The Hitman - Chapter 7

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THE HITMAN

 

Chapter Seven  

 

Paying The Dues

 

Forty thousand feet above the sea Harry sat in the seat of a jet bound for America . He felt like a bullet in flight that would soon hit New York and hopefully on impact all of the memories that haunted him would shatter into pieces .

 The  roar of the jet engines burst through the silent sky leaving a smoky streak in a  snowy clouded sky as through the clouds the plane descended down to a runway that stretched out like a long drawn out concrete carpet . As the wheels of the aircraft touched the ground the tyres screeched like a scalded cat leaving skid marks before the place where it came to a stop .

There is awaited, like a dog barking at the door with a want to come inside . Inside the aircraft passengers sat eager to return to the streets they knew full of traffic and crowded pavements and people pounding the beat of everyday life in New York.

Without even knowing in their midst was a killer liable to go berserk without warning.  Harry sat in his seat collecting thoughts that came rushing through like a train with no brakes. In his overcrowded mind he walked between doorways of the past trying to navigate his way to a bridge where he found himself bargaining for a life in the   future. There were too many what if’s getting in the way and too many excuses for why he did the things he had done . Trying to keep a grip on his sanity he looked ahead at life in a  new place where no one knew him or could judge him . He was juggling heavy weighs and standing on thin ice .

It was time to disembark from the plane and the cabin crew took their positions at the exit doors to farewell the passengers. Harry grabbed his hand luggage and left the plane . As he walked from the plane to the airport he looked at all the faces around him. He reassured himself it was ok ,. He checked out the security cameras and said quietly to himself , “No problem here . There’s no war , there’s no enemy . It’s New York the land of the free .“

He stepped inside a lift at the airport and right in front of him he saw two men in a serious fight. One man had some wire around the other man’s throat. Harry had just landed in New York and was triggered into making a response . Survival mode kicked in and he delivered a deadly martial arts blow to each of the men . Harry walked out of the lift to the baggage collection area .

‘He murmured to himself ,
“Well finally I feel like I’ve just come home “

After he collected his suitcase he made his way through customs with his fake passport and new ID . Harry’s American accent was perfect and he was accepted as one of their own .

He walked away from the airport and got into a taxi  that brought him to a hotel where he got settled in . He ordered room service and sat there in the silence just thinking through all the events that had taken place , In strange surroundings he felt a kind of sanity creep into his unbalanced mind .

The first thing he had to do was find an apartment of his own . In three separate bank accounts he had more than enough money to get by for the rest of his days . During the first week he contacted a New York real estate agent about purchasing an apartment . After a short viewing of prospective properties Harry chose a place that met his requirements . The security was perfect and it was already well furnished. He wasted no time in securing the deeds and moved in shortly after . He entertained the idea of looking for someone with the desire to start a relationship and making a new life for himself in America .

He never had an opportunity like this before and wondered if it were possible to meet someone and be a normal person . Harry had only known how to kill people and he was good at it but he never knew how to love anyone and had no idea what love was all about . All he had ever known was the dark disappointments in life and regarded himself as a cold cruel man with no dreams or desire to change . For the first time in his life Harry thought that maybe he could be wrong about himself . He had turned his back on the paramilitary and organized crime . He had a new name, Tom Shepherd , a retired stockbroker with no family or friends and wanted to find someone in life and be at peace with the world and those around him. He gave a lot of thought to how he would try to find that special person to share his life with . With the thought that life is a lottery he wwrote a note that said,

My name is Tom and I’m searching for someone to love so if you find this note and feel the same I would be very grateful if you would contact me .

Enclosed is my mail box address .

Yours truly ,

Tom

He put the note with his contact details in an envelope and addressed it to,

Looking For Love,

Anywhere on Earth but preferably New York .

Then he went to the post office to post it but on the way he lost the letter.

He felt upset that his first attempt to search for love had ended up getting lost out there somewhere so he decided to have another attempt and he wrote another note .

Hello there ,

My name is Tom and I’m looking for love. Once I thought I might never find love but I’ve changed my mind . Somehow I hope I can find a very special someone so here I am trying again so if you find my little note I’m going to leave it in here hanging on a tree in central park . If you find this note maybe you are that special person I’m looking for .

My contact details are inside this envelope and I would be grateful if you would get in touch .

Yours Truly

Tom

So Harry took a walk through Central Park and found a tree in a quiet place and there he left his letter on a string tied to a branch and walked away into the fading light of the day He returned back to his apartment and sat up all night thinking . He eventually went to bed and slept soundly until late the next day . When he awoke he had a late breakfast and decided to follow up with another plan and put his second move in action.,

He rang a number at random and spoke to the person who answered and said ,

“Hello my name is Tom and I’m looking for love. Could you please connect me with someone who might know where to find it?

The person on the other end immediately ended the call  which really upset Harry .Now he was left with a feeling of disappointment and rejection . He had tried 3 times to find love and each attempt had not as yet been successful. He sat there in the silence and thought about what he was going to do next. How easy it would be to take out his anger on someone but he realised that if he wanted to start a new life he would have to put those thoughts out of his head once and for all, .  The person that he used to be had to become a thing of the past . He had to become a new kind of man and in that moment something inside him changed . Harry had been hit by an instant conversion .

That day Harry became Tom , a new kind of man who found some kind of answer to his problems in life . He found insight and delight like a blinding light and had an urge to see  new faces and lots of places where he had never been before .

He went for a walk and bought a newspaper and sat down in the park and read the news and noticed some stories about the rising number of homeless people on the streets of New York . Tom was prompted to give something back in life and it wasn’t long before he decided to do something good for the first time in his life . He decided to build a refuge for the homeless and had a prospective plan in his head to make a change for the future .

The weeks passed into months and Tom had spent a fortune on buying food and gifts for homeless people on the streets , During this time he had purchased an old building which was being renovated into a shelter for the homeless .He started placing some homeless people around street corners with buckets fresh flowers and what ever they sold they could keep the money . This small business became popular with the people who often stopped and spoke to the homeless who also benefited from the experience .

Tom was becoming recognised by the big business people and began to get invites to dinner dates where photographers and media devoured each event like fodder for the hungry minds of society .

Tom was given a proposal by the Free Church Community to join them in a tour of America on a kind of crusade of awakening excursion to bring a message of hope and love for people where ever they went  .

Tom accepted the offer and somehow it all made sense to him . Just like an awakening he knew this was something he had to do . Every where the bus went there was prayers and singing and Tom would speak about giving back and paying dues when and where it was needed . The message was heard and embraced . When Tom felt too tired to talk something happened to him like a surge of energy going through him that he never felt before . He found words came to him about life and love that he never knew existed . Now he had had found  hope .  Once he had nothing and now he had something to say and strangely enough he felt ok.  It wasn’t an end but a new beginning to the search for survival in a new world .

At this point love found him . One morning as he was walking with the elders of the Free Church community a lady approached him holding an envelope in her hand.She looked at Tom and said ,

‘Hello Tom , I am someone who saw you hang this message from the branch of a tree in Central Park:”

She handed Tom the envelope and inside it there was another message which said,

Tom I wrote this little note in reply to yours and my answer is yes .  You have found what you are looking for.so look no further, your search is over. I have waited my whole life to find a special someone like you to find me. .

Tom was so excited that he had found someone .

”How dd you find me ?”

“When I tried to contact you the security guard at your apartment told me about the crusade you were on . I’ve been following the crusade now for the past two weeks and finally had the courage to come to speak to you “

Tom asked her name and she replied

“My name is Grace and we have found love.”

Tom was love struck and for the very first time in his life. Now he knew at last what it was like to be in love. He looked into her eyes and said

“I would love you to stay with me Grace.”.

She replied,

“Love is a beautiful thing Tom and well worth finding.”

Tom replied .

“I searched for love everywhere. “

“But love found you Tom.

Grace replied and Tom said .

“I never though anything like this could be possible for someone like me:”

 

“Our pathway through life had brought us here where another  journey has begun.”

Tom said,

“I can’t believe how this happened to me.”

She replied,

“‘When I first saw you drop that note you wrote I picked it up and knew in my heart I had found someone true. I hoped to hand you reply but when I got to your apartment you had already gone but now look , here we are .“

 

“I can’t tell you how happy I feel at this moment Grace.”

She took a pair of unlocked handcuffs from her bag and chained herself to his wrist and gave him the key .

“You alone have the key to my heart .“

He unlocked the handcuffs and said ,

”Keep in your heart my name .“

Then he handed back the key and handcuffs to her .

 “Love has locked us together Tom.”.

For the rest of the crusade Grace and Tom stayed together and grew closer as they got to know each other in a place where tomorrow never existed. Every day Tom and Grace spoke a language of love to each other. Each word said had the same message attached .

I love you.  

 

 

End Of Chapter 7

 

Link To Chapter 8

https://www.abctales.com/story/mcscraic/hitman-chapter-8

 

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