Katja from the Punk Band Read Online Free PDF Page B

the bare wardrobe into the grotty, stained clothing he has picked up. He’s wearing a pair of black rubber gloves that he’s produced from somewhere.
    “You know you get bugs growing in these things if you leave them lying around like this? They lay their eggs in your sweat and they hatch and it’s a fucking infestation. Did you know that?”
    “I . . . but . . .”
    “No, of course you didn’t. People don’t care what’s growing on them or in them. Order, Nikolai, it’s important to have order, you understand?”
    “Uh huh.”
    And Nikolai glances at the still-open front door, pictures the stairwell beyond and then . . . then what?
    “Nikolai?! Are you listening to me?”
    “Yes. I . . . Yes. What?”
    “You see?” And Kohl steps to one side, presents the half-filled wardrobe. “That’s all it takes, just a little bit of time and everything is in its place. You see?”
    “Okay. I mean, yes. I see.”
    “Good. I certainly hope so.”
    And Kohl wipes his gloved hands on his trousers, grimacing as he does so.
    “Now. As to why I’m here.”
    “I don’t have it!” Nikolai yelps and he’s leaning back through the bedroom door again. “You said tomorrow night!”
    And then he stops and he thinks.
    Shit. Is it tomorrow night?
    How long has he been playing for?
    “What day is it?”
    But Kohl is shaking his head and smiling like a child who has been caught stealing. “I’m not here for the money, Nikolai. Not exactly.”
    Nikolai shoves a finger into his mouth, chews the top of the nail clean off. “So . . . ?”
    “So I’m here to make a proposition. To provide you with an alternative.”
    “Uh.”
    The TV crackles into static as the cartoon ends.
    “There’s something I need, something I need you to bring me. Something I want.”
    “Okay.”
    “And if you can bring me it, then I’ll perhaps be willing to disregard what you still owe me. And as an added thank you, give you this.”
    He holds up a small baggy of powder that sparkles white one moment and then the next moment a purple the colour of a fresh bruise, of a clean twilight.
    A little line of perspiration raises on Nikolai’s darkly stubbled upper lip. His body almost physically lurches at the sight of the drug and he has to stop himself from just grabbing it out of Kohl’s hand, consequences be damned.
    He knows Kohl will see the desperation in his eyes and he doesn’t care.
    “I can do that,” Nikolai says as calmly as he can manage.
    “Good, I’m glad. There is a man and he has this . . . object which I would like. I need you to go to him and take it from him. Then bring it back to me. Simple enough, even for someone like you.”
    The insult doesn’t register but the implications of what Kohl might be asking of Nikolai do, and for the first time he feels hesitant.
    “He’ll be expecting me?”
    “Not exactly, no. You might need to convince him to give it to you. You have a weapon?”
    “You mean like a gun or something?”
    “Yes, like a gun or something,” Kohl says and his smile falters momentarily.
    “I have one somewhere, I guess.”
    “You guess?” Kohl snaps. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small pistol that is scratched and buffed on one side. He gives it to Nikolai barrel first, dropping the baggy into the man’s hand at the same time.
    Feeling safer now that he has the drug in his hand, Nikolai says, “I don’t want to get involved in anything heavy, you know?”
    Kohl’s face hardens. “You mistake me for someone who cares.”
    Nikolai is suddenly aware that the gun is pointed at him, still partially in Kohl’s hand.
    “The man in question,” Kohl says, “will be taking this object to mainland later tonight.”
    “The mainland?”
    “But he won’t get that far with it, right?”
    The bulging red goggles loom in Nikolai’s face.
    “Right,” Nikolai says weakly.
    “Good. His name is Januscz. And this is his address.”

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    The place is in a nice part of town, but on the