Chapter II

I was going back home that early morning when I saw the woman hand in hand with a child walking down the road. From behind I could not tell if she was young or not, she was wearing a pair of flat boots and a long thick coat, when I passed them, I saw from the mirror that she could not be more than thirty years old. I stopped a few meters in front of them; she noticed me and started walking faster towards the car. I was not wrong; she was young and had a pretty face, exactly what I could use. She told me that she was headed to the train station, to catch a train to the city that was my perfect opportunity; I said I was headed at the city and it was no problem at all for me to take them there, in the end, I was headed that way. She accepted, I knew she would, she was a girl from some lost small city judging by the kid that called her “mom” she didn’t even go to college, one of the lost ones. From what she said I got that she had no one waiting for her there, the kid’s father was nowhere to be found and so I told her about a friend of mine who lived there with her daughter and was looking for someone to share rent with. She accepted happily and saying that maybe it was God that put me on her way, that I was her Good Samaritan bla, bla, bla. To be honest, I do not remember very well what she was saying, I did not pay any attention to it right after she accepted to stay with Angela in the city, from there I had no interest at all in her miserable life story, so I did what everyone does in this kind of situations, I smiled and nodded a couple of times. After what seemed like a lifetime, we finally made it there. It was Angela’s daughter who answered the door, she said her mother had already told her about the guests that would arrive that day and that she was out working. What a beautiful girl she was, but if I would even think about touching her, I knew Angela would kill me, and that bitch was crazy enough to do that, so I decided to stay away from her and keep living. Tina took them away and started showing them their rooms and the house and where everything was, it was so annoying to watch that I decided to turn on the TV and shuffle through the channels in a desperate attempt to find something a little bit more interesting than what was happening around me. I noticed Tina coming out of one of the rooms holding the kid by the hand. They went to her room and before she closed the door, I heard him say that there was not even a bed there, how was he supposed to sleep there on the floor. That made me crack a smile, the kid had no idea that his life would not at any point get better than this, and to thank for, he had his mother that dragged him behind her in this filth. It was already dark outside when Angela woke me up. As always, she was pissed at me, and as always, she would spit venom when she talked, I once hit her hard, but this woman seemed to not get the lesson, so I got tired, she won. I would sit there and hear it all, I knew that she could kill me in my sleep, so I tried my best not to push her into it. She was whispering and asked me to tell her more about the new girl. I told her what I knew, and that she had to prepare the girl for work, it did not matter if she was willing to or not. I knew Angela would persuade her into it, there was not much that woman could not persuade people into actually. She asked me some time to make everything happen, and I told her not to take long because we were expanding, so she could not take her time into lecturing the new girl. Actually, what I asked from her, was to not put it into words that seemed like the girl had a choice. She needed to be scared into it, they become the best and most obedient girls, I did not want a second Angela Good God, she could not be controlled. It was like that since the beginning and it did not change to this day. Not even after what I did to her, she would always land on her feet; I never knew where she found the strength. She reminded me of my own mother. Yes, I ended up killing her but I respected her, well respect as it is on my terms, we are just a consequence of a provided situation. That day, the situation was such that killing my mother was the only possible outcome. She brought me into this world; I had no choice in that, maybe I had no choice in killing her, as I said that was the only possible outcome. Maybe that is the reason that I put up with all Angela does, it seems I am choosing to let her live, it seems we do have a choice in the end. I kept hearing the noise she was making, but I could not understand any of the words she was saying, so I waited until she was done talking and gave her some instructions on how to train the new girl to put her into work. I knew she did the same thing when I talked, just ignore the words I was saying and making her own plans, but I confided in her, she could do anything she put her mind on. She could even leave whenever she wanted to because I would not stop her, I don’t know if she knew this or not, but she always chose to stay. We ate something she cooked, she was a lousy cook but at least she did as much, and that was the most anyone had ever cared about me. That is a bit sad if you think about it, and maybe you will think that I turned out as I did because of that, well I could not agree with it, maybe it is the reason, maybe I would have turned out as I did, either way my past was. We ate in silence, as much as she made me mad, she also fascinated me, she put up with everything but I could not let any possible doubt to build up into her mind that I kind of admired her. Strangely there was a bond between us; I think it was only on my part, she did not get rid of me because I offered her some protection. Also, because I protected her daughter, that was the most precious thing she had, otherwise, I would be a dead man considering all the horrible things I did to her. I finished what was on my plate, got the money, and kissed Angela goodbye. Going down the stairs I saw that freak guy from the fourth floor standing still in the doorway. He was just staying there still, looking at the hallway’s nothingness; it looked like he was not even breathing. He slightly moved his eyes and they met mine. Shivers went down my spine, I am a scary guy myself but that look scared me, he was a psychopath and for a few seconds, I was afraid, of that kid that was no more than nineteen. I did not give in, just went my way keeping my pace. Leaving that place brought me a little optimism, I turned my sight and gazed upon that gray big building, it was noisy and dead at the same time, you could not see any movement, but you could hear the struggles of all the petty souls that lived there, it was some kind of purgatory, meant to be just a station but turned up to be a forever home. Isn’t our whole life like that, just a purgatory, we go through all kinds of struggles and sufferings for such a limited time, and then we just die and everything is spent, at least for us. Life goes one once we leave, just like I was doing at that moment. I left that building and would not think about it till next time I would have to go back there, but for everyone else that lived there, their reality would still be that, secluded into that big sad, grey, and lifeless building for who knows how many days to come. I left, but they had to stay, stay, and suffer in the gutter they would not leave even if nothing was holding them there.