12 hours earlier

Alburquerque- New Mexico- USA

11:00 AM

Monday 13 July 2009

Cheerful Hispanic tunes echo through the stereo. A bright red-colored clock quietly ticks while the time slowly passes. Except for an elderly man who coughs deeply, everything is silent in the diner. As usual, it is calm with not too many people. A few truckers and an elder couple passed through with an RV.

Behind the curved counter stands a young girl, her long auburn brown hair is neatly tied in a high updo tail. Her bright blue almond-shaped eyes are focused on the coffee maker. Patientfully she awaits till the coffee is done. Her slender body, with round full breasts, is dressed in a tight blue uniform dress. Around her narrow hips is a black apron tied. On her rosy lips rests a warm smile. In her jaws show two dimples when she laughs with a young child, her energetic little movements. Her long eyelashes, dark steep arched eyebrows and limestone skincolor give her a warm and kind look.

Calm, she takes the coffee pot and walks towards the elder couple. "Thank you, darling," says the elder woman and hands Savannah a fifty-dollar bill. Savannah smiles. Thank you, she says and looks at the elder Afro-American man who slowly enters. "Hello," she greets. The man shyly nods. His long black hair and beard showed here and there a gray streak. His dark green vest shows signs of aging, as do his black pants and shoes. Here and there a tear or stain adorns his clothing. "Pick a spot and I will be with you shortly," she says. Hesitantly, the man shuffles to a table while Savannah makes her way towards the kitchen. A bald, bigger man pops his head out of the kitchen window. "Savannah the boss is going to kill you" he growls. "Savannah smiles. Hopefully, after this man has had his food, "she mocks and places a note on the counter. The cook takes the order, disgruntled, muttering, and disappears into the kitchen. Chuckling, Savannah walks toward the homeless man. Too ashamed and probably afraid to speak, he slides a crumpled five-dollar bill towards her.

"Oh sweetheart, no," she says and hands him a cup of coffee. "Keep it, you need it harder than me. My papa always said if you can help someone you should do it out of kindness. Not for money or social media likes. I'll bring food right away" she says. "Thank you" mutters the man. "God bless, and thank you." Savannah smiles. She slides a hundred-dollar bill to the man. "Please," she says when he hesitates to take it. Hastily she writes her address on a napkin. "I am here or at home. You can always visit after ten. I have a soft extra bed and a warm shower. And I am pretty sure that my laundry machine can use some extra work" she chuckles. Tears roll over his cheeks. "It is okay" Savannah whispers." God bless you miss. Thank you," he kept saying, and kissed her hand. Savannah smiles and walks away.

"Hey", she greets the two men who walk in. Without an answer, they walked to a table and sat down. Ignoring the strange boys, she brings the African man his plate. She rubs his shoulder after putting the plate down and walks towards the Mexicans. Both Mexicans wear the same golden Rolex. They both wear a formal long-sleeved shirt. The one on the left wears a black shirt with golden stripes, the one on the right wears a burgundy shirt. Both boys have short trimmed hair and an unshaven stubble chin. The one on the left is a bit bigger, but for the rest, they look like they are brothers.

"Coffee?"The man on the left is a bit wider and looks a bit older. The man on the right lifts his head. "Please," he says finally. Savannah nods. "Hey, your boss. Is he here" asks the man on the left. Savannah looked at him for a moment. "No sorry. He might come in later." The man nodded. Savannah feels both of their deep brown eyes burning into her. Suddenly agitated, she walks back to the counter and swallows.

Guests come and go as time slowly passes. Only the duo of Mexicans remains. When she wants to refill their coffee, he hands her money. "Tell me Tuco has been here for him" growls Tuco and walks away. "Okay thanks", she calls out and takes their mugs. Shaking her head, she continues, thinking about Tuco. Was her boss in danger? Had he done something wrong? Maybe they were just old friends, she thinks with a sigh and looks at the clock. Lost in thought, she takes the brush and starts sweeping.

While she is cleaning the diner, her boss enters slowly. There are no guests left. "Hey Savannah", he greets and kisses her jaw. Savannah looked at Tommy. His Brazilian accent, strong muscular body, perfect tan, and shoulder-length dark blonde wavy hair make her blush. "No customers huh?" "No," she says and looks at his deep brown eyes. "The last one just left, he asked for you. His name was Tuco or something." "Tuco," asked Tommy. Savannah nods. Tommy swallows. His face became a whole lot paler.

"You know, nobody's going to come anymore. Why don't you change clothes while I close off? "Sure," asks Savannah. "Yeah" he laughs nervously and bites his lip. "Okay," she says and places the brush away. Hastily she walks to the back room and changes her uniform for black skinny jeans and a dark red V-neck short-sleeved shirt. She ties her black converse sneakers and places the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "Is everything okay?" asks Savannah. Tommy nods. "Of course," he says and opens the door. "I will see you tomorrow," he says, and locks the door hastily. "Yeah okay," Savannah greets and watches him hastily walk away. She shrugs and looks at her phone. Two text messages from her brother and a missed call from her mother. She'll call her in the morning. Hastily she answers the text, after which she starts walking home.

It was only a fifteen minute walk to her flat. Every day she walked the same route, but today.. today was the first time ever that she had a nervous feeling about it. Slowly, she crosses the empty street and disappears into the foggy shadows of a narrow alley. A street cat jumps from the container towards her feet. Scared, Savannah takes a step back and holds her breath until she sees the cat scurrying away. "My god" she sighs and laughs. "Get a grip", she orders herself. She shakes her head and takes a step forward, but stops as soon as she hears a pleading cry.

"I swear," a begging voice says. Afraid, she looked up into the alley. She narrows her eyes and looks into the darkness. 3 Figures reveal themselves in the dim streetlight. "Come on guys, let's talk about it", the same voice cries again. Is that... Tommy? And? The men of the bar! She takes a deep breath when she sees Tuco holding a gun against Tommy's forehead. "The time of talking is over," says Tuco between his teeth. Not sure what to do and suddenly trembling with fear, she takes a step backward.Her heart races when she sees the second guy who was sitting in the bar holding Tommy. When he turns his head, she dodges behind the container. Afraid that he might hear her, she places her hands in front of her nose and mouth and drops her shoulderbag softly on the dirty ground.

"Come on Tuco. Please, man.. I, I have the money, I swear." "That's what you said last week" growls Tuco. "And the week before" shouts the second one. "Nacho please" begs Tommy. Savannah takes short deep breaths. She closes her eyes when a loud gunshot rings in her ears. "Oh my god" she whispers. Tears burned in her eyes. She hears the men speak to each other in Spanish. Why did she have to witness this?!

Scared, she jumps up when her phone starts buzzing. Her ringtone: City of evil from Avenged Sevenfold sounds soft. The iPhone lights up brightly in the dark corner she hid in. "What the hell is that" growls Tuco. Savannah takes her phone and tries to stop the call but her hands are trembling too hard. " Someone is there" whispers Nacho. Afraid, she slides over the phone screen but it doesn't take long before the calling starts all over again. "Shit shit shit" she whispers when she hears footsteps coming closer. A shadow softly closes in on her. Afraid she does the only thing she can think of: she jumps up and starts running. "Fuck" roars Tuco. "Nacho get her!!"

Her heart beats so loudly while she runs as fast as she can from the two murderers chasing her. "No" she screams when a strong broad hand grabs her slender shoulder. Fired up by fear and adrenaline, she kicks him between his legs. Grunting, Nacho falls on his knees. He looks how she escapes from him with boiling anger. He cannot let her escape! She is a witness. He worked too hard for this!! Groaning, he gets up and runs behind her again.

Not even knowing where she is going to, Savannah runs down the street. No car, not even one person in the neighborhood... Where is someone at the moment you need it? "Stop" roars Nacho, who is closing down on her. He hastily runs behind her in the street in another dark alley. His thoughts are like a train through his head. What are they gonna do with her? He doesn't want any innocent victims...

"No" she yells when Tuco appears like a ghost in front of her. He grabs her hair. He slams her head against the drain without remorse and lets her fall down on the cold stones.

Nacho sighs and stops. He takes a deep breath and looks at the unconscious girl on the ground. He looks at Tuco who nods. "What now?" "Get your van", Tuco orders. He kneels down while Nacho hastily walks into the street. "Stupid girl" he curses and wipes the hair from her bloody forehead.