TEN SECONDS , The Kenny Ackerman Story BOOK ONE~ ORIGINS ,by Melly O'Hara

OLYMPIA

CHAPTER 8 OLYMPIA

Unlike the previous night, I were finally able ta sleep. It were late when I awoke the next mornin' an' I knew that my plan ta find the ol' guy (Gramps), hadn' given me the answer ta getting' me an' Kuchel ta the surface, an' outta the Underground. Not when he were hunted all his life, an' now at the end o' it, he were a prisoner unable ta even use his power ta strike back or free himself. Sure, I'd go back an' visit him, but the questions that had haunted me, seemed ta disappear now I knew that it were, as it always had been, only me that could change things.

But, he were right 'bout one thing, I did have ta find Kuchel. I called my boys together an' gave them the order ta find Kuchel, even if it were jus' a body. I had boys workin' on it day an' night, 'cross the entire Underground, as they ran their ususal rackets, an' report back ta me when they made their payments an' took their cuts. An' me, havin' quite an association with mos' o' the tarts in the district, did my own 'research'.

After two months, there were still nothin' so's I told 'em ta search again, but this time check out ANYONE that even vaguely matched Kuchel's description, even if the name an' age didn' match. This time, it only took a couple o' days, afore one o' my boys came back with a story ' bout a new establishment that had recently been set up. It weren' like a regular whore house, more like a boardin' house, where the girls worked in the same rooms they lived in an' their landlord were also their pimp. This shit, were bottom o' the barrel, no wonder it had flown under the radar- not listed as a whore house, not listed as a boardin' house - invisible.

The other thin' my boys had found out were that there were no Kuchel that worked or lived there, but there were a few new girls; young, dark an' all had workin' girl names - anonimity for the customers an' the girls were assured.

I had no hope, but it were the closest I'd come ta any sorta real lead, even the bodies my boys had turned up weren' nothin' like her, so's I still had reason ta believe she were still alive an' down here somewhere. So's I went across town, nearly ta the Southern district, an' came ta a small, run down, wooden two storey shack o' a house. Blink an' ya'd miss it, which is 'xactly what I suspected my boys had done first time 'round. The front door were open. It looked abandoned, but I went in, anyways.

It were dimmley lit, unfurnished an' dirty. Under the stairs, a greasy, smilin', fat pig o' a man stood at a desk, watchin' me with his greedy eyes.

"Welcome to my establishment. Can I get you somethin' to ease your troubles? We got a nice variety here, an' they'll do ANYTHING, no questions asked, no refusals given. And all for a resonable price", he smirked at me, spreadin' his arms wide. " 'T' aint much, but we like ta call it home!"

My hand reached for Silver Lady as the urge ta slice that greasy smile off his face became over whelmin', but instead I pulled out the creased picture o' Kuchel an' me ( the only one I had) an' showed the greasy pig.

"Her. Do you have her?" I growled, prayin' the answer would be 'no'.

" Now, now, come on, we haven't been properly introduced. Now, my name is Johnas. Just think of me as your own personal gofer - if I don't have it, I'll 'go' get it 'for' you", he slimed ingraciatingly.

His grin widened ta reveal his missin' teeth. " Now, let me see... Aaaaaahh, yes, Olypimia. Fine choice, sir. New too, not yet proper broken in, if ya know what I mean. Now, that's one mountain ya want to climb!" he laughed, as I lost some o' my self- control an' hit him square in the jaw.