The End or the End of the Beginning

Manu finished. About 59,000 words. What to do with it now? I guess that is the question. I wish I was more ambitious. But then that’s always been one of my failing. I think it’s a pretty good read. And I have outlines for 2 more additions to this story line. Good luck to everyone else.

Gone

39. Gone

As Wendel and Sam drove up Bloor Street toward the Six Points Plaza they saw the goons car dive into the ground, it’s tail flipping up in the air. A moment passed. The car exploded. Wendel slammed on the brakes. The cop car slid toward the hole, now a cloud of smoke and fire. The car came to a stop.

“Jesus!” Wendel said, his mouth dropping. He glanced at Sam opening his door. The Canadiana Restaurant exploded. The concussion of the blast threw Sam back into the car beside Wendel. Wendel pulled his arm over his face and turned his head. Debris rang down on the car. A bottle of wine smashed through their windshield. Wendel groaned. He could taste blood in his mouth. He glanced sideways as Sam climbed out of the car for a second time and began to run towards the Canadiana. Wendel struggled to get his seat belt off. It was stuck.

“Shit!” Wendel pulled on the seat belt. It released. He pushed open his door and climbed out. He looked toward the plaza. Smoke billowed out of the restaurant. The crack of timber breaking, floors and ceilings caving in broke the silence of the falling snow. He started to run toward the restaurant. Sam was far ahead of him. Wendel cursed his Italian shoes that slipped beneath his feet.

Crossing Sam’s path from Bloor Street, two other figures, boys, ran ahead. They stopped at a figure huddled in the snow. Sam ran up. He looked at the two young boys. He didn’t recognize either of them. He put his hand on the shoulder of the huddled figure. Junior looked up. A baby wrapped in towels lay in his arms. The baby cried.

“I couldn’t find her,” Junior said.

Sam looked toward the restaurant. A tongue of fire licked the sky as the remainder of the roof crashed into the ground floor with a boom. Sam pushed passed the boys toward the restaurant. Before he could get much further, Wendel tackled him.

“You can’t Sam!”

Sam pushed Wendel away and climbed to his feet.

Wendel grabbed Sam again. The two boys, Stretch and Ship, piled on top, keeping Sam down.

“She’s gone!” Wendel cried. There were tears running down his cheek.

Sam looked at Wendel like someone in a dream. There was no emotion on his face. He tried to push the boys off him. And then something exploded inside Sam Kelly.

“No!”

Sam fell into Wendel’s arms and bawled.

Junior stepped over to the boys, the baby in his arms.

“Look.”

Ship and Stretch looked up. They were still holding Sam down.

“In the smoke,” Junior said pointing toward the restaurant.

A woman covered in ashes and soot stepped out of the restaurant. Wendel looked up. A smile flashed across his face.

“Sam. It’s…”

Stretch and Ship ran toward the woman. She collapsed into their arms. All three fell into the snow. Sam rose from Wendel’s arms. He staggered across the snow towards them and fell to his knees. He grabbed Margaret and hugged her, weeping. She pushed him away.

“My baby,” she cried. “My baby is gone.”

***

Mustafa had been sitting in the waiting room for a long time. There had been complications. The doctor had suggested he leave the operating room. Mustafa had never felt so alone. His knee still ached, the doctors had bandaged it, but he didn’t care. There wasn’t enough pain to make him forget. Every decision he had made in his life had been about himself. I’m gone. He was beyond redemption. He knew that. He tried to pray. He didn’t know how. All he felt was empty. There was nothing he could say to any God. He had walked like a shadow through his life. Now for the first time, he felt real. And being real made him feel empty. The image of Lois’s eyes pierced his side like a spear. Take me.

Mustafa sat with his head in his hands. He hadn’t heard the doctor approach him.

“Mr. Ali.”

Mustafa looked up. She’s gone.

“You’re a daddy, Mr. Ali,” the doctor said.

“What!” Mustafa cried. “Say that again.”

“You have a little baby boy.”

Mustafa smiled. A boy!

“A boy!”

The doctor smiled.

“And Lois?”

“The mother is doing fine. We had to do a Caesarian. She’ll need a lot of rest. But she’ll be fine.”

Mustafa stood up and hugged the doctor. He put his head on the doctor’s shoulders and wept.

“Would you like to see your son?”

Mustafa released the doctor and nodded. The doctor led the limping Mustafa down the hall. They stopped in front of a window. Behind the window a half dozen babies were exhibited in small cribs. There was one brown baby amongst the lot. Mustafa pointed at the baby. The doctor nodded. Mustafa looked at the miniature version of himself. Mustafa made a face. The baby started crying. Mustafa giggled. The doctor left him.

Two policemen walked down the hall toward Mustafa. Mustafa turned. They were coming to arrest him. Mustafa didn’t care. All he wanted was to stay a bit longer and look at his son. He recognized the two policemen. They walked up to him. One of them stood on either side of him. Mustafa put his hands behind his back expecting to be cuffed. One of the policemen pointed to the baby beside Mustafa’s.

“He’s smiling,” Sam Kelly said shaking his head.

“That’s one happy kid,” Wendel said.

“That’s my son,” Mustafa said pointing to his son.

The two detectives started laughing. Sam Kelly put his arm around Mustafa’s shoulder and squeezed him. Mustafa laughed.

***

The snow stopped falling the next morning. It started to melt. Frank O’Connor woke up in the front seat of his Chrysler with a hangover. He pushed the two empty bottles of wine off him and sat up. There was a drift of snow covering his windshield. Sunlight lit up the snow so that it glowed. A dark figure clouded the melting snow on Frank’s windshield. The figure was eating its way through the snow toward him. Frank O’Connor leaned forward to see what it was. A woman’s head with long blonde hair pressed against his windshield. Frank screamed. The head was smiling.

THE END