- Ok then, pretty face, let’s test your beautiful calm. Let’s make a deal, a game. If you win, I’ll let you go. If you lose, well if you lose the game is over. If you don’t want to play, I give you to my dogs – The henchmen rose in a collective smile, drool again. The boss ordered something from the guy at the table with the beer in his hand. He put the beer down, got up from the chair and pulled the gun out of his pants. The boss gave the gun a sideways look, took it with a handkerchief and sniffed it while complaining about the unrefined habits of his men. The boss checked the bullets inside. He took out two of them.
- There are three out of six now. Do you know our roulette?
- I know it – She nodded.
- So do you want to play?
- Why not? – She smiled.
- No jokes, beauty. You have five guns aiming at you.
- I will not joke – The boss went behind her chair and bended down to free her hands. He brushed his nose against her neck and stopped, fascinated by the scent of rose that emanated from her. She sensed his excitement, smiled. She was not perturbed. The boss handed her the gun. He was not sure. He would not have wanted to ruin such beauty and he did not even want to make a mess in the room. The boys were not good at cleaning, he should have called the women, the specialists. She smiled and pointed the barrel to her temple. – Why the hell don’t you tremble? – He thought – Even the toughest men are not so calm.
- Do you realize you can die?” – He told her harshly.
- And do you realize that it makes no difference to me? – She answered as she pulled the trigger.
Zen Fantasy n.°1
She kept a a quiet smile on her lips. It looked like the whole situation did not affect her at all. She
looked even amused.
The two Russians were ridiculously aggressive. They spoke to each other in Russian. They did not
seem to get along, maybe it was just the tone and the loud volume of their speech. Perhaps they
both wanted to convince themselves that they were tough and determined. They had the power,
they got their pulse on the situation.
They spoke to her in English. They had the least notions of language that allowed them to give
instructions. They would have not been able to hold a conversation. She understood what they
wanted not from the words, but from the way they expressed themselves and from observing the
whole situation. She had always been a great observer and she had always had a great intuition.
The room was neither large nor small and semi-dark. It would have been bright, it was clear from
the strong light that filtered through the crooked slits of the old lowered blinds. They were
certainly on a high floor. The Russians kept the darkness, because that’s how it’s done for
keeping the tension high in the movies, even in the Russian movies. Darkness instils fear, fear
arouses reverence, reverence submits to the strongest. They could decide on the level of flare in
the environment. This gave them strength.
Her relaxation, however, made them nervous. Her detached smile almost frightened them.
Somebody knocked on the door. Some other friends entered, some other Russians. They
exchanged some information. One of the new arrivals gave a pat on the head of the first two.
They clearly hadn’t understand anything. He was the real boss, but he kept the darkness in the
room as well.
The other three, who arrived with him, scattered in the room. One opened the fridge and was
disappointed to find only water and fruit juice. The second one put a bag on the table and showed
him that he had bought the beers. The third threw himself on the bed.
The boss went to the woman, tied to a chair in the middle of the room.
– You are a beautiful woman – He told him in a better English than that of his henchmen. – I could
feed my dogs on you – He whispered in her ear and then looked at the five Russian men. The
woman showed no emotional variation. Her breathing was calm. She kept on watching. She
seemed to study the situation. Nothing seemed to touch her except curiosity. The boss was
disappointed. He shouted something at the first two guys. The two men tried to justify
themselves.
– There was a mistake, do you know?
– I figured – Her words were calm.
– I am a gentleman and I don’t like to get my hands dirty, especially if it is not necessary – The
henchmen seemed to bark like dogs to which the bone is suddenly removed.
– Silence – The boss shouted – Your peace of mind. Who are you? What are you hiding? – The
woman did not answer.
The guy on the bed babbled something. He had checked on a laptop the woman’s credentials,
the first two guys had passed him her documents.
– Nothing, nobody … you’re not from the police, you’re not a spy, you’re not part of an
organisation, who are you?
– I do not know.
– “I do not know”? Are you teasing me?
– You see the data on the computer, you know I’m not the person you’re looking for. I do not know
who I am for you.
– And for yourself, who are you?
– I don’t know either.
– You’re making me nervous, do you know that? – He whispered the words to her nose. He was
furious on one side, but on the other side he was fascinated by this woman, who seemed to be
everything and who was nothing.
– I can’t do anything about it. It’s your problem.
– My problem? You’re my prisoner, do you know that?
– Maybe.
– “Maybe”? – The man rolled his eyes and looked around. The others were amused and
frightened, they still did not understand the situation.