The fighter spoke. ‘The Mansions has its own set of rules. You come into our world, you play by them.’
Mann looked across at Shrimp. He knew he was more than capable of beating them in a clean fight but this was anything but that. Shrimp had studied Muay Thai which was nothing like as dirty as this type of combat.
Mann looked at the fighter and said, ‘Chain of the hand. Kadena de mano. No weapons.’
The fighter nodded. He put his knife down.
Mann looked at Shrimp, who was placing his beloved suit jacket carefully on a chair well out of the way of the action. He looked every bit the hero in his purple shirt and suit trousers. Mann was glad he’d worn his jeans and t- shirt. He undid his shuriken belt and placed it under his leather jacket, on the floor of the corridor, and then he beckoned the fighter forwards.
The guy was agile. He was a short man but he had the traditional Filipino broad powerful shoulders, strong lean body. His hands were his weapon; they were lightning fast. He dealt Mann the first punch and followed up with three more before Mann got the message. He could already taste the blood in his mouth from two punches that had threatened to take out his teeth. Now he gauged not just the fighter’s range but also his preferred lead arm, his speed on his feet, and he gauged something even more vital. The fighter had a weapon concealed in his belt.
From the corner of his eye Mann was aware of Shrimp. Shrimp was going in fast and furious. Mann knew why that would be – he wanted to inflict the most damage on his opponent and the least damage on his suit. Slick had not expected it. He did not have Shrimp’s athleticism. Shrimp was hitting Slick with moves that Mann hadn’t seen him use before. He turned in the air and dealt a jump sidekick that landed in the centre of Slick’s chest and sent him crashing back against the wall just as another hit him to the side of the head. His head was brought down onto Shrimp’s knee and Slick didn’t recover. Mann could hear him moaning as he dragged his body away and out of Shrimp’s reach.
The fighter was flying around Mann with his arms in every direction like flick knives, looking for gaps in Mann’s defence. He rocked back and forth on his agile feet. Mann had seen enough. He let down his guard on his left side and waited for the punch. His opponent obliged with a left cross. When the fighter’s arm was full stretched, Mann caught his wrist and bent it back. He smashed the palm of his hand into the fighter’s knuckles and heard them crack. He dealt three fast blows, bent the wrist back, one, snapped it then he twisted the arm and smashed down, two, popping the elbow, then three, he punched down hard on the forearm to break it. Mann flipped him over, his broken arm behind his back, and locked his head. A knife dropped to the floor out of the fighter’s waistband. Mann picked it up and pressed it against the fighter’s throat.
‘Yeah…not now, old man. I’m too busy to play.’ He looked up – Rizal had legged it. Shrimp went to go after him. ‘Leave him, Shrimp, we’ll find him when we want him. He has nowhere else to go.’
Chapter 45
Ruby was satisfied. She opened the vent above the cooker to let out the steam. She had an urge to clean. She had washed the white tiles, scrubbed the bed, she had cut up Steven Littlewood’s body, stripped the flesh from his bones and now they were sawn into manageable pieces and boiling on top of the stove.
Ruby pushed her hair back from her face, she was sweating. She was naked. She had such a lot of work to do. Why were men always so messy? Did he have to get his blood everywhere? Ruby had worked for hours, cutting up his body. When she was finished she placed her dolls back on the shelves in the lounge. Some of them still had bits of flesh stuck in their hair. They had drops of blood on their faces but Ruby had decided she had better things to do than keep cleaning. Some things just didn’t matter any more. She mustn’t waste her precious time now.
She was going down to the government hospital that morning. She had been there many times. Ruby walked along the corridors and no one noticed her. Sometimes she wore a nurse’s outfit. Sometimes she wore a white coat. Now she could give a decent injection. She could keep someone alive long after they wanted to die. Today she wanted to see if any of the babies there needed her.
The government hospital. There weren’t enough beds. There wasn’t enough staff. They always needed another pair of hands.
Ruby smiled at the good-looking young doctor as she made her way along the corridor. It was late afternoon. It was a good time for her to visit, between the doctor’s rounds. There were people asleep on the floor in the corridor. There weren’t enough beds. People lay on mattresses. Their relatives cared for them. Ruby stopped by a family: an old woman was being fed by her daughter. It was hospital congee; a watery rice soup. Ruby knelt down beside them.
‘You must be very tired,’ she said to the daughter. ‘Go home now and rest. I will look after your mother. Don’t worry.’ Ruby smiled.
The daughter hesitated but accepted gratefully. ‘Thank you, nurse.’
Ruby smiled reassuringly at her. ‘That’s what I’m here for.’
Ruby watched the daughter leave. She tied a tourniquet around the old woman’s arm and tapped the inside of her elbow to raise a vein. She slipped the needle beneath the woman’s papery skin and into the vein and then she depressed the plunger and emptied the syringe. She repeated the procedure again. Then she moved to the other arm and delivered two more ten ml doses of air.
She leaned in and whispered, ‘Thanks for letting me practise on you.’ Then she stood and went on down the corridor to the maternity unit.
As she was walking out she heard the old woman scream in agony.
Chapter 46
It was 2 p.m. when Nina knocked on Lilly’s door. Rizal answered. He looked at her, intrigue in his eyes.
‘Yes?’
‘Is Lilly in?’
He shook his head, pulled up his vest and scratched his stomach.
‘Do you know when Michelle will be back?’
He shook his head, his eyes glued to the flesh showing around her slim midriff.
‘Who’s going to make the curry for the stall? I have brought the meat, the spices.’ She lifted up her arm with the carrier bag in her hand.
Rizal shrugged and walked back into the flat. He sat down on the sofa and opened a beer, put his feet on the table and kicked off the newspapers. Rizal looked at her. She was still waiting in the doorway.
Nina looked at her watch. ‘Do you want me to do it? You will lose customers otherwise and Michelle will lose money. Plus I can’t get rid of this pork anywhere round here.’
Rizal waved the beer bottle at her. ‘Sure. That would be very nice. You’re a good girl, Nina. Come in, close the door.’
Nina glanced nervously backwards. She didn’t like being alone with any man, let alone Rizal, but Michelle was a good friend to her. If Ali caught her coming out, she would be punished. She was going to be married next month to a man old enough to be her father, but it wasn’t for her to choose. The one thing she had to be was pure. Any scandal and the man might call it off. She was already at the age when she should be married with three children. She had delayed whilst she was needed to run the restaurant but now she must bend to her father’s will. She must marry a man she didn’t love. She looked back at the landing. It wouldn’t take her long. She could have it done in half an hour and then it would slow cook for the next eight and that would be all she had to do. It was worth it to help Michelle. They relied on one another in the Mansions.
Nina placed the groceries on the kitchen surface. The kitchen and the lounge were all one room. Rizal rested his arm on the back of the sofa, turned to watch her over his shoulder. She worked with one eye on him and one eye on what she was doing. She chopped the meat and fried the spices and onions. The room filled with the familiar smell that the whole landing had come to know. She worked quickly, her hands flew around as she tried to finish the job and get out. She was so busy stirring she didn’t notice Rizal standing behind her until she turned. He was watching her bottom moving beneath the silk sari as she stirred vigorously. She turned and nearly fell into him as
