Page 82 of The Sleepwalker
‘You really are thick,’ she says, baring her yellow teeth in a grin.
Joona gets up and buttons his jacket.
‘Fine,’ she blurts out. ‘He was all jumpy when he came over here, so I asked what his fucking deal was and he said he’d been unlucky with some girl, that she’d robbed him, snapped his dick and knocked three teeth out.’
‘Did he say anything else about her?’
‘Nah, just that she was an ugly fucking whore.’
‘I really need to talk to him, Tiffany.’
‘Not my problem, darling.’
‘I’m just thinking .?.?. it can’t be good for you if the johns are scared, can it?’
She stares at him, pouting unhappily.
‘When are you seeing him next?’ he asks.
‘Time’s up.’
‘Call Sorab and I’ll talk to him instead.’
‘I’ll kill you,’ she shouts. ‘You’re not talking to him. He’ll break your fucking neck and throw you out the window.’
‘Call him.’
‘No way!’
‘When is the john next coming to see you?’
‘You’re a pain in the goddamn ass, man,’ she says, scratching her neck. ‘Look, he’s not coming again .?.?. we didn’t click. I heard he’s a regular with a girl called Lena O now.’
Joona reaches for his coat, pays and leaves two cards on the table, one for the Blenda women’s refuge and the other for Talita, a non-profit that helps women find a way out of prostitution.
‘Call them. They’re on your side. Truly,’ he says as he leaves.
30
Joona pulls on his coat in the stairwell, then makes his way out into the cold night.
A cat is sniffing around a heap of rubbish bags and discarded beer cans.
He can hear the whirr of a helicopter in the distance, and he notices an empty pack of Tramadol on top of a telecoms cabinet.
Joona turns the corner and sees two men standing beside his car.
Someone has walked the same route as him with a can of red spray paint, leaving a wavy line on the facade of the building, over the bricks, windows and doors.
As Joona gets closer his car, he sees that the two men are trying to jimmy the driver’s side door with a thin piece of metal.
He reaches into his coat pocket and finds his key fob.
‘You need any help, lads?’ he asks.
‘Huh?’ mutters the older of the two.
Joona holds his other hand up in the air and clicks his fingers. The headlights on his car flash, and the wing mirrors fold out.
