Second chapter of the story.
Audio at the bottom.
First chapter bellow
https://steemit.com/writing/@ralph.clayton/chapter-1-friday-evening-drama
Chapter {2}
{The Evil Within}
Winter in Russia can be a terrifying and frightening experience, snowstorms completely ravage the land, gradually burying the landscape in a tomb of snow. In this place Mary’s daily tragedy unfolds, slowly and painfully. Every single day of her existence is shadowed by uncertainty.
What will happen tomorrow is absolutely unknown.
The only thing that matters is Misha, he’s the sole ray of light in the darkness. Grandma Mary is tired, her old bones hurt so much. Arthritis has nearly destroyed her knees, unfortunately she cannot afford an operation. Public hospitals don’t do charity either. She’s in the merciful hands of god, or perhaps…
In the hands of her tormentors.
Fairly recently, Mary started working for a new employer, a wealthy family that comes from Ukraine. The head of the family is Mr. Popovsky, he was not born a rich man. He came to Moscow with nothing in his hands but a couple coins and his own vengeful ambition. He made himself a, “Novi Ruski,” a Russian Oligarch. His hands are repulsively dirty and full of blood of those people, he brutally stepped on the way to the top.
This country is a place of opportunity and contrast, for the people who are ready to become dishonorable and corrupt monsters. For those who are willing to become wild animals full of endless savagery. This is how you become rich in this country. Mr. Popovsky, is a fine example of this theory. The Darwinian concept of natural selection.
Grandma Mary is very much afraid of, “Popovsky the Pig.” When she looks at him, deep inside his eyes, there is pure evil. The devil lives inside of him, this monster wouldn’t hesitate to devour her in an instant. He’s a cruel beast that enjoys to see human suffering. She remembers the stories of how he likes to punish his subordinates with violence. There are even rumors that maids have suddenly disappeared and were never seen again.
He’s free to do as he pleases, nobody can stop him. There is no justice in this world, only wild and unjustified savagery. Sveta, the wife of Mr. Pig is no better than him, she’s a blonde an ignorant woman. Her only grace is to be pretty and stupid, perhaps that’s why he married her. She is as cruel as him, without mercy nor regret on her actions.
She likes to endlessly punish and torment the powerless maids. Especially Grandma Mary, her only mistake is to be old and poor. These rich beasts have no mercy, they enjoy to see people agonize. It’s their very own sport, it’s called, “Human misery.”
Wintertime has come and Mary is cleaning the kitchen after another luxurious party. Everything is absolutely impeccable she’s been cleaning for two long hours. For some mysterious reason, the kitchen just doesn’t look clean enough to Sveta the beast. The heartless monster is about to devour a lamb.
“Mary! Come over here right now! You decrepit old Hag!” Sveta says with her usual voice full of contempt.
The house had four floors, Mary was cleaning the bedrooms at the top. Sveta was shouting so hard and so loud, that Mary had to rush as fast as she could to the kitchen. As she rushed, she suddenly tripped and hit her forehead on the wall, blood was coming out all over. Still in that condition she hurried to the kitchen to see what Sveta wanted.
“What is this? You call this cleaning?” Sveta says.
Mary feels dizzy and weak, the wound on her forehead is bleeding. “I cleaned for two hours Madam.” She replies.
“Are you arguing with me? This is not clean.” Sveta says while staring at Grandma Mary with her usual contempt.
There is a bottle of red wine, half-full on the table. Sveta awkwardly grabs it and abruptly tosses it against the wall. The bottle shatters in to small pieces of broken glass and the wine splatters on the white wall turning it to a watery red color.
“What do you think now old Hag, still clean?” Sveta asks with an evil smirk on her face.
Grandma Mary feels sad and disappointed, these heartless animals have no compassion. Her head hurts and her vision is turning a bit blurry.
“I hit my head and I’m bleeding, can another maid clean the kitchen please?” Mary naively asks while trying to stand normally without fainting. Her body is very weak, she’s slowly losing the little strength she has left.
Sveta looks at her with a face full of mockery and disdain. She grabs another bottle of wine, and throws it against the wall. More shattered pieces of glass fall on the floor, and more wine splatters on the wall. The wall is becoming a work of modern art.
“No, excuses you old Hag, clean it all.” Sveta shouts while walking out the room. “If it’s not clean in one hour, don’t come back tomorrow.” She scornfully laughs as she goes away.
Mary falls on the floor crying, “Why me! I don’t deserve this.” The same question that Misha silently asks every day. Regrettably there is no answer, life is just shit.
Her tears and blood mix together, slowly dripping on the floor, one drop at a time. She firmly believes that there is no good in this world, ultimately there is only evil.
Also no such thing as god exists.
Grandma Mary is trying to make the wall clean, it is not working. The red wine has permanently damaged the white paint, there is no way to fix it. Sveta the fiend will definitely not like this, she’s going to punish poor Mary the innocent victim.
Rich people they never change and they never learn, just like 100 years ago. Before the October revolution, the emperor and his nobles were the rulers of the land. Despot pigs commanding the poor and ignorant sheep.
All their deviant luxury and extravagance, these nobles lived in an unreal world inside their heads while the poor died of hunger on the streets. This is what justified the gruesome acts of violence committed by the peasants and the Bolsheviks against the nobles. Money and wealth will corrupt the mind of anyone. Just the same as poverty and hunger.
History will repeat itself over and over again, perhaps sooner rather than later. Grandma Mary is convinced that Sveta will get what she deserves, one way or the other. If not by the hand of god, perhaps by her own hand. She could use one of the expensive kitchen knives in the cupboard, to delightfully cut open her throat, just like slicing some premium butter.
Grandma Mary fantasizes about sweet revenge, on everything and anyone that’s made her reality more miserable than usual. Thought she knows that she cannot jeopardize the fragile balance of her existence, because Misha needs her badly. Someday, or in another life perhaps, Mary will get her much deserved justice.
One hour passes by and Sveta comes back.
“Have you finished, you pathetic old Hag?” She asks Mary.
The kitchen is still dirty, a group of maids could try to clean this place for 6 hours, and still it wouldn’t get any cleaner. What Sveta is asking, is an impossible task and she dishonestly knows it. She’s only doing this to have an excuse to release all her fury on poor Grandma Mary.
“I’m tired of you, come here!” Sveta says while rushing towards Mary with evil intent.
Sveta forcefully grabs Mary by her hair, she’s laughing quite loud. “You’re not going anywhere until this is clean.” Mary is on the floor crying, her old brittle hair is being pulled by a cruel and heartless beast.
In the room there are other three servants. The butler is near the sink washing his hands while two maids stand near him pretending to be busy. They are all helplessly watching an innocent old woman being brutalized by a monster. Sveta is now pulling Mary by her hair across the floor.
“Out of my house, I don’t want to see you ever again.” Sveta says while brutally holding Mary by her neck. She’s about to push her down the stairs at the entrance, in to the frozen icy path. Grandma Mary wouldn’t survive such fall, she’s too old for that. Yet Sveta is about to do it, because she’s a heartless monster.
“Please Madam, have some mercy.” Mary says while gasping for air, the frozen cold air hurts her lungs when she breathes.
There is a very repugnantly evil smirk on Sveta’s face, she’s amusingly enjoying all this violence.
“You’re a vermin, a plague, you should all just disappear.” Sveta shouts, before abruptly pushing Grandma Mary down the stairs, in to the stone cold path.
Mary’s body feels numb, it’s minus 15- outside and she’s not wearing any warm clothes. She’s been pushed down the stairs and now lies unconscious on the floor. Her forehead is bleeding and now she also has a nasty concussion in her head. Perhaps this is the blissful death that she’s been wishing for.
The warm blood pouring out of her forehead, slowly drips in to the frozen floor. As soon it touches the ground it freezes. It looks like a messy crime scene with splattered blood all over the place. Grandma Mary fades in and out of her unconscious mind, she sees flashes of Misha smiling.
“I cannot leave him… not yet.” Mary mumbles.
Her body gradually begins to violently shiver as she lies dying on the icy floor, hypothermia is starting to claim her body. The blurry shadows of two figures stand in front of her.
“Put her in the back of the truck.” A male voice says.
The two shady figures slowly drag Grandma Mary across the floor all the way to the back garden. The muffled noise of a truck engine alleviates the sorrowful silence of the frozen landscape. Small crystalline snowflakes, fall on the dried up flowers and vegetation, as if white butterflies were dancing around them.
“Hurry up Igor, we have other errands to do.” A man says while fitting in some black leather gloves.
“Viktor, give me the shovel and shut up”. Igor replies
“There’s a football match today, Spartak vs Dinamo. Huge game, I want to watch it”
The backdoor of the black truck slams open. The two men roughly grab Mary and toss her in the back, these wild savages. The poor beaten and bloody body of Grandma Mary continues to shiver. Hypothermia is inevitable, death is imminent. Cruel life has sealed her fate at the hands of Sveta the fiend from hell.
The two men calmly get in the black truck and drive out the main gate. An old soviet tune from the 70s is playing on the radio. The truck is moving very slowly and carefully on the highway, they don’t want to get any unwanted attention.
“Mr. Popovsky said to take her to the usual spot.” Viktor says with a serious face.
Igor is shuffling the radio channels, trying to find some news about the football match. “This match is legendary, you wanna come watch it? He says.
Viktor was not really a fan of football, he had other more interesting and violent hobbies. He’s a professional thug and as such, he loves to beat up people. The numbing sensation in his knuckles, after deeply burying them in someone’s skull. It’s a delightful and indescribable feeling, just another perk while on the job.
“Let’s go to a bar to have a drink, and to watch the game. Right after we finish with this old bitch.” Viktor replies.
The two men sit in the darkness inside the truck while it’s moving. Outside on the landscape a snowstorm is falling, the wild wind splatters the snow against the windshield. In the distance only darkness can be seen, no lights nor signs of civilization. The men continue to drive on a dirt road, for another 33 minutes before suddenly stopping.
There’s only the dark night and a forest full of trees now.
Grandma Mary is unconscious, she’s peacefully dreaming. Her body is shivering, and in shock. Hypothermia didn’t kill her but old age just might, any second now. She hears an angelical voice in the distance, it’s her beloved Misha.
“Don’t leave me Grandma.” He says. “Please don’t die.”
Some tears run down Mary’s cheeks, her strength is slowly fading away. Her body is at its limit, she’s badly hurt and not even doctors in a hospital could save her. Her body is violently shivering, almost nearly convulsing. It looks very painful indeed.
Viktor is standing next to the truck, he’s holding a cigarette and a lighter. He calmly puffs smoke in to the air as he breathes in and out the lovely cancerous hot air. He’s an experienced and violent thug, however he still needs a soothing smoke before each job.
“You ready to do this?” He says.
Igor is holding a large rusty shovel, he’s resting it on top of his left shoulder. He also has an old medical saw hanging from his tool belt. The brute animal looks disgustingly ready to commit murder. He has a devious smirk on his face.
“I’m as ready, as a Ukrainian prostitute in a bar.” He joyfully replies. “What did Mr. Popovsky say, are we cutting her in to small pieces?”
Viktor slams open the backdoor of the truck and replies, “Not today, no one will look for this old hag.”
Igor shows a very disappointed face, he didn’t earn his nickname for nothing. “The butcher of Odintsovo.”
The black truck is deep inside a birch forest, the thin and tall white trees have no end in sight. It’s wintertime and everything is dead and dry, in the distance only a never-ending white sea of snow can be seen. Irregular icy hills make this most enchanting place, a fantastic place of fairytales and murderous nightmares.
Mary’s left hand tries to reach out the truck, “Please, help me.” She shivers uncontrollably in the freezing weather. The two men continue doing their business, absolutely ignoring Mary. Her plight falls to deaf ears, it’s all in vain. These monsters don’t care about Grandma Mary, they are only here to do a, “Job.”
Viktor firmly fits his thick black leather gloves, as he gets ready for action. “Are you ready? Let’s pull her out.” He says.
The two men forcefully grab Mary and pull her out of the truck, she now lies on the dirt floor. The snow must be 33 centimeters thick, which makes it very hard to walk. Still the two men manage to messily drag Mary across the forest, deep in to the unknown. Mary screamed in agony the whole time as she was being dragged on the rough surface.
The starry night sky is the only source of light in this deep darkness. Igor is holding the shovel high above his head, he swings it three times in the air. As if he was casually practicing baseball.
“I’m tired of her screams” He says.
Suddenly, like lighting he swings his shovel with ruthless strength and aims straight at Mary’s head. He hits her forehead with such might that it cracks open on the spot, she instantly falls unconscious without even making a noise. Her old battered and broken body now lies motionless on the ground, covered by the winter snow. Vivid red blood is flowing out of her head like a wretched stream of cherry syrup being poured on icy white gelato.
“Maybe we should have made her dig the hole, before I hit her in the head?” Igor asks.
Viktor rolls his eyes and replies with a very sarcastic voice, “Don’t be stupid, she’s too old for that.”
Igor starts digging, with a lazy posture. He’s never liked digging, in fact his sole purpose in life is to be as lazy as possible. His dream life would be, to sit on the couch in front of the television, and to eternally watch football matches while sipping cold beer. Being a murderous thug is just a job for him, what he really wants is to do nothing in life.
Besides watching football.
He digs for 44 long minutes, until a hole of reasonable size is ready. He’s made one more nameless grave for another innocent victim. Grandma Mary never imagined, that she would met her end in such a forsaken place. She struggled from childhood, never being comfortable nor happy. At least in death, she expected to die perhaps comfortably in a hospital bed. She will not even get that, this proves that she is right.
There is no god, and life is just shit