Santori (1137 hits)
Category: NoneLabels: noir
Rating: 1.57 on 32 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (View user info) at 2006-02-28 02:40:26 EST
I open the door. Santori is sitting at his desk, pretending to work. He's a cool one, that's for sure. He merely raises his eyebrows at me, though he must know I'm here to interrogate and kill him. He inclines his head.
"What can I do for you?" he enquires in that infuriatingly calm drawl of his.
"Hello, Santori. I figured you'd want to talk to me." This is a lie. He has never wanted to talk to me, ever. I'm inches from killing the man, and I can't stop bullshitting him.
"Do we have business?"
I look around his office. Bare, wood floors. Plain, white walls adorned with one photo of some lake. Much like the man himself, his office is streamlined, austere and efficient. The one aspect of him that is not an ocean of tranquillity are his twitching hands.
"We might," I reply. "I've heard you're a man who knows things, who gets things." He has to be armed. I just don't know where his weapon is. I need to start researching things properly.
"I've been known to acquire this or hear that." He leans back in his chair, his back to the single window. He folds his hands across his stomach, then steeples his fingers. I don't look him in the eyes when he talks. I watch those hands. He always had fucking fast hands. "Is there something specific you're interested in?"
I now throw the photographs on the desk. He's wearing the same dark suit that he wears in the photographs. He leans forward, runs a distracted hand through his slick hair, and grins widely. "I always surprise myself in photographs. My memory of my expression never gels with the record."
The photographs show him and Devon, the day Devon was found bloody and folded awkwardly into a cardboard box and dropped in a dumpster. More specifically, they show Santori folding Devon into said cardboard box. The photographs don't show Santori force-feeding Devon the broken glass that probably killed him after they had tortured him for hours? days? who knows, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt on that one. But Santori is involved. So I'm here.
"What I want to know," I say, watching those hands, "is what the fuck did you think you were doing? Did you not think I'd find out?"
Santori reclines once more, and gestures for me to sit. "Sit," he says, unnecessarily.
I sit. His chair is leather. His guest chair is plain wood.
"I'm sorry about your brother," he says, as though granting an amazing concession. "But you had to know it was coming."
My eyes narrow. I knew it was coming, I warned Devon. Devon only lasted as long as he had because he was my brother. Devon disliked me, disliked my advice. He was still my brother, and these animals had no right to butcher him. These words stuck in my throat, and Santori regards me with something approaching pity.
I take my gaze from his hands and look him in the face. "There were other solutions."
"There were. I admit to being discomfited by the manner of his death." The smarmy concern in his voice along with the vacuous nature of his words combine to give me a feeling of nausea.
He takes out a pack of smokes, and his Zippo. I start, involuntarily, at how quickly he does it. Had he gone for something else then, I'd be chopped. A certainty forms in my mind: he's unarmed. Or at least, he doesn't have a gun. He's trying to reason with me.
Outside his third floor window, snow begins to fall.
Eyes on his hands, damn it.
He lights his cigarette, exhales a cloud of smoke. He leaves the Zippo on the desk, idly flicking it on and off with his right hand.
"You could have had him deported. I know you can do that, Santori." My teeth are almost clenched.
"Yes." His left hand taps on the desk. The right hand messes with the Zippo. "That would have been preferable."
"Preferable?" I lean forward. I forget my own advice. I look him in the eyes once more. "Yes. I'd still have a brother, and I wouldn't have to be here."
It's unsaid, but it hangs in the air: I'm here to kill you, Santori.
"It wasn't my call."
I remember myself. I sit back. I look at his hands.
"Whose call?"
"Higher up than me."
"You're just a stepping stone. Always a goddamn stepping stone, Santori." I relax, very slightly, just enough so he can see me relaxing. "Ever have an original thought?"
"More so than you, my friend." His left hand leaves the desk, gesticulates. " 'My brother is dead, I must avenge him'. You didn't even like that waste."
"You could have finished him quickly."
Santori nods, just once. "Perhaps."
In that moment, I know he was there, and I know he was involved.
I stand and take one step forward. He's fast, but I get the drop on him, and I can be fast too, with a decent start. My knife leaves my coat in my left hand and nails his right hand to the desk, in mid Zippo-flick. There's almost no blood to start with, then a pool forms under his hard shockingly fast.
He's cool, and he's hard, too. My right hand clamps across his mouth, but he doesn't scream. He stiffens momentarily, his teeth clench, his eyes bulge and he hisses. But he doesn't scream.
Now I'm looking him in his eyes. He's shocked. I release his mouth.
"Motherfucker," he says, almost calmly, but there's a ragged edge to his voice and breathing. "You're even stupider than Devon. You'll not make it out of here."
I sit back down. Santori reaches for the knife handle. I pull my .45 and tap the barrel on the edge of the wooden desk. I shake my head. He gets it, and sits back.
"Ah fuck," he hisses, "that fucking hurts, you cocksucker." He picks up his cigarette, which has fallen to the desk but is still lit, and takes a drag. I almost laugh.
"I just want names," I say. "Isn't that what everyone wants? I want the names of everyone involved. Everyone who laid so much as a finger on him. Everyone who watched. Everyone who didn't speak up. And who gave the order."
"If he didn't run around spewing his guts to anyone who'd listen, we'd never have touched him." This is true. But if you can't go on fool's errands for brothers, who can you?
"That's not the issue, now. Now the only important thing you need to do is answer my questions. Isn't that nice? I've cut all life's mysteries and vagaries away, and all you need to do is talk to me. Most people would kill for that sort of existential certainty." I still can't bring myself to smile at him.
"Fine. Sharpe's crew did the cutting. The order came through the usual channels. You know as well as I that it's anonymous."
I guess I did know that. As he's been speaking, the colour has been draining from Santori's face, so that he is now decidedly ashy. It's kind of interesting to watch. Now he's slumping further into his leather chair, and his eyes are rolling back.
I stand. "Santori? Don't faint on me, motherfucker." No reply.
I lean over the desk and slap him, twice, in an effort to awaken him.
And that's when the crazy bastard goes for me.
His left hand comes off the desk and slams me in the jaw. I fall back, but not far, because he's now grabbed my right hand. My gun hand. He's nailed to the desk by one hand, and yet he's trying to get my gun from me. I never would have credited him with this much balls.
It consoles me, and steadies me slightly, to know that the pain in my wrist as he's twisting it is probably nothing compared to the pain in his right hand.
I catch my left hand on the lip of the desk and pull myself up. In Santori's face is a sneer of rage and hatred and pain that I've never seen before. He was always so smooth.
He continues twisting at my wrist as I step in and punch him repeatedly in the face with my free left hand. I've got blood on my coat sleeve now, and his painstakingly exfoliated face is bloody. I may have damaged one of his cheek bones. I've certainly damaged my hand, the knuckles are already swelling. His grip on my wrist relaxes and he collapses back into his chair, real pain now etched into his broken face.
He doesn't look at me.
"Your brother was a liability," he manages.
I sit back down for the last time.
"I know," I say. I can acknowledge that much. "He was still my brother."
Santori waves his left hand, dismissively.
"Why was he killed?" I ask, as though discussing the possibility of rain.
He chuckles, in a rattling sort of way. "As an example."
"Deportation is an example. This was butchery."
Santori shrugs. I've seen better ways to end a life.
"Consider this an example," I say, and then I stand, reach across the desk, slam my .45 into the underside of his jaw and paint his bland office walls with his brains.
I step back, and crack my neck, then my knuckles. I look out the window. No sign of activity out there. I briefly consider leaving that way, but there is no fire escape, and the snow makes everything damn slippery.
The shot won't have gone unnoticed. His boys will be up here soon. I retrieve my knife from his hand, wipe it on a clean section of his jacket and sheath it. I steal his Zippo and smokes, seeing as he's now beyond the reach of nicotine.
I open the door and leave.
User Reviews
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2007-05-06 14:40:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was the start of it all.
Submitted by St_Jimmy (user info) at 2007-05-03 13:02:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Kind of an abrupt ending, but still very good.
Submitted by Beano312003 (user info) at 2006-06-25 07:25:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I was impressed with details like this 'I look around his office. Bare, wood floors. Plain, white walls adorned with one photo of some lake. Much like the man himself, his office is streamlined, austere and efficient. The one aspect of him that is not an ocean of tranquillity are his twitching hands. ' probably because I don't get that descriptive.
Ending was very abrupt but overall this was excellent.
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2006-06-21 02:16:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I LOVE YOU!!!
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-05-11 08:22:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice. It sounds a lot different written in the first person, you can take descriptive liberties you can't use in third-person.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2006-03-29 01:19:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
It's plain to see
You're that bad mortherfucker, 'Stagger Lee'
It wasn't lipservice, darling. My short attention span leaves me to come back for the goodness when I can give it the attention it deserves. Slowly but surely..
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-03-29 01:06:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
You say I'm beautiful,
Well I can't help it
You say I'm empty
But we all know I'm full of shit
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2006-03-29 00:52:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
You really know how to arrive in style, Mr. Lee.
I read this first thing, and never rated, apparently. Sometimes I want to come back and review properly, when there's time, and I fail to return altogether.
You've got good description here, and I like the short sentences- they add to the suspenseful feeling.
Submitted by extacy_red (user info) at 2006-03-12 21:24:22 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-03-07 05:17:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Coyote (user info) at 2006-03-06 23:51:54 (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice sequence, but I couldn't get a really good read on Santori from his lines. Maybe that was intentional...
----------
Nope, just poor character development.
Submitted by Coyote (user info) at 2006-03-06 23:51:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice sequence, but I couldn't get a really good read on Santori from his lines. Maybe that was intentional...
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2006-03-05 04:38:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I had a suspicion the answer might be the Dark Towers series...
I'll be on the watch for your posts, not much good prose around here. A lot of good verse though.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-03-05 04:32:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Favourite book...not sure, but favourite series: Dark Tower. Maybe Wolves of the Calla.
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2006-03-05 03:28:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Loves King? Interesting...
Favorite book please?
This was fantastic by the way, though I'm not altogether enamored with the ending.
Submitted by G-prime (user info) at 2006-03-01 20:08:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Plus motherfucking two.
And why do the good guys always have to be so god damned humble and calm??
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2006-03-01 15:51:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-03-01 00:29:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Dead_0hi0_Sky (user info) at 2006-02-28 22:39:49 (#)
Ranking: -2
first post?
well, allow me.
welcome to ubersite, cuntrag.
That is, thank you for my first -2.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2006-02-28 22:27:38 (#)
Ranking: 2
nice first post.
and cool user name.
And thank you for the review.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-03-01 00:24:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Why, thank you.
Submitted by Dead_0hi0_Sky (user info) at 2006-02-28 22:39:49 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
first post?
well, allow me.
welcome to ubersite, cuntrag.
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2006-02-28 22:27:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
nice first post.
and cool user name.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-02-28 20:13:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Thanks to everyone who reviewed. To you I ask: should I continue the series or try something different?
Submitted by AshK (user info) at 2006-02-28 14:53:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Very good read. I'll look forward to more.
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2006-02-28 06:19:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+1 for the story
+1 for the user name
Submitted by Kent_Weirdo (user info) at 2006-02-28 04:58:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 because your name is Stagger Lee.
STACK-O-LEE.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-02-28 04:07:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Thanks, guys.
Red: I do love me some King and Sin City. Guess that comes through.
Beef: Yeah, it's hardly high literature, is it? I suppose it could almost be a comic.
Submitted by charminglybeef (user info) at 2006-02-28 03:58:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Worth reading for sure. Gritty and comic-like -- surely that's intended.
Submitted by redskieslookfake (user info) at 2006-02-28 03:55:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Touches of Shawshank Redemption and Sin City abound - but there's no harm in being compared to Frank Miller or Steven King. Played.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-02-28 03:04:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I know the name Stagger Lee, son, somebody else posted under 'Stagger_somethingorother' - I thought you may be him.
no matter, keep up the good work.
(remember, one post per day)
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-02-28 02:59:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
That is, develop. Nice proofreading, me.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-02-28 02:58:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Thanks for the feedback. I can see why you think the character development is off. It's a very throwaway story and they don't really get a chance to develope.
You might have heard the name Stagger Lee in places because it's an old blues standard character, but I've never posted before.
Submitted by Wildman (user info) at 2006-02-28 02:56:37 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
as i read this i kept hearing some coon named Lloyd Price singing in the background
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-02-28 02:51:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
not bad...I didn't quite get the way you developed the characters - it seemed that there was something a little off, i can't quite place my finger on it.
But still, nicely put for a first effort - I'll +2 this in the hopes you will continue some decent output, lord knows we could use it around here.
Your username is somewhat familiar...did you post under a slightly different name?