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compared to
this. Even though I felt isolated from my family, there was always
activity in the house. My brothers or sisters arguing over the
television, or how they didn’t like whatever was for dinner
that night, or my father complaining how the grapes weren’t as
good as they’d been the season before and how it would affect
his profits. Whatever it was, there was always activity. But now
things had changed, and I would come and go from that stinking
apartment with my mother either drunk and on her way to sleep, or
just waking up and starting to drink. I didn’t bitch about it.
There was no point. Let the old fuck drink herself to her grave, if
that’s what she wants... I was already planning my next kill.”
    “ What
happened to waiting for opportunity?”
    Roberts
smiled. It was without humor.
    “ That’s
a pretty naive question, Mr. Elgin. Opportunity is fine, but if you
don’t know what to do when it knocks, then what is it but a wasted opportunity.
And I was keen to make sure that when the time came, I would know
exactly what to do.”
    “ I
see your point. Please continue.”
    “ I…
I invented an imaginary friend. It seems stupid and childish, and I
suppose it was. But to me he seemed real. It was like…he was
the real me. The one who didn’t have to pretend to be normal
like everyone else. It sounds strange, but I think he became a real
thing. He and I would discuss methods to kill and not be caught. That
was the key thing. We were planning for the long term.”
    “ What
was he like?”
    Roberts
chuckled and shook his head. “It would sound stupid to you.”
    “ You
don’t know that. I’m a hard man to surprise.”
    “ I
don’t doubt it. You might be too young to remember who I’m
talking about anyways.”
    “ I’m
older than I look,” Elgin responded, flashing the lizard smile.
Roberts felt gooseflesh prickle on his skin.
    “ I
imagined he was this Italian gangster type guy, with slicked black
hair and a smooth little moustache. Did you ever see the original
Rocky movie?”
    “ Of
course. I think everyone saw that movie.”
    “ There
was an actor called Joe Spinell. He played a loan shark called Gazzo
who gives Rocky a job collecting unpaid debts.”
    “ I
know the actor. He also played Willi Cici in the Godfather, if it’s
the same one I’m thinking of.”
    Roberts
slapped his thigh and offered a broad grin.
    “ That’s
him, that’s the one! That’s what my guy looked like. All
smooth and dark skinned, slick and confident. He was everything I
ever wanted to be. I even gave him a name.”
    “ What
was he called?”
    “ I
called him Monde.”
    “ No
first name?”
    “ Didn’t
see the need. I liked the snappiness of it. Just one word that you
could say quick and easy.”
    “ Did
you know he wasn’t real?”
    Richards
looked offended. “Of course I did. Just because I like to kill
doesn’t mean I’m off my damn rocker.”
    “ I
never said it did. I was just asking.”
    “… Anyway, Monde and me, we planned and schemed, and
sometimes he did seem real. He suggested things I never would have
thought of.”
    “ Like
what?” Elgin asked, as he shifted position.
    “ Like
where to find our first victims. There was no shortage of people in
New York, but that didn’t mean we could just charge out into
the streets and start waving a knife around. Monde said we needed to
be sensible. We needed to hone our craft. I wasn’t sure what he
meant, but he spelled it out for me. The homeless. There were around
a quarter-million of them in New York alone, and they would be easy
pickings. They were already anonymous and nobody would care if a
couple went missing or turned up dead. It was perfect. We had already
spent weeks wandering the streets and looking for the best places,
seeing where they spent their nights. Eventually we were ready.”
    Roberts
trailed off, and his brow furrowed.
    “ Is
everything ok?”
    “ Yeah.
It’s just that bringing everything back is not always good,