee,” Dior pours me a coffee, “anything else?”
“No,” I shake my head, “yes, one of those apple turnovers. Thanks.”
Dior smirks and leaves to get the apple turnover.
I quickly check Adah’s gossip column, circle the select words then check the classifieds circling the words that I find within the ads.
“Enjoy,” Dior sets the scrumptious turnover directly on top of the newspaper with the billet and disappears.
I scribble down all the founded words and work them into a sentence.
“Bingo,” I snicker.
I close my eyes and embellish every bite of apple turnover to make it a lasting feeling of warmth and joy for as long as possible, pay the check, leaving Dior a dollar, then walk into the brisk chill of another morning in hell.


The bus terminal was buzzing with traveling bodies, other lost souls, and the sounds of shoes on a well polished stone tile floor and of background music over the PA constantly interrupted by the depot trainmaster.
I reach under the wooden bench as described in my unscrambled words and pull out the envelope. I pocket the cash, get up and walk into the ladies room. After memorizing the message the paper flutters into the toilet and becomes part of the municipal sewage waste system.
I leave.

The trek takes me to St. James Street, a side street of theaters for up and going nowhere actors. I walk into the Strand.
From my advantage, I see an actor on stage, the director and another head, a female, who wasn’t in the words. Then all of a sudden a stage spot light flashes enlightenment upon the actor who immediately speaks his lines.
My time is limited as I make way up the steps then quietly open the door to the mechanics room. He stands leaning over the window overlooking the entire ensemble of empty chairs. The silencer puts a soundless ending to his life deep inside his head.
I turn and walk out of the room and down the stairs then straight down the aisle on the left in a hurried fashion. I stop behind the second row where the director and female are seated then take my shot.
The actor stops speaking, opens his eyes wide and drops to his knees. The director and she look and both receive lead to their head. She is now unwritten in the unscrambled words.
I turn and quicken my pace as I holster my piece and take to the street.


I lean on the door and unlock it, close it behind me then deadbolt it. I put my piece on the side table, remove my bloody shirt then sit on the edge of the day bed. I pull each boot off then sit with my arms draped over my knees. My head droops.
It bobbles not once but twice when I lean back and immediately leave hell.

(*.*)
/(**)\
| \

“And here we are. Once again you come running to me and expect me to save your soul from your hellish acts. What?”
My lips move from which no sound emanates.
“You are unreal Adelee. I am not your daddy to fix your fuckups,” it snickered, “not saying that your daddy himself could perform such magic.”
My leg jumps and my body twitches.
“Oh, give me a break, Adelee. Your father was a fuck up and was the one who put you into hell, as did your mother,” it laughs.
“No!” My voice projects across the room.
“I had enough of you for one night, Adelee. If you need me, call. I won’t pick up,” it snickers.


I stand up, strip then shower. The night was more than I asked for but it returns every damn night and it doesn’t leave me alone.
After breakfast I holster my piece then unlock my door and close it behind me. It locks automatically.
I quickstep down the stairs then make my way to the newspaper stand corner where Kenzo sells the Herald Towne Crier.
I pay him with four quarters knowing that he is blind and he smiles as his fingers count four.
“Miss Adelee, you are looking Spring chipper today!”
“You tell me that everyday my friend. Besides, it's on the verge of a bitter Winter.”
“Aye, but Spring is here everyday.”
I kiss him on the cheek then hustle to the coffee shop more for the table than the rot gut coffee.
“Where is Dior?” I ask Remy.
“She couldn’t come in today. Something about her sister being murdered at the Strand.”
I hide my eyes from Remy because eyes tell the truth and nothing but the truth.
“Anything to go with your coffee?”
“Your Sin A Bun?”
“Fresh outta the oven,” Remy smiled.
I cannot smile. I hurt Dior and I didn’t mean to hurt Dior. She never did anything to me.
I quickly unscramble my puzzle in hell and lean back to enjoy my Sin A Bun.
The metro takes me to the financial district in the City which looks foreign to me, another World altogether where the rich people hang.
Le Banque Amérique is a tall all glass facade building that disappears high into the heavens.
I walk in and take the elevator to the hundred twelfth floor of a hundred thirteen floors. The bell dings and I walk out, look both ways when a door opens and a man walks out and away.
I grab the door before it locks shut and take the stairs to the hundred thirteenth then emerge into yet another World beyond all others. The glass, gold, silver, and art work doesn’t exist in my hell. Perhaps this is heaven to the elite.
“How can I help you?” a well dressed man of stature and height approaches me.
“Lucius asked …,”
“Ah, Miss Everett, finally, I get to meet you face to face. It is a divine pleasure.”
I nod and smile like I know what the fuck he’s talking about.
“Please, come with me to his suite.”
I try to think this out if Lucius knows this Miss Everett or can I hide and play the role of this Miss Everett character.

The big man opens the door to the suite and allows me to enter first. I step in with my hand on my piece.
Lucius turns, “Ah, Miss Everett, nice to see you again.”
My blood goes wild playing trickery with my brain cells, the synapses snap with each one of his words.
I smile and nod.
“We’re good, Diego, thank you,” Lucius waves him off.
Diego leaves.
“Drink, Miss Everett?” Lucius walks over to the butler bar.
“The usual,” I act casual in my role playing.
Lucius hands me a red wine.
“Thank you.”
“Your jacket?”
I nod.
Lucius stands behind me and starts to remove my jacket. He sniffs my hair then pecks my neck as the jacket falls into his hands.
“I don’t know who you are but I was getting tired and bored with Miss Everett. You are fresh meat that needs to be hammered into tenderness,” he breathed on my neck.
My mind goes to my jacket which keeps my piece in its pocket ready to be unleashed and kill but it is no longer in my reach, it sits on the sofa armrest.
“And how do you prefer your meat, Lucius, rare, medium or well done?” I continue my role.
Lucius chuckled as I twist and turn then sit on the back edge of his desk. He walks up to me as my legs pull him into me and lock behind him.
Lucius laughs, “playing rough, I like.”
“My trade mark,” I warn him.
Lucius leans in to suckle my lips as the blade works up from the sternum and penetrates the left ventricle.
I release my locked legs then slip off and away from the desk.
Lucius collapses with both hands on his desk as I reach for my jacket.
The door opens and Diego enters on a full run. I get tossed over the leather sofa and hit the floor hard. Diego walks Lucius around the desk and over to his desk chair. I stand up and Lucius' eyes go wide. Diego looks back but doesn’t any longer consider me a threat and continues to tend to Lucius and apply pressure to his wound.
I roll over the sofa and grab my jacket.
Diego turns and pulls his piece when I fire. The shot steps him back but didn’t penetrate his bulletproof vest. I shoot again and again and he steps back each time then I aim higher and send his head back into the glass wall. It shatters with my additional shots and he disappears over the edge falling thirteen hundred feet to his demise.
My eyes take me to Lucius who has a weapon in his right hand that he pulls from the top desk drawer. He fires and misses. I shoot the gun out of his hand then jump the desk and kick his chin back then jump down immediately in front of him and give his chair a couple of shoves until he and his chair went out the broken glass wall.

I quickly take the staircase as security arrives at the floor, guns drawn, and exit at the hundred tenth floor. I take the nearest elevator and walk at a normal pace. I notice in the lobby that security is scrambling in every direction and the patrons and personnel appear clueless.
I exit and scurry for the metro a block away.

I lean on the door, unlock it then close it behind myself then deadbolt it. I put my piece on the side table, remove my jacket and shirt then sit on the edge of the day bed. I pull each boot off then I lean back and immediately leave hell.

“You do realize that Lucius fornicated with at least eighty women that we know of. Do you feel good, Adelee? Do you feel good about yourself, Adelee? Is your mission complete, Adelee? Do tell. You're keeping me in suspense.”
It stops talking and just stares into my brain.
“Oh, that’s right. There’s still daddy to think about, the worthless fuck,” it snickers.

My head jolts to the left then to the right with both of my hands up on the pillow on each side of my head. I arch my back and kick my feet.
“Don’t fight it, Adelee, I always win. You know that, You're a smart girl.”
He then laughs, “sleep tight, don’t let the bed devils bite.” he turns then turns the lights out.
My body relaxes as my left hand drops to my side and my right on my chest.

(. .)
/(.)\
_/ \_


I stand up, strip then shower. The night is more than I ask for but it returns every damn night and it doesn’t leave me alone.
After breakfast I holster my piece, unlock my door and close it behind me. It locks automatically.
I quickstep down the stairs then make my way to the newspaper stand corner where Kenzo sells the Herald Towne Crier.
I pay him with four quarters knowing that he is blind and he smiles as his fingers count four.
“Miss Adelee, you are looking Spring chipper today!”
“You tell me that everyday my friend. Besides, it's on the verge of a bitter Winter.”
“Aye, but Spring is here everyday.”
I kiss him on the cheek then hustle to the coffee shop more for the table than the rot gut coffee.


“Dior.”
“Hi Adelee. Sorry I missed you yesterday.”
“Remy told me. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. Anything to eat?” Dior asks as she pours my coffee.
“Ah, you have the cream puffs, today?”
“Sure do. Get you one.”
“Thanks.”
I went right to work on today’s scrambled message. Dior serves my cream puff. Then I shiver after I scribble out the words and form the sentence.
I work my cream puff and take a second cup of gut rot. I can’t decide if I want to take the job but maybe it was right, this is my last.

The snow begins to fall heavily with big dry flakes that I used to catch with my tongue as a little girl. The landscape quickly turns white as I walk to the old neighborhood. I turn down forty-second and smile as I see and hear the kids playing stickball in the street.

“They must think that they have a snow day today,” I murmur, feeling happy for them.
I walk around and past them on the sidewalk then stop and watch.
His daughter, Phoenix, my age, my classmate of years past stops her Mercedes, gets out and brings her children to grandpa’s then leaves.
My heart tells me to leave, leave now Adelee, but it also tells me to finish the job. I immediately step off the curb and walk across the street. I walk up the steps, open the door, enter, then close the door. I walk through the kitchen, mama at the stove, the two granddaughters sitting at the kitchen table eating.
Papa Luca is sitting at the table in the dining room reading the Herald Towne Crier. He looks up.
“Adelee, Adelee,” he snickers, “you grace us with your presence, I see. Expected yet surprised.”
My extended arms want relief, my finger on the trigger wants relief.
“You killed my daddy.”
“I read the scramble, Adelee. I figured you’d back out but here you are.”
“What did you expect? You killed my daddy.”
“Give it up Adelee. He didn’t give a shit about you, your mother, your sister. He owed a lot of people a lot of money.”
“What’s it to you, Luca?”
“I work for these people, Adelee, I was only doing my job. If I didn’t kill him, they’d kill me.”
“You killed my mama and sister.”
“That wasn’t me, Adelee, get that shit outta your head, that wasn’t me,” he sipped his coffee, “think of it this way, I cleared his debt and kept you alive, Adelee, you need to thank me.”
I turn quickly and shoot. Mama and her deadly rolling pin sail back and drop to the floor by the kitchen table. Both the granddaughters scream and get up to charge me. I fire two shots then turn and see Luca with his Beretta but I'm quicker than he and end him with a shot between his eyes.
I quickly wipe down my piece and fit it into his right hand. I holster his piece and exit through the back door.

(..)
/(.)\
_/\_


I lean on the door, unlock it then close it behind me and deadbolt it. I remove my jacket and shirt then sit on the edge of the day bed. I pull each boot off then I lean back and immediately leave hell.

I open my eyes realizing that I am still in hell. I get up and down a glass of water then look out the window. The air is heavy with a silent snow of giant snowflakes, the kind I used to let on my tongue when I was young and free. I pace the floor then look at the clock that reads 3:15 a.m.
I foot my moccasin slippers, grab the large overfilled manila envelope from underneath the floorboards, my secret hiding place, and run out the door without closing it or locking it. I leave my tracks to Kenzo’s newsstand in the snow and slip the envelope under the door of his makeshift stand. I return to my apartment and kick off my slippers as I remove my jacket then snuggle under the covers and prepare to leave hell.
“You are despicable, Adelee, killing his wife and his granddaughters. Really? What the fuck. Oh, I know, you wanted Luca to watch and feel your pain, didn’t you Adelee,” it snickers, “let me tell you Adelee, he didn’t feel one ounce of your pain. He could care less about you, your pain. He had you in his sights but unfortunately, you were faster,” it laughs and laughs and laughs.
Then it stops laughing, “what are you going to do, Adelee, run back to me and cry oh poor little girl, no mommy, no daddy, no sister …,”

Bang!

It snickers, stares, then turns and fades forever.

(. .)
/(:)\
_|\_


Kenzo follows the path to his newsstand by the sounds and the well mapped vision in his brain. He leans down and lifts the door to open his stand. He pulls out his stool, kerosene heater and cash drawer when Ash delivers the Herald Towne Crier.
“Here you go, Kenzo, my man, the sky is blue, the sun is on the rise and the snow is melting.”
“Thank a you my man Ash,” Kenzo laughed.
“Oh! You dropped somethin’,” Ash picked up a large manila envelope and set it in Kenzo’s hands, “there ya go. See ya tomorrow!”
Ash leaves as Kenzo feels the package then opens it and feels the cash bills.
“Lordy, lordy.”
He feels the braille, Adelee to Kenzo with love.
“Miss Adelee.”
His lip quivers.
“You are lookin Spring chipper today.”
He chokes the words out as his tears become Niagara Falls.
“Aye, but Spring is here everyday,” he barely whispers.

('.')
/_\
_/\_


My eyes open, I stretch and yawn. The cloudless sky is blue and the rays of the sun rose my cheeks. I look to my left attracted by the smell surrounding my person. I get up and walk downstairs hearing laughter and the clatter of chinaware. I get to the bottom of the stairs and walk to the kitchen doorway. I see mama at the stove and daddy and sister Paisley at the kitchen table enjoying breakfast.
I smile after a restful night of sleep.
“Good morning, mama.”

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