Chameleon - Gasping for AirA Story by LukeA story of a lady assassin, Naima. Eradicating evil doers at all costs.Naima stood outside room 147, in a hotel hallway. She matched the room number to the digits written on the back of her hand. She knocked three times. After 30 seconds, she pressed down the door handle, opened, and entered. The room was dimly lit by a solitary bedside-lamp. She approached, slowly, making no noise at all. The man regarded her with small pig-eyes and mischievous smile. He disgusted her, and yet she let the disgust evaporate. She stood in the hallway, half in shadow. “How do you want me, dominant or submissive?” The man’s voice was weak, almost shy. “Dominant baby. Bully me,” he answered, excited as a child with a new toy. She stepped forward once more, allowing her face to become illuminated. She spoke as she moved closer. “You pathetic idiot. Loser.” “More.” “Filthy swine. Nobody. You make me sick. I wish you were dead.” The man’s eyes sparkled. He was in absolute paradise. He felt a twitch in his groin. “You like that, when I treat you like the scum you are?” The man shuffled from his position at the foot of the bed, and knelt on the carpet. She circled him till she was behind him, with a view of his hairy chubby back. She climbed onto his back, saddling him. “Over the last two years, you raped and killed Danielle Peters and Sindiswa Mkhize,” she whispered into his ear. “And got away with it.” His body tensed immediately. He gasped for air desperately, rolling his eyes to the back of his skull. She hopped off him, and watched the dirty rapist struggle alone with the rope. He gasped painfully for air, trying to grip the rope with his fat fingers. “You have all the money in the world, with your sleazy night clubs,” said Naima, looking around, making sure there weren’t any traces of her left behind. She breathed heavily, catching her breath. “I’m sure you have plenty women. Why rape and kill young girls?” She looked around the room, almost oblivious of the man begging for his life. She couldn’t risk a trace of evidence. “You will be sorry, buddy, just now,” Naima responded, nearly satisfied that the room was clean. 20 seconds later, his body fell limp to one side, breaking a glass table. The pig lay slumped on the carpet. She looked at him for a minute. Satisfied, she scanned the room once more for traces. With that, she turned and quietly approached the exit. Her gloved hand opened the door. The reception clerk was absorbed in a magazine. She exited into the night, becoming one with it. At top speed, Naima rode her motorbike over the freeway, back home. Home was a modest cottage-style house on the outskirts of town, with huge electric gates. Welcoming her was her hefty best friend and Rottweiler, Ginger. She parked and hopped off her bike, patted her dog lovingly and got inside. The interior comprised of an eclectic mix of photography and famous quotes. She had framed photos of all sorts " her own work and that of other photographers. She took her gloves off and shot straight to the basement. It was cold and dimly lit by LED lights. Up on the wall was a photo of the fat man from the hotel. Naima took a red marker and crossed his face with it. She noticed bruising on her knuckles as a result of the rope and strangle hold. The next morning, at Woodstock Art College, Naima stood in front of a class, teaching. The day was warm and windy " humid too. She wore a silky white blouse with black pants and heels. It was her Creative Writing class. Siyabulela, a tall stick figured handsome teen, stood beside Naima, reciting his poem to the class. Karma The class gave him a lukewarm ovation. "Thank you Siya," said Naima, conjuring half a smile. "That was good. But you were supposed to give us four paragraphs. I asked for four stanzas. You gave us just one. I wanted a long poem, with more wordplay " oxymorons, puns, alliteration and so on. "It rhymes, Miss," he objected, folding his crumpled piece of paper and slyly observing the bruising on Naima's knuckles. “It’s insightful and it rhymes tight, Miss. I’m spitting knowledge up in here, yo.” “Wait, hold up Sindi,” Naima objected. “We’ll have a debate when everyone’s had their turn.” She turned back to Siya, who’d just discreetly given Sindi his middle finger. “More wordplay next time, and do your homework properly, please " completely. Go take a seat. Good effort though.” Why does she keep getting random cuts and bruises? Siya thought to himself, as he walked back to his desk. Something’s up. Naima turned to the rest of the eager students. “So, who's next?" © 2016 LukeAuthor's Note
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