by Colette Coen
“Long day gov? You look knackered.”
“Great day. Turned a nice profit, I did. Got a shipment today and off-loaded all the merchandise by close of play.”
“What do you deal in?”
“The only thing that makes any money these days – girls. They’re the only immigrants that pay their keep. All they need is a mattress and enough smack to keep them quiet, the rest is pure profit. Easy money.”
“Not so easy for them I’d think.”
“Well, that’s capitalism for you: the bosses get rich; the workers get shafted. Mind you, I’m only in distribution, just like you. I won’t get mixed up in the other stuff. I’m a good family man. But working for yourself is the only way, you know that.”
“Oh, I’ve got to take orders. Work my passage as it were.”
“You’ve missed my turn here.”
“I’m going a short cut.”
“But I just live round there. Listen mate, you’re not taking me for a ride, all right. I didn’t get this Rolex without knowing how to look after myself.”
“You looked like you were in a bit of trouble when I picked you up. I thought I saw a gun back there.”
“Yeah, well sometimes the quality of the merchandise isn’t quite what the buyer expects. Lucky you came round the corner when you did. You got me out of a fix.”
“Did I? Well, here we are sir, Gates of Hell, no boundary charge. Mind how you go.”
Colette Coen is currently being tutored by Janice Galloway on a Faber Academy novel writing course. Follow her progress at colettecoen.wordpress.com
The Pygmy Giant 
#1 by Sandra Davies on January 3, 2011 - 4:59 pm
It’s interesting how light-hearted this sounds despite the awfulness of the subject – and very smooth too.
#2 by leah on January 8, 2011 - 8:17 pm
Conversational quality but frightening content—first-rate writing.