Rain is the best scavenger in New York, but it can't wash away the sins of Brooklyn's back alleys.
Nine-year-old Lily huddled in the shadow of the iron smell of the garbage can, her plastic sandals sandals sinking into the bloody sewage. Three hours ago, she lost the last five dollars she had spent on her mother's medicine, and now the rancid pizza box became a refuge - until two car lights came on at the entrance of the alley, like a scalpel of God cutting through the night.
Three silhouettes stepped on the puddle and walked. The man in the middle staggered, and the hem of his camel coat was not dripping from the rain. Lily recognizes him: Uncle Pavel, who always gives her an extra toffee in the candy store."Please...My daughter is only four years old... Russian-style English was interrupted by the sound of leather shoes kicking into the ribs."Rules are rules, mice. The man in the black suit pulled out his gun as elegantly as smoking a cigar. When the barrel of the gun hit Pavel's brow, the metal glowed with the cold glow of herring guts under the neon light.
Lily's teeth sunk into the soft flesh of her lower lip.
Run, Uncle Pavel—she screamed in her heart, but her eyes were glued to the gun. It's more like a galvanized lighter in my father's relic box, but more...Perfect. When Pavel's finger was twisted by the pliers, she smelled the sweet smell bursting in the air, like bitten grapes mixed with rust.
Deeper shadows are moving.
There was a teenager sitting on the fire ladder at the end of the alley. The black hair was wet and attached to the corner of the forehead, and half a gold badge was revealed on the collar of the school uniform - a double-headed eagle with a poisonous snake in its mouth, and Lily had seen a similar pattern on the church window. The young man shook his legs, and the rhythm of the heel of his boots hitting the iron ladder coincided with the soundd of bones shattering."Vinny, do you want to practice? The executioner suddenly turned his head.
The boy jumped off the iron ladder like a black panther. He didn't take the gun, but pulled out a switchblade with a pearl handle. The tip of the knife ran across Pavel's trembling eyelids: "How much are the tears of a traitor worth? "
The first drop of blood splattered on the toe of Lily's shoe.
Warm. warmer than the towel her mother put on her forehead when she had a fever. She stared at the dark red irises blooming on the white canvas, and her stomach suddenly cramped. The moment the vomit rushed to the throat——"Shhh..."
The boy squatted in front of the trash can where she was hiding. The cold blade slapped her cheek, and the smell of blood penetrated her nostrils. His pupils were a deep green like a swamp, reflecting her frightened and distorted face."Pretty girls should go home early. The blood-stained toffee was stuffed into her palm, "Remember, you saw it tonight..." "
The gun went off.