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  ANOTHER LAST CHANCE

  Tristan Walker

  Published by Dimex Publishing

  Copyright © by Tristan Walker

  ISBN 978-976-96079-0-3

  Printed in Trinidad and Tobago

  First printing, February, 2018

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Edited by Kevin Baldeosingh

  Cover design and layout by SC Designs

  Where Imagination Comes To Life

  Dimex Publishing

  Trinidad and Tobago

  ACKNOWLEDGMENT

  Thank you Mr. Kevin Baldeosingh, not only for the great work you have done in editing this book, but also for giving your best advice and knowledge during the process. Ms. Shrimati Charan, whose talent and expertise brought the layout and cover design to life beyond my expectations. I still can't believe it. To my mother, brothers and sisters, for believing and being there for me from inception, and always being the first to read and comment on my craft. It was y’all enthusiasm that got me this far.

  To my brothers and sisters who dedicate their days and nights serving our country, continue to do a great job and never be discouraged.

  CHAPTER ONE

  The alarm went off at 11:30 p.m., and Kevin jumped up. Beside him on the couch, Shantel stirred but did not awake. They had both fallen asleep on the couch watching a movie. Kevin pulled on a jersey and headed for the bedroom to start getting ready for the party. He had set the alarm a bit too late, since the guys had made plans to meet at midnight.

  He moved from room to room, trying his best to remain quiet. But, as he was sitting on the bed pulling on his socks, Shantel appeared at the bedroom door. Her normally cheerful face was expressionless, which meant she was angry. He got up and started combing his hair. His back was towards her, but he saw her watching him, still expressionless, in the mirror.

  “What now babe?” he said, turning.

  “So, you mean to tell me you still going out, no matter how I feel about it?”

  He shook his head.

  “Babe, you being serious right now?”

  “Yeah! Why not?” she said, raising her voice. “If you too blind to see that these fellas is not yuh friends, that is what I here for.”

  Kevin sat down on the edge of the bed and laced his shoes. Then he stood up and walked across the room and looked at himself in the mirror again. He liked the way he had coordinated the colors, with his red polo jersey, blue jeans and white sneakers. He contemplated whether to keep his gold chain inside or out and then tucked it under his jersey so he would draw less attention when he reached the club. He then turned and faced her again. She looked at him.

  “Babe, why yuh always have to be worrying so much? I not even worried.” He walked over to her. “What happen last time is in the past, we done get over that long time.”

  “Yeah but…”

  “But nothing!” he said. “Stop worrying 'bout Biggs and them boys, let me worry about that.” He was right up to her looking straight into her face, trying to convince her that everything was going to be okay. At least, if he said it enough, he too would also believe it.

  “Babe, you not seeing the point,” she said and attempted to walk away, but he held her hand.

  “What is the point then, Shantel? You tell me.”

  She delayed a few seconds before answering. “You know this eh done here babe, and just the thought of something happening to you bothering me so much. Almost two weeks gone and everything going so good. I just don’t understand why you feel you have to meet back with them tonight.”

  He released his grip and passed his hand across his face.

  “Babe, I explain to you so much times that I only going because is Sean birthday lime and we did plan this way before anything did even happen. This is the last time I going out with them. I done tell Steve that already.”

  She held him in a gaze for a few seconds.

  “Babe,” Her voice was low. “I just have a feeling that something bad going to happen.”

  He gently lifted her chin and looked into her eyes.

  “Shantel, babe, stop worrying about it please. You just being paranoid. Nothing going to happen, okay. I could guarantee you that.”

  A moment passed in silence.

  “Yeah, okay, I hear you.” She pulled away and shook her head and walked back into the living room, carefully lowering her body onto the couch.

  “You know what. You go ahead and do yuh thing,” she said. But her tone wasn’t angry now, just sad. Kevin looked at her and he couldn’t help but put himself in her position. He could understand what she was going through.

  Two weeks ago, Steve had taken him along with their friends, Wendell, Sean and Marcus on what he claimed was a new drug pickup location. But, instead of collecting, he had stolen two kilos of drugs from a well-known drug pusher from Arima while Sean and Kevin remained in the car. They were both upset about what he had done and Kevin told Steve that he didn’t want to be linked to him anymore. Sean had also decided to distance himself from the crew after the party tonight.

  “Babe?” Kevin said.

  Shantel ignored him.

  “Baby…?” he said, but she continued looking at the frozen image on the tv. He began caressing her shoulders and then went around the couch and got down on his knees as if he was finally ready to propose. But then they were both distracted as the headlights from a car brightened the front window and loud gangsta music filled the night air.

  No later than the car had stopped than the horn blew twice. The music and voices were sounding clearer; they both knew who it was.

  Shantel gave him a long hard stare which was meant to be his final warning, but he simply smiled and got up and headed for the door, grabbing a Miami Heat jacket and Sean’s gift on the way.

  “Kevin…?” she said. “You forgetting something?” He hurried back, kissing her on her lips and then placing his hand gently on her stomach. He could feel the baby pushing against his hand.

  Their eyes met again and he brushed his hand across her stomach.

  “Daddy coming back in ah little while, okay honey.” They both got another kiss, and he went smiling all the way to the door.

  Outside was cold and dark although many of the neighbours’ lights were on. And, as far as his eyes could see, there wasn’t anyone walking in the streetlights. There were only a few cars speeding by as usual.

  As he got closer to the car he could see smoke escaping through an open window and he smelled the weed even before he came close. But, thankfully Shantel hadn’t come to the door.

  Kevin pulled open the back door of the car and sat down and Marcus immediately stuck a half bottle of Hennessey into his hands. Kevin looked to the house and he could see Shantel standing at the door now.

  “Goodnight Shantel!” Steve said, his voice lifting, as he used the steering wheel to pull his body forward and stick his head out of the window.

  “Just bring my man back home safe, okay,” she said.

  Steve laughed. “Yeah, no problem. I hear you,” he said and dropped his body back onto the seat. “You don’t have nothing to worry about. We go bring Cinderella back home before midnight.” He laughed and reversed onto the roadway, popping the horn as
he sped off with screeching tires.

  Kevin was stuck in the back with Marcus and Wendell and the half bottle of Hennessey, while Sean was in the front passenger seat, taking another pull of the weed. The secondhand smoke alone was enough to get everyone high since the other three windows were only slightly cracked.

  “Hold this bro,” Kevin said while coughing and fanning away as much of the weed smoke as possible. From the moment they’d began hanging out together Kevin had only smoked weed once, and that was probably the most intense five seconds of his life. With the first pull he felt as if he was being strangled by some sort of spiritual force. And when it was over, he was very thankful to be alive.

  Sean turned slightly on his seat and took the gift and thanked him. He shook it a couple times, wondering what it could be and after getting no hints he placed it in the glove compartment to unwrap later.

  They drove around for a couple of blocks and smoked out the weed before heading out to the night club in Tunapuna.

  As usual there was a large crowd at the entrance. Steve had paid the booking fee so they were already on the list. Plus, the bouncer was one of Steve’s good friends, so he’d always allow them to enter without being searched.

  All of them except Kevin and Wendell were strapped with fully loaded automatic pistols, so moving through the crowd was the easiest part of maintaining their respect.

  Kevin remained one step behind until they had gotten inside. At that point they were free to move around and mingle with whoever they chose, as long as they maintained a visual of each other throughout the night. That was their main rule when out in public. Another important rule was that they came together and left together, no matter what happened or how many girls they picked up.

  There were a lot of women in the club and the dj was playing a selection of the latest dancehall. Marcus ordered a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue, and they all began drinking shots straight, the bottle of expensive scotch standing at the centre of their table. They didn’t look around, but they all saw which women were looking their way.

  Within two hours or so Wendell had gotten so high that he’d started throwing money to some of the women who came to dance with them. This was his usual behavior when he drank, and one of the reasons he wasn’t carrying a firearm tonight. One time he’d gotten so drunk that he pulled his firearm and fired three shots into the ceiling of a popular nightclub in Port-of-Spain. Thanks to another one of Steve’s friends, that incident hadn’t brought the police.

  Kevin had reached his limit. He could usually hold his liquor, but it seemed as though the combination of secondhand smoke and scotch had made him higher faster. Now even the plain girls in the club were starting to look like America’s next top models to him, and women who were obviously standing with their man seemed to be smiling and flirting with him. All this was a recipe for trouble, and he didn’t want trouble. He made his way to the restroom and spent a few minutes washing his face, and by the time he went back to the dance floor things seemed normal again.

  He made his way into a corner where he’d decided to spend the rest of the night, sipping on a glass of Cîroc and enjoying the view of a group of women who were wearing clothes designed to show their assets and dancing to match. A number of women came into his invisible cubicle and danced with him.

  There was one young lady who did more than dance. She left an impression. She was by far one of the sexiest women there. She was dark-skinned, slim and had wild, curly hair. She wore a blue dress that ended just below her knees, and her four-inch heels complemented her dress.

  She danced with him to her favorite songs and, when her songs weren’t playing, she danced for him. He felt amazing. And he wanted to get to know her better.

  Another one of her favorites came on and when it had finished and she was about to step away, he held her hand and pulled her closer to him. The place was dark, but between the disco flashes he’d gotten the chance to observe that her eyes were a sort of light brown. She didn’t attempt to escape his stare or grip, welcoming his touch like the expensive drinks he’d sent to her before she’d come across.

  “Problem…?” she said in a curious but friendly voice.

  “Yeah…”

  “What?” She was surprised by his answer.

  “What you trying to do me?” he said.

  She laughed and leaned closer to him. “What I trying to do?” She looked down at his hands. “You is the one who holding me hostage.” Her eyes came back to his and she showed another one of those friendly smiles.

  He couldn’t help but smile back. “So, is like that?” he said.

  “I don’t know what you talking about,” she said in a teasing voice. With her undivided attention he’d almost forgot that they were in a club. The dj began making a promotional announcement and her smile came momentarily. She bit her lower lip in a seductive way and turned her head to the side. At that moment he slowly released her hand.

  The dj changed his style of music. Now she grinned mischievously at him.

  “Question… You could dance to this, Mister…?”

  “Jones… Kevin.” Usually, he didn’t give strange women his real name, but he felt unusually attracted to this girl. “And yes, I could, and I would love to.”

  She positioned her body closer to his and rested her hands on his shoulder. The chemistry felt more personal than the usual dance from a stranger. She quietly moved to the slow conscious melody and he followed. Soon enough she felt comfortable with his dancing and rested her head on his chest.

  A few persons on the floor did the same while the others stood around enjoying their drinks and their conversation.

  Throughout the beginning of the song the dj encouraged more persons to join in but only a few couples obeyed.

  Steve and Wendell were looking on from their table.

  At the end of the second song, Kevin began to ask her where she was from, but she interrupted the question by tightening her grip. She made it obvious that she wanted to continue dancing in silence.

  They danced to the final song and when it had ended she held his hand and led him to a table across the room where they sat down. Kevin shoulders became tensed and now he was nervous of her unknown intentions. Her actions suggested that she was looking for more than a dance or a casual conversation. But that was something he wasn’t about to do because of his past experiences.

  Kevin had been unfaithful to Shantel in the past, but he hadn’t cheated on her since early last year when she had found out the heartbreaking news from the same young lady whom he was having an affair with. Because of that, they had separated for a few months and up until this day her parents hadn’t found it in their hearts to forgive him for breaking their daughter’s heart.

  Kevin was looking everywhere in the party, except across his shoulder where she was sitting.

  “You okay?” She wrapped her hands across his waist and gave him a gentle squeeze, finally getting his attention.

  “Yeah, I good.” He noticed that their glasses were almost empty. “You want another drink?”

  She smiled and hesitated at first, and then told him yes. He left and returned a short moment after with a bottle of Cîroc. She looked impressed.

  “I see you like to do it big.” Her eyes were glued to the bottle of Cîroc.

  “Nah, not really, I does hardly go anywhere, so I does just like to have a good time whenever I get that chance.”

  “Oh, okay. Cool.”

  He rested the bottle on the table and she filled both glasses and started drinking.

  “So, what is yuh name?” he asked again.

  “Christine.”

  “Okay.” He leaned forward and stuck his hand across the table with a proud smile. “Nice to meet you Christine.”

  She returned the smiled and took his hand.

  “Nice to meet you too, Kevin.”

  They both continued looking around the party and enjoying the music. She looked happy and was nodding her head to the rhythm of each song.

&n
bsp; “So, where exactly you from?”

  She looked at him and he could tell from her reaction that she was contemplating whether or not it would be wise for her to give out that type of information.

  “What I mean is, you from around here?” He tried the question from another angle.

  “Yeah, well. You could say that. I from right Macoya. What about you? Where you from?”

  “Enterprise.”

  “Hmm, okay. And you come quite up here by yourself? So much party you like?” she said in a teasing voice.

  “Nah,” Kevin shook his head. “I come with them fellas over there.” He pointed to the table where Steve and Sean were sitting. They were amongst four young women who were all dressed in tight, revealing clothing. They were all laughing and drinking and enjoying themselves. Wendell wasn’t anywhere around. Kevin knew he must’ve mentioned something and left for the restroom or maybe to take a smoke, so he didn’t put much thought into it. He turned back to Christine and noticed that she was looking over at their table in deep thoughts.

  “What about you? Where yuh friends?”

  Her attention came back slowly, and the glass went straight to her lips. The entire movement looked strange, as if something was bothering her. But, again, Kevin didn’t think much of it. He was there to enjoy himself and he wasn’t about to let the alcohol get to him.

  “I don’t have plenty friends, only one. She couldn’t make it. Last minute plans with she man. You know how that is.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  She refilled her glass. Kevin had barely drunk half of his.

  “Talking about that.” She quickly opened her purse and took out her cellphone. “I clean forget to message she and tell she I reach.” She started typing out the message and Kevin waited. During that moment Wendell had returned and retrieved his seat at Steve’s table where two of the ladies were dancing for them.